Jeff Lane opened the Lane Motor Museum in October 2003 in Nashville, Tennessee to exhibit his personal collection. Passionate about cars from a young age, Jeff Lane restored his first car, a 1955 MG TF , as a teenager. The Lane Motor Museum is one of the few American museums specializing in European cars. The museum strives to keep all vehicles in working order, with some cars being fully restored, while others retain the scars of age.
The Lane Motor Museum is housed in a historic building in Nashville, the former Sunbeam bakery. With 133,000 ft², it was the largest bakery in the region at the time of its opening. Adapted for the needs of the museum, the building has retained many of its original features, high ceiling, natural light and a handcrafted brick and maple wood floor. The architectural style suits well the age of the cars depicted. The ground floor has about 40,000 ft² of open space, ideal for exhibiting the collection.
Cars
The Lane Motor Museum has a very large collection (more than 500 cars!), and exhibits about 150 according to thematic exhibitions that change every year. In 2022 and early 2023, the museum offers 5 themes:
- The Fiat 500, from the “Topolino” to current models through the Nuova 500 of the 1960s and many derivatives: sporty, electric, convertible, leisure …
- Lotus, with a panel ranging from the 1960s to the Evora of 2019, including the famous Super Seven
- Single-seaters, from promotion formulas to Indycar and IRL single-seaters
- Unique cars, prototypes of manufacturers or more confidential achievements, of which the museum has many examples
- Original theme, an overview of car door opening systems: classics, front, butterflies…
The enormous collection of the Lane Motor Museum covers a large part of European manufacturers, including companies that have disappeared or have very limited productions. This typically includes Alfa Romeo, Audi (and its ancestors like DKW or NSU), Austin/Mini, BMW, Citroën, Fiat, Jaguar, Mercedes, Peugeot, Renault, Volkswagen or Volvo, but also Lancia, MG, Panhard, Saab, Tatra, Trabant or Wartburg. If it is very rich in European cars, the Lane Motor Museum also has many American and Japanese cars without forgetting an impressive collection of carts (also called microcars or midgets depending on the country of origin). On weekends, the Lane Motor Museum offers guided tours in its reserves at fixed times, the opportunity to discover in 45 minutes a real cave of Ali Baba automobile.
Next to the cars
The collections of the Lane Motor Museum extend to other modes of transport, trucks, bicycles and motorcycles, boats, planes, several amphibious machines that combine car and boat and some fire engines…
Practical information
Website: https://www.lanemotormuseum.org/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lanemotormuseum
Opening
| Monday and Thursday to Sunday | 10am – 5pm |
| Closed every year on New Year’s Day, Thanksgiving and Christmas. | |
| Guided tours of the reserves on weekends at fixed times, in principle 11:30 am and 2 pm, check the museum website |
Rates
| Adults | $ 12.00 |
| Seniors (over 65 years old) | $8.00 |
| Youth (6 to 17 years old) | $ 3.00 |
| Children (under 6 years old) | Free |
| Guided tour of the reserves (in addition to the museum ticket) | $10.00 |
| Groups (more than 15 people), per person | $6.00 |
| Free parking |
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