The Museum of American Speed

The Museum of American Speed

Back in the Day.

“I dunno. Might work. Seems reasonable. Let’s build it and see.” And what would follow would be hours, maybe weeks and months, spent in a garage or shop, machining, grinding, and welding. Then off to the dry lakes. Or board track. Or brickyard. Or dirt track. Or drag strip. Or salt flats. Or road course. Or Pikes Peak. Maybe the part worked surprisingly well and created a demand that turned into a business.

Because you wanted to go faster. And the go fast stuff was either not invented yet or too expensive or didn’t work.

You had to rely on common sense, intuition, and experience. Maybe you had been a P-38 Allison engine mechanic and were itching to get your hands greasy again on your own project that the war interrupted.

In the post-war era’s frenzy for go-fast hardware, there were scores of manufacturers that had an idea of what they thought would make power. Most of the names of speed equipment manufacturers that we recognize today came from that stock.

Is time travel possible?
Yes. The Museum of American Speed is proof positive.

Step back in time. 250,000 square feet of analog invention in an era of long hand arithmetic and slide rules. Made in America by visionaries with a desire to make it better. Faster.

On Friday April 25, the Museum of American Speed (located in Lincoln, Nebraska) had a ribbon-cutting ceremony of their new addition to house the Unser and Herzog collections. I was there. In the Unser exhibit there were several Indy cars, sprint cars, and several of Bobby and Al Unser’s pace cars (Indy winners were given a Pace Car replica), including two that had my graphics (1975 and 1981) when I was in Buick Studio. There is a physical vault that has a collection of the Unsers’ awards, including watches and Indy 500 rings.

Saturday was spent exploring the three floors of displays and collections. Not enough time to take in just the vast collection of engines, let alone the rest of it. Some of the cars and displays were roped off, but most were not. A user-friendly atmosphere. Great for close inspections and photography. There were men in Speedway shirts meandering around to keep an eye on things I suppose, but they were very well informed and more than willing to explain this or that. Volunteers, I understand.

Engines as Functional Sculptures

I thought Duntov’s ARDUN heads for the Ford Flathead V-8 were unique. But there were myriads of valve train innovations that included many dual overhead cam designs. One amazing flathead V-8 transformation utilized two geared shafts (rotated from the front of the crankshaft) that extended up to gear sets that spun the dual camshafts. “Davies” was cast onto the cam covers. He must have been a very skilled craftsman and artist to design and engineer this beautifully executed hardware.

There is a Miller room displaying a stunning collection of Harry Miller’s masterpieces surrounded by murals and photos from his era. Offenhouser engines are in abundance, in cars and on display throughout the museum.

Flathead Ford engines in every configuration imaginable were everywhere. Chevy small block cylinder heads apparently flowed well and were cheap, because they were adapted to all sorts of engines, from flat fours to V-4s.

More from the Wayback machine: There are collections of radiator caps with thermometers, vintage car accessories, car club plaques, driver’s suits, real American-made tools, equipment, album covers, lunch boxes, models, and toys. There were several Fisher Body Craftsman’s Guild cars on display.

The Museum of American Speed is about an hour drive southeast to Lincoln on I-80. About half way is another fantastic museum—the Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum. (My photos from 2006)

If you get even close to the Speedway Motors Museum of American Speed, don’t miss it.

One final thought. Today’s cars are like cell phones. Disposable. I seriously doubt that in 50 years there will be a Museum of Tesla Electric Motors.

—Photos and Text by Gary Smith. Published by permission of The Museum of American Speed.