From the entrance of Nashville, TN's Lane Motor Museum.
Megan Geuss
When Ars was invited to do a test drive of the 2016 Chevrolet Cruze in Nashville, we wanted to make the most of our trip down south. Between playing the tourist by looking for live music and eating hot chicken, we made a stop at the Lane Motor Museum. Founded by Jeff Lane in 2003, the museum houses an extraordinary collection of rare and replica vehicles, including oddities and historical models.
We took plenty of pictures, but there were a lot of cars we missed as well. For a more complete look, we recommend you stop by next time you're in Nashville.
We've separated photos of some of the coolest cars into categories. The first category are traditional vehicles, plane components, or vehicle styles that have been modified to create something new and exciting. For instance, the replica Dymaxion, originally designed by Buckminster Fuller, is a spiritual ancestor of today's nerd/maker culture. The Dymaxion was supposed to eventually be an all-purpose vehicle, capable of flying, driving, and floating. Alas, after a couple fateful accidents and a lack of funding, work on the Dymaxion was discontinued.
Also notice the 1938 Citroën Berline Gazogene, which was modified during WWII to run on coal gas. It's a sort of twisted version of the alternative fuel push that the automotive industry is tinkering with today.
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This 1961 Rocket Car was built by auto-modder Kenny Howard, otherwise known as Von Dutch (from which the "Von Dutch" brand was born). Von Dutch was one of the pioneering members of the Kustom Kulture movement out of Southern California. According to the Lane Motor Museum, the body of this Rocket Car was built out of a 120-gallon belly tank from a USAF F-86 Sabre Jet fighter. The engine is a Harley-Davidson UL engine (not a rocket, sorry).Megan Geuss
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This car, the only one of its kind, has a three-speed transmission (not including reverse). Its top speed is unknown.Megan Geuss
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This 1970 Fiat 500 was converted to a beach car by Navetta2000, a company founded by car designer Giovanni Vernagallo.Megan Geuss
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The "lateral protection chains" that you see in place of the doors are wrapped in foam and vinyl. All of Navetta2000's conversion cars come with road approval, as well as a five-piece curtain set to keep rain off the passengers on a less-than-perfect beach day.Megan Geuss
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A window separates us from the garage where the 1961 Chevrolet Corphibian lives. The Corphibian is a modification of the Corvair 95 Rampside pickup, with a fiberglass hull and a wooden rudder that can be operated from the cabin or from the...umm...stern of the truck. Built by Chevrolet engineers Richard E. Hulten and Roger D. Holm, the Lane Motor Museum says this is the only Corphibian in existence. It apparently spent several years in storage but no word on whether it was ever taken out for a land/sea journey.Megan Geuss
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Here we have a replica of Buckminster Fuller's extraordinary 1933 Dymaxion (a portmanteau of DYnamic MAXimum tensION). Like the Corphibian, Fuller was hoping to design a vehicle for land, sea, and air. During the worst of the Great Depression, he hired boat architect Starling Burgess to help him work on the Dymaxion. If it were to eventually fly, the Dymaxion had to be as streamlined as possible.Megan Geuss
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Fuller knew his first prototype would never leave land, but he wanted to build it anyway to test its "ground taxiing abilities,", reasoning that hitting abnormalities in the ground, as well as take off and landing, were the most dangerous parts of the journey. The Dymaxion has two front wheels and a rear wheel that provides steering.Megan Geuss
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Sadly, the Dymaxion idea was short-lived. Three prototypes were built, and two were destroyed and/or scrapped. The third, which was owned by the Gulf Refining company, was involved in a dramatic car accident when another car hit the Dymaxion, killing one passenger and seriously injuring two others. That Dymaxion, however, has been restored and survives at the National Automobile Museum in Reno, NV.Megan Geuss
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If any car ever wanted to fly, this is the one.Megan Geuss
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The 1938 Citroën Berline Gazogene was modified during the German occupation of France to run on coal gas, due to wartime shortages in gasoline. The Lane Motor Museum notes that there are two cylindrical containers by the front fender that were filled with coal and ignited. The driver then had to wait 30 minutes for the coal to produce enough methane to feed the carburetor. "Range was about 30 miles before adding more coal was required," the museum says. Talk about range anxiety.Megan Geuss
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When viewed from afar, this is the kind of car that should have made German occupiers ask "Are we the baddies?"Megan Geuss
Lane also has a variety of cars built for speed and/or track days. We particularly enjoyed the modified 1966 Citroën DS, built specifically to race on the ice. Ice racing is beloved in Minnesota and other parts of North America.
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This 1970 race car, called the Midget, was developed by the now-defunct British auto manufacturer MG. According to the Lane Motor Museum, this Midget was modified by BHP Developments in 1990 to have a 4-speed transmission with a top speed of 135 miles per hour.Megan Geuss
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The museum information panel says that this MG's exhaust pipe runs through its drive shaft tunnel, giving the car a ground clearance of 1.75 inches. After a slew of other modifications, "the car was so light it needed 150 pounds of ballast to make the minimum weight requirement," the museum tells us.Megan Geuss
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This 1966 Citroën DS is actually two cars in one. The "Pumpkin" is the result of work by Dave Burnham, who bought a Citroën DS with a badly rusted rear and another one with a badly rusted front. He put them together to make this car.Megan Geuss
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But then a fascination with ice racing took hold, and Burnham modified the car for the 1982 ice racing season.Megan Geuss
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MotorTrend notes that ice racing on studded wheels helps the cars go faster, so they need full roll cages and other safety gear before they can be raced.Megan Geuss
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This car has "seen a long run of race wins including class and modified championships," the Lane Motor Museum tells us. It's most recent win was in the screw tire class in 2006.Megan Geuss
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This 1973 Lotus Type 74 was owned by Chris Savage, an Engineering Director at Nissan Manufacturing in Tennessee. Chris had dreamed of restoring the car since he bought it in 1989, and when he came down with a fatal illness in 2009, the Lane Motor Museum chipped in to help Savage get his car restored. Lotus expedited parts to the museum, and a British wheel manufacturer agreed to cast, drill, and air-freight a set of wheels out in the name of the restoration.Megan Geuss
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Savage was able to take the car out the track just before his death in October 2009, and his wife donated it to the Lane Motor Museum in 2013.Megan Geuss
Lane Motor Museum is probably best known for its collection of European cars. Some of them are astonishingly good replicas, others are the real deal. The museum acquired them through a variety of donors, including US servicemen who brought cars home after their tours of duty in Europe. Some Japanese cars are also represented too, including early models from well-known brands like Nissan and Subaru.
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This Czechoslovakian 1936 Aero 30 was popular in Europe after WWI.Megan Geuss
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With a three-speed transmission and a top speed of 65mph, about 7,780 Aero 30s were sold between 1934 and 1947, with a four-year production gap during WWII.Megan Geuss
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Production of Aeros ceased after Czechoslovakia nationalized its auto industry in 1947.Megan Geuss
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This is a replica of Henry Ford's 1896 Quadricycle. Ford built its 4hp engine using a drawing from a 1896 edition of Machinist Magazine. According to the Lane Motor Museum, Ford built the Quadricycle in his workshop and discovered that the vehicle was too wide to fit through the door only after he was done. Ford ended up demolishing part of his doorway to get the car onto the street. He later sold the vehicle for $200.Megan Geuss
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Here you can see part of the Quadricycle's undercarriage. As there were no ready-made parts for a Quadricycle, Ford scavenged from other machinery, creating engine cylinders from steam engine scrap pipe and a flywheel from an old lathe.Megan Geuss
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The 1932 Tatra T-57 chassis in the Lane Motor Museum shows the innards of one of the more successful Czechoslovakian cars, favored in the 1920s and '30s because of its ability to drive over poor and crumbling roads.Megan Geuss
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Despite its sturdiness, Tatras were known as the the "secret weapon" of the Allied Forces during WWII. According to some historians, Hitler loved Tatras and thought they were the car of the future, so production continued after the war began. But its rear-wheel engine and difficult handling meant drivers often spun out of control on sharp turns. Allies joked that the Tatra killed more Nazi officers than combat did.Megan Geuss
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The museum tells us that this 1938 BMW 30 is a rarity—apparently of the 4,240 that were made, only 17 are thought to survive.Megan Geuss
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This particular car was probably brought back to the US by an American serviceman after the Cold War, the museum suggests.Megan Geuss
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Here we see a 1922 model from the All British (Engine) Company, or ABC. Its air-cooled, 1203cc engine was based on the company's experience creating air-cooled engines for motorboats and airplanes before WWI.Megan Geuss
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ABC's vehicle was designed by British engineer and inventor Granville Bradshaw.Megan Geuss
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A closer look at ABC's air-cooled, flat-twin engine.Megan Geuss
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Only about 1,500 of these cars were produced, falling short of ABC's stated goal of 5,000 cars annually.Megan Geuss
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Here is a 1980 Invalid Car from the Soviet Union, built with the handicapped, especially veterans of WWII, in mind. The car first hit the market in 1952 with three wheels, which was impractical for driving in the Russian snow. This SZD model started manufacturing in 1970. The cars were only available through the USSR's social care system and were leased to qualified citizens for five years at a time.Megan Geuss
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The 1975 Matra Simca Bagheera Coupe was built in France and named after the black panther in The Jungle Book. It's got a fiberglass body on an ungalvanized steel frame.Megan Geuss
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Check out that sick control panel, straight from a 1970s vision of the future!Megan Geuss
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The 1987 Nissan BE-1 was wildly popular in Japan, and when the company introduced the car, some 10,000 vehicles were reserved in just a few days, according to the Lane Motor Museum.Megan Geuss
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"The demand was so great that, on the used market, BE-1s were selling for triple their original sticker price," the museum notes.Megan Geuss
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This 1966 Subaru 360 van sold in Japan is a 4-speed manual that tops out at 55mph.Megan Geuss
By far the main draw at the Lane Motor Museum are the weird cars. These engineering marvels seem to be largely the work of a few dedicated engineers or hobbyists who want to turn a dream into a moving, metallic, street-legal reality. Propeller-driven cars and bikes were surprisingly popular in the 1920s and 1930s. To imagine a world in which such contraptions caught on is a wonderful thought experiment.
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The 1919 Leyat Helico was developed by French engineer Marcel Leyat, who thought propeller-driven vehicles would take over the roads due to their simplicity and superior fuel economy. This extremely streamlined vehicle weighed only 625 lbs. The Helico at the Lane Motor Museum is a replica.Megan Geuss
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It was hard to get a look into the Helico because the vehicle is really tall. Leyat apparently received 600 inquiries about this car after he showed it at the 1921 Paris Auto Show, but he only ended up building about 25 propeller-driven cars total.Megan Geuss
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Eat your heart out, hipsters. This 1914 Aero Powered Bicycle built by the Aerothrust Engine Company in Chicago married a 2-cylinder engine with a propeller to give a little extra oomph on your morning bike ride.Megan Geuss
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Engineers outfitted this 1920 Peugeot bicycle with a 1922 SICAM (Industrial Society of Automobile and Motorcycle Construction) engine to create this top-heavy bike. The gasoline engine can propel the bike up to 5mph on flat ground.
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This whale of a vehicle was built in 1946 in Hollywood by a couple of engineers who made custom auto bodies for wealthy patrons.Megan Geuss
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The "Hewson Rocket," as this car was called, was designed to be as aerodynamic-looking as possible, with minimal sharp edges. You'll notice the car eschewed outside door handles—this car is just a few steps from a Tesla Model S, really.
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Only one Hewson rocket was ever produced. The 3-speed manual, 85 horsepower engine was eventually auctioned off to a Minneapolis used car dealer in 1959 for $650.Megan Geuss
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The car's interior takes minimalism to a new level.Megan Geuss
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A whole hallway is devoted to historical bicycles at the museum. I walked through these quickly but if you're into bike history and you're in Nashville it's definitely worth a trip.Megan Geuss
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Through one of the back windows of the museum, you can see the 1959 LARC-LX (or the Lighter, Amphibious, Resupply, Cargo vehicle). The LARC-LX was built by the US military and can transport up to 60 tons of cargo between land and sea through breaking surf. It has four diesel engines, twin props, and four-wheel drive. It's top speed is 16 miles per hour.
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Here we have a monowheel built by Kerry McLean in 1998. It's got a centrifugal clutch and can go up to 40 mph. Apparently the wheel is unstable at low speeds, but by 15mph you can put your feet up on the footpegs.Megan Geuss
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Fun Fact courtesy of the Lane Motor Museum's flavor text: the first patent for a monowheel was issued to Alan Greene and Elisha Dyer in Providence Rhode Island in 1869.Megan Geuss
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Is that...is that a 2013 SoloWheel?!? Ars' Sam Machkovech tried a SoloWheel last year in Seattle. I guess the tech has now found its way into a museum.
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This fantastically whimsical vehicle is a 1952 Hoffmann, built in Germany after the second World War by Michael Hoffmann, a shop foreman from Munich. Hoffmann's car only had three wheels and topped out at 28mph, so it was technically considered a motorbike and therefore went untaxed. Hoffmann built the car from hardware store and junkyard parts, and it was restored in 1996. The restorer said the unusual engineering of the Hoffmann made its handling feel like "a drunk leaving a hotel bar."Megan Geuss
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"Looking at the Hoffman from the side, you will notice how far forward the rear wheel is," a sign in the museum reads. "The Hoffmann is the only car I have ever seen where the track is larger than the wheelbase, giving the Hoffmann a wheelbase-to-track ratio of less than 1!"Megan Geuss
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This tiny car is a working replica of a 1930 American Austin, but only 3/4 of the size of the original car. It was built in 1988 by a talented artist and fabricator named Bill Minor. Minor and his wife were petite people, so Minor custom-made this car to suit their size.
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This street-legal 1965 Peel Trident is a modified version of the world's smallest car, Peel's P-50. It weighs only 330 lbs and its 200cc single-cylinder engine tops out at 40 mph.Megan Geuss
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"The bubble glass top which rachets upward to allow entry works great from an ergonomic viewpoint," the Lane Motor Museum writes. "It works very poorly for ventilation, as on a sunny day, the car becomes an oven."
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This 1932 Helicron was discovered in a barn in France in 2000. It was badly dilapidated, but after an intense restoration project it was certified for road use in France.Megan Geuss
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The engine on this propeller-driven car had to be completely replaced, but many of the components, from the steering gear to the headlights, are original.Megan Geuss
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