National Automobile Museum
The National Automobile Museum is not just an ordinary tourist spot. Its high standard 105,000-square-foot building is a top-notch of its kind. The building is incorporated with smooth and rounded exterior walls finished with Heather Fire Mist, popular car paint in the 1950s.
The museum is arranged in street scenes that signifies every quarter of the 20th century. Along the streets are the galleries where avid car collectors and tourists find the different classic car exhibits. A timeline which chronicles the events, achievements and progress of the car collections’ technology and style serves as a guide for the car fanatics.
Although Reno is known for casino, spending your time in the museum is worthwhile. Some of the vintage cars you see in the movies are showcased in the galleries. There are over 200 vintage cars divided into era enhanced by audios of the car’s history. Car enthusiasts may take the whole tour for 2 1/2 hours or spend the whole day inside the museum.
Apart from the museum favorites, there are new exhibits each year featuring new cars plus themed-car displays in the Masterpiece Exhibits gallery. Also, the Changing Exhibits Gallery offers the artistic and historical feature of the tour. The exhibit does not only feature historic cars, it also includes race cars, celebrity autos and even motorcycles. Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra and James Dean’s car is definitely a must-see.
The museum is enhanced with auto-related artifacts, art collections and vintage clothing. Its interior design is completed with gas pumps, emblems and car badges, paintings by Robert Cinkel, several vintage gowns, jewelries, bags and accessories from the late 1800s and early 1900s.
National Automobile Museum is not built solely for displaying vintage cars but it provides a broad Automotive Research Library for scholars, enthusiasts and even the public. The library holds different references such as sales literature, technical books, restoration manuals, wiring diagrams, paint color chips and formulas and many more. It also holds events for group party, sales functions, corporate presentations and weddings for 50 to 1,200 visitors.
Annual membership programs are offered by the museum. Members can enjoy different benefits while fees collected are used as the museum’s source of revenue.
Located in Reno’s Riverwalk District, the internationally recognized museum bagged many awards and recognition. Among the awards include “Top Ten Museums” by Car Collector magazine, AutoWeeks’ one of the best 16 cars and “Best Museum in Northern Nevada” in Nevada Magazine’s Annual Reader’s Poll. Most of the museum’s collection is from the well-known collector William “Bill” Fisk Harrah showing the impact in the American society of the automobile and its relevance to education.
