mom and dad came over for the thanksgiving weekend and we loaded up the van and headed to the lemay, american's car museum. quite frankly, it was amazing.
so many lovely colors and funky headlights. there were fins and hubcaps. white walls and hood ornaments. old and older, and even some futuristic. gas guzzlers and electric. foreign and domestic. fancy and plain. this place had it all.
harold lemay and his wife amassed their collection over several years. in 1997, the guinness book of world records recognized the lemay collection as the largest private collection of automobiles in the world with 2,200 vehicles. later his collection actually exceeded 3,400 vehicles. part of this collection has been donated to the museum to help honor not only lemay, but automobiles themselves.
what struck me most was the mission of this museum. it was for anybody, from the car enthusiast to the average joe or jolene. it was about all cars, not just one make and model. it was about personal car memories. don't we often think of cars as members of our families in a way? that's what this place was about.
there were guys with auto club jackets. folks who owned fancy schmancy cars. kids who dreamed of their first car. minivan moms and dads showing their kids how cars used to be (that would be us). 
hudson particularly fancied this one.
and what's an auto museum without slot car racing.
and lo and behold, the collection even had this beauty. a ford mercury wagon complete with attractive faux wood trim. ours growing up was red, but this one still brought back a lot of memories. and was it seriously this huge?
boon wondered why cars were so boring in color these days and why they weren't bright and colorful like the cars of the 50s and 60s. good question, my son. are people really happier in beige? i think not.
hudson was amazed that some of the trunks of early 1900s cars were literally trunks. weird!
the collection rotates frequently so we shall surely return.
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