Reno, Nevada - July 18, 2016: Vintage cars in the National Automobile Museum, Reno, Nevada, USA.

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National Automobile Museum

Top choice in Reno


Stylized street scenes illustrate a century’s worth of automobile history at this engaging car museum. The collection is enormous and impressive, with one-of-a-kind vehicles – including James Dean’s 1949 Mercury from Rebel Without a Cause, a 1938 Phantom Corsair and a 24-karat gold-plated DeLorean – and rotating exhibits with all kinds of souped-up and fabulously retro rides.

Of special note is the only surviving version of Buckminster Fuller's famous three-wheeled Depression-era Dymaxion car, the prototype of a model that (Fuller hoped) would eventually be able to take flight. The last Dymaxion was discovered in use as a chicken coop in rural Nevada before being rescued. Currently under renovation, mechanics hope this one-of-a-kind vehicle will be ready for display in 2020, at which point it will surely become a pilgrimage site for design geeks from around the world.


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