Lane Motor Museum
Submitted by Shawn Bailey
I know you’ve been to them; those stodgy, cookie-cutter, unrealistic car museums are everywhere. You know the routine. Oh look, another Porsche 911 behind velvet rope! Don’t touch that ‘57 Chevy! Gaze longingly at the billion dollar Bugatti!
Enough of that; it’s time to take a walk on the museum wild side at the Lane Motor Museum, nestled into an industrial and stripmalled area of Nashville, Tenn.
With an unassuming title like that, you’d be tempted to drive on by, but you shouldn't. The Lane museum is unlike any other. In fact, I think it caters to every one of us Car Lust frequenters. It features the largest collection of unobtanium in the U.S. By that, I don’t mean cars you’d see on the auction block at Barrett-Jackson. This is the home of the misunderstood, the unusual, and the bizarre. If you savor all European automotive flavors, welcome to your new favorite destination.
The Lane Museum has the largest European car collection in the U.S. on display. Approximately 150 cars are on the floor at any given time, with many more in storage. The exhibits rotate frequently, so it’s never the same museum twice. One of the first things you’ll notice is the complete absence of velvet rope. You may walk up to (and drool discretely) on all of the vehicles on display. This makes for great views of vehicle interiors you may not get to see easily at other venues.
Founder Jeff Lane built the museum out of an old Sunbeam Bakery plant; to say his automotive tastes are eccentric would be putting it mildly. He got his start wrenching on MGs at an early age, but he continued to expand out into the unusual; his primary interest is microcars of the world, but there is also a wonderful focus on French cars.
Aside from the cars themselves, there are also motorcycle displays and a wonderful poster/vintage advertisement collection neatly framed for viewing. Nissan U.S. headquarters are nearby, so there are rotating displays of Nissan's past as well. Currently it features some of the first Infiniti models built. If you ever want to see perfectly preserved M30 coupe or convertibles and an original Q45, all with less than 2,000 miles on the clock, this is your chance. A previous display focused on the history of the Nissan Z-car, with a display encompassing all generations of that pioneering sports car.
Let’s focus the stars of the building, the oddball cars worthy of our lust. This is just an idea of what can be seen on one random trip:
Citroen 2CV - Several can be seen at any given time; right now there is one awaiting restoration that visitors are allowed to touch and sit in. They’re flimsier than they look.
Nissan Figaro - One of my holy grails ever since seeing it in Car & Driver ages ago. Cookie The Dog’s Owner wrote a fantastic Car Lust post that has only enhanced my longing to own one. I never thought I’d see one in the flesh. The details are even more perfect in person.
Nissan S-Cargo - Another quirky retro/oddball Nissan creation, the S-Cargo is a mini box van with a Gastropod theme. Practical, but very fun. The hubcaps have cartoon snails on them. A friend of mine commented that it looks like a villain from the Mega Man videogame.
Fiat 500 (old & new) - Lane features several variations of the original 500, as well as the third-ever built new-style 500. We need the 500 in the U.S. now!
Assorted microcars - Lane owns the Peel P50, as featured by Jeremy Clarkson in this hilarious Top Gear episode. He also has the Peel Trident and too many other microcars to list. It is mindboggling to see how many of these actually came to market and still exist. You’ll also see Japanese kei-cars such as the Honda Life Step Van.
Citroen M-35 - The highlight of the day, even beyond the Figaro, was this 1970 Citroen I had never seen or even heard of before. Besides its crisp hatchback style, it is notable for what is in the engine bay; Citroen’s first rotary engine was not a complete success, and this car was sold in small numbers. Due to engine troubles, many were bought back by the factory and crushed. The character swoop in the hood is a unique touch.
Supercar failures - Any car museum worth its salt should have some Italian bedroom poster-worthy exotics to see. Lane satiates our need to see Lamborghinis and Maseratis with two of the lesser-known models: the Urraco and the Bora.
BMW 3200S - This graceful large early BMW is unusual for having a V-8 engine. BMW soon moved its focus to inline-6 engines, a focus that continues on today.
The WTF Department - Last but certainly not least is the amount of cars that cause you to utter this phrase. Is it not enough that we have communist Czechoslovakian Tatras to see? No, it clearly is not. Why not throw a Tatra ambulance in the mix? How about an Audi World War II jeep? Or maybe a Citroen DS rally racer? Such are the random delights of the Lane Museum.
--Shawn Bailey
That Car Guy (Chuck) on April 07, 2009 at 10:59 AM
What a great post! Yes, there are way too many vehicles to begin to list here. For example, the largest self-powered vehicle to ever traverse the streets of Nashville, a military amphibious carrier, is parked behind the building. There is a hall of vintage motorcycles. And a car or two driven by propeller power.
The Lane Museum people are looking for an old Sunbeam Bakery bread truck for the museum, but all the trucks that they have found so far are beyond the point of restoration. Hopefully one day, one will return home and be proudly presented.
This place is definitely one of Nashville's lesser-known treasures. Banjos are welcome, but not on display.
...m... on April 07, 2009 at 11:19 AM
......oh gosh, that first picture - i *love* the look of bare-metal finish cars, so much so that i've contemplated plating my lotus in matte chrome...someone talk sense into me before i commit travesty against its glass-fiber body shell...
...the nissan figaro is a very nice find; we've been admiring it since watching the sarah jane smith adventures last year...
Anthony Cagle on April 07, 2009 at 11:42 AM
I like the no-velvet-ropes idea. Some years ago I read an article about a particular type of car-show circuit that featured largely unrestored cars, or those which visitors were free to touch, look closely at, maybe sit in, whatever. Most were cars that people actually drove at least somewhat regularly. It was refreshing. There's something un-real to me about cars as touch-me-not works of art. Like a restaurant where you are not allowed to eat.
David Colborne on April 07, 2009 at 12:12 PM
We have one of the "velvet rope" car museums here in Reno. There are some interesting cars there, but most of them aren't particularly approachable.
This, on the other hand... now THIS sounds like a car museum. It sounds sort of like an antique store that just happens to have a bunch of old cars lying around, none of which are really for sale. I like the feel of antique stores - the idea of putting that feel to an automotive museum seems absolutely inspired.
Cookie the Dog's Owner on April 07, 2009 at 02:18 PM
A herd/flock/gaggle/whatever-the-correct-collective-noun-is of Tin Snails, a Figaro, an S-Cargo, a Uracco, and a race-prepared Dessie, all in one place? Sweeeeeeeeet!
Sillypickle on April 08, 2009 at 10:02 AM
Oh man. That is awesome. I am tempted to take all my vacation time and ride my motorcycle from California to Tennessee just to see the wonders of the museum. Also, do you have any pictures of the mentioned motorcycle exhibit? I have an equal love for all vehicles, and would love to see a sample of the kinds of motorcycles they have on display as well.
That Car Guy on April 08, 2009 at 11:33 AM
I have decided to become a volunteer at the Lane Museum. When that becomes in effect, I can get myself and a guest in there for free, as if the $7 ticket price isn't bargain enough.
Chris Matheson on April 08, 2009 at 05:10 PM
I have some pictures from my last visit to the Lane Motor Museum.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/65769848@N00/sets/72157600455257841/
Shawn on April 08, 2009 at 06:24 PM
Sillypickle - like a fool, I forgot to photograph the motorcycle hallway. I'm far from a motorcycle expert but this link should give you an idea of what they have: http://www.lanemotormuseum.com/collection/motorcycles
I'd say there's about double that on display now, maybe some are just on loan.
Chris - thanks for the additional photos. I don't know how long ago you visited, but I can say that what you saw is about entirely different from what on the floor right now. They do a great job changing out the displays it seems.
That Car Guy on April 14, 2009 at 08:01 AM
To Sillypickle: I found some pics of the bikes at the Lane Museum. This may just serve to whet your appetite, though!:
http://www.pbase.com/deadelvis/lanemotormuseum&page=1
PraetoR on April 14, 2009 at 02:00 PM
Communist Tatra? We had 40 years of socialism due to Jalta in Czech Republic, but calling Tatra communist manufacturer is just nonsence. Factory was established in 1850, building first car 1897, looong time before even Lenin could emagine that Germans would provide for his revolutionary plans.
Moreover, I guess that best known Tatra is model T77 from 1934, first serially produced streamlined car (with succesor T87). At the time when T77 came out Tatra was also manufacturing state of an art V12 luxury models, as well as heavy 6x6 trucks with half axles and backbone tube...
Last but not least, I believe that the ambulance model on display is post 1989 version, built a few years after collapse of socialistic regime...
Shawn on April 14, 2009 at 03:39 PM
PraetoR: I meant no harm in calling Tatra communist. However, from what I have read, Tatra was under communist control throughout production of most of their most popular models. Perhaps the best known of these is the Tatra T603, one of which is on display at the Lane Museum. This was also what the comment in my article was referring to, even if one was not directly pictured. The ambulance might have indeed been produced after communist control, but the article does not claim that it was, either.
I read up at this link about Tatra while composing the article: http://www.cars-directory.net/history/tatra/ If the information there is false, then please contact that author as well.
grochi on April 21, 2009 at 02:01 AM
Hey, great post!
Just one thing to correct: the Audi WW 2 jeep you mention isn't actually a Audi WW 2 jeep.
It's a jeep produced by the company "Auto Union" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auto_Union) of which Audi was a part (and later on Auto Union was shut down and reopened as Audi).
And that jeep was produced by the company DKW (part of Auto Union) and was called "Munga" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DKW_Munga).
It was produced between 1956 and 1968 for the Western German Army. The strange thing about that car is that it uses a two-stroke engine, which back then was very common in Eastern Germany.
All the best and keep on with that great blog!