Don Laughlin's Car Museum

 In 1980, a man purchased a new 1,100 cc Honda Gold Wing with a desire to ride the

open roads.

The Bike!

Over the following four years he managed to put over 30,000 miles on that sturdy Honda

and when he put the kickstand down, he may have said, “That is not enough miles for me.

I want to see the world.”

The Honda’s owner, Emilio Scotto, may have been guffawed at by his friends and family,

since the man had never even left his native country of Argentina.

“You barely rolled out of Buenos Aires,” it is rumored a neighbor may have sneered.

“Now, you want to roam the world?”

Scotto shook his head. “I don’t want to roam but fly on my Gold Wing through the

heavens touching down in as many lands as I am able.”

The neighbor looked at Scotto, believing he may have had one or two Aloja de Chauchas

too many.

Scotto quit his job in 1984, and with 300 bucks in his pocket, he took off on his

motorcycle for the trip of a lifetime.

Over the next decade, the intrepid motorcycle rider covered 485,000 miles, visited 232

countries - including islands, colonies, atolls, and other not-really-recognized countries. It

is estimated that Scotto touched down, his words not mine, on nearly 99 percent of the

landmasses on earth.

Scotto holds the Guinness World Record for the longest journey conducted by an

individual on a motorcycle.

He finally arrived back home in Argentina on April 2, 1995 and promptly received a

traffic ticket, possibly from a jealous traffic cop.

When he met up with family and friends, it is rumored he said, “My rear end hurts -

really hurts from sitting down for ten years on bumpy roads.”

It should be noted that even though Scotto left Argentina in 1985 with few pesos, he did

pick up numerous sponsors for his around-the-world journey as his story was shared

campfire to campfire, which made eating and putting gas in his motorcycle a bit more

affordable.

Now, what does one man following his passion of traveling around the world have to do

with this column?

It isn’t about Emilio Scotto or his motorcycle, but about a person’s desire to see more of

the world than they had ever hoped for before.

Traveling is a way to do that - to venture out and visit strange new lands, see strange new

people, experience strange new experiences, and sometimes just to be strange.

Then again, Scotto’s motorcycle is on display with his complete adventurous story at Don

Laughlin’s Car Museum, located within the Riverside Resort Hotel and Casino, in

Laughlin, Nevada.

The Riverside Resort Hotel and Casino

I’ve written about Laughlin in the past - the small gambling and entertainment mecca

which sits on the west side of the cooling blue waters of the Colorado River. A great

place for family and for those folks who don’t have a family.

John R Beyer next to a statue of Don Laughlin

The town works for both categories.

It had been a long time since I had visited the car museum located at the Riverside. In

fact, as I get older, my perspective of that long time may have been longer.

If recollection serves me well, the last time I visited, it was called the Don Laughlin’s

Horse and Buggy Museum.

This is no horse and buggy museum

Laureen, my lovely wife, couldn’t make the trip to Laughlin so my buddy, Paul, ventured

out with me.

Men love auto museums, and I am not being sexist, but generally I see men being guided

by their girlfriends or wives through the museums on a leash. This is because the men are

wearing drool buckets attached to their ears and terrible and ugly spillage could occur if

they stop suddenly in front of a bright shiny gorgeous automobile.

“It’s just a silly old Lamborghini Veneno,” the wife or girlfriend may say, while giving a

little tug on the leash attached to the drool bucket.

“But, it was created to celebrate Lamborghini’s fiftieth anniversary back in 2013.”

A snap on the leash. “And when is our anniversary?”

“I understand the museum has a gift shop.”

Who wouldn't drool?

According to the car museum’s website, ‘The exhibit is a rotating collection of antique,

classic, and unique autos assembled from private collections from all over the world.

Included among these are several owned by Don Laughlin himself, an avid auto

enthusiast and collector. Don Laughlin’s Classic Car Collection has something for

Everyone!’

An exclamation point - must be pretty darn exciting in that car museum, and I was there

to find out if it was true or not.

The actual exhibit is divided into two different floors of the casino. The first floor, along

Casino Drive, is open to the public for free. It’s a tease to tempt car aficionados to head to

the 3rd floor on the south tower to see the majority of the vehicles on display for the

small price of five bucks.

I had to cover Paul’s ticket.

As I entered the ground floor exhibit, I was met by a staff/security gentleman sitting

behind a desk.

“Do you like working here?” I asked.

He simply waved his hand in the direction of a shiny medium blue 1963 Corvette

Stingray sitting stunningly by the large glass front window.

I started shaking a bit.

Wandering along the roped paths leading to this vehicle and the next, it was hard to

explain the pounding in my chest.

A 1949 Harley Davidson, a 1966 Triumph, a 1967 Velocette standing proudly against

one wall.

A 1969 Mini-mini Indian, a 1950 Whizzer Sportsman, a 1981 Honda ATC 110 also

standing proudly against another wall.

Desert vehicles, sports cars, and the like were there. But enough gawking, it was time to

head to the 3rd floor main event.

Stepping off the elevator we found ourselves in a world of wonder.

Thirty-thousand square feet of vehicle viewing area greeted the visitor. Some of that

space is for a small gift shop, and to my relief Paul is frugal - now, if Laureen had been

there?

Car after car was just begging for us to stop, ponder, and wonder how such a mechanical

beast could be so beautiful.

I could feel the horsepower roaring up to the white ceilings - though, in reality none of

the vehicles were running and we learned that most only have a smidgen of fuel just in

case they have to be moved a bit, or started to ensure everything was in working order.

One notable exhibit was the bright red Skylane Hot Road which was rotating on a

pedestal so everyone could see the beauty of this automobile in a full 360 degree

exposure.

There was a 1934 Ford Tow Truck, a 1977 Lincoln convertible, a 1954 Kurtis, a 1932

Buick Coupe, and it went on and on.

Row after row of vintage cars and trucks in immaculate condition. It was almost too

much for a late morning jaunt.

I looked over at Paul, who was receiving a cup of water from another staff member while

being led to a chair.

“Happens all the time,” the staff member said.

Being a friend, I stayed by Paul for a few moments until he waved his right hand. “You

go ahead. I forgot to breathe while looking at the vehicles. I just need a little rest.”

I foraged ahead into another row of vehicles. All meticulously cared for by their owners

to the point of almost worship.

Suddenly my eyes were drawn to a 1937 bright red Cord, built by the Auburn

Automobile Company out of Connersville, Indiana.

It made me stop in my tracks. Curved like an artist created it out of a piece of clay and

then threw away the mold.

In 1937 this car sold for 3,000 dollars. A lot of money for its time, that today would

easily go for 150,000 dollars or more at auction.

Amelia Earhart owned one - and I had always wanted one.

“We’d have to sell one of our daughters,” Laureen would say.

That’s when I would start looking at grades, who picked up the doggie messes the most,

and so-on.

To this day, no Cord in my driveway.

The Don Laughlin Car Museum is a wonderful way to spend a few hours and just relax

amidst some truly awesome vehicles that would stand up to any artist.

If you doubt that, look closely at a work by Salador Dali. Enough said.

For more information: https://automotivemuseumguide.com/don-laughlins-car-museum/

Good Times in Laughlin, Nevada

John R Beyer and Don Laughlin welcomes visitors

In 1964, Don Laughlin flew in a small plane over the Colorado River near the area where the Nevada, Arizona, and California borders met.

He liked what he saw.

“Hey,” Laughlin may have suggested, “let’s skim across the blue waters of the river and scare the heck out of those fishermen in their boats.”

The other passengers in the plane laughed. It was a great idea, and what fun that would be.

“We’ll buzz ‘em really good,” he said. “Maybe somebody can throw an apple at them as we fly by.”

No apples went flying out of the low flying plane that day, but a high-flying idea did get stuck in Laughlin’s mind.

Being a very successful business owner from Las Vegas, Laughlin saw great potential for a new venture along the coastline of the Colorado River.

A gambling mecca.

Laughlin gambling mecca all lit up

But let’s step back in time a bit. South Pointe was a small town located near the most southern tip of the state of Nevada developed in the 1940s. There was not much there. A motel, bar, and a whole lot of brown desert sitting astride the crystal-clear blue waters of the mighty Colorado River.

It was the location where many miners working the nearby gold and silver mines would meet up on Saturday nights for a really good time.

“Whatcha going to do with all that gold you done found?” one miner probably asked another miner. 

“Well, heck,” the miner replied. “I’m a gonna go to South Pointe and spend it all in the bar.”

“Fine idee, I’ll be joining you.”

During the 1940s, hordes of construction workers started building the Davis Dam, just north of present-day Bullhead City, and stayed in a locale called Davis Camp – which is still present and used as a campground for river lovers.

On their time off, which there was not much of, they too wandered into South Pointe for some adult entertainment.

The tiny berg prospered.

But in 1951, the dam was completed, and the construction workers left. Rumor has it that many of the miners who had frequented South Pointe also stopped going to the bar since their spouses decided saving the gold and silver nuggets was wiser than drinking the family profits.

As dedicated as I am as a researcher, I could not locate any solid evidence to back up my assumption why the miners stopped frequenting South Pointe.

The town, like a dried-up Joshua Tree, started to just languish in the desert sun.

And that is when Don Laughlin flew his famous jaunt over Lake Mohave, the reservoir which Davis Dam created, and down along the Colorado River over South Pointe.

He purchased the land, built the Riverside Resort motel and casino, and business was once again booming. Though the resort only had twelve slot machines and two live gaming tables, life was once more breathing in this southern section of Nevada.

The casino and hotel Don Laughlin built

A post office was soon needed due to the number of employees and guest arriving. At first, Laughlin wanted the town to be known as Riverside and Casino.

The postmaster shook his head. “Nope, let’s call it Laughlin. That is a good Irish name.”

And since the postmaster was also Irish, both men agreed to the new name of the town.

“That would be a fine name, me laddie,” Laughlin may have said to the postmaster.

A bit of Irish history here – I did do research on this.

The family name Laughlin was first used in County Clare, on the west coast of Ireland in the thirteenth century.

So, South Pointe officially became Laughlin, Nevada in 1964.

And soon, other casinos opened. The Bobcat Club, which is where the current Golden Nugget is currently located, and the Monte Carlo soon followed in 1968.

People who loved to fish, water ski, boat, or just enjoyed sitting beside sandy beaches or hotel pools in the sun found Laughlin the place to be.

“You know,” one guest was overheard saying in 1972, “I love the fact, I can fish in the early morning, water ski in the afternoon, eat at inexpensive buffets, and then gamble into the wee hours of the night.”

Folks enjoying camping on the Arizona side of the river

Laughlin was a mecca, but there was a little problem of turning the mecca into a megapolis.

Bullhead City sat directly across the Colorado River from Laughlin and had grown due to the construction of the Davis Dam, but instead of drying up like South Pointe had, it continued to grow. The town had direct access to the water playground of Lake Mohave, the water activities of the Colorado River, dirt trails leading everywhere, including the very much alive ghost town of Oatman, and so much more. It was also on Highway 95 and near Route 66 which brought more and more visitors on a yearly basis. 

Plenty of water to enjoy all sorts of activities on

At this time there was no direct route from Bullhead City to Laughlin across the river, and Don Laughlin knew there was a lot of business he was missing out from all those residents and tourists visiting Bullhead City.

Don Laughlin was one smart cookie. He purchased a huge parking lot across the river from his Riverside Resort in Bullhead City and started free boat shuttles to his resort.

He stated, “If I offer it, they will come.”

This was ingenious. What person does not like a free boat ride? No one. Trust me, I know a lot of folks that enjoy our boat without a wallet ever being opened.

But I digress.

Business in Laughlin skyrocketed. Instead of having to drive a long distance, tourists could plop themselves on a free pontoon ride across a short distance of river and in a flash, be at the Riverside Resort.

During the 1980s, the town was so popular that other investors came a-calling, resulting in the building of the Colorado Hotel – now the Pioneer, Harrah’s Del Rio, the Tropicana Resort. And more came in later, the Aquarius Casino Resort, the Edgewater Casino Resort, and the list goes on and on.

One of the most iconic establishments was the Colorado Belle, a hotel and casino built to look like an old-fashioned Mississippi river boat. 

Colorado Belle

In all transparency, Laureen and I used to spend some time in Laughlin with our girls. Sun, fun and the water was all it took to make a weekend memorable. We stayed here and there but one place that we truly loved was the Colorado Belle. 

Wandering the decks of this make-believe paddle wheeler was just fun. We would walk here and there looking at this and that and imagine being here or there along a long river trip.

My family has vivid imaginations when it comes to traveling – real or not.

I remember us visiting Pompeii once and . . . but I digress.

Sadly, as of 2020 the Colorado Belle may be closed permanently. COVID and other financial issues are said to be the culprits, but who knows. A river boat knows the sculpture of the rivers it maneuvers and perhaps there will be a moment when some investor looks at this building and knows there is a whole lot more life to this ship than what appears now.

Of course, that could also be my hopeful imagination in the works.

In 1987, Laughlin decided a bridge should be built just slightly north of his resort crossing the Colorado River from Bullhead City.

This entrepreneur knew the traffic from Arizona to Nevada would pass his resort first, so, he put up three and half million dollars of his own money to build the Laughlin Bridge.

Both the state of Arizona and Nevada jumped at the idea.

“Use your money to build a bridge that we should build?” a Nevada official may have remarked. 

“What a marvelous idea. Can it be a toll road for whichever state the traveler is driving into.”

“No,” Laughlin may have replied.

It was built, and today nearly thirty thousand cars cross it each day.

The bridge that Don Laughlin paid for

The city of Laughlin receives over two million tourists every year. That is a lot of people looking for fun ways to spend their hard-earned money. And the town does not disappoint.

Laughlin is not just a just a bunch of gambling destinations – no, it is a family destination.

Not long ago, Laureen and I attended a Rod Stewart concert at the Laughlin Event Center. 

It rocked.

There are venues all about Laughlin, with acts for all ages – music, comedy, theatre, and the like.

This city has something for everyone – and that is not just rhetoric.

Exclusive hotels, upscale dining, RV parks, simple camping, boating, hiking, gambling, international restaurants, guided desert tours, native American sites, museums, and so much more that is awaiting any visitor.

Pedestrian bridge from Laughlin to state park with hiking trails

Laughlin’s dream of building a gambling mecca was realized, but what he actually built was a place family and friends could come and enjoy just being family and friends.

And perhaps, that is what he wanted after all.

Laughlin, Nevada

 In 1964, Don Laughlin flew in a small plane over the Colorado River near the area where the Nevada, Arizona, and California borders met.

He liked what he saw.

“Hey,” Laughlin may have suggested, “let’s skim across the blue waters of the river and scare the heck out of those fishermen in their boats.”

The other passengers in the plane laughed. It was a great idea, and what fun that would be.

“We’ll buzz ‘em really good,” he said. “Maybe somebody can throw an apple at them as we fly by.”

No apples went flying out of the low flying plane that day, but a high-flying idea did get stuck in Laughlin’s mind.

Being a very successful business owner from Las Vegas, Laughlin saw great potential for a new venture along the coastline of the Colorado River.

A gambling mecca.

But let’s step back in time a bit. South Pointe was a small town located near the most southern tip of the state of Nevada developed in the 1940s. There was not much there. A motel, bar, and a whole lot of brown desert sitting astride the crystal-clear blue waters of the mighty Colorado River.

It was the location where many miners working the nearby gold and silver mines would meet up on Saturday nights for a really good time.

“Whatcha going to do with all that gold you done found?” one miner probably asked another miner. 

“Well, heck,” the miner replied. “I’m a gonna go to South Pointe and spend it all in the bar.”

“Fine idee, I’ll be joining you.”

During the 1940s, hordes of construction workers started building the Davis Dam, just north of present-day Bullhead City, and stayed in a locale called Davis Camp – which is still present and used as a campground for river lovers.

On their time off, which there was not much of, they too wandered into South Pointe for some adult entertainment.

One of the early casinos available for fun

The tiny burg prospered.

But in 1951, the dam was completed, and the construction workers left. Rumor has it that many of the miners who had frequented South Pointe also stopped going to the bar since their spouses decided saving the gold and silver nuggets was wiser than drinking the family profits.

As dedicated as I am as a researcher, I could not locate any solid evidence to back up my assumption why the miners stopped frequenting South Pointe.

The town, like a dried-up Joshua Tree, started to just languish in the desert sun.

And that is when Don Laughlin flew his famous jaunt over Lake Mohave, the reservoir which Davis Dam created, and down along the Colorado River over South Pointe.

He purchased the land, built the Riverside Resort motel and casino, and business was once again booming. Though the resort only had twelve slot machines and two live gaming tables, life was once more breathing in this southern section of Nevada.

A post office was soon needed due to the number of employees and guest arriving. At first, Laughlin wanted the town to be known as Riverside and Casino.

The postmaster shook his head. “Nope, let’s call it Laughlin. That is a good Irish name.”

And since the postmaster was also Irish, both men agreed to the new name of the town.

“That would be a fine name, me laddie,” Laughlin may have said to the postmaster.

John R Beyer standing next to statue of Don Laughlin

A bit of Irish history here – I did do research on this.

The family name Laughlin was first used in County Clare, on the west coast of Ireland in the thirteenth century.

So, South Pointe officially became Laughlin, Nevada in 1964.

And soon, other casinos opened. The Bobcat Club, which is where the current Golden Nugget is currently located, and the Monte Carlo soon followed in 1968.

People who loved to fish, water ski, boat, or just enjoyed sitting beside sandy beaches or hotel pools in the sun found Laughlin the place to be.

“You know,” one guest was overheard saying in 1972, “I love the fact, I can fish in the early morning, water ski in the afternoon, eat at inexpensive buffets, and then gamble into the wee hours of the night.”

Laughlin was a mecca, but there was a little problem of turning the mecca into a megapolis.

Bullhead City sat directly across the Colorado River from Laughlin and had grown due to the construction of the Davis Dam, but instead of drying up like South Pointe had, it continued to grow. The town had direct access to the water playground of Lake Mohave, the water activities of the Colorado River, dirt trails leading everywhere, including the very much alive ghost town of Oatman, and so much more. It was also on Highway 95 and near Route 66 which brought more and more visitors on a yearly basis. 

At this time there was no direct route from Bullhead City to Laughlin across the river, and Don Laughlin knew there was a lot of business he was missing out from all those residents and tourists visiting Bullhead City.

Don Laughlin was one smart cookie. He purchased a huge parking lot across the river from his Riverside Resort in Bullhead City and started free boat shuttles to his resort.

He stated, “If I offer it, they will come.”

This was ingenious. What person does not like a free boat ride? No one. Trust me, I know a lot of folks that enjoy our boat without a wallet ever being opened.

But I digress.

Business in Laughlin skyrocketed. Instead of having to drive a long distance, tourists could plop themselves on a free pontoon ride across a short distance of river and in a flash, be at the Riverside Resort.

During the 1980s, the town was so popular that other investors came a-calling, resulting in the building of the Colorado Hotel – now the Pioneer, Harrah’s Del Rio, the Tropicana Resort. And more came in later, the Aquarius Casino Resort, the Edgewater Casino Resort, and the list goes on and on.

One of the most iconic establishments was the Colorado Belle, a hotel and casino built to look like an old-fashioned Mississippi river boat. 

In all transparency, Laureen and I used to spend some time in Laughlin with our girls. Sun, fun and the water was all it took to make a weekend memorable. We stayed here and there but one place that we truly loved was the Colorado Belle. 

Wandering the decks of this make-believe paddle wheeler was just fun. We would walk here and there looking at this and that and imagine being here or there along a long river trip.

My family has vivid imaginations when it comes to traveling – real or not.

I remember us visiting Pompeii once and . . . but I digress.

Sadly, as of 2020 the Colorado Belle may be closed permanently. COVID and other financial issues are said to be the culprits, but who knows. A river boat knows the sculpture of the rivers it maneuvers and perhaps there will be a moment when some investor looks at this building and knows there is a whole lot more life to this ship than what appears now.

Of course, that could also be my hopeful imagination in the works.

In 1987, Laughlin decided a bridge should be built just slightly north of his resort crossing the Colorado River from Bullhead City.

This entrepreneur knew the traffic from Arizona to Nevada would pass his resort first, so, he put up three and half million dollars of his own money to build the Laughlin Bridge.

Both the state of Arizona and Nevada jumped at the idea.

“Use your money to build a bridge that we should build?” a Nevada official may have remarked. “What a marvelous idea. Can it be a toll road for whichever state the traveler is driving into.”

“No,” Laughlin may have replied.

It was built, and today nearly thirty thousand cars cross it each day.

The bridge that Don Laughlin built

The city of Laughlin receives over two million tourists every year. That is a lot of people looking for fun ways to spend their hard-earned money. And the town does not disappoint.

Laughlin is not just a just a bunch of gambling destinations – no, it is a family destination.

Laughlin all lit up for the evening

Not long ago, Laureen and I attended a Rod Stewart concert at the Laughlin Event Center. 

It rocked.

There are venues all about Laughlin, with acts for all ages – music, comedy, theatre, and the like.

This city has something for everyone – and that is not just rhetoric.

Exclusive hotels, upscale dining, RV parks, simple camping, boating, hiking, gambling, international restaurants, guided desert tours, native American sites, museums, and so much more that is awaiting any visitor.

Laughlin’s dream of building a gambling mecca was realized, but what he actually built was a place family and friends could come and enjoy just being family and friends.

And perhaps, that is what he wanted after all.