See three Crocker for sale!

[KNUCK]

I remember the first time visiting the Harrah's collection in Reno, my parents took me there when I was about 16 years old. I was so shocked at how many vintage cars, motorcycles etc. were there. My first time at a really huge collection, 1300 cars, just blew me away. Harrah had money, liked cars and motorcycles, what a perfect combination!!

[pisten-bully]

I wandered around the collection in the mid 70's, seems like the collection was housed in several buildings and not really a museum in the sense of having formal static displays. If memory serves me, everything was closely parked together, some identified with a label and others not, maybe even dirt floors and the vehicles seemed to mostly be in "as found" condition, a bit dusty and faded. It gave me the feeling that Mr. Harrah had let me wander around his barns looking for a while. I liked it!

(FWIW, I must not have gone in the museum? I delivered a shipment there and one guy showed me a couple buildings )

[Rubone]

I wandered around the collection in the mid 70's, seems like the collection was housed in several buildings and not really a museum in the sense of having formal static displays. If memory serves me, everything was closely parked together, some identified with a label and others not, maybe even dirt floors and the vehicles seemed to mostly be in "as found" condition, a bit dusty and faded. It gave me the feeling that Mr. Harrah had let me wander around his barns looking for a while. I liked it!

That wasn't my experience at all. I visited the facility in Sparks in '74 and it was very definitely a museum setting. All the high end cars (Franklin, Deusenberg, Pierce, Cadillac, Packard, etc.) were in group displays with dealership signs and related memorabilia, Rows upon rows of mainstream cars, lots with virtually no miles, a group of motorcycles. No dirt floors where I was. The rest of the grounds were shops for upholstery, paint, chrome, mechanical repair, all covering a huge area. Regretfully I wasn't able to stay longer as I was returning home on the back end of a motorcycle trip that had already taken me to the Canadian Rockies, the World's Fair in Spokane, down the coast and then inland heading back to NM.

[RichO]

Rubone, My Dad and I visited it about the same time you did qnd it was as you discribe it. a treat for us was finding the 49 Mercury that James Dean drove in Rebel without a cause in a back building Harrah had just bought it.

[grease monkey]

I never had the opportunity to visit the collection but did buy a lot of bound periodicals after Harrah passed from Ralph Dunwoodie who I believe was Harrah's chief librarian. I still have the English "Motorcycling" set from 1902 to 1955, 157 bound volumes. Also have various sales brochures with the "Harrah's Library" stamp. Anything automotive I passed on to Dr Fred Simeone ( RIP) in Philadelphia who started what has been deemed to be the best sports race car museum in the world. IMG_3255.jpg