IMS Museum to auction off historic cars later this year

SPEEDWAY, Ind. — Big changes are in store for the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum as construction crews continue working on the first renovation the museum has seen in decades. Now, fans can take part in an upcoming global auction first announced on Tuesday.

“We are going to sell 11 cars that are in our collection but really have no connection to the [Indy] 500 or anything that has happened here at the track,” said Joe Hale, the president of the IMS Museum.

The IMS museum partnered with RM Sotheby’s to make this happen, auctioning off what they’re calling some of the “world’s most desirable and historically significant cars.”

This includes a 1954 Mercedes-Benz W196 Streamliner ‘Monza,’ 1964 Ferrari 250 LM, 1966 Ford GT40 Mk II, 1957 Chevrolet Corvette SS Project XP64, 1908 Mercedes Brookland-Semmering Rennwagen, 1991 Benetton B191 Formula 1 Car, 1907 Itala, 1928 Bugatti Type 35B Grand Prix, 1911 Laurin & Klement Racer, The Spirit of America, and the 911 Mercedes 22/40 “Colonial Car” Touring.

“The main response I have gotten consistently from people is it’s a very prudent thing that you are doing because, in essence, you are guaranteeing the future of this museum for generations to come,” Hale said.

The announcement of the auction comes at a time when the museum is in full renovation mode. The $89 million capital campaign project includes $64 million worth of renovations inside the museum walls, an additional $15 million to be dedicated to a new automobile and equipment restoration facility at an offsite location, and $10 million to go toward the creation of an endowment. This is the first major renovation project for the museum in nearly 40 years.

“The entire building has really been scraped clean and we are starting over to better tell the stories of the [Indy] 500 and what has happened here,” Hale said.

That’s why Hale said these select cars are going up for auction to better fit the future vision of the museum.

“[The cars] simply never were in the [Indy] 500,” he said. “They have never raced here. They have no connection to the [Indy] 500 but they are very valuable cars.”

The auction is expected to raise more than $100 million but this will not go toward the ongoing museum renovations but instead an endowment to help fund the museum’s future.

“We can use that endowment to buy more winning cars, to enhance our collection and to take care of the cars we have,” Hale said.

The cars will be auctioned off in the next few months ahead of the museum’s grand re-opening in April 2025. For more information on the upcoming auction, click here.

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