Kristoffer Hayward
Staff Writer
Though it doesn’t look very large from the road, the LeMay Car Museum hosts four floors of everything from mini-coopers to motorcycles and even a hall dedicated to alternative fuel.
For a reasonable price of twenty dollars, the museum offers a café voucher and admission. The café overlooks the first level of cars while three more floors await underneath.
The LeMay museum, named after Harold LeMay, encompasses more than just American cars or era; it’s about the history of automobiles and their evolution in the United States.
The first floor has a portion of LeMay’s extensive collection, a host of British cars and custom coachworks. The lower three hallways are lined from end to end with classic models from various decades.
Among them are the oddities of the times. Bamboo thatched roofs, wood reinforced sides, a pair of Delorians, and in the bottom-most level rests the “Flintstones” car with ‘yabba’ ‘dabba’ and ‘do’ for the specifications.
Along with the eye-catching classics, the rare flukes of the time, the hand-cranked wonders and the electric carriages, there are a few activities one wouldn’t expect from a standard museum.
The first floor down has a theater featuring a film about the brief history of LeMay, the building, and American car culture.
The second floor down has a virtual raceway and slot car racing, and the repair shop is open to public view. Lucky visitors may see how the curators maintain those pre-twentieth century marvels sitting on the show-room floor.
There’s enough to keep a person busy all day, and they even offer premium membership. This is one of the biggest things that sets the LeMay Museum apart from most other museums. The show-room floor is constantly changing and adapting the layout year round, offering banquet locations, lounges and discounts to automobile enthusiasts who sign up.
Even the casual cruiser can find hours of worth at the LeMay museum, if only to see how far cars have come or to tease some relatives that their high school ride is sitting in a museum.
Students will be able to see all of these cars, as well as the history, thanks to an upcoming trip organized through the school. Make sure to grab a map and get a wristband on the way in. Don’t miss the chance to see some of the history behind the cars that jam the parking lot every morning.
