Lane Motor Museum: A Sneak Peek at the Basement Collection

The 132,000 square-foot industrial building sits on the outskirts of Nashville. It began life in 1951, housing the Sunbeam Bread bakery, but when the bakery ceased operations in the 1980s, the building sat unused until 20 years later. 

The charming space, with its original maple floors, hand-laid brick, and some machinery still in place, was purchased in 2000 by Jeff Lane, a club racer and automotive collector who grew up in Michigan. 

Renovations soon began, and the basement of the building became a storage facility and workshop. Now it houses most of the collection, which rotates every couple of months. About 300 cars reside in the basement at a time; another 150 are on display upstairs.

Here are some photos of the rare and unusual cars that are living downstairs right now:

A Czech Tatra ambulance in the workshop. About 80% of the collection runs and drives, and Jeff says he tries to drive each car at least twice a year.

Parts are organized in shelves and bins surrounding the workshop. Some, like the Tatra emblem, are in poor shape, but incredibly hard to find.

A 1960 Saab 93, which began racing in the early 1960s, and was raced extensively from 1987 to 2001.

1938 Citroen Berline 11 Gazogene. This car was converted to run on coal during the German occupation of France in World War II. Range for this coal-powered car was only about 30 miles.

A mid-engined, rear wheel drive Alpine Renault GTA Turbo. This 1800 pound car was good for 200 horsepower and 140 miles per hour. It was also the first car launched by Alpine under Renault ownership, so the Alpine factory was completely overhauled to build these cars faster than Alpine alone could ever have managed to.

Another racing Saab on the left, the Saab Sonett. The "Sonett II" originally came to the US with a two-stroke engine, but it was woefully uncompetitive, and quickly replaced with a Ford V4 unit. Sonetts were designed and built as race cars, and competed well against Austin Healeys and Triumphs in SCCA events of the era.

Wartburg was one of two East German automotive manufacturers. This, the 311 five door Camping-Limosuine, used a frame and engine from DKW, probably a violation of intellectual property as Wartburg used BMW designs as their own until stopped by court order in 1952. This car, while stylish and well-appointed, was body-on-frame and used a two-stroke engine. In 1957, it was already badly outdated.

Staying in Germany, this is another DKW. This one, a DKW Universal van, has a quite modern layout, with trailing arm rear suspension and a front engine, front drive layout. However, the engine was only 700cc, and simply couldn't pull the weight when the van was loaded with cargo.