The Auto Collections At Imperial Palace Las Vegas

Located on the fifth floor parking garage of the Imperial Palace hotel in downtown Las Vegas is a somewhat "hidden" treasure waiting to be discovered. Ok, so maybe not "hidden"... but we certainly weren't aware that on this fifth floor is a showroom of classic and antique automobiles that are not only on display there, but a lot of them are available for sale! That's right, this is a working showroom of cars!

This attraction brings in hundreds of visitors and buyers each year. The Auto Collection at Imperial Palace is open daily, for a small admission fee, and sometimes by checking their website, you can print a coupon for free admission. Be sure to check the website.

The Imperial Palace hotel is located next to Bally's, right on the Las Vegas strip, and you walk into what almost seems like a "tunnel" (in reality, it is a circular drive that brings you to the hotel entrance of the hotel). It is a little bit "hidden" and is definitely one of the older hotels here in Las Vegas. But it is worth seeking out and going to see this collection of classic automobiles.

In addition to the classic auto's featured on the fifth floor of the parking garage, as you are walking through the hotel, you will see what they call "Dealer-tainers" - card dealers at the game tables that LOOK like celebrities! While were were there we saw "Don King" dealing at one table, and "Rod Stewart" at another! Now these are NOT the real celebrities but are look-alike actors, and some are very "close to the original" looking! It's fun just to walk through and see how many "celebrities" you can recognize.

When you get to the parking garage elevator, go to the fifth floor, where you will arrive at the entrance to the "auto collections."

To walk through the entire showroom, it will take you at least an hour, probably more if you are really a car enthusiast! You can read the descriptions of each car and some of the car's history which is placed on a sign in front of each car exhibited. There will be stanchion's and a velvet rope, and they request that you do NOT move the stanchions, and that you do NOT touch any of the vehicles. But you most certainly ARE allowed to take photographs, and we saw many people doing that when we were there.

Some of these vehicles are so rare there are only one or two of them in existence. There were vehicles I certainly had never seen before, like a Chinese limousine (there are two Chinese flags on the front of it)... different looking from limousines in the U.S. It was very interesting to see these cars, even if you don't know a lot about the "mechanics" of them, they are fascinating to look at!

There are more than 800 vehicles in the showroom, some are famous, all of them are stunning to look at. You can see unique hot rods, cars used in movies, cars owned by celebrities, rally cars, concept cars and antique vehicles - I can't recall any other venue where you can see a collection like this, all in one showroom! It is a fascinating walk through history.

Featured here is a vehicle previously owned by Johnny Carson, a 1939 Chrysler Royal Sedan. It was sold to the auto collections for a mere $1.00! This is the car that Johnny learned to drive in, he used it to go to his high school prom, and it is fun to look at the display surrounding the car as well... and you can even watch clips from "the tonight show" while you are there.

You will also be able to see W.C. Field's 1938 Cadillac Limousine (which had a "martini bar," which included an electric martini mixer) installed in it, probably the only vehicle in the world to have that! And you'll find Marilyn Monroe's 1955 Lincoln Capri, Mussolini's 1939 Alfa Romeo, and even Dwight D. Eisenhower's 1956 Chrysler Imperial Phaeton. You will find "one of a kind" vehicles that retail for up to $7,000,000 (yes, that IS 7 MILLION dollars!) Most of them are below $350,000 though, if that's any help!

You actually WILL even find some vehicles that sell for less than $100,000, and a lot of them will have "sold" signs on them. So, this really IS a "working showroom" as well as an interesting sight seeing adventure. Some people have said that you see a different collection of cars each time you visit, because of the cars being bought and sold here, a constant changing of inventory.

There are sections to the car showroom, including a "grand salon" where you will see the best "Classic" automobiles ever made. These include Rolls Royce's, Packards, Bentley's, Ferrari's, Aston Martin's and many others.

On the "Main Floor" you can see Alfa Romeo's, Chevrolets, Dodge's, Volkswagen's, BMW's, Buicks, Lincoln's, and even Shelby's, Stutz's and Coopers! An amazing array of vehicles that will vary from time to time, so even if you have been here before, it is worth another trip just to see the new additions!

If you're looking for a way to beat the heat of outdoors, or if you are simply a car enthusiast, you will enjoy checking out "The Auto Collections" at the Imperial Palace Hotel in Las Vegas.