Fix Auto Downtown San Diego

The Lane Motor Museum in Nashville, TN

In Nashville, Tennessee, you’ll find micro cars, amphibious and military vehicles, and many other unique automobiles and motorcycles at the Lane Motor Museum. Established by Jeff Lane in 2002, the museum is known for showcasing “unique cars from A to Z,” except for vehicles that begin with the letters E and Q. While some of them are in showroom condition and others are aging, the majority of the nearly 400 in the collection are drivable.

At Fix Auto Downtown San Diego, we enjoy visiting car museums, so if we can get to Nashville, TN from San Diego, CA anytime soon, we'd like to check it out.

As a teenager, Lane had a passion for cars. The first vehicle he restored was reportedly a 1955 MG TF. When he opened the museum in the former Sunbeam Bakery, there were 70 cars on display at the 132,000-square-foot facility. Over the years, he built up that number, which many say includes the most extensive European collection in the country. There are also vehicles from Asia, and North and South America. According to the museum, the car enthusiast looks for vehicles that are “technically significant or uniquely different.”

In addition to displaying a wide range of vehicles, the museum also holds special events throughout the year. Many look forward to the Micro Car Meet as well as the Driving Experience where participants have the opportunity to drive one of the rare vehicles in the collection for a fee. Attendees receive a lesson from a staff member and then drive to Percy Warner Park. Afterwards, they can visit the private museum vault and view approximately 300 cars. Another annual event is the Rally for the Lane. Those who take part in the fundraiser can also drive one of the vehicles in the museum. In past years, they averaged driving 160 miles during the day.

Here are some of the notable vehicles in the collection:

• Peel P50-Only 53 inches long, 39 inches wide and 53 inches high, the smallest vehicle at the museum was manufactured on the Isle of Man in the United Kingdom by Peel Engineering Company.
• Amphibious LARC-LX-The largest car in the collection was built during the Vietnam Era. With nine-foot-tall tires, the museum said its width, length and height are the equivalent of three semis parked next to one another. 
• Helicron-Constructed in France in 1932, the unique vehicle has a wooden body and the front of the car has a four-foot propeller and wooden guard.
• Porsche 928 S-Known as the museum’s fastest car, the 1985 vehicle can reach 156 mph.
• Mercedes Smart Car-The 2003 micro compact vehicle gets more than 60 miles to the gallon and measures eight feet long and five feet wide.

Sources: Wikipedia, Yahoo and MSN