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Thursday, April 17, 2008
Museum Shows Car Collection
By By Laura Nesbitt /
Mountain View Telegraph
Archie Lewis was different from most kids because he liked to pick things up and keep them — most things.
“I don’t get rid of nothing… Well I did get rid of my first wife, but that was a long time ago,” Lewis joked as he stood in a lot beside a 15,000-square-foot warehouse building that he bought about five years ago.
Not one of the models is his favorite, although he admits liking the Ford Model T and Model A cars the best.
“One of my favorite things is to take an old pile of rust and make a car out of it,” he said.
Lewis moved to Moriarty from Albuquerque because he needed a bigger space to park his cars — all 550 of them.
The Lewis Antique Auto and Toy Museum is across from Lisa’s Truck Stop on Old Route 66 in Moriarty.
Inside his museum, he keeps a bunch of comfortable chairs in a semicircle in the same room with his restored cars.
“When the car clubs come out, they’ll all set in here. The guys’ll look at the stuff and the women will sit here,” Lewis said. They often drink coffee, soda and water, he said.
“Back in the old days, in early ‘49 and ‘50, ‘51, I bought old parts. My dad had a garage in Vaughn,” Lewis said recalling how he got started.
“I started gathering cars years and years ago, and this is what happened,” Lewis said while admiring about 30 restored vehicles in one of the large rooms inside the warehouse.
Lewis grew up in Vaughn where his father owned a garage. As he walked around delivering papers, he noticed cars in his neighbors’ yards. He bought his first car when he was 9 years old.
His second car — a 1926 Ford Model T that he bought that same year — is still sitting out in the dusty yard. Lewis drove the car home, while his father followed close behind.
“That’s when I learned to drive a Model T. They all work the same way. There’s a crank. They all had a crank,” Lewis remembered.
Inside is an all original 1926 Ford Model T that Lewis recently purchased from a friend who kept it in his garage in Albuquerque.
He explains how the three pedals on the floor are used, for low, reverse and to brake, along with a choke, a dash light and throttle.
“I like things of the past,” Lewis said.
The Lewis Antique Auto and Toy Museum at 905 Old Route 66 East is open from “about” 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. every day of the week but “call ahead” first, said Beth Alexander, Lewis’ wife.
For information call 832-6131 or lewisautomuseum@yahoo.com.>
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