Representing Bonneville’s doorslammer ranks is Jim Frederick’s 1970 Plymouth Superbird, which set and repeatedly reset the B/A record from 1978 to 1982 (216.392). (Photo by Dave Wallace/Good Communications)

Although these local concerns failed to prevent the sales of more than 1200 valuable and invaluable vehicles, Mandel and other fans did persuade Holiday Corp. to give back 175 important cars (valued at $18 million—in 1980 dollars), as well as Harrah’s irreplaceable research library (worth $3 million). Further, community leaders were inspired to solicit sufficient funding to build a state-of-the-art museum for what remained of the collection, along with future acquisitions of vehicles and related artifacts. Nine years and $9 million dollars later, the National Automobile Museum opened its doors in downtown Reno, literally in the shadow of Harrah’s huge hotel-casino complex.

Having been fortunate enough to experience those endless Sparks, Nevada warehouses both before and after Harrah acquired Winthrop Rockefeller’s world-class auto collection (1975), I was determined to be disappointed with the much-reduced group that greeted my initial visit to the just-opened museum in 1990. Alas, I was. The cleverly constructed “street scenes” and luxurious surroundings could not replace all those hundreds of American cars in my mind. I vowed never to return—and never to spend another night in a Holiday Inn.

Here’s the beast that brought jet engines to Bonneville in 1960, launching the controversial thrust era. By the time owner-driver Nathan Ostich, a Los Angeles physician, sorted out all the bugs and reached 359 mph in his third and final trip to the salt (1963), rival-jet-jockey Craig Breedlove had upped the LSR to 407. A true hot rod, this 6000-pounder was designed by Hot Rod magazine’s tech editor, Ray Brock. Its suspension was built with components from a 3/4-ton 1967 Chevy pickup! (Photo by Dave Wallace/Good Communications)

Love ‘em or hate ‘em, it’s nice to know that so many of Ed Roth’s creations are preserved. Be honest, now: How many of you built a model of the Beatnik Bandit? (The author, for one!) (Photo by Dave Wallace/Good Communications)

Both of those vows have been broken, now. Fourteen years after my first museum tour, I found myself driving past the building and unable to resist the temptation to give it a second chance. I’m glad I did. The eight-dollar admission price seemed reasonable even before I pulled out my wallet; there in the lobby sat no fewer than six Ed Roth creations, including both Beatnik Bandits! Suddenly, all those warehoused Packards and Hudsons and Fraziers were relegated to some back corner of my memory chip—though I did begin wondering whether any of the straight-line race cars I remembered could have possibly survived all that’s gone down in the 27 years since Harrah died.