PR Newswire·Oct 8, 2026, 8:53 AM ET

LOST FOR MORE THAN 90 YEARS, CHARLIE WIGGINS' HISTORIC RACE CAR RETURNS TO THE PUBLIC IN GROUNDBREAKING NEW EXHIBITION

LeMay – America's Car Museum opened the world-premiere exhibition "For Gold & Glory: A Tribute to Charlie Wiggins" on September 19, 2026, to honor driver, mechanic, & innovator Charlie Wiggins.
The exhibition features the original "Wiggins Special," a one-of-one race car that had been lost to history for over 90 years before being discovered in an Ohio barn just three months prior to the opening.
Former GM design executive Ed Welburn served as guest curator & led the effort to locate, preserve, & transport the car from Ohio to Pennsylvania for reassembly, then to Tacoma, Washington.
Wiggins' great-niece, Angie Rodgers, traveled with her two sons to Tacoma for a historic reunion with the family race car & the museum for the first time in nearly a century.
The Wiggins Special was driven to four Gold & Glory Sweepstakes championships during the segregated 1920s & 1930s, a series created for Black drivers excluded from mainstream motorsports.
Over 1,000 guests attended the opening day, marking the first public unveiling of the vehicle in more than nine decades.
The exhibition will remain on display at the museum in Tacoma for the next 12 months to showcase Wiggins' achievements & the barriers he faced.
Media assets including an eight-minute documentary film & a high-resolution media kit are available to document the car's discovery & the family's visit.
LeMay – America's Car Museum is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to preserving American automotive heritage & culture.