The Making of a Museum

by Bob Mays  

The Museum of American Speed is a non-profit corporation with 501c3 status. It was formed to preserve, interpret, and display items significant in racing and automotive history. Moreover, it presents a continuous chronology of automotive racing engine development. The collection results from the Smith Family’s involvement in racing and hot rodding and their lifelong passion for collecting and preserving racing and automotive history.

Visitors are treated to a stunning look at automotive and racing history in this presentation of the rarest collection of memorabilia, art, and unique vehicles from America’s past. See thousands of Model T accessories and fascinating items, including many cutaway engines. More than 300 professionally restored antique and exotic racing engines are on display, along with 500 pedal cars and toys from the early 1900s to the present. See the rarest of the rare on three floors of beautiful displays and dioramas.

But how did the Museum get to this point? Well, it started with founder “Speedy” Bill Smith’s penchant for collecting Ford Model T parts and accessories when he was a teenager in the 1940s. He soon expanded to Model A/B and Ford Flathead speed parts and grew from there. In 1992, he started a small museum as part of Speedway Motors in South Lincoln. In 2001, the museum moved to its current location with 100,000 sq. ft. of space. Two expansions later, the museum is now at 250,000 sq. ft. and will likely grow more in the coming years.

In 2024, the Museum of American Speed merged with two significant auto museums. The Unser Racing Museum moved from its former home in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and the Darryl Starbird Rod and Custom Hall of Fame Museum came to Lincoln from Afton, Oklahoma. Several dozen cars and thousands of artifacts from these two museums have been added and will soon be displayed in Lincoln.

The Unser Racing Museum celebrated the accomplishments of New Mexico’s native racing family, the Unsers. The museum celebrates four generations of Unser racing history. “The Unser family is one of the most storied families in automotive and racing history,” said Carson Smith, Director of Speedway Motors Museum of American Speed. “We’ve had racing partnerships with members of the Unser family for over 38 years and are honored to welcome the Unser collection to our museum.”

Legendary builder and entrepreneur Darryl Starbird designed and built hundreds of incredible customs. Starbird produced over 400 Rod and Custom shows and is credited for bringing Midwest builders national recognition throughout the 1960s and beyond. After founding the National Rod and Custom Car Hall of Fame Museum in the early 1990s the Museum of American Speed is proud to continue that legacy by merging with the Starbird Family and their museum. 

Other recent additions include the Ed Emery Engine Collection, the Eric Zausner Custom Hot Rod Collection, and the Mark Ostling Collection. 

The Museum of American Speed looks to the future with interactive displays aimed at a younger audience. The Lego race track is extremely popular with kids of all ages. A ‘hands on,” interactive area is being planned for the near future.

The two-wheeled set is well represented, with bicycles and motorcycles taking on a larger role in the museum. Nearly two dozen motorcycles populate their new gallery, ranging from street to racing to choppers and spanning the early to late twentieth century.

This new gallery includes more than 50 bicycles, including examples of Hutch, JMC, and SE Racing BMX bikes and late twentieth-century performance bicycles.This incredible collection truly does offer fascinating displays for every level of car enthusiast.