And the winners of the Race to the Museum contest are...

By NMAH

We asked you to vote for your favorite of 8 automotive jewels in the Smithsonian car collection, covering 120 years of history . . . and you did! Nearly 24,000 people voted in the Race to the Museum contest over a period of 3 weeks.  Here are the cars that will come out of storage on January 22, thanks to your votes.

Miller

1948 Tucker sedan

The competition was stiff. “These two vehicles are powerful cars from our past that blew everyone away with their looks and performance,” says curator Roger White. “They are not mainstream vehicles, but they represent the diversity of the museum’s automotive collection, which spans many technological and aesthetic highlights.” Here is the breakdown of votes for all 8 cars:

Racetothemuseum

To learn more about each of the 8 cars, see Roger's blog posts about each vehicle and the press release about the winners.  Please note that voting is now closed. The Miller and the Tucker will be displayed for a limited time, January 22 through April 10, 2011.  

Dana Allen-Greil is the managing editor for the O Say Can You See? blog and the new media project manager at the National Museum of American History.