Outside of Nashville, there’s a gem of a tourist stop that has nothing to do with country music, or even with the South. It’s about cars; and, not just any cars, but ones you’ll not likely see anywhere else.
It’s the Lane Motor Museum, southeast of downtown on Murfreesboro Pike.
Auto museums can be found in any state, and most of them are worth a visit if you like classic vehicles. This one, however, outshines so many of them because the collection is virtually all vintage European cars.
You’ll not find Corvettes or ’43 Fords here. What you will find are names like Fiat, MG, Renault, and Austin. Where the collection really shines is in the many lesser-known names like Steyr (Austrian) and Tatra (Czechoslovakian). Many of the vehicles in the collection are prototypes or from very limited productions; so, they are true rarities. Mixed in are some Asian models including rare, early Subaru and Suzuki models. Small collections of vintage motorcycles and military vehicles are also on display.
Specialty vehicles play a clear role at the museum. This includes amphibious cars, 3-wheeled models like the BMW Isetta, microcars, electric cars, and even propeller powered cars like one called an Éclair currently awaiting restoration. My personal favorite is a bubble-roofed vehicle called a Peel Trident that looks like a cross between something flown on the Jetsons and a life-sized Hotwheel’s concept car. You can see a video of this car in action on their website at http://lanemotormuseum.org/video/
Founder Jeff Lane hails, from all places, near Detroit, and his family was involved in various ways in the American auto business. The roots of the Lane museum were planted with the restoration of a couple of MG T-series cars during his teenage years. His personal collection became the seed that sprouted the museum. Today, the Lane Motor Museum contains the largest European car collection in the United States.
Currently, there are about 150 vehicles on display, out of a complete inventory of over 300, in a restored former Sunbeam bakery building, circa 1950’s. The collection primarily covers the decades of the 50’s to the 70’s, but has a good number of cars from decades on either side of that era.
If you like cars; if you are interested in the history and evolution of automobiles beyond those from North America; or, if you’d just like to reminisce over that Triumph Spitfire you wish you still owned, put this museum on your must-see list the next time you are in Tennessee.
702 Murfreesboro Pike
Nashville, TN 37210
(615) 742‑7445
