LeMay America’s Car Museum

Photo: LeMay – America’s Car Museum via Google Maps

LeMay America’s Car Museum sits right beside the Tacoma Dome, just off Interstate 5, in a building that is hard to miss. Its asymmetrical metal shell was designed to echo the form of a car body built over a chassis, and inside, the nonprofit museum spreads 165,000 square feet of exhibit space across several levels of cars, trucks and motorcycles.

The collection is broadly American and spans the 20th century, so it works for more than dedicated car people. You can trace how Americans traveled, raced and showed off over a hundred years, and kids get their own hands on corner with racing simulators. If you are passing through Tacoma, it is a short hop off the freeway, and the Tacoma Dome Station is about a five minute walk away.

What You’ll See

The main gallery shows cars notable for their speed, technology and design, and the museum mixes rotating shows with a core of long running exhibits. These are the ones that anchor a visit:

• Custom Coachwork: a showcase of fine custom bodywork, featuring classics like Duesenbergs and Packards.
• Lucky’s Garage: a tribute to museum namesake Harold E. “Lucky” LeMay and the collecting habit that started it all.
• Route 66: period vehicles set along “The Mother Road” that once linked Chicago to Los Angeles.
• Powering the Future: an interactive learning lab that explores cleaner ways to get around.
• Speed Zone: racing simulators and a slot car track, a favorite with younger visitors.
• The show field: a 3.5 acre lawn outside the building that hosts car shows and other events.

The Story Behind It

Harold LeMay was born in Yakima in 1919 and built a refuse business in the Tacoma area, starting a garbage collection company in Spanaway just after World War II. Along the way he and his wife Nancy collected cars on a staggering scale. At its peak the LeMay Collection numbered more than 3,000 vehicles plus thousands of automobilia artifacts, and in 1997 the Guinness Book of World Records listed it as the largest privately owned car collection in the world.

Harold died in 2000, and the museum carries his vision forward as a nonprofit dedicated to preserving automotive history. The City of Tacoma donated the land beside the Dome, and the museum opened on June 2, 2012, with more than 10,000 people turning out for opening weekend. The museum notes that USA Today named it one of the top eight cultural attractions in the world to open that year. A separate part of the family collection, still owned by the LeMay family, is on view at LeMay Collections at Marymount south of Tacoma.

Tips for Your Visit

• Parking is on site and included with your admission ticket, with accessible parking and a drop off roundabout near the entrance.
• Coming by train or bus? The museum is about a five minute walk from Tacoma Dome Station, served by the Sounder S Line and the Tacoma Link T Line.
• There is an elevator on site, but wheelchairs are not available to borrow, so bring your own if you need one.
• A café on site makes it easy to take a break between floors.
• If you want the full LeMay story, pair this visit with LeMay Collections at Marymount, where hundreds more vehicles from the family collection are displayed.

Plan Your Visit

Address: 2702 E D St, Tacoma, WA 98421
Phone: 253.779.8490
Website: americascarmuseum.org
Hours and admission: Check the museum website for current days, hours, and admission before you visit.
Directions: View on Google Maps