Thursday, July 2, 2009

Imperial Palace Classic Auto Collection - Review


Imperial Palace's Classic Auto Collection resides on the 5th level of the parking garage at the Imperial Palace Hotel & Casino. It is accessible via elevator from the casino level near the monorail entrance.

The collection contains over 100 million dollars' worth of cars including a rare Astin Marten, a mint-condition '72 Stingray Corvette with only 200 miles on it, the Starsky & Hutch movie car, and approximately 5 Rolls Royce Phantoms just to name a few.

Also in the collection is talk show legend Johnny Carson's childhood car. His parents sold the car when he was still a young boy, but he managed to find it again years later and repurchased it for his own private collection. The car is currently on loan to the IP Auto Collection by Johnny Carson's estate.

The autos are displayed in three large, air-conditioned rooms, and the whole area is well lit with plenty of space between each display and between the aisles. Each has a placard describing the car and listing some of the interesting facts about it, and they also advise if that particular car is for sale or not. The sale price - or the estimated value - is there for everyone to see, and there are a couple of cars listed as "priceless". Many of the autos in the collection are one-of-a-kind, or one of only a handful left in existence, and it's amazing to see so many cars in such fantastic condition in one place.

If you are so inclined and wish to purchase one of the cars for sale, a sales office is also located within the auto collection for your convenience. Prices of some of the cars range from $12,500 for a 1984 Corvette hard top to $5 million for one of the Rolls Royce Phantoms.

It's a good afternoon diversion for car enthusiasts. On a scale of 1 to 10, I'd rate the auto collection as a solid 8. If you're not a car enthusiast, skip it, because there's not much else on the 5th floor of the parking garage besides the collection and its gift shop.

Admission is $6, but you can get a free pass from the Total Rewards desk in the casino, from a cashier at any shop on the casino level, and in most Las Vegas magazines like Vegas 24/7. The collection is open to the public from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. daily.

2 comments:

  1. Sounds like fun and it's free!
    This will be on my itinerary.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I've visited a couple of times, and I enjoy seeing everything whether it's the same or if some things have changed. Can't beat free!

    ReplyDelete

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