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National Automobile Museum
Rating Details »
- Hours:
Mon-Sat. 9:30 a.m. - 5:30 p.m.
Sun. 10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
12 reviews for National Automobile Museum
My family was in town with nothing to do except empty their pockets at the casinos, so I decided to take them here. I am really glad I did!
I had so much fun looking at all the different cars!! My grandpa used to sell cars back in the day, and he knew a lot about some of them, which was cool because I got my own personal little tour! They have it decorated pretty cool, with old oil stations and stuff.
A really good way to kill at least two or three hours.
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I recommend the National Automobile Museum. It's a Gem in the AAA guidebook and I can see why. If you like cars then you MUST go here!
It's only $10 for adults, $9 with AAA card. Seniors $8, w/ AAA card $7! They take credit cards.
It opens from 9:30am-5pm. We got there a little after 9:30am and stayed until 1pm!
Lots to see here. FREE Audio tour w/ the paid admission.
I recommend the Audito Tour - it makes it less boring then just reading everything. I liked it. The cars look GREAT too.
There's 4 galleries:
Gallery 1- cars from 1890s-1910s
Gallery 2 - Tweens - 1930s
Gallery 3 -1930s - 1950s
Gallery 4 - 1950s & Beyond
There's an Automotive Shop - didn't see anybody working on cars
Theatre - short 20 min movie, I did fall asleep so I missed the good stuff, oh well.
There's one car that you can get inside w/ a sign said "Photo Op" and you can even dress up: ladies hats & men's long coat. That was fun.
Some of the cars featured:
1936 Mercedes - Benz
1907 Thomas Flyer
1913 Stutz
Lana Turner's Chrysler
1933 Cadillac
Beatnik Bandit
Phantom Corsair
Small store to buy stuff. Bathrooms available.
Recommended if you're into cars, photography (Allowed & Flash too) & in Reno!
They have their own FREE parking lot in the back. That's nice.
Website:
http://www.automuseum....
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Put down your chips and cards, the Harrah Collection is a must see!!!!
I too didn't see any Volvo's. But going there, I knew this museum was not about having every single car manufacture in their museum. Historically, Volvo was indeed an important element of the history of automobiles, but it wasn't just wasn't part of Bill Harrah's car collection at this time.
I love the exhibit spaces with lots of adoration towards momentous personal transportation appearances, including Porsche, Ferrari, Dela Hayes, Mercedes, Ford and so many others. Cars were separated in a cute replicated town as eras, Vintage Early, Early, Pre-War (Art Deco), Post War, and 60s-70s. It seemed all do run and are impeccably maintained.
There is some kind of way one can "adopt" a car and restore it as needed. I didn't inquire how that is done, but if you have some time with some handy ways to restore cars, give them a call.
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Came here during Hot August Nights, as if I wasn't overloaded on cars already! But I loved it. Not huge, but some Awesome cars are on display, real treasures. Definitely worth it, the people at the front desk were super friendly as well. Back to the cars, Wow!! Not just american cars, they have german & british as well, some movie & tv cars too, even a Tucker! I liked how the place is set up too, with old street scenes, also displays with period clothes, emblems, old signs....
My only complaint is about the gift shop. They have some awesome books, but the best ones were sealed! I understand they want to keep books in good shape, but I don't want to spend $30 or more on a book if I can't look through it first. There was a Steve McQueen car collection book I was dying to look at but again, all were sealed. C'mon you guys, you need a display copy, you can always mark it down later on....next time you're in Reno, don't pass this place up!
Impressive collection and definitely information filled. I think I'd appreciate this place more if I was into cars... It as nice seeing how the auto industry developed and learning new trivia facts.
I have to say I had the most fun sitting and playing dress up in one of their "photo booth" cars... and coloring at the kids station. =P
Oh yeah... who can miss the "gold plated - delaurean?"
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Pretty cool place to take a look.
$10 or $9 if you have AAA membership.
Me and my girlfriend are not a big fan of cars, but it was fun and pretty worth visits.
The audio tour is free, make sure you ask the front desk about it.
I think this is definitely an interesting museum with a lot of cars and a great historical collection while at it. Many of these cars are in very good condition and worthy of such a grand collection.
However, overall, this place was kind of boring and there weren't really enough interesting facts or cars to keep me occupied, and I'm a car enthusiast that finds just about everything car related to be exciting.
This could be due to the extreme lack of any new / recent cars ... but it is a historical museum. The layout is pretty good and there are four galleries of significantly different types of cars from different eras. The video was funny at the end and it was a good way to kill about an hour or so. I wouldn't go back though.
Do you like cars?
I don't mean as in. . .gee, I like a nice Subaru.
I mean do you LOVE cars. As in, "OH MY GOD, did you see that sweet ass ride over there?"
Car love is something I inherited from my dad. He loved cars. So much so that there are many pictures of my mom and his beloved dog, Cleo, taken in his 1953 Chevy Bel-Air Convertible. My mom is all vampy, vixen like. Cleo looks lovingly into the camera. Sorry girls, the eye behind the shutter is fixed adoringly on the car.
I would say that my favorite period for cars are the 30's, 40's and 50's - I like the bold lines and curves of those cars. I like the innovative ideas people were coming up with as far as speed and style. I like how most cars of that era look like curvy women. Sexy.
I spend more time in Reno than I'd like to admit. I am not a gambler but my boyfriend has a route there and in order to spend more time with him, I sometimes go to Reno with him. The first few times were fun. I went to casinos, had asthma attacks from all the cigarette smoke and lost $10.00. Went to a few buffets and learned that when a buffet is bad, well, there is nothing worse. I was getting pretty bored with Reno until one day, at the Grand Sierra Resort, amongst the dismal display of humanity two shiny beacons of happiness were on display. . . two cars from the National Automobile Museum. Finally, something I could do in Reno that I could *love*! yay!
We went at opening on a Sunday. 10am. . .my nose pressed expectantly against the glass door. The first two displays sunk my heart. One old rusted out chassis and a history of old Nevada. Uh oh. I got suckered in by a tourist trap. Then the next display is a working garage where the only car on display was a 1994 Toyota truck owned by the in house mechanic. Uh oh. But then. . . nirvana. . .as you round a corner, a faux street scene unfolds and you're in business! Gallery one is 1890's to 1910 - the birth of horseless carriages, etc. Very interesting as you see evolution of style in not only the bodies of the cars but the technology as well. Steam engines, electrics engines with forty small batteries to power it. They also have clothing and artifacts from that era.
Gallery Two is the teens to 1930's - make sure not to miss the all copper Rolls Royce - not only is the body incredible but the V12 engine will make your knees weak.
Gallery Three was my favorite. It was the '30's to the '50's and these are the cars that really get my engine revving (sorry). My favorites were the 1948 Delahaye Type 135M Franay Convertible (thanks for introducing me to this car, Andy R.) and 1941 Chrysler Newport Dual Cowl Phaeton - one of six ever made and unreal in it's design. Just gorgeous! You can't touch the cars on display which is a real bummer - I have this need to run my fingers along the seductive curves of these cars but alas, it's not allowed. They do have some that are parked on the faux streets that you can at least get up close and personal with including a Jeep Wagoneer customized for one of the Harrah clan with a Ferrari engine - he wanted a car that would withstand the roads in the winter but also could haul ass. . .hence, the Jerrari was born.
Gallery four was my least favorite - hot rods and racing cars except for one exception which was the 1938 Phantom Corsair which was a prototype car. I had seen pictures of this car before and fell in love with it. It was so amazing to see it up close and personal. I think gallery four was a highlight for my sweetheart as it also contained a real Bat-mobile complete with the bat signal projected onto the wall. His eyes unglazed and he spent a good fifteen minutes taking it all in.
Muscle cars are woefully under represented here, unfortunately.
We got there at 10 and were done at closing time. I read every placard, I took in every detail of every car and left this place floating on air. Old cars are like great art to me and I loved this place.
FINALLY! A REAL reason to go to Reno!
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A great way to spend a couple of hours NOT in a Casino while in Reno. Not only are there a ton of old, neat cars to look at but it seemed like each car had it's own story -- like, "This Model T brought the very first bottle of milk into Reno in 1918" or something like that, totally nerdy and totally my kind of thing. The early car displays are also supplemented with other sorts of artifacts like clothes, jewelry, pipes and stuff. Also awesome are the entry ways into the different exhibit halls, they are all old-timey designed to look like 1930's movie theatres and saloons and different store fronts. Outside one of the halls they have an old touring car that you can climb into and an array of trench coats/men's hats and huge brimmed lace ladies hats that you can wear to make your own old timey photograph.
This place rules. One star for each time I wrote "old timey" in this review (and then some)
pretty cool but does not compare to the original
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4.5 stars. I think this museum should be promoted more widely - it's a great way to spend an afternoon! True, the emphasis isn't on recent cars - but this is a really well put together collection from "horseless carriages" to models made just after WWII. The cars are glossy and well-maintained, and the audio tour (included with your $10 admission) was fun and informative. I loved the faux streetscape as a background to some of the later cars, and the small collection of dresses were fun to look at too. Everyone always says "Californians love their cars" - but I don't think I really believed it until I found myself fascinated by this collection. I'm guessing people who are into design will also find lots to look at. I will definitely recommend this place to my friends visiting Reno.
The collection is huge. Nicely arranged with some street scenes including things from the time periods of the cars. Even a stop where you can put on hats and dusters and take a picture in one of the old cars. Some of the signs could have been a bit more informative; rather than just telling about the company that made it and what they did before, I find the more interesting information to be the new innovations- how this old car differs from the old car next to it; however some of that we were left to discern on our own. They had a variety of neat cars; unfortunately we had to rush through the last section of various racing cars and the area with the gold-plated De Lorean because we didn't allow enough time. My one personal complaint is that there was absolutely NO Volvos! Volvos should hold a great place in automotive history, and I don't understand why the 1984 minivan was there, but to not have any sorts of Volvos, I was disappointed. Otherwise a great, seemingly complete collection, at a very decent price. Great stop for visitors, just make sure to leave enough time.