Lane's SCA - 2002 SPC Rally (10)

Henry Ford Museum (24k)

On Thursday (August 8) we visited the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn MI. Ford Motor Company's manufacturing & testing facilities were along the way, and we tried to peek over the high fences along their test track from inside the Tahoe. We knew that interesting stuff was going on inside the Ford grounds, but not much could be seen from the outside.

Ticket (18k)

In addition to a wide variety of cars and exhibits on automobiles, aviation, and railroad stuff, the museum focuses on the history of technology and manufacturing.

Playing in the museum's large-screen IMAX theater were "Lewis and Clark: Great Journey West" and "Space Station 3D". "Space Station 3D" documented repeated space shuttle trips to build the International Space Station. The 3D affects when viewing with special polarized glasses were amazing - the technology has come a long way since the old red and blue cardboard glasses.

Ticket (20k)

Lobby (31k)

GT40 (35k)

This is the famous GT40 Mk 4 and only 12 copies of this car were made. This was the car that the American team of A.J. Foyt and Dan Gurney drove to victory in the 1967 24 Hours of LeMans. This was unheard of at the time - before then, nothing could come close to performance of the Ferrari team.

Read about its interesting racing history on David's GT40 site.

It was scary to think that cars like this were raced. Open cockpit, no seat belt, skinny tires, a wood frame, and a very high center of gravity. It must have taken a lot of skill and courage to pilot one of these.

Vintage racer (32k)

Model T (33k)

A very cool exhibit was this disassembly of a Model T Ford. It's amazing how few parts went into building this car.