The Smith Collection Museum of American Speed

It was a dreary November day in Lincoln, Nebraska. The dull architecture of the industrial park did nothing to heighten my expectations. I was being dragged to see the car collection of “Speedy” Bill Smith, owner of the Speedway Motors mail-order speed shop. From my time following sprint car racing, I knew Smith as an eccentric, often irritating, racecar owner. I was expecting nothing more than a few dusty dirt-track cars back in the corner of the warehouse.

1935 Miller Indy Car

Instead, it seemed like the Smithsonian Institution had built the American Racing, Engines and Cool Cars Museum. I knew I was in for something special when a beautiful, blue 1935 Miller-Ford Indy car sat just inside the foyer.


It was as if an aircraft fanatic believed he was going to an old hangar to see few a tired AT-6s and a disassembled MIG-21, but instead stepped into the Udvar-Hazy branch of the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum and saw the B-29 Enola Gay, the space shuttle Enterprise and a host of secret Nazi aircraft. The Smith is to fans of American racing as the Udvar-Hazy is to fans of flying things.

Garage Diorama

The Petersen Museum in Los Angeles is acknowledged as the top car museum in the U.S. and many think the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum has the world’s best collection of racecars. But, trust me, the Smith Collection Museum of American Speed rivals them both in the cars and engines, and the attractiveness of the displays. The Smith allows you to time-travel back to the good old days of racing.


Almost as important as the historic and often one-of-a-kind cars and engines, there are things like the original garage façade from Gasoline Alley at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Next to it is the drafting table where Leo Gossen penned engine and parts designs for Miller and Offenhauser engines for four decades.