Road trips- Lane Motor Museum

Still facing an ugly winter and need your car fix? Head to Nashville for the Lane Motor Museum. In addition to the four MGs featured in this issue, their collection contains an amazing mix of machines. First, some disclaimers. No, you won’t find rows of priceless Ferraris and Bugattis. You also won’t see any Corvettes, Camaros or Caprices. They only have one Porsche in the collection, a 911SC that was founder Jeff Lane’s first new car.

What they do have: a few hundred unique, unusual cars. We’re talking about microcars, amphibious vehicles and lots of cars from France and Czechoslovakia. They have more than a few Tatras as well as a LARC—that’s a giant, tank-toting military vehicle designed to storm beaches.

One thing the vehicles in the collection have in common is approachability. No matter what their insured value—and whether they’re made from metal, fiberglass, wood or even cloth—they all seem to possess something that makes us believe that we, too, could be seen behind the wheel.

If there’s a common theme among the vehicles displayed at the Lane Motor Museum, it’s the unconventional: The former bread bakery houses wooden cars, three-wheeled cars, microcars and unusual cars.

Contact: 702 Murfreesboro Pike Nashville, TN 37210 (615) 742-7445 [Official Lane Motor Museum Website](http://www.lanemotormuseum.org)

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Comments

TR3only Reader
7/10/12 1:34 p.m.

For more than 20 years, I lived in Memphis and passed through Nashville (rarely stopping) until I read about the Lane on the GRM boards. I spent nearly 3 hours there one December afternoon 3 years ago, and was rushing at the end so as to get back on the road. As the article says: vehicles in the Lane Museum are "approachable", to the point that you can get nearly close enough to touch some of them. 24 hours after visiting the Lane Museum, I visited the AACA Museum in Hershey...not nearly as fun. Most cars crammed so close together and poorly lit (an excuse for "atmosphere"?) as to be disappointing.

Joeltr6 New Reader
12/29/19 4:52 p.m.

In the past they had a rally to raise money for the museum in which you drive their cars for several hours in the wonderful Tennessee countryside usually Visiting interesting places like the Jack Daniels Distillery and eat lunch when you'll be eating you might just get a ride In a Amphi Car With Mr. Laneat the wheel Or should i say helm As we drove into the water. One year my wife and iPiloted A fiat X19 The following year my sister share the navigating In a Renault 5 turbo! It was a rally with questions Along the way. I don't know if they still do this but it was a wonderful experience