Take a trip to the Edge Motor Museum

The museum is located in the Edge District of Memphis. The Edge District was apparently named for being on the edge of Mid-Town, on the edge of downtown, and on the edge of the medical district. On our visit the showroom featured a 1951 Muntz Jet with a Lincoln flathead engine and a 1950 Oldsmobile Rocket 88.

Over the past few years, several auto museums have been closing their doors and selling off their contents. Bucking that trend is a new auto museum that opened in 2019 in the Edge District of Memphis, Tenn. The new Edge Motor Museum has some famous attractions nearby such as Sun Records, Beale Street and Graceland, each generating a lot of tourist traffic — including to the Edge Motor Museum. Thanks in part to its neighbors, the Edge Museum is off to a good start.

The Edge Motor Museum is located in a historic building that was built in the 1920s as the Cherokee Motors automobile showroom and assembly plant. The building even has its overhead conveyor track still in place. There are three levels to the museum and despite its age, all levels are ADA compliant.

Anchoring an exhibit of cars on the main floor is a 1968 Corvette Stingray with T-Tops, a tri-power 427-cid V-8 and a four-speed manual transmission. The optional side-mount exhaust system originally cost $147.45. Just behind it is a ’67 Corvette Sting Ray, a ’67 Shelby Mustang GT 500, an early 1965 Mustang convertible and a ’63 Studebaker Avanti.

Bob Watkins serves as museum director and Richard Vining is executive director. Both gentlemen are knowledgeable about all of the display cars and are glad to share information. If they are unavailable, every car is accompanied by an iPad providing information about the car on display.

As auto museums go, the Edge Motor Museum is on the smaller side, usually displaying 20 to 25 vehicles. Most of the vehicles are on loan to the museum, with the oldest during our visit being a 1929 Ford Model A speedster; the newest was a 2005 Ford GT with 521 miles. The vehicles are rotated often so what is displayed one month probably won’t seen the following month or so. The inaugural exhibit is titled American Speed, which tracks the rise, boom, plateau and fall of the American sports car from after World War II to 1974.

An interesting exhibit in the museum is a display of tires and how they evolved from the solid white rubber tire used on the first automobiles to the radial tires of today. This Firestone Non-Skid 30 x 3 solid vulcanized rubber tire has a tread pattern that spells “NON SKID.”

The city allowed the closure of Marshall Street in front of the museum for a car show in the fall of 2020 that was very well attended. The museum is now planning shows for Spring and Fall to be annual events. The city also accepted an offer by museum personnel to decorate light poles along Marshall Street during the holiday season. The one-of-a-kind decorations are chrome antique automobile wheel covers inside green wreaths.

Available for purchase in the gift shop are a wide variety of items including model cars, car puzzles, T-shirts, baseball caps and auto-related souvenirs. Candles are sold, with the second most popular scent being Burnt Rubber.

The Edge Motor Museum is a non-profit museum dedicated to the preservation of historic vehicles and education about the history of the automobile. Museum memberships are available and include unlimited visits, library access, gift shop discounts, free use of a meeting area, plus other benefits. Donations are appreciated and are tax deductible.

The Museum is open 363 days a year, closing only on Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day. Hours are 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, and 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday.

This ’29 Ford Model A speedster was put together with a wide variety of parts. It has a highly modified 1932 Model B engine putting out 75-90 hp. The rear body of the car came from a Model T. The dashboard is from a 1928 Chevy and the foot-steps are from an old stagecoach.

Glasspar was already a successful builder of fiberglass boats when it ventured in building sports car bodies. It manufactured a body kit that could be fitted to a chassis. It is believed that for a short time, Glasspar sold some factory-built complete cars. This 1953 Glasspar G2 is displayed on a turntable in the center of the museum. It has a 239-cid Ford V-8 engine with three deuces and three-speed manual transmission.

On the left is a 1970 Mustang Boss 302, a model produced for just two years. It has the Shaker hood scoop, a $65 add-on, and also has a factory hood-mounted tachometer. The Boss was built with a four-speed transmission with Hurst shifter and dual four-barrel carburetors. On the right is a 1970 Dodge Challenger R/T convertible. The Challenger had nine engine options in 1970 and this one has the brawniest of them all, the 426-cid Hemi V-8 with dual four-barrel carbs.

The Crosley Hot Shot is considered by some to be the first American sports car. This restored 1949 Hot Shot competed in the Six Hours of Sebring Race in 1950 and won the race by averaging the best speed in its category of displacement. It has a four-cylinder engine putting out 26 hp, a three-speed manual transmission and is equipped with four-wheel original disc brakes. Just before the race, the number was hand painted on the car with brown shoe polish. The exterior color is Jonquil Yellow and it has red leather interior.

MGs are among the best-loved cars by sport car enthusiasts and it is believed to be the car that fueled America’s interest in sport cars. This beautifully restored 1950 MG TD is the only non-American car on display in the museum. The TD was built from 1950 to 1953. Only 2500 were built for the United States in 1950.

Edge Motor Museum
645 Marshall Ave.
Memphis, TN 38103
901-441-2277
edgemotormuseum.com

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Cherokee Motors Automobile Showroom Edge Motor Museum Memphis Attractions

Leroy DrittlerAuthor