LeMay: America's Car Museum Opens in Tacoma

Tacoma’s new car museum is an ode to hitting the road.

By: Brangien Davis  |   June 2012   |  FROM THE PRINT EDITION

Tacoma’s new car museum is one of the largest in the world PHOTO CREDIT: David Imanaka

Cars may have lost some street cred among bikers, environmentalists and anyone tired of pouring her paycheck into the gas tank, but a new museum in Tacoma is here to remind us of the glory days, when we could rev up and roll down the road free of guilt. LeMay: America’s Car Museum opens this month next door to the Tacoma Dome, in a shining chrome and glass structure that looks vaguely automotive. (Is it a rearview mirror? A grille?)

Sourced largely from the massive car collection (listed in the Guinness Book of World Records) of Tacoma garbage/recycling magnate Harold LeMay, the exhibit features vehicles from prehistoric times (a Flintmobile from the movie The Flintstones) all the way back to the future (a 1983 DeLorean DMC-12, à la Marty McFly).

The gallery can house as many as 500 cars, and emphasizes innovations in speed, technology and design, including a 1918 Cadillac limousine; a tiny, three-wheeled Messerschmitt KR200 from 1956; and a 1963 Corvette Stingray. The museum also boasts a 3.5-acre outdoor show field, which in the future will be used to display autos, host outdoor festivals and present one of the best things about cars: drive-in movies.

Opens 6/2. Times vary. $8–$14 (children younger than 5, free). 2702 East D St.; 253.779.8490; lemaymuseum.org