Photos From the Former Auto Collections at the Linq Hotel Las Vegas

These cars used to be located on the fifth floor parking garage of the freshly renovated hotel in downtown Las Vegas called The Linq, and they were a somewhat hidden treasure waiting to be discovered. Ok, so maybe it wasn't exactly "hidden"... but we certainly weren't aware that up on this fifth floor parking garage of a Las Vegas hotel was a showroom of fine classic and antique automobiles. These cars were not only on display there, a lot of them were also available for sale. That's right, this was a real working showroom full of cars for sale!

This attraction would bring in hundreds of visitors, classic and unique car enthusiasts and potential buyers each year. The Auto Collection at The Linq Hotel was open daily, for a small admission fee, which was $8 when we went.

The Linq hotel is located next to Bally's, right on the Las Vegas strip. You would walk into what almost seemed like a tunnel (in reality, it was a circular drive that brought you to the hotel entrance of the hotel). It was a little bit hidden and definitely one of the older hotels in Las Vegas. But it was worth seeking out and going to see this collection of classic automobiles.

In addition to the classic auto's that were featured on the fifth floor of the parking garage, as you were walking through the hotel, you would see what they call "Dealer-tainers" - card dealers at the game tables who LOOKED like celebrities!

While were were there we saw "Don King" dealing at one table, and "Rod Stewart" at another. Dianna Ross was even dealing the cards. Now, these were NOT real celebrities but were look-alike actors, and some are very "close to the original" looking! It was fun just to walk through and see how many "celebrities" you could recognize.

When you got to the parking garage elevator, you would go to the fifth floor, where you would arrive at the entrance to the "auto collections." You'd go past the gift shop and show the attendant your free admission pass you've printed and you were there.

To walk through the entire showroom would take you at least an hour, probably more if you are really a car enthusiast. You could take your time reading the descriptions of each automobile and some of the car's history which was placed on signs in front of each car exhibited. There were stanchion's and a velvet rope, and they requested that you do NOT move the stanchions and that you do NOT touch any of the vehicles. But you most certainly were allowed to take photographs and we saw many people doing that when we were there.

Some of these vehicles are so rare that there are only one or two of them in existence. There were vehicles I certainly had never seen before, like a Chinese limousine (there are two Chinese flags on the front of it). It was very different looking from limousines in the U.S. It was really interesting to see these cars, even if you don't know a lot about the "mechanics" of them, they are fascinating to look at!

There were more than 800 vehicles in the showroom. Some were famous and all of them are stunning to look at. You would see unique hot rods, cars used in movies, cars owned by celebrities, rally cars, concept cars and antique vehicles - I can't recall any other venue where you could see a collection like this, all in one showroom! It was like taking an interesting walk through history.

Featured there was a vehicle previously owned by Johnny Carson, a 1939 Chrysler Royal Sedan. It was sold to the auto collections for a mere $1.00! This is the car that Johnny learned to drive in and he used this car to go to his high school prom. It was really interesting to look at the display surrounding the car as well... and you could even watch clips from "The Tonight Show" while you were there.

You were also able to see W.C. Field's 1938 Cadillac Limousine (featuring a "martini bar," which included an electric martini mixer) installed in it, probably the only vehicle in the world to have that! And you'd find Marilyn Monroe's 1955 Lincoln Capri, Mussolini's 1939 Alfa Romeo, and even Dwight D. Eisenhower's 1956 Chrysler Imperial Phaeton. You would find "one of a kind" vehicles that retail for up to $7,000,000 (yes, that IS 7 MILLION dollars!) Most of them were below $350,000 though, if that's any help!

You actually did even find some vehicles that sold for less than $100,000, and a lot of them had "sold" signs on them. So, this really was a working showroom as well as an interesting sightseeing adventure. Some people have said that you would see a different collection of cars each time you came to visit. Because of all the cars being bought and sold there, you'd notice a constant changing of the inventory.

There were special sections to the car showroom, including a "grand salon" where you were able to see the best "Classic" automobiles ever made. These included Rolls Royce's, Packards, Bentley's, Ferrari's, Aston Martin's and many others.

On the "Main Floor" you could see Alfa Romeo's, Chevrolets, Dodge's, Volkswagen's, BMW's, Buicks, Lincoln's, and even Shelby's, Stutz's and Coopers! It was an amazing variety of vehicles that varied from time to time, so even if you had been here before, it was worth another trip just to see all the new additions!

Las Vegas is a place known for constantly changing, renovating, updating and re-inventing itself. Although this attraction closed on December 30, 2017, this is one attraction that I hope they bring back, even if it were to open in another location. This way, future generations would be able to appreciate looking at these fascinating vehicles. I know we certainly enjoyed our time here, and touring this fascinating car museum provided a cool, blissful reprieve from the incredibly hot summer weather!