America's Car Museum: Car Lust Edition
Yesterday I popped in to see the newly-opened LeMay Car Museum -- technically the LeMay - America's Car Museum -- for a much-too-short hour and a half (I snuck out of a niece-in-law's high school graduation ceremony at the adjacent Tacoma Dome. . .don't tell!). I've never actually been to a car museum so it was an entirely new experience for me. The Museum just opened this month and it's really quite a wonder for these parts given that we have no domestic automotive industry to garner history from, at least directly. But we are home to Harold and Nancy LeMay who acquired a truly astounding collection of automobiles. From the above-linked web site:
Harold and Nancy LeMay amassed the largest privately owned collection of automobiles, motorcycles, trucks, other vehicles and related memorabilia in the world.
At its peak, the LeMay Collection numbered in excess of 3,000 vehicles and thousands of artifacts and was listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the largest privately owned collection in the world; impressive if accomplished by a King, but jaw dropping, awesome when accomplished by a local businessman from Tacoma, Washington.
As with most high-end collectors, most of the cars are, well, high end collector cars: gleaming jewels of spotless chrome and deep, rich paint, shined to mirror-like perfection and lit to enhance their beauty. They're not all owned by the LeMays; there's a permanent collection and several 'galleries', if you will, of donated collections and sets of related cars on loan from individuals. Definitely worth a trip for the auto history enthusiast.
Sadly, no mint-condition Pacers I'm afraid.
Still, there were a few specimens that we've covered here and a couple that will no doubt be covered in the future. Here are a few snapshots for some of the more Lustable items.
First up, my personal favorite, a 1953 Kaiser Dragon:
Widely believed to be Kaiser's most luxurious model ever, the Dragon was specifically designed to appeal to the ladies after much research by Carlton Spencer. Note the vinyl top that is textured to resemble bamboo. Now in this interior shot -- amply supplied with background reflections for your Carspotting pleasure -- you'll see what appears to be a marled Bakelite steering wheel, dashboard, and assorted surfaces:
The interior upholstery was supposedly made to look like alligator skin -- renamed "Dragon skin" for marketing -- but these had seat covers on so I couldn't tell.
Next, an AMC Rambler Marlin:
Not the hot red and black paint, but I think it looks rather better in this cream color, making the lines seem a bit less garish.
Now, this one might seem a little odd:
Kind of a boring, late '30s or early '40s Chevy, right? Notice anything a little strange about it? Fact is, there is only a bit of chrome on the bumper, the rest is plain. That's because it's a "blackout" car: shortly after Pearl Harbor, it was decreed that any brightwork on automobiles (save bumpers) had to be discontinued due to supposedly impending raw materials shortages. This was soon lifted and only one month's worth of cars were made this way (January 1942), so these are pretty rare. More on this car here.
And my first live in the flesh metal Tucker:
Ably described in great detail by our own CtDO, this particular 1948 Tucker Sedan was #7 of 51 and was not purchased by Harold, but by Nancy in 2002. More here.
One more high-ender before moving on to some others. This one caught my eye for two reasons:
First, it's a Rolls-Royce in a bizarre color. Turns out, that's a two-tone "tobacco-leaf brown" paint and it was produced for Vincent Riggio, then president of American Tobacco Company. Second, it's one of the first foreign-company domestics. During the Roaring Twenties, R-R produced cars for the US market in Springfield, MA, but was forced to shut down that operation in 1931 when the Depression set in.
Now for some slightly less-than-high-end specimens. They have a temporary gallery for "alternative" vehicles, mostly electrics and hybrids, but with some others tossed in as well. Here is my first live EV1:
It's really quite tiny on the outside belying its surprisingly spacious interior. As I noted in the piece linked above, most of these were destroyed so it's a special treat to see one. And on top of that they even had its immediate test car predecessor, the Impact:
Also noted in that EV1 link, electric cars weren't anything new, as this 1914 Detroit Electric model illustrates:
That's its optional charging station behind it there.
They also had a Stanley Steamer, complete with boiler:
And not one, but two DeLoreans:
I have to say, if someone else were paying the bills, I might just take one of these as my only car.
A simply gorgeous International Scout:
A 1958 Plymouth Belvedere, which many will recognize as "Christine" the demon-possessed killer car -- this one even has the name on the back fin -- though the movie car was the closely-related Fury:
This particular car was not in the movie but was one of several that were used as promotional vehicles while the film was in release. More about it here.
They didn't have too many examples of latter-day domestics, but this '67 Eldorado Caddy totally blew my skirt up:
I think the hood itself might have its own zip code. Definitely a future Car Lust post.
Not to be mistaken for the Car Lust favorite Chrysler Cordoba, this 1977 Plymouth Fury Sport:
And just so you don't miss 'em:
We can't allow these timeless gold-and-brown plaid seats and interior to go unnoticed!
Finally, I came face to face with Ultimate Automotive Evil:
There were dozens more I could have highlighted, including a couple of Duesys, a couple of Pierce-Arrows, a '69 AMX, an in-the-works Avanti, and many more. Some of these will eventually find their way into individual posts, but LeMay has many of their collection described on their web site.
Well, one more just for fun:
--Anthony Cagle
Credits: All photos taken by me, so if you want to use them you must pay me One Mill-i-on dollars.
Cookie the Dog's Owner on July 03, 2012 at 04:12 AM
That "in-the-works Avanti" you mentioned is no less than serial number 1001, the first production car.
John B on July 03, 2012 at 08:34 AM
About the Avanti...it's being restored by Studebaker and Avanti club members...some parts donated by Avanti vendors and individuals.
It was a heavy metalflake green with blue and gold fish-like scallops.
It's being returned to stock...thank goodness.
That Car Guy (Chuck) on July 03, 2012 at 09:03 AM
The Kaiser is my favorite because of the real wood dash and upper door trim. No, they sure don't make them like that any more.
The DeLorean display is my favorite because of how they displayed the cars.
I've been to a few car museums, but that one looks amazing.
Yankee on July 03, 2012 at 09:20 AM
Not sure what that '77 Fury was doing there - not that I have anything against them, but unless it's there sheerly for curiousity's sake as a testament of the bad taste of the 1970s (referring specifically to that plaid interior) it seems a bit out of place.
There was a museum in Sioux Falls, SD that's claim to fame was celebrity-owned cars, they had some pretty sweet stuff in there - for example, they had a mint 68 Shelby GT500 convertible that was once owned by Lee Marvin who gave it to his gardener as a gift (quite a gift!). A bunch of other sweet rides were also there, I wonder if it's still there but if it is it's well worth your time if you're ever in the area.
Anthony Cagle on July 03, 2012 at 11:39 AM
I actually wish they'd have more typical cars. Most people can't really identify with a multi-million dollar Pierce-Arrow limousine, but nearly everyone had or knows someone who had a Pinto, for example. Those are a part of the fabric of American society and, arguably, had a much larger effect on our history than some high-priced luxury models. Not that I dislike seeing the high-end ones, but they do tend to run together eventually.
I imagine in another 50 years Pintos will be so rare that they may end up in museums anyway.
That Car Guy (Chuck) on July 03, 2012 at 01:20 PM
I hope the Pinto has the green plaid seat option.
Chris Meirose on July 03, 2012 at 02:02 PM
Yankee - I'm writing this from my parent's house in Sioux Falls. Indeed that museum is still here. It's not a big one, but it has great quality in what it has.
Bill T. on July 03, 2012 at 03:02 PM
Here's a different one: there is a red Chrysler 300 reflected in the window of the Kaiser Dragon. It may be a '61. In one of those years Chrysler offered the ram induction system. An option was a four-speed manual trans. By one report I read, nine of these were sold and the whereabouts of seven is known. One or both would be a find.
Al on July 03, 2012 at 11:14 PM
Of whats pictured here i'd most likely have '77 Fury Sport. I'd also like to make it VERY clear that the sport package contains no performance upgrades whatsoever over a regular Fury. No suspension upgrades, brake upgrades, or anything of the matter. Plaid seats, and upgraded wheel covers are basically what make up a sport package.
Al on July 03, 2012 at 11:16 PM
It's also worth mentioning that the fantastic '58 Fury could outrun the '77, 0-60 and top speed.
toronado455 on July 03, 2012 at 11:44 PM
That exact 77 Fury was featured on the back cover of an Edmunds New Car Prices guide that year. I remember the color photo of the plaid seats very well and thinking "Is this for real?".
Kenny on July 07, 2012 at 10:30 PM
What I'd do to have an EV1
David Colborne on July 08, 2012 at 12:56 PM
I had a '76 Plymouth Fury Sport, and Al is absolutely right - the "Sport" package really had nothing to do with the performance of the car. Mine was baby blue, had an optional 360 under the hood, yet still couldn't get out of its own way to save its life. The 2.4:1 axle certainly didn't help matters any; in classic Detroit fashion, Chrysler attempted to put "lipstick on the pig" with the goal of making the Fury more "economical". The result was a criminally detuned V-8 attached to a sippy straw exhaust manifold, all mated to a ridiculously tall geared 3-speed auto and the tallest geared axle they could throw on the back of the thing while perpetuating some illusion of forward motion. The sketchy Lean Burn system and its complete and total unwillingness to let the car idle unless it was *completely* warmed up certainly didn't endear the car to me, either.
One weird fact about Furies of that generation - they had completely different rear ends depending on how many doors they had. Mine, a two door (probably what made it a "Sport", if I had to guess) for example, had the rear tail lights of the red car in this pic:
http://www.allpar.com/photos/plymouth/fury.jpg
While a four-door had this rear end instead:
http://www.allpar.com/images/plymouth/furyback.jpg
Your guess as to why is as good as mine.
Yankee on July 09, 2012 at 07:07 AM
David Colborne, remember during the 70s that Chrysler differentiated their intermediate coupes and sedans with different bodies - it all started with the previous Satellite in 1971 (which is basically what the Fury was until 1975). From 71-74, the Satellite sedans and coupes (Sebrings, Road Runners and such) were totally different from each other, the only part they shared in common was the front windshield (Dodge went a little further and with their Coronet sedans and Charger coupes during that time period - same car underneath but with totally different bodies).
Chrysler (more or less) kept that concept when the B-bodies were redesigned for 1975-78, although it wasn't quite as obvious. I suppose it was because they were supposedly marketed to different target audiences. Plus, take a close look at that 77 Fury and tell me it's not a near-dead-ringer of a 77 Chevy Monte Carlo (which I'm sure was entirely intentional).