14 replies to this topic

[Mike Patterson]

How many of you were fortunate enough to visit Harrah's Automobile Collection in its prime? I was there in 1980, and was blown away! I have NEVER seen anything to compare it with. IIRC, Bill Harrah had 2 (or 3) of the 6 known Bugatti Royales. Awesome automobile, but just one of hundreds of great cars. My visit there is one of the highlights of my meager existence .

I'll post some pics of my favorites when I get them resized.

[slotbaker]

Never got to see the Harrah collection, so would love to see photos.
I think Harrah had two of the Royales.

I was lucky to go through Cunningham's collection (one Royale that I think is now in Schlumpf Collection), and the Imperial Palace where I was blown away by the room full of Duesys.

[chaparrAL]

I was there 1981, it was awesome. What ever happened to Bill Harrah s Ferrari V12 engined Jeep ?

[Alchemist]

I had an opportunity to visit Harrah's last summer.

I enjoyed all the cars but the one that really caught my attention was the "Detroit Electric" car. Direct drive, just like our slot cars. Interesting to note that back then the electric cars could achieve around 30 miles on a single charge and reach approximately 30 mph, and today other than the Tesla, most electric vehicles I've read about, especially home conversions, haven't surpassed this by much.

Anyway, I think anyone who pays to see Harrah's collection will enjoy it and the movie documentary of Harrah himself.

[Cheater]

I was able to spend half a day at HAC in 1979, I think it was. And yeah, it was stunning, although after a couple of hours of seeing car after car I'd never seen before or never even heard of, my eyes started to glaze over.

The day we visited they had the Bugatti Royale towncar outside where we could really look at it. That was fun!

[TSR]

Of course, what is left today of the original collection is but a pale image of what it was before its dispersion in the early 1980s. I was also lucky to see it before its virtual destruction.

I was also fortunate to be a constant visitor of the much smaller but fantastic Briggs Cunningham museum, and was very privileged to be able tro exercise many of the cars (all were in running condition) including the Bugatti Royale Kellner coupe. Quite a truck to drive, but the opportunity was fabulous!

The greatest IMO I drove was the Maserati T61 that Masten Gregory drove at Le Mans, with the long windshield going all the way to the front axle. The local police had an arrangement with Briggs, so such cars could be driven at decent speeds on a circuit that allowed the engine to get rid of any cobwebs...

I was lucky to go through Cunningham's collection (one Royale that I think is now in Schlumpf Collection),

Nope, the ex-Cunningahm Kellner coupe is currently in the hands of an anonymous owner after its one-time owner Hand Thulin had sold it in the mid 1990s. It is currently and discreetly for sale.

The Schlumpf Museum has the "Coupe Napoleon" and the Park Ward limousine.

[Cheater]

I was able to spend a very fun day at the Cunningham Museum in 1979, with the late John Burgess and Jim Toensing. I was with Car Collector magazine then and they were willing to pull any (or all!) of cars out for me to photograph. It was probably the finest small race car museum anywhere at the time, based simply on the fabulous cars they had.

[idare2bdul]

I was lucky enough to visit Harrah's twice. It was overwhelming. After Holiday Inn took it over and sold off much of it I didn't stay at one of their properties for over a decade.

In addition to cars they had a P38 with the observation nose. A pretty rare plane. I also enjoyed some of their hot rod motors including the flathead with the Duntov heads.

[Mike Patterson]

I got a few pictures resized. I will warn you, the quality isn't the best. The place was so huge it just soaked up the flash.

This is a Harry Miller race car. I wish I could have gotten different angles, but the cars were pretty much parked side by side.

Here's a rare one. It had just came back from the paint shop.



A 1934 Dymaxion, chassis #2 of 3. Designed by Buckminster Fuller. This is as far as the restoration got. No drawings or photographs exist of what the interior looked like.

Here's a hot rod, the 1938 Phantom Corsair.

I believe this was commissioned by the heir to the Heinz Pickle Co. I wish the photo was clearer, but black is hard to photograph indoors.

And last, a Duesey.

I'm sorry, but I don't have the year or model. Its red!

And thanks to Dokk for the corrections !

[TSR]

Actually that's Miller as in "Harry", not Frank...

The one you pictured is a very famous machine, and below is the one Leon Duray traded to Ettore Bugatti and that also graced for a short time, the Harrah's museum before being (literally) stolen from its rightful owner by the IMS:



And yes, that is the original color, the other Duray car was black with white chassis rails. FABULOUS machines, that were capable of 160MPH with their inline 8 cylinders supercharged engines. Worth millions today.

[Mike Patterson]

Philippe,

Weren't the Millers front wheel drive? Or am I thinking of another make? I remember he collaborated with Ford for an Indy racer one year, were they fwd?

[TSR]

Not all Millers were FWD. Harry Miller was a mechanical genius and began making RWD Indy cars after copying and reconstructing a broken 1913 Peugeot Indy engine that belonged to Bob Burman. This was just after WWI. The Miller FWD appeared around 1926 well after the Miller cars had become the best money could buy and were produced in sizable quantities for hand-built machines. Tommy Milton, who was blind in one eye, won the 1921 championship with his Miller RWD, and the Miller race cars won just about everything, only challenged at times by the Duesenberg brothers who could also build a serious car.

Ten front-wheel driven Miller "91" were built until 1929, and they are considered today as some of the finest machines ever built.

Then, the depression set in, and while it did not last long, bad decisions by later political leaders killed racing as it was known and let in a bastard formula that lasted until the end of WW2. Harry Miller died broke after having dominated racing.

There are books about Miller, the best by Mark Dees, called "The Miller Dynasty". I strongly recommend it, but it has become quite expensive...
Grif Borgeson saved the two Miller "91" that were stuck at the Bugatti works in Molsheim, but was screwed out of one by the Los Angeles Museum of Natural History in complicity with some pretty dishonest folks at the IMS and the Smithsonian Institution. The tale is well told in Grif Borgeson's own book, "The Golden Age of the American Racing car", another one I strongly recommend and that comes up time to time.

If you ever have a chance to see a Miller "91" in the flesh, it is pure artistry in metal. Pure beauty of form and execution. Unless you are a soul-less pig, you will fall in love instantly.

[Cheater]

P is absolutely correct about the Mark Dees and Grif Borgeson books, and copies of both are in my library.

"The Golden Age of the American Racing Car" was reprinted by the SAE in 1998 and for some time they have been closing them out for $5 each ($4 each to SAE members). At that price, it is the best bargain in an automotive book I've seen in years! Here's a LINK where it can be ordered. If you don't have this book, don't miss the chance to acquire it for a mere five bucks plus shipping.

"The Miller Dynasty" is long out of print but there is one seller who has the best price on new copies that I've seen in a long time: $225. Here's a LINK where it can be ordered.

[Mike Patterson]

Since Steve King was nice enough not to hijack my thread, I'm posting this just for him. This is one of Harrah's Bugatti Royales:



A truly AWESOME automobile ! I wish my photo did the car justice.

You think your ride's got some big rims? IIRC, The Royale's wheels are 36" in diameter. And that's without the tires.

[slotbaker]

They are huge, and glorius automoboobles.