Motorcycle Travel Laughlin Nevada

Cool Rides On The River

Old car and motorcycle enthusiasts are in for a treat when they visit the Riverside Casino in Laughlin, Nevada. Owner Don Laughlin, an avid car collector, has assembled more than 80 antique and classic cars, trucks, and motorcycles. From limousines once owned by historic figures, to glittering classics restored to showroom condition, exotic custom cars, to movie cars, to the battered motorcycle Steve McQueen rode to get away from it all, the collection has something for everyone.

One of the oldest cars in the collection is an authentic 1915 Ford Speedster, a gorgeous yellow machine that must have really turned heads back in the days when horses and buggies were still in common use.

For pure luxury, the collection’s beautifully restored 1930 Buick Roadster with rumble seat, one of only nine in existence, or the beautiful red 1937 Cord Speedster have to be admired. Built to fill the void between the popular Auburns and the high priced Duesenbergs, the Cord was a car ahead of its time, boasting such features as retractable headlights, front wheel drive, and a powerful V-8 Lycoming engine with aluminum heads, capable of reaching 110 miles per hour. The car was E.L. Cord’s last effort to keep his company competitive after the Great Depression. Though the car was an excellent design, it came too late to save the company, and Cord went out of business the same year the Speedster was built.

Another beautiful old luxury car on display is a lovingly restored 1941 Cadillac that looks like it did the day it rolled onto the showroom floor. Parked nearby is a 1948 Packard Super 8 convertible with electric windows and seats and flathead engine. The Packard has been owned by only two people since it was new.

The collection includes several rare automobiles that would be hard to find anywhere else, including a 1941 Hollywood Graham with a six cylinder supercharged engine; and a cute little 1950 Crosley Hot Shot. The sporty little Hot Shot, with its bug eye headlights and body with no doors was a very unique vehicle. It was the first production sports car produced in the United States after World War II, and came with four wheel disc brakes and an overhead cam engine. Only 750 of these little numbers were built, selling for $850. Another rare car in the collection is a 1954 Kaiser Manhattan, one of only 107 of this model built with power steering and a supercharged engine.

The 1950s were the glory days of the American automobile, and several outstanding examples of cars from that era are on display, including a 1950 Ford Woody station wagon, a perfect 1955 Ford Thunderbird, and perhaps the most recognized and coveted car of all time, a stunning 1957 Chevrolet with a 220 horsepower 283 cubic inch engine and Power Glide automatic transmission. “Sweet, Smooth, and Sassy” was Chevrolet’s slogan for the 1957, and those words ring as true today as they did when the cars were first introduced.

The 1960s are also well represented, with a beautiful and rare 1963 Studebaker Avanti R-3 sporting a supercharged 289 cubic inch V-8 engine. Auto industry trendsetter Andy Granatelli drove an R-3 Avanti to break the record for cars in its class, clocking over 170 miles per hour. The collection also includes a 1963 Buick Riviera with a 401 cubic inch V-8 “Nail Head” engine, Dyanflow two speed automatic transmission, air conditioning, power windows and seats, and cruise control.

We will never again see production automobiles like the muscle cars from the late 1960s and early1970s, when fuel prices were low and power was the name of the game. The Riverside’s collection includes several high performance automobiles from this era, including a Javelin, Corvette, and Dodge Charger, all looking like they would love to get off the display floor and take to the road one more time.

Custom cars in the display include a 1926 Model T Woody with a hand crafted body that took six years to complete, a 454 cubic inch Chevrolet engine with dual carbs, and tons of custom details. The Woody has taken trophies at many car shows.

Fans of actor John Wayne will appreciate his custom built 1966 International Travelall, which he used to work cattle on his Arizona ranch and took on safari to Africa. Nicknamed the War Wagon, the truck is equipped with air conditioning, heavy duty transmission, reinforced bumpers, and a roof hatch. Another reminder of the Duke’s film career is the beautifully restored Marriage Trap buggy used in the 1952 movie The Quiet Man, in which Wayne starred with Maureen O’Hara.

One interesting vehicle on display is the SolarWind, a three wheeled aerodynamic experimental car powered by seven batteries which were charged by either on-board solar panels, a wind generator, or household electrical supply. Built in the 1970s, the Solar Wind could cruise at 70 miles per hour. Ken Krutz, who designed the car, felt it was the answer to rising fuel prices in the 1970s, and given today’s market, it might still be a very good concept. Krutz wrote a book describing how anyone could build their own SolarWind in three months at a cost of about $5,000. If you want your own solar powered car, copies of the book are available in the Riverside car museum’s gift shop.

If you prefer to travel on two wheels, the Riverside has several rare and interesting motorcycles on display, including a 1949 Harley Davidson Pan Head that is an exact replica of Captain America, the chopper Peter Fonda rode to fame in the 1960 movie Easy Rider. The bike has a 61 horsepower motor and has been driven only 50 miles since it was built. The original Captain America was destroyed in the making of the movie.

A very rare motorcycle in the collection is a 1967 Velocette 500cc racing motorcycle, the only one of its kind in the United states. The bike remained in its crate since it was originally purchased and has never been started.

Several classic motorcycles are on display, including a beautifully restored 1947 Indian Chief with a side car, and a three-wheeled 1950 Harley Davidson Servi-Car. The Servi-Car was originally marketed to automobile dealers to tow cars. Some models were used for police work in several cities. They featured a hand shift mounted on the side of the motorcycle.

I was particularly thrilled to see the museum’s 1966 Triumph Bonneville, since I owned one of these 650cc bikes as a young man. Looking at this gorgeous restoration, I almost forgot the rule of thumb for these old English bikes was that for every hour you spent riding, you could expect to spend another hour working on it. Still, I’d have loved to climb in the saddle and take it for a spin.

Another motorcycle on display that caught my attention was the Black Princess, a 1980 Honda Gold Wing 1100 Interstate that Argentinean Emilio Scotto used to circle the world not once, but twice! The 485,000 mile journey took over ten years, crossed six continents, and covered 232 countries. Along the way Scotto burned 13,000 gallons of gasoline, 250 gallons of oil, went through 86 tires, 12 batteries, and nine seats. He survived four hurricanes, two tornadoes, two accidents, was shot at twice, robbed five times, was jailed as a spy six times, and received fifteen traffic tickets (thirteen of which were issued in California). Scotto also collided with a deer, an eagle, a baboon, a pig, an ostrich, two dogs, and several million insects in his travels. He witnessed a public beheading, encountered cannibals, almost died of malaria in the Congo, and married his girlfriend, Monica, in a Hindu ceremony in India.

The Riverside Car Museum’s displays are a rotating collection of vehicles open seven days a week, and admission is free to the public. The exhibit is located in the Classic Auto Exhibition Hall on the third floor of the south tower. It boasts a glass curtain wall with a commanding view of the Colorado River. The fully climate controlled hall encompasses approximately 30,000 square feet and includes a gift shop.

The Exhibition Hall also features several privately owned vehicles for sale on consignment by their owners. The Riverside is a licensed Nevada automobile dealer and can handle all of the details of a sale.

Whatever era of automobiles are your favorites, from classic horseless carriages to the muscle cars of the 1960s, Don Laughlin's classic car collection at the Riverside has something for you!

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