July 29, 2020

Reno, Nevada

 In the heart of downtown Reno, Nevada, lies one of America’s top ten automobile museums. It’s called the National Automobile Museum. It showcases more than 200 automobiles in the 100,000 square foot space. I’m not particularly interested in old cars, but this museum was a pleasant surprise. Each automobile has been restored in pristine condition. Just seeing that many old shiny cars is impressive. They are arranged in four separate but connected galleries. Some are in settings of a used car lot, or arranged on an old street scene.

There are makes of cars from the United States and other countries. Each car has a story, and you can take your time to read about each one, or wander around and read about the ones that catch your attention. If you take the time to read about each one, it will take you two or three hours easily. But if you just want to wander, allow yourself an hour and a half at least. The mission of the National Automobile Museum (The Harrah Collection) is to “collect and preserve the automobile for future generations, with an emphasis on vehicles collected by William Fisk “Bill” Harrah, to tell the story of the impact of the automobile on American society, and to perpetuate the legacy of Mr. Harrah as a renowned collector.”

Here are some of the automobiles we saw.

This next one was interesting because it made into a camper complete with tableware, a water tank with spigot.

There were also several display cases with garments worn in those days such as those you see below.

I like this next one because it reminds me of when we had a 4 seat van back when we had 5 kids at home.

This next photos show the cars in a period street scenes. They also connect one gallery to another.

This next one is NOT a child’s car. It has a Briggs & Stratton motor.

I thought this was a clever display showing these old cars in a used car lot.

I think you might call this next one the first Chevy Suburban.

I like the hood ornament on this next one.

This next Rolls-Royce is all copper. Who gets to shine it every day, I wonder.

I like the color of this next one.

John Wayne’s car

My all-time favorite car–the Mustang!

 

Categories: RV Travel Tags: Automobiles, National Automobile Museum, NV, Reno, Reno NV, Reno sites to see, Vintage autos, Vintage cars