While we were home in Reno, we took a little detour and ran straight into a traffic jam. These cars were not going anywhere any time soon. But, boy, they were fun to look at.
The National Automobile Museum takes you on an automotive tour through time, housing hundreds of cars from the first horseless carriage to a gold-crusted DeLorean (yes, it was plated in real 24-carat gold).
They boys loved it and there were a few sentimental stories hidden in the history of those cars. For example, did you know that the Rolls Royce hood ornament is the symbol of an illicit and tragic love affair? It is in the form of a woman leaning forwards with her arms outstretched behind and above her. Billowing cloth runs from her arms to her back, resembling wings. The woman is the true love of Rolls Royce wealthy financier. However, the man’s adoration of this humble secretary had to be kept secret. He was a social icon. She was at the brink of poverty. The man succumbed to social pressures and married another, but all the while kept his relationship with the humble secretary, Eleanor.
Eleanor was tragically killed when a German submarine sunk the trans-Atlantic ship she was travelling on in 1915. Her lover was heartbroken, but put the billowing figure of his muse on every Rolls Royce from then on.
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