Just thought I'd throw an FYI out to the Wa folks that the LeMay museum in Tacoma is starting an F-series display on Jan. 10th. While not real huge (website says 20 trucks from '48-present), it's in addition to all the regular displays and worth a visit, especially if you've never been. There has been a Mustang display going on that ends on the 5th, so if you want to see that, better hurry. Happy New Year!

LeMay Museum

 

Thanks for the heads up! I'm a fan of mustangs so I've been informed to visit the LeMay museum. I plan to at some point.

 

Anyone know if Lemay still ever shows the larger inventory?

 

Not sure what you mean by "larger inventory". I know that in the days before the museum, he would open up all his storage barns/warehouses once a year that held his entire collection. I believe those days are gone. A lot of them weren't museum quality. The museum inventory that is displayed will have some permanent/long term cars, and some that are rotated in and out. Much of it is on loan from other sources around the country, and is not all from the LeMay collection. Hence the real name of the museum; Americas Car Museum. They also run "Themed" displays for limited engagements like the Mustang, and now F-series. The first time I visited it was the "British Invasion". The idea is to keep it fresh enough to bring people back every few months.

 

Yeah the barns in Spanaway. Went there a couple times back in the day, personally I like that kind of stuff better then museum stuff. Curious if with the opening of the new one they'll never show the whole inventory again.

 

Look here- LeMay Family Collection Foundation

Open six days a week is a lot of what's left Harold's collection. I say "What's left because as you may already know, the LeMays donated about 600 cars to start the museum. At opening, only 43 (Yes 43), were displayed. What happened to the rest? Much to the dismay of many LeMay loyalists, many were auctioned off as being redundant, or not museum worthy. The LeMay family reclaimed some, and now have their own "Museum" at the Marymount, which is in Tacoma. So yes, you can still see much of the original collection, along with many other items.

I do enjoy the Tacoma museum, but it is not LeMay's collection.

 

The TV show Strange Inheritance did a show on Harold LeMay, his collection, the family, how the museum scammed them, etc. Pretty darn good, Made me want to frequent Marymount and boycott the other. I'll have to make a another trip to Marymount. I was lucky enough to get a private tour back in the day, be nice to see it now.

 

You can still go to the Marymount grounds and the residence during the Lemay auction held in late August. It's the only day of the year where they're both opened up for the public. They also have a show and shine on the grounds too, so you'll see rides that don't belong to Lemay as well. It's worth the trip. I've been there a number of years........maybe one of these years, i'll drive Buford over for the show as well.