Shelby Museum Las Vegas

If you’re a fan of American muscle cars, the Carroll Shelby Museum in Las Vegas deserves a top spot on your bucket list. The Shelby Heritage Center pays tribute to Carroll Shelby, famous race car driver and mastermind behind classic muscle cars like the AC Cobra and high-performance Mustangs.

The Shelby Museum is like a car show on steroids and one of the top attractions in Las Vegas for car enthusiasts and automotive historians. 

Shelby Museum Hours

The Shelby Car Museum Las Vegas is open seven days a week. Their current hours of operation are:

Private Tours

  • Tuesday – Saturday: 10 am, 11 am, noon, 2 pm, 3 pm, 4 pm
  • Includes gift bag with Shelby merchandise

Museum Ticket Prices

Carroll Shelby Museum admission is absolutely free and open to the public. Tickets aren’t needed for free, self-guided tours, and you’re free to linger and explore for as long as you like.  

Visitors also have the option of enjoying the Shelby VIP Tour Experience, which includes a private tour for your party, accompanied by a professional tour guide. This experience includes a real-time tour of the production facility and a detailed history of the famous race car driver, how Shelby American came to be, and the story behind his now-iconic muscle cars. Prices start at $59 for adults, kids 7-11 are $49, and kids 6 and under are free. 

Shelby Heritage Center

Shelby Heritage Center

The Shelby Heritage Center was established in 2013 and has become one of the treasured attractions in Las Vegas, especially for anyone who adores muscle cars and Shelby American’s story. It’s here that you’ll find up to 40 Shelby creations, including original prototypes and models that car collectors lust over. 

The Shelby Heritage Center is also adjacent to the massive Shelby production facility. Guests who choose the guided tour experience will also tour the 150,000-square-foot production facility and witness the real-time manufacturing process. More than just your average car museum, the Heritage Center is home to everything Shelby in Las Vegas, NV. 

Plan on spending the afternoon enjoying one of the tours and learning everything about Shelby American in the large Heritage Center. General admission tickets and self-guided tours are free, and visitors are welcome to explore the location at their leisure. 

The Shelby Heritage Center is also a popular location for car shows and other related events. It’s not uncommon to find the parking lot full of muscle cars and classic automobiles. Visitors are also invited to join Cars and Coffee every Saturday, starting at 7 am until 10 pm.

There’s always a lot of fun, plus deals on Shelby American merchandise in the store and a chance to win the driving experience of taking a Ford Shelby for a few laps around the track at SpeedVegas. Who Was Carroll Shelby?

Who Was Carroll Shelby?

Who Was Carroll Shelby

Carroll Shelby is known to the world of racing as one of the most respected drivers in modern history. After serving in World War II, Carroll Shelby took up a little hobby of racing cars, which quickly turned into an adrenaline-fueled career at a relatively young age. In the 1950s, he raced throughout the United States, England, and Mexico. In 1957, he earned the distinction of being named Sports Illustrated Driver of the Year. 

It wasn’t long after this that Carroll Shelby was forced into retirement from racing due to complications of a heart defect present at birth. Unable to continue racing, he wasn’t yet ready to give up the world he loved and decided to focus on building race cars. 

Shelby contacted a British automobile manufacturer by the name of AC Cars to assist him by providing him with a chassis to accommodate a Ford V8 engine. A partnership was formed, and Carroll Shelby became known as the mastermind behind the AC Cobra. Eventually, Shelby America was formed and produced popular models, such as the Carroll Shelby Signature Edition Mustang, the Shelby GT, and the Shelby SuperSnake. 

Museum Tour

Carroll Shelby Museum Tour

The Shelby Museum tour is more than just your typical stroll through a collection of automobile memorabilia. What you experience is a true piece of United States history as you travel the life and legacy of Carroll Shelby and his automotive designs that, to this day, ignite a special kind of passion in car collectors and automotive enthusiasts.

The Carroll Shelby Museum offers both guided and self-guided tours. The friendly and knowledgeable staff at the Shelby Museum welcome visitors to come, explore, and enjoy self-guided tours at any time during their regular operating hours. This is one of those Las Vegas attractions that’s great for all ages and one that almost everyone will enjoy. 

Guided tours offer a richer, more educational experience with a behind-the-scenes look at the production and manufacturing facility and a friendly tour guide to answer questions. As a bonus, your tour guide will provide you with a bag filled with some nice Shelby swag.

Plan on spending some time during your visit to the museum. There are more than 15,000 square feet to explore at the Carroll Shelby Heritage Center. You’ll want to take your time as each display takes you through a visual history of one of America’s greatest and most unique automotive treasures. And yes, there are lots of Shelby muscle cars on display, too. 

The tour showcases and highlights as many as 40 cars on display at the Carroll Shelby Heritage Center. This is the one place where you can get an up-close and personal look at some of Shelby’s most famous models and original prototypes, from Supersnakes to the iconic Shelby Cobra. Every Shelby enthusiast knows these muscle cars are true works of art, and posing next to one is a photo op not to be missed. 

Gift Store

Carroll Shelby Store

While the muscle cars are the real star of the show, you’ll want to make a stop at the Carroll Shelby Store, where you’ll find all types of great Shelby merchandise, from replicas of the Shelby Mustang to collectibles, apparel, and deals on all types of Shelby muscle car memorabilia. The gift shop is open during the Shelby Heritage Center’s regular operating hours. 

Location

The Carroll Shelby Museum is located not far from all the action on the Strip. You can find the Shelby Heritage Center and Museum at 6405 Ensworth St, Las Vegas. The museum, gift shop, and production facility is about a 10-minute drive from many of the hotels on the Strip.

FAQs

Is Shelby American owned by Ford?

Shelby American has a long-standing relationship with Ford, and Ford engines are in many of Shelby’s hottest models, but Shelby’s parent company is Carrol Shelby International, Inc., with their headquarters in Enterprise, Nevada.

Can I buy a Shelby Cobra?

You can buy a Cobra, but the price will cost you a pretty penny. An original, large-black Cobra can be purchased in the ballpark of $3M-$6M. Rumor has it that there are fewer than 900 original Cobras remaining today. u003cbru003eu003cbru003eOnly 5 Cobras will be built in 2024 and will cost $750,000.

How much is a new Shelby?

The 2022 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 has a base price starting at $80,795. Of course, if you’re going to spend that on a Shelby model, you might as well go all out with the Carbon Fiber Track Pack, which features aerodynamic add-ons, 20-inch carbon-fiber wheels, and Michelin Pilot Port Cup 2 tires, for an extra $18,500. 

Shelby American is a little piece of this country’s history, and you can experience a bit of it for yourself at the Shelby Museum in Las Vegas, Nevada. Join the Museum any day of the week for a tour and video history of an American classic. For more info about the Shelby Museum, visit the website to learn updated details about tour times, the current model collection, products, and plan your next visit.

4 Comments

  1. I am 73 and a Disabled Combat
    Veteran. Is there transportation, electric carts or similar available for the Tour. I can only walk a very short distance. I’m still waiting on VA to install my Electric Scooter lift in the next month(i hope, ha)Thank You

    1. Hi Dannie,
      It doesn’t seem like Shelby Museum offers transport, but there are some excellent Las Vegas scooter rental companies with accessibility solutions you could use during your trip.

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