05/09/2026
The World’s Largest Classic Car Collection: 3000 Cars Built by a Husband and Wife
Driving through Tacoma, you may notice something unusual: an abundance of classic cars cruising the streets and lining local events. The city’s deep-rooted love for automobiles is no accident. Tacoma is home to two automotive museums and hosts numerous car shows each year, much of it thanks to the enduring legacy of the LeMay family.
Harold “Lucky” LeMay was once voted “least likely to succeed” by his high school classmates. Yet he went on to prove them spectacularly wrong. Starting with a single garbage truck, LeMay built his company, LeMay Enterprises, into one of the most successful businesses in the South Sound region.
With that success came a passion that would define his legacy. Beginning in the 1960s, Harold and his wife Nancy started collecting automobiles. What began as a hobby grew into something extraordinary. By the time Harold LeMay passed away in 2000, the couple had amassed more than 3,000 vehicles, making it the largest automobile collection in the world. Widely regarded as a national treasure, the collection spans the entire 20th century and includes cars, motorcycles, and trucks representing nearly every American manufacturer, along with many notable foreign marques.
Cars weren’t the only items the LeMays collected. Their family rule was simple: if a building had room for a car, it would house one. Any remaining nooks and corners, however, could be filled with other treasures. Over time, this led to an array of smaller but equally fascinating collections, including salt-and-pepper shakers, Americana memorabilia, neon signs, hose nozzles, and more than 2,000 dolls.
Harold LeMay’s greatest wish was to ensure that his collection would remain intact and accessible to the public. That vision led to the creation of the LeMay Family Collection Foundation. In 1996, LeMay began planning a nonprofit museum that would preserve the collection and allow others to experience it. That dream became reality in 2012 with the opening of LeMay America’s Car Museum in downtown Tacoma, just south of the Tacoma Dome. Additionally, hundreds of vehicles are displayed at the historic 80-acre Marymount site, home to the LeMay Family Collection since 1991.
For anyone with an appreciation for vintage vehicles, Tacoma is truly a destination unlike any other.
