October 7, 2016
Posted By : Barrett-Jackson

STARDUST MEMORIES: Las Vegas’ long love affair with cars

STARDUST MEMORIES: Las Vegas’ long love affair with cars

October 7, 2016
Posted by Barrett-Jackson

Testing at the Stardust Raceway in 1965. (Photo courtesy of Las Vegas News Bureau)

Testing at the Stardust Raceway in 1965. (Photo courtesy of Las Vegas News Bureau)

Over the years, Nevada’s most famous city has been associated with many things, from its glittering casinos and glamorous entertainment to its neon lights and notorious Mafia ties. But what may come as a surprise is that Las Vegas also has long been a mecca for auto aficionados as well.

Opening Day at the Stardust Raceway, September 21, 1965. (Photo courtesy of Las Vegas News Bureau)

Opening Day at the Stardust Raceway, September 21, 1965. (Photo courtesy of Las Vegas News Bureau)

If you were a die-hard “car guy” who was into racing in the late ’60s, you’d no doubt be headed to what was then considered the far west side of Las Vegas – the intersection of Tropicana Avenue and Rainbow Boulevard – to the brand-new Stardust International Raceway. For three glorious years, this was where the veritable Who’s Who of racing gathered. Mario Andretti. Parnelli Jones. Al and Bobby Unser. A.J. Foyt.

For most of its existence, the Stardust Hotel-Casino owned and operated the facility, which featured a flat, 3-mile, 13-turn road course and a quarter-mile drag strip. No fancy Las Vegas frills here, but hard-core racing fans from all walks of life flocked to the site, sitting in the rudimentary bleachers to watch racing’s finest tear up the track.

The raceway played host to Can-Am, Trans-Am and USAC Champ cars, among others. Craig Jackson, CEO and Chairman of Barrett-Jackson, vintage race car driver and award-winning restorer, vividly remembers going there with his parents to watch his brother Brian, who raced there when he ran SCCA. “My brother was there with Phil Hill and Jim Hall, with the Chaparrals,” Jackson recalls. “I was there the year Jim Hall had his horrific wreck, when his Chaparral broke in two.” It was the fall of 1968 for the Can-Am finale: Hall was overtaking Lothar Motschenbacher when Motschenbacher’s McLaren broke a suspension upright and all but stopped in front of Hall, whose Chaparral launched over the McLaren high into the air, coming back to Earth and landing upside down on the track. “I was just a kid, but I remember it clearly,” said Jackson. “I had a piece of the broken Chaparral in my room for a long time.”

Phil Hill (left) with Brian Jackson at the track.

Phil Hill (left) with Brian Jackson at the track.

That race marked the end of major road racing at the Stardust Raceway, although the drag strip was kept open another couple of years before real estate developers turned the location into what is now the Spring Valley community.

Not long after bulldozers leveled Stardust International Raceway, plans were developed for the Las Vegas Speedrome about 15 miles northeast of the glittering Strip, consisting of a road course and drag strip. A 3/8-mile short track would become part of the complex in the late 1970s as well. But in 1996, the new $72 million Las Vegas Motor Speedway opened on the site with an Indy Racing League event; the first NASCAR Sprint Cup (then Winston Cup) event was held there in March 1998. Now a 1,200-acre complex of multiple tracks for motorsports racing – including a big NASCAR weekend every March – the Speedway also offers a number of driving “experiences” for enthusiasts wanting to get behind the wheel themselves.

Jim Hall in his Chaparral at the Stardust Raceway, 1968. (Photo courtesy of Ron Christensen)

Jim Hall in his Chaparral at the Stardust Raceway, 1968. (Photo courtesy of Ron Christensen)

“Vegas has a rich racing and car history that people don’t usually think about,” says Craig Jackson. “Besides the track, there is a lot of off-road racing. The Mint 400 started in Vegas, and of course there’s the famous Barstow to Vegas race.”

The Mint 400, known as the toughest, most spectacular off-road race in North America, was first run in 1967. Although originally designed as a promotional stunt for the Mint Hotel, it soon grew into a legitimate desert race, with entrants coming from well-known names from all racing genres as well as the television and motion picture industry. Actors Steve McQueen and James Garner, comedian Mort Sahl, astronaut Gordon Cooper, and racers Parnelli Jones, Al Unser and Rick Mears were among the many who competed in the event. The Mint 400 race ended in 1988 after the sale of the Mint Hotel, but was reincarnated in 2008 with the Great American Off-Road Race.

The pits at the Stardust Grand Prix (Can-Am cars) in 1967. (Photo courtesy of Las Vegas News Bureau)

The pits at the Stardust Grand Prix (Can-Am cars) in 1967. (Photo courtesy of Las Vegas News Bureau)

The LA-Barstow to Vegas motorcycle race has been going strong for 33 years and is considered the most famous and longest two-day Dual Sport ride in the world. The event draws adventure bikes, vintage bikes, side-hacks and small displacement bikes, along with regular dual sport bikes, all embarking on a 400-mile-plus journey along “creative routes” designated as easy, hard or adventurous.

Carroll Shelby was another who saw Las Vegas as a destination for car enthusiasts and the perfect place for his innovative performance car company – in 1998, he moved Shelby American to the southern part of the city.

Classic cars, too, have found the ideal home in the heart of the Strip – and many of them have quite an illustrious past. The original concept of a “public auto shrine” in Las Vegas belongs to the legendary Ralph Engelstad, who transformed the decaying Flamingo Capri into the Imperial Palace in 1979. Two years later, he moved his top-level collection of antique and classic cars there and built it into a flagship museum called the Auto Collection.

Rounding the curve at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, present-day. (Photo courtesy of Las Vegas Motor Speedway)

Rounding the curve at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, present-day. (Photo courtesy of Las Vegas Motor Speedway)

Two decades ago, the Collection was taken over by Don Williams and partner Richie Clyne. Williams – a longtime friend and integral member of the Barrett-Jackson team – is perhaps best known for his California-based Blackhawk Collection. The Imperial Palace has since transformed into The Linq, and the “auto shrine” is now known as The Auto Collections: half museum and half specialty dealership, offering antiques and classics, custom hot rods, muscle cars, Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance winners, exotics and many, many other automotive collectibles. The 125,000-square-foot showroom – which is open to the public – has over 250 world-class automobiles on display. Visitors can marvel at everything from Johnny Carson’s 1939 Chrysler Royal Sedan that he drove to his high school prom to the 1962 Lincoln Continental Towne Limousine used by President John F. Kennedy.

Williams completely agrees with Craig Jackson’s assessment of Las Vegas as an automotive destination. “There are as many car people – car collectors – in Las Vegas per capita as there are in Scottsdale, and that’s saying a lot,” says Williams. “It helps that there are lots of great places in and around Vegas to drive your cars for much of the year. It’s truly a mecca.”

Barrett-Jackson held its inaugural Las Vegas auction in 2008, and is heading into its ninth annual auction there this October – adding yet another facet to the vibrant history of the city’s long and passionate love affair with automobiles.

For a look at the October 13-15, 2016, Las Vegas auction cars, click HERE.

Heritage Partners