After 36 years, during which it likely was the most-attended car museum in the world, The Auto Collections, a collector car dealership/museum at the Linq (formerly Imperial Palace) in Las Vegas is closing. The facility’s last day open to the public is December 30, said collection manager Rob Williams.
“It will be a sad day, for sure,” Williams said, “but it was time to move on. We’ve been here a long time.
“Most of the cars are gone already,” he added. “We’ve been selling a lot of cars over the last few months. There are only about 60 still here.
Williams said a report earlier this week of a dispute over renewal of the lease with the hotel was incorrect. “This has been planned,” he said.
Originally known as the Imperial Palace Auto Collection, the collector car dealership disguised as a classic car museum was established in 1981 by Imperial Palace owner Ralph Engelstad and collection manager Richie Clyne, and has been housed in 65,000 square feet of an enclosed floor of the hotel’s parking garage on the Las Vegas Strip.
The collection became famous for its array of outlandish vehicles, including many owned by world leaders, including infamous dictators.
Rob Williams, son of Don Williams, the long-time car collector who runs the Blackhawk Collection in northern California, said that although the closing was planned, it will be a sad day. The Williams’ have been involved with the collection for the past 18 years.
“We’ve met a few million people and have built relationships with people from all over the world,” he said.
Williams said the collection “definitely is a really nice dealership where we bought and sold cars, and a museum attraction for the hotel.”
Does anyone know what happened to the cars that were collected at the Holiday Motel (not the Holiday Inn – Zimmerman lost that law suit) at one of the Hershey exits on the Pennsylvania Turnpike back in the 1970s?
Enjoyed your article on the
Auto Collections closing. Had I known it existed I would
have gone to see it on recent trip.
I’m from Wellington, New Zealand. I’m into veteran, vintage and classic cars an I visited this museum in 2000 while on a holiday to the USA. An amazing collection of cars.
I bought a 1939 Lincoln Zephyr V-12 sedan from Auto Collections in Las Vegas. It had been owned by James Hetfield the front man for Metallica. We still own it today and it is with us at our home in Meadows of Dan, Virginia
It would really be nice if just one of theses articles had the facts correct and would make the clear distinction between Ralph Engelstad’s Auto Collection and the sales venue that was the auto collections. Ralph had a museum and the auto collections was just another used car lot and could never be compared to the original Imperial Palace Auto Collection! Oh by the by my husband was assistant curator of the original Imperial Palace Auto Collection 1985-2000 and was Director of advertising for the auto collections from opening in 2000 until 2003 at which time he resigned.
Please call me 9185578390 [email protected]. My sister was PT Tausinga Ralph’s secretary at the IP