Let me shoot a seven with every shot: Vegas vacation, part 2

You wouldn’t think I’d visit Las Vegas without hitting up the Imperial Palace collection, would you? The last time I visited the town, I kicked myself for not making the time to see it, especially considering the fact that I stayed in the hotel immediately next to the Imperial Palace, so I swore I wouldn’t miss it this time.

Note that collection managers refrain from calling it a museum; instead, they call it a showroom, because almost all of the cars in the collection are for sale. Likely for that reason, every car in the collection was well lit and plainly displayed, rather than in a museum setting. The cars also seemed nearly haphazardly arranged, skipping easily among brands and motifs, though we did note that coachbuilt cars, as well as race-prepped cars, seemed to have their own spaces.

Several jewels jumped out, and of course I went snap-happy with the camera, so without further ado:

BAT5

BAT7

BAT9

This was the first time I had the chance to see the BAT cars in person. They’re just as impressive as I’d imagined, though smaller and with much older style interiors than I expected. These were some of the few display only cars that weren’t for sale.

1968 Bentley T1 Pininfarina Coupe Speciale – coachbuilt one-off for the Turin Motor Show. I loved the juxtaposition of the formal Bentley front end and the sporty sheetmetal from the A-pillar back.

Pair of Bizzarinis – 1966 P538 Spyder prototype in the back and 1967 P538 coupe in the front.

Another pair, this one of Gulf cars. In front, a 1964 Gulf GT40 Mirage coupe, allegedly the last surviving GT40-based Mirage coupe.

Just a Jag XJ220

I hate photographing cars with their hoods up, but it’s worth it here to see the fuel injection unit on this 1958 Del Ray post sedan. If they only got rid of the whitewalls, it’d have been perfect.

1934 Pierce-Arrow Silver Arrow. Oddly enough,

they had the 1934 displayed nearly on the other side of the showroom from their 1933 Silver Arrow. Seems to me it would make sense to display the two together, but I can see the ‘33 easily overshadowing the ‘34.

Matchless-powered 1934 Morgan Super Sport. I told Heather we could easily take it home in our carry-on luggage, but then she pointed out that it was yet another display-only car.

Now, few of the cars in the showroom were given any particularly special treatment, but here’s one that I thought deserved a little more fanfare: the 1948 Porsche custom sports cabriolet, the one Hans Weibel built for Porsche to display at the 1949 Geneva Auto Show. Granted, the Morris Minor grille doesn’t do much for its looks, and it sits on a VW platform, but it still seemed a little underappreciated.

No, the Imperial Palace is not connected to the Liberace Museum. And as underappreciated as that Porsche was, this Saoutchik-bodied 1948 Cadillac held a position of too much prominence. The car is actually one of two built of this general design; this example was built for Louis Ritter and displayed at the 1949 Paris Auto Salon.

This one caught me by surprise: a 1953 Cadillac Ghia, one of only two built. I didn’t realize Ghia was messing around with Cadillac behind Chrysler’s back in the early 1950s, and the result carries several design elements put to good use on the Ghia-built Chryslers.

As flamboyant as the Saoutchik-bodied Cadillac was, it’s amusing to note that Saoutchik also coachbuilt this elegant one-off 1953 Delahaye 235 coupe.

As you can tell, we’re firmly in the coachbuilt cars section, though not every coachbuilt car can be described as elegant or tasteful. Or even attractive. Take, for instance, this Vignale-bodied 1954 Rolls-Royce Silver Wraith. One-off, thank heavens.

Next up, the 1955 Lancia Blue Ray 1 and the 1956 Lancia Blue Ray 2, both Nardi creations, even though Michelotti designed and Vignale constructed both.

In between the Blue Rays (for what reason, I don’t know), rested this 1954 H.R.G. Twin Cam sports racer, one of three built, allegedly the last H.R.G. built, and allegedly still in original condition.

Really, the H.R.G. should have been over here, among the special-built sports racers, including this 1954 Aston Martin DB2/4 Bertone Spyder, the exact car built for the New York Auto Show.

A 1949 Veritas C-90 coupe, displayed next to a Veritas roadster, which I stupidly neglected to photograph. Still, awesome.

While I’m not the largest fan of Jaguars, I’d have sold my soul and a couple of tangible organs for this 1956 D-Type. With actual race history and excellent provenance, though, the guy that we saw down on the Strip offering to buy souls wasn’t choking up nearly enough money to purchase this.

Finally, another Jaguar, this one a 1961 E-Type semi-lightweight, one of the three that Briggs Cunningham bought and raced. Not as sexy as the D-Type above, but still worth one of them organs just for the Cunningham connection.