Here we are all of you who wanted to see the pictures. I apologize for some of the pics. There was a lot of glare in the ones of the knockoff wheels for some reason. I have never seen so damm many of these in one place before. Most of the pics are just to show the amount of stuff this guy collected. The only real interesting piece in the parts (IMHO) is the BBC mechanical fuel injection unit. Supposedly the only one ever made. The casting is right next to it and the is a pic with the name of the the outfit that made it in Bellflower Ca. Could not get real good pics of the cars as they were in a rather small building and there were a ton of people there. Some shots of the BBC motors in the Yenko Camaro and the Nova. Those that want can follow this link. (I Hope). I'm sure that you will let me know if it don't work. http://www.picturetrail.com/gallery/view?p=999&gid=8843052&uid=1412684&members=1 BB P.S. The pictures of the primered vette and the Automobilia are not part of the collection., the belong to the guy that bought it and is trying to sell it to the highest bidder.
Damn, what an amazing collection. I hope the guy enjoyed the stuff while he was around. Thanks for taking the time to show us the pics BB. So did you make the guy an offer
Squablow and I were there also, there was A LOT of stuff! around 75 big blocks, we counted 125 engines total. Two '57 corvettes, both FI, '63 split window, '63 convert, Yenco Camaro as well as a few other prizes. It was quite a stash, the price he paid was well worth it. Correction for you Bob, the '67 Vette convertible in the shop was part of the stash he purchased. I guess he is keeping it for himself. It is a 427 car, not sure if it was tri power, but there was a '67 tri power setup on the shelf in the shop. If anybody wants to see more, check this link: http://www.depereautocenter.com/
The story around Green Bay is that back in the day, some guy's had a hell of a time getting those mechanical FE units to run right. Donny would take them off of their hands in exchange for a carburated setup that they could make run. BB
Thanks for the correction Cliffy, wish you would have said hello, would like to have met you and Squaw. But there were so damm many people there it was hard to see even the people I do know. Didn't stick around too late though as I had 90 miles to drive home. Rudy!!! yeah I was nervous in the presence of so much good chit. I also got bumped several times while taking pictures. BB
It was a huge collection. A friend of mine had to remind me why this **** was worth the (close to) a million bucks that the guy paid. At some point, the actual cash value is meaningless. It's all about the bragging rights. Once you've got that kind of cash, you just want to brag to all your buddies that you had this or you had that. There certainly was a ton of **** there. BobK if I would have known you were there I would have looked for ya. But there were so many freakin' people in that little building, squeezing in between all the cars, I commented several times that "this looks like a good way to scratch up a bunch of nice cars". I find it a little hard to get exited about a pile of Chevy engines, even the good ones. The fuelie stuff and the sheer amount of stuff was cool to see, though. Too bad the guy refuses to sell anything separately, just wants to let the whole pile go to one guy, and at a huge markup. We'll see.
An amazing amount of hardware no doubt. It just amazes me what lengths people go to to hoard stuff. We all do it to a certian extent there's no denying that. But why? You definately cant take it with you (proven here). Neat story none the less.
I read an article about that story in Old Car Weekly. And I heard in the latest issue, is a follow up on the story. The guy supposedly bought 21 semi trailers un-opened for one money, which the article did not say how much. If you haven't read the article you should.
I can see hoarding some **** if you're planning on using it for a project or something...or a few choice pieces to sell off for some nice coin when you retire or something, but I know some guys that hoard alot of **** too...and it just frustrates the living **** outta me when they won't sell something to someone that would run it on a car instead of parking it on a shelf.... I guess I hafta agree with Squablow...it's just hard for me to get excited about Chevy stuff...maybe cuz even though everything there seems to be really choice stuff, not much of it is Super duper end of the friggen world rare...and I guess the Yenko's pretty cool...but I just can't get excited over a late model
Lot's of cool stuff........but WHY ? There is a man close to here with that much Corvette stuff....and he is a miserable old guy. Grumpy and a hard a^^ . He has 17 split window 63 Vettes. Fuel injections stacked like cordwood. Knockoffs by the dozen. He will DIE.......just like this guy did. And leave it behind.......for someone else to fight over.
Those are Fenton cast iron headers frm the late 50's. I believe they were asociated with the '57 Black Widow Nascar cars. Charlie
That collection of parts would have been no less amazing whether it was Ford or MOPAR stuff. Sorry I couldn't be there Bob. Was that Grampa with you? Charlie
Yeah that was Gramps and Doug and Mikey and Arvid, just about the whole damm world showed up. We did talk about you though, nothing real flattering of course. BB
Thanks for the fotoz bob. That dudes collection is outt of this world! How could someone have the foresight to collect all of that ultra rare ****? IN-FREAKIN_CREDIBLE!!!!
Something came up at work on Wednesday so I couldn't make it out....BUT I called Larry the other night to see about viewing the stuff and he's letting me come over today. It should be easier to take some pictures without 400 people around...
One of the '57 Vettes, this was a factory fuel injection car I've never seen exhaust manifolds like these, I'm guessing they are a marine application? Fuelie motor. And another. Another. Yep.... And again, without engines this time. Just some parts.
So when is the stuff going on ebay? I thought it was supposed to be up right after xmas. I heard he paid $900,000, then I heard $800,000 then I heard it is on consignment. I also heard that some CEO of whatever company offer him just over $2 million and he turned it down. That stuff is NOT worth much more than that, we did some hard math one day, there is a lot there, and WELL worth what he paid, but not double unless you got TOP dollar for everything there. However, it is an increadible collection and ANYONE, even a ford guy would be proud to own even a fraction of the stuff there. So Bob, do you know any more news on this stuff?
My dad talked to Larry just before Christmas, at that time he said he was in negotiations with some people. I'm not sure if it was a group of buyers or an individual, but either way that's the last I heard. I'll probably see Larry again next week, I'm sure I'll hear some sort of an update.
UPDATE: I just checked www.depereautosales.com, the collection has been sold to an undisclosed buyer. I bet Larry's son is a happy man, he told me he would be charge of putting it all on eBay!!
Having chevy orange running through my viens all i can say is .. UUGHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
According to what was said by the owner at this mornings coffee klatsch. It has been sold to a buyer from out east. No $ value or name of buyer was mentioned. BB
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