It’s Vegas, baby!!! I had the privilege of traveling to Las Vegas to photograph the special “Under The Lights” edition of Mopars and Musclecars at the Strip 2021(MATSLV) at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway(LVMS), September 10-11. Traditionally, this show takes place in the Spring but was postponed due to Covid. With oven-baking September temperatures in Las Vegas, it was decided to turn the show into a nighttime affair (from 5 pm to 10 pm), adding an extra level of excitement to the event as the sun dipped behind the mountains.
The Las Vegas Motor Speedway is a sprawling complex just 15 miles northeast of the famous Las Vegas Strip offering fantastic views of the nighttime downtown skyline with the casinos, Ferris wheel, and Stratosphere all in sight. LVMS is a premier venue with a NASCAR track, four-wide drag strip, dirt track, road course, supercar experience, and plenty of room for both autocross and car shows. It is the stuff of car enthusiast’s dreams, making it a perfect place for automotive events like MATSLV.
Previously, the event was a Mopar-only affair but opened up to other muscle car makes and models several years ago. MATSLV still leans toward Mopar, but word is starting to get out to other muscle car enthusiasts, most noticeably for drag racing and autocross. Friday saw a freak thunderstorm roll through the arid valley, causing havoc in downtown Las Vegas just as we planned to leave the hotel. We decided to wait an hour as the storm headed toward LVMS, getting there right when the gates opened to spectators, so we headed straight for the car show.
Broken down into three sections for Mopar, Chevy, and Ford, the car show had a great mix of old and new, some things you always see, and some things you rarely see. Given that this is usually a daytime Spring event, turnout for the car show was slightly lighter than in the past, but everyone seemed to have a good time. Also in the car show area were two unique displays, one featuring barn find cars featured recently in Hot Rod magazine and one for the 50th anniversary of the Musclecar with some significant cars from ’70 and ’71 on display.
Below are all of the photos I took of the car show vehicles across the two-day show. Enjoy the images, and remember, you can purchase HIGH-RESOLUTION prints on the SHOP page. Just make sure to click on the photo to maximize it and copy down the title name before you go there.
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