If you walked through the doors of the Imperial Palace back in the day, the air smelled like a specific cocktail of stale cigarette smoke, cheap carpet cleaner, and—if you went high enough—expensive motor oil. It was weird. Most people hit Vegas for the slots or the all-you-can-eat shrimp, but a huge chunk of us ended up on the fifth floor of a parking garage. That was the home of the Imperial Hotel Las Vegas car museum, officially known as The Auto Collections.
It wasn’t just a "museum." It was a high-stakes showroom where everything had a price tag, even if that price was enough to buy a small island.
People still talk about it like it’s still there. It’s not. The Imperial Palace became the Quad, then it became the Linq, and in 2017, the engines finally went cold. But the legacy of that fifth-floor sanctuary is still the gold standard for how car culture used to live on the Strip before everything became a "digital experience" or a branded nightclub.
Why Everyone Still Remembers the Imperial Palace Collection
Vegas is a city of vanishing acts. Hotels disappear overnight. Casinos get imploded on live TV. Yet, for nearly 35 years, this car collection stayed put. It was the brainchild of Richie Clyne, who opened it in 1981. Honestly, it shouldn't have worked. You take a dusty parking structure, fill it with multimillion-dollar metal, and charge tourists a few bucks to walk through.
But it did work. It worked because it was accessible.
You didn’t need to be a billionaire to stand three inches away from a Duesenberg. You just had to find the right elevator. The Imperial Hotel Las Vegas car museum didn't feel like a stuffy art gallery. It felt like a garage—granted, a very expensive, climate-controlled garage—where you could actually talk to the mechanics.
The collection peaked at around 250 to 300 vehicles on-site at any given time. We’re talking about a rotating inventory worth over $100 million. It wasn't just about shiny paint; it was about the stories. They had the "Room of Rolls-Royces." They had the muscle cars that smelled like 1969. It was a physical timeline of how humans decided to get from point A to point B with as much ego as possible.
The Famous (and Infamous) Rides
Most visitors remember the "celebrity" cars. That’s what pulled people in. You’d walk past a 1939 Alfa Romeo and then suddenly find yourself staring at Hitler’s parade car. It was a 1939 Mercedes-Benz 770K Grosser Offener Tourenwagen.
Yeah, it was controversial. People hated that it was there; others found it a grim, necessary piece of history.
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Then there was the 1962 bubble-top Lincoln Continental used by JFK. It wasn’t the one he died in—thankfully—but it was a heavy hitter. The museum thrived on that mix of glamour and notoriety. You could see Elvis Presley’s 1976 Stutz IV-Porte. It was gaudy. It was loud. It was perfectly Vegas.
But the real nerds? They went for the Duesenbergs.
At one point, the Imperial Hotel Las Vegas car museum housed more Duesenbergs in one place than almost anywhere else on the planet. These were the "Model J" types—the cars that literally gave us the phrase "it's a doozy." Seeing twenty of them lined up was enough to make a gearhead faint. They represented an era where a single car cost more than ten average houses. In the middle of a casino where people were losing their rent money, that kind of irony was thick enough to cut with a knife.
It Wasn't Just a Museum—It Was a Market
Here is what most people get wrong: they think it was a static display. It wasn't.
Basically, it was a massive, slow-motion car dealership. Nearly everything you saw was for sale. If you had the bankroll, you could walk out with a piece of the floor. This "consignment" model is what kept the inventory fresh. You could visit in June and see a Tucker 48, then come back in December and find a Ferrari F40 in its place.
It provided a service for wealthy collectors who didn't want to store their cars in a private warehouse. Why pay for storage when you can display it in Vegas and let thousands of people admire it while a professional sales team tries to flip it for you?
Richie Clyne and later Robby Meisner understood the theater of the sale. They knew that a car looks better under bright lights than under a dusty tarp in a barn. The "Auto Collections" branding (which took over the Imperial Palace name later on) leaned hard into this. They weren't just curators; they were brokers.
The Weird Atmosphere of the Fifth Floor
If you ever went there, you know the vibe was... unique. You’d leave the bright, clanging noise of the slot machines and step into this quiet, muffled world. The transitions were jarring. One minute you're hearing "Wheel of Fortune!" screams, and the next, you're looking at a 1948 Chrysler Town & Country with wooden side panels.
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The lighting was always a bit dim except for the spots hitting the chrome. It felt like a heist movie set.
Wait, I should mention the "free" tickets. This was the ultimate Vegas hack. You could almost never walk a block on the Strip without someone handing you a flyer for a free admission. It was the easiest "comp" in town. Even if you paid the $10 or $15 gate price, it was the best value on the Strip. You could kill two hours there and see things that are now locked away in private vaults in Dubai or Switzerland.
Why the Imperial Hotel Las Vegas Car Museum Disappeared
Nothing lasts in Las Vegas. Especially not a parking garage full of vintage oil-leakers when the property is being rebranded for a younger, "hipper" demographic.
When Caesars Entertainment decided to transform the Imperial Palace into the Linq, the writing was on the wall. The new vision was all about "The High Roller" observation wheel and outdoor promenades. A dark, quiet car museum didn't fit the "Millennial" vibe they were chasing in the mid-2010s.
The collection officially shuttered on December 30, 2017.
It wasn't a bankruptcy or a failure. It was just the end of an era. The cars didn't vanish into thin air, though. Most were returned to their owners or moved to other showrooms. But the physical space—that specific spot on the fifth floor—is gone. You can't go back there and see the 1932 Chrysler Imperial LeBaron anymore.
A lot of the "daily drivers" and lower-tier muscle cars ended up at various auctions like Barrett-Jackson or Mecum. The ultra-rare stuff? That went back into the shadows of private collections. Some people say the museum’s closing was the day the "Old Vegas" car culture finally died.
Where to Find That Vibe Now
If you’re looking for the Imperial Hotel Las Vegas car museum today, you're out of luck. But you aren't totally stranded.
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- Shelby Heritage Center: It’s near the airport. It’s loud, it’s fast, and it’s got that Carroll Shelby DNA. It’s more focused than the Imperial collection, but the passion is there.
- Hollywood Cars Museum: This is closer to the "celebrity" vibe. They’ve got Batmobiles, James Bond cars, and the weird stuff from The Fast and the Furious. It’s a bit kitschy, but so was the Imperial Palace.
- Count’s Kustoms: If you’ve watched Counting Cars, you know Danny Koker’s place. It’s a smaller personal collection, but it’s free and has that genuine Vegas local feel.
- The Neon Museum: Not for cars, but for the signs. If you miss the era of the Imperial Palace, this is where its ghost lives.
Honestly, the loss of the Auto Collections left a hole. There’s something about a "permanent" collection in a transient city that felt grounding. It was a reminder that some things—like a well-tuned V8 or a hand-stitched leather interior—are worth keeping around, even when the rest of the city is busy tearing itself down to build something new.
Actionable Steps for Car Enthusiasts Visiting Vegas
Don't spend your whole trip looking for a ghost. If you want to honor the memory of the Imperial collection, do it right.
1. Check the Auction Calendars
If you want to see the level of cars the Imperial used to hold, time your trip with the Barrett-Jackson auction at West Hall, Las Vegas Convention Center. It’s the closest you’ll get to that "everything is for sale" energy.
2. Visit the Nostalgia Locations
Walk through the Linq promenade. It’s hard to believe, but look up toward the parking structures. That’s where the history was. Then, head over to the Peppermill Fireside Lounge. It’s one of the few places left that still feels like the era when the car museum was in its prime.
3. Search the VINs
If you’re a serious researcher, many of the cars from the Imperial Hotel Las Vegas car museum are documented in online registries. You can track where JFK’s Lincoln or the various Duesenbergs ended up. Most are in the hands of the Peterson Automotive Museum in LA or private estates.
4. Support Local Meets
Vegas has a massive "Cars and Coffee" scene. Every Saturday morning, locals bring out stuff that would have looked right at home on that fifth floor. Check out the gatherings near Town Square. It’s the "new" museum—it just doesn't have a roof.
The Imperial Palace car collection wasn't just a tourist trap. It was a 125,000-square-foot love letter to the automobile. It survived the rebranding of a hotel, the shifting tastes of tourists, and the literal decay of the building around it. While the physical museum is a memory, the cars themselves are still out there, probably being polished in a garage somewhere, waiting for their next owner to decide they're finally ready to sell.
The lesson here? If you see something cool in Vegas, take a picture. It might be a boutique hotel or a Ferris wheel by the time you come back next year.