2nd Annual Wheel Hub Live at the Museum of American Speed
Greatness is a fleeting thing, and it can be hard to repeat. That band with the amazing first album often struggles to follow it up. Movie sequels tend to be just a little less great than the first of the franchise. After the 1st annual Wheel Hub Live in 2023, the consensus was that something really great had occurred. It was a tough act to follow, so a ton of planning and hard work preceded the 2024 event. Having just spent another life-changing weekend at the 2nd annual event, we’re happy to report that all the hard work paid off.
In case you haven’t been following along at home, here’s a brief history of how we got here. This all started about a year and a half ago when the talented and imaginative crew at Wheel Hub Magazine began dreaming up an event that would bring together some of the incredible cars that had been featured in the magazine along with the talented builders behind them. At around this same time, the Museum of American Speed had just completed an expansion that they had not yet filled with cars. Why not, then, fill it up with these pieces of automotive art that the Wheel Hub crew was busy pulling together? The result was the 1st Annual Wheel Hub Live event, and it was spectacular. So spectacular, in fact, that we just couldn’t wait to do it again. So, over this past Memorial Day weekend, that’s just what we did. Here’s a recap of yet another fantastic collaboration between Wheel Hub Magazine, the Museum of American Speed, and sponsors Speedway Motors, ARP, PPG, and Griot's Garage.
Friday Reliability Run
It’s one thing to build a one-off work of art and park it under the lights in a museum. It’s another thing entirely to take that work of art out on the road where it’s subject to flying rocks, hungry potholes, and nasty weather. But that’s exactly what happened on Friday, as some of the featured cars and a couple hundred other fearless owners and builders hit the road to see some genuinely spectacular shops and collections. It turned out to be a beautiful Nebraska day as we hit the road in the morning. Our first stop was the amazing Kuck collection here in Lincoln. They don’t allow photography, so you’ll just have to take our word for it when we say that there’s some amazing stuff on display, from a Hemi Dart to the Mondello and Matsubara Fiat. From an SJ Duesenberg to the Mazmanian Corvette, and plenty more.
From there, we hit the road to Omaha to tour another mind-melting collection. Peter Fink has assembled a collection of muscle cars that is almost unbelievable. Words can’t do it justice, so we’re just going to let the pictures do the talking here. All of these cars, including some one-of-one examples, are in perfect running condition, hooked up to battery tenders and ready to hit the streets.
After we reluctantly dragged ourselves out of Peter Fink’s muscle car paradise, we headed up the road to Bennington to visit our friends at CAL Automotive Creations. You know these guys. They’re behind some of those beautiful customs and hot rods that you've been seeing in the magazines, and it’s always cool to get a glimpse behind the curtain at the shop where these wild creations come together.
Saturday – Wheel Hub Live
Saturday’s main event opened up the doors of the museum to the well curated exhibit of Wheel Hub Live feature cars. Speedway Motors also opened up their parking lot to hundreds of muscle cars, hot rods, trucks, and customs, making for an amazing collection of cars indoors and out. Again, words can’t really describe how cool it was, so we’ll let the pictures do the talking here as well.
Around noon, the party moved across town to the University of Nebraska Innovation Campus for the Wheel Hub Live after party. Food trucks and live music were on site to close out an epic weekend filled with cool cars and great people. A perfect way to end an almost unbelievable weekend.