There’s one thing we love almost as much as we love travel and our doggies: CARS! This is why we jumped at the chance to visit the National Automobile Museum Reno, NV. The National Auto Museum features a deep collection of cars and memorabilia covering an entire century of automotive history. Many of the vehicles featured are part of the Harrah Collection of cars and there are several one of a kind vehicles on display!
NATIONAL AUTOMOBILE MUSEUM RENO
When visiting Reno you too might be struck by the glitz and glam of the great food and casinos like we were, but at some point you have to stop gambling and take in some sights. That’s where the National Automobile Museum Reno comes in to save the day. It was an affordable and fun way to spend some time in the city. Considering how much we enjoyed it we felt it was an easy addition to our Reno travel guide. At the time of our visit admission was only $10.00 per person and that included a free recorded audio tour, if you’re so inclined (we weren’t :-)). The Museum is split into several galleries that are themed by era, and include much more than just cars. The first area we came to was their rotating gallery which featured this beauty!
After, we had a chance to peek in on their maintenance shop where they put lots of hard work, and elbow grease, into keeping these cars looking absolutely amazing.
From there we went into the first Gallery which features many fine specimens from the turn of the century. As you can probably guess, one of our favorites was this 1912 Rambler.
There were also many vehicles and other displays from the early age of automotive innovation.
The next gallery we visited featured vehicles from the golden age of automobiles. There were so many amazing cars that showed off what automotive beauty can really be.
This Chrysler once owned by Lana Turner in beautiful orange was one of my absolute favorites.
We couldn’t be the VW lovers that we are if we didn’t include this little gem hiding out in the gallery :-)
The museum doesn’t just include old classics though. There was a whole gallery dedicated to motorsports that featured race cars and other sporting vehicles. One of the ones that really stood out to us was the 1907 Thomas Flyer car. He used this car to win a New York to Paris race, by driving across three continents. Its mind-blowing when you really think about just how amazing of a feat that was considering it was completed in 1908. It made our Florida to Alaska trip pale in comparison, but also made us feel a bit like kindred spirits.
There were some really cool race cars in the gallery,
and a dune buggy or two I would love to take for a spin!
The last gallery in the National Automobile Museum Reno included lots of trucks and working class vehicles. One of the coolest things was the fact that many of these trucks were on the road until they day they were bought and restored for a collection.
There was an awesome fire truck,
a bread delivery truck
and, of course, a wine delivery truck :-)
In addition to all the fine automobiles there was a bunch of cool automotive memorabilia throughout the museum. There were lots of old metal signs and other functional pieces of automotive history.
Some of the coolest though were the pedal cars that were spread throughout the museum.
I personally liked this Bugatti one the best…
but this little guy is pretty cool too!
All in all the whole museum tour took about 2 hours and was a really great time. You don’t just have to be a motor head to enjoy it though. It’s so well themed that it’s really fun for the whole family. If you find yourself in Nevada, the National Automobile Museum Reno, is definitely a place you have to visit!
Details for the National Automobile Museum in Reno, NV
10 South Lake
Street Reno, NV 89501
775.333.9300
automuseum.org
Hours: M-Sat 9:30 – 5:30 Sun 10-4
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Here’s a gallery with some of our other photos from the National Automobile Museum Reno.
Someone needs to bring back wine delivery. For reals.
I agree 100%! Lets start that right now :-)
Loved this article and all the pictures were awesome! Papa earned a trip to Reno many years ago when Cory was about 4. We went here too so this brought back great memories. I loved this place. You know I totally dig old cars and this collection is the absolute best. I’d recommend it as a must see also! :)
We knew you would enjoy this article Laurie. It was a great time for us and i would like to go back and see it again :)
This looks like a place that my dad would love to visit! Pretty cool.