Behind The Ray Skillman Museum
- Nicole Meisberger
- May 14
- 3 min read
Updated: May 16
Ray Skillman restored his first car at age 14. Aside from running a car dealership in Greenwood, Ray and Bill Skillman opened a museum with an auto collection, carousel from 1928, bicycles, motorcycles, boats, pinball machines, neon signs and just about anything nostalgic you can think of. A number of items have been restored.
Housed in the middle is a 1928 restored carousel. The images on top of the carousel depict times of Indianapolis in the same era as the carousel such as, the entrance to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the circus coming to town. Ray purchased the carousel from an auction in 2017. Pinstriper Bill Pickerel, known as Lit'l Bill, received a phone call to add his personal touches starting in October of 2017. Lit'l Bill worked on the project from 8-5, Monday through Friday until June of 2018! Some of the horses have names on them. The names are of Ray's grandchildren. He let them come in and pick a horse to name after them. Yes, it runs! Lit'l Bill posed for a photograph under the canopy, in all his glory.
I watched Lit'l Bill etch gold around his numerals. Afterward, I wondered around on my own bending backwards to see the plane hanging from the ceiling, bending down to see inside the cockpits of vintage race cars, poking my head in classic cars and admiring the flashing neon signs from places many of us have known. The old coin operated rides, such as old chevy near a makeshift diner with mannequins, were just as enjoyable as the mannequins themselves. Everyone is there from Elvis, The Blues Brothers and Willie, to Donald Trump. Worker mannequins are with their vending mobiles or repairing cars.
The small things brought as much joy as the larger items. Next to the 1939 Chris Craft custom runabout barrel back boat sits a matching 10 cent child's boat ride. Another small boat model is pulled by a toy pedal tractor. It has an engine and you know it really runs. I don't know where else you will see such an eclectic collection along with a Donald Duck bike or a Huffy Radio bike under the same roof. You can even get up close to the Frisch's Big Boy. A replica Sunoco gas station and repair shop sits in the corner complete with details down to a vintage pin up calendar.
Racing History runs deep in the museum. Three generations of the Skilmans' have competed in NHRA, NMCA and NMRA drag racing. In 2021 Bill Skilman won the Holy EFI Factory Super Cars championship. Bill had won other races, along with his son Drew and Grandfather Ray, from Stock to Pro Stock.
The museum houses Jack Smith's 1957 Chevy which Ray was there to see the win so he had to have it.
Several Indy car drivers' cars are home to the museum. The Sumar garage doors displayed are the original doors from the 500 track.
Other fun things include the 1968 Lotus 56-3, an Indianapolis 500 car that was powered with a turbine. In 1985 the Oldsmobile was the Indy 500 Pace Car. A 1953 white, chevy Corvette was 27th off the assembly line. Steve McQueen drove the black Allard which sits near the staircase. Upstairs houses a library of every car on the floor. A neat replica of the vintage Ray Skillman Dealership with miniature people is also located upstairs. There you can get a complete overview of the entire museum. Lit'l Bill stated, "Ray is a soft spoken, simple man that made a career out of selling cars. The man makes his daily rounds in every department to see how each man is doing. It's been pleasure and an honor to be involved with the museum over the years and ll look forward to continuing to do work with them. The place is full of history and if you get a chance to see it, you should."
The museum is not open to the public. If interested in purchasing a vehicle or inquiries please contact John Blackburn below.
317-496-5082
1280 US Highway 31 S., Greenwood, IN 46143
Lit'l Bill
317-946-2630
Instagram; litlbillp
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