- The Mormon Meteor III speed racer has been acquired by Utah Historical Society for the Museum of Utah.
- The car was commissioned by Ab Jenkins, who set multiple speed records in the vehicle and promoted the famed Bonneville Salt Flats.
- Along with Mormon Meteor III, the Museum of Utah will display over 800 objects from the state’s collection.
A record-setting race car painted in bright blue and orange colors is set to become the Museum of Utah’s largest artifact for display.
The Mormon Meteor III land speed racer will be a part of the Museum of Utah’s “Inspiring Utah” gallery when it opens on June 27, 2026. The vehicle, which was commissioned by Ab Jenkins in 1937, has been acquired by the Utah Historical Society from the Price Museum of Speed.
During a press event on Wednesday highlighting the acquisition of the Mormon Meteor III for the museum, Utah Historical Society Director Jennifer Ortiz shared that the opening of the museum is a gift to Utahns for the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.
Ortiz added that the goal of the museum is to reflect the state of Utah.
“So we’ve worked really hard to make sure that that’s something that we do, whether that’s stories that are going to be really familiar to people, or perhaps stories that might feel a little new,” she added. “We wanted to make sure that we are reflecting the people of Utah, almost like a community museum on a statewide level.”
The history of the Mormon Meteor III and Ab Jenkins
Jenkins was a record-setting Utah driver who brought global attention to speed races in Utah. In 1937 he hired auto engineer Augie Duesenberg to build the vehicle, along with Jenkins’ teenage son Marv.
The car was designed to hold a powerful Curtiss Conqueror airplane engine and it was made for endurance record runs. The name came from reader suggestions during a Deseret News competition.
It was first tested in 1938 and made its debut run on the Bonneville Salt Flats in July 1939.
Jenkins became the 24th mayor of Salt Lake City in 1940 and set 21 speed records during his four-year term. His records included a 24-hour record averaging 161 miles per hour in the Mormon Meteor III.
During World War II, when races at the Bonneville Speedway were canceled he sold the car to the state of Utah for exhibition. The car was on display at the state Capitol from the 1940s to the 1980s.
When racing resumed after the war, Jenkins borrowed the car back from the state to set more records. The car’s last record-breaking race was in 1950. During that run on the Bonneville Salt Flats, 67-year-old Jenkins set more than 20 records.
In the 1990s, the Mormon Meteor III was reclaimed by Marv Jenkins, who helped build the car. He meticulously restored the vehicle, spending over 6,000 hours to complete the project.
Marv later sold the car to former ambassador and Utah businessman John Price, who displayed it at Salt Lake City’s Price Museum of Speed.
In 2023, Ab Jenkins was inducted in the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in Daytona Beach, Florida.
The historical society has an online interactive 3D rendering of the Mormon Meteor III that can be viewed at this link.
Why the Mormon Meteor III is important to Utah’s history
“This is a piece that really represents so many elements of Utah history, and we are grateful to be able to keep it in the state and show it to members of the public,” says Museum of Utah Director Tim Glenn when introducing the vehicle on Wednesday.
Glenn shared that Jenkins and his Mormon Meteor III are important to the state’s history because they helped Utah make its mark in the world during a time the state was trying to prove itself so soon after gaining statehood. What Jenkins accomplished in speed racing brought international attention to the state.
“We were sort of put on the map in that moment,” Glenn says.
He added that as officials traveled the state asking for input on what to put in the museum, a large number of people asked if the Mormon Meteor III would be one of the items included in the museum.
Displaying Utah’s history for the public
The Museum of Utah will be located in the North Capitol Building on the Utah Capitol complex. It will be free and open to the public.
“It really is a generational opportunity to help tell the state’s story in a way that is comprehensive and incorporates many different people and voices and objects,” Ortiz says about the museum.
The Mormon Meteor III will be part of the Inspiring Utah gallery, one of the museum’s four permanent galleries, which was designed to feature the car and tell the story of how the races at the Bonneville Speedway drew international attention.
The three other galleries are: Becoming Utah, Building Utah and Connecting Utah. These galleries along with temporary exhibition space will cover over 17,000 square feet. There will be over 800 objects from the state’s collection on display in the museum.
On Wednesday, the historical society had multiple other items on display that will also be included in the museum. These items included objects from the Topaz Internment camp outside of Delta, a 1950s style cowboy shirt that was worn by Marty McFly in the Utah-filmed movie “Back to the Future III” and a telescope that Orson Pratt used to guide pioneers of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints into the Salt Lake Valley.
Ortiz and Glenn said as they put together the museum a lot of it was community driven as they took input from people and communities all around the state to make sure everyone was reflected in the museum.
One important benefit of the museum is that it will provide proper storage space for the thousands of objects and pieces of artwork that the historical society already owns.
The museum is partly supported by private donations, and Ortiz says she hopes people visiting the museum will feel inspired to donate.
“We have a significant collection and still have gaps. So part of having things on display is also hopefully the community comes in and sees how well things are being taken care of, how we’re really cherishing these objects and doing educational work with them, that they are inspired to actually donate,” she added.