The Pacific Northwest is lucky to have a nationally prominent automotive museum. America’s Car Museum in Tacoma, Washington is worth an occasional visit because of its interesting variety of vehicles. However, I spend more time with a less-prominent outfit that is also located in the Tacoma area — the LeMay Collections at Marymount.
LeMay doesn’t have a fancy new building like the ACM, but it displays a much larger number of vehicles. Indeed, LeMay has so many automobiles that they are jammed — literally — into a number of warehouses located on the former campus of the Marymount Military Academy as well as at the LeMay family’s private “garage” (which is a bit larger than what us plebs might have).
You can visit the Marymount Event Center throughout the year, but I most enjoy attending LeMay’s Annual Show. This year it will be held Saturday, August 25 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. (go here for details).
The Annual Show is particularly interesting because it presents three types of vehicles. In addition to LeMay’s collections, you can take a look at cars up for auction as well as those displayed by patrons.
LeMay’s collections currently total more than 1,500 vehicles (go here for the inventory). Each year the show highlights some of its most notable cars. For example, a few years ago a 1949 Kaiser Deluxe four-door convertible was given major billing.
Some iconic cars have been displayed regularly for years. A case in point is this 1982 DeLorean DMC-12.
LeMay has a fair number of meat-and-potatoes post-war American automobiles. Even so, they have not neglected obscure foreign cars such as this 1959 BMW 600.
The usual classics can be found, such as a 1937 Cord Westchester 812. This one tends to be displayed in a showroom rather than one of the warehouses. This makes for better photographs because cars are spaced farther apart and lighting is usually brighter.
Each of the collection’s buildings has a somewhat different ambiance. The linear architecture of this building’s skylighted roof complements the grille of a 1949 Packard Super Eight limousine.
This warehouse is fairly dark once you move away from the doors. Here is a 1960 Studebaker Lark, whose tall and stubby greenhouse and rear deck contrasts with that of a 1955 President Speedster in the background.
Last year’s auction included a variety of vehicles, such as a 1976 AMC Pacer, 1965 Chrysler 300 and this 1969 Ford Mustang Mach 1.
One can also find classics from the early part of the century. Last year I was drawn to a 1920s Dodge with a fascinating radiator ornament.
All manner of cars are shown by their owners. Here is an early-70s Mercury Pantera. In the background is a “bathtub” Nash that was for sale.
Last year a 1960 Panhard PL 17 drew quite a few questions by perplexed viewers — particularly regarding the small size of the engine relative to the car.
Of course, no American car show would be complete without the display of late-50s, sci-fi styling. Here is the interior of a 1958 Mercury Turnpike Cruiser.
On your first visit to the LeMay Annual Show you could easily spend half a day . . . doing a lot of walking.
Fortunately, LeMay’s rules are more relaxed than those of some high-falutin museums. For example, you can carry a backpack with food and drink. Most importantly (at least for me), you can bring a camera with a tripod and are not restricted to taking pictures “for personal use only.”
All in all, LeMay provides an invaluable service to automotive historians, serious or armchair. I hope that the museum’s parent nonprofit, the LeMay Family Collection Foundation, continues to keep its events casual and accessible to us regular folk.
SOURCES:
- Wikipedia; 2017. “Panhard PL 17.” Page last edited January 7; accessed August 8, 2018.
Look at the fit and finish on that Delorean! Atrocious!
It makes me wonder if the plastic nosecone has shrunk a bit with age.
Love the period mags on the Lark, and the color!
I visited the museum a couple of years ago with my son-in-law and enjoyed it very much. I’d certainly go back next time I’m down in the Seattle area, especially if there is a car show on the property.
This would be a great destination for an eventual CC PNW meetup. On the other hand, I have been with CC groups that have taken hours to get through museums with 50 cars. 🙂
I believe I spy a third Studebaker in that lineup behind the turquoise Lark and the President Speedster – the unmistakeable sloping rear deck of a 1947-52 convertible.
Mercury Pantera? I thought it was a De Tomaso Pantera.
Thanks for the great pics. Lots of fun to see.
It wasn’t badged or marketed as such as far as I know(like the Capri) but the Panthers was sold through Lincoln/Mercury dealers in the US.
I learned something new today- thank you. I’ve been to the museum multiple times, but never at tis location. Oh well, something to look forwards to.
America’s Car Museum is also part of the LeMay collection.
And to think it all started with a guy and a truck picking up garbage who liked cool cars. He turned that business of picking up garbage into a gold mine and he spent a lot of that money on cars. From what I understand before opening the two museums the had a number of warehouses all over Pierce County with a massive amount of cars.
We’ve had two recent Lincoln & Continental owners Club meets here and the venue is wonderful. It’s the absence of “museum quality” that makes it unique, plus the wonderful depth of the collection. A terrific place!
I was privileged to get to know Harold LeMay, and in his later years of collecting cars he had learned to buy the best available example of any particular make or model he was looking for. The cars that are in the museums at his house and at the Marymount site are almost exclusively exactly as he bought them, even to still having the license plates that were on them at the time. My old 300L hardtop is an example. He did restore some cars, and there would be one or two featured each year at the end-of-August event.
I remember riding around with Harold and another friend to look at some of the warehouses he had in Pierce County. One of them had been a chicken barn, and the dust on the cars there had a high percentage of chicken pinfeathers in it. In that barn I saw a 1959 Edsel station wagon that I am sure had belonged to my landlord years earlier – the light green on tan colors were close to unique. One of the warehouses had metal racks arranged so that there could be two layers of cars.
The Studebaker International meet will be held adjacent to the LeMay museum in Tacoma from August 28-September 1 at the LaQuinta hotel. It’s rarely on the west coast and should be a well attended show.