It would take a lot of planning to sneak them in and hide them all those years. Makes you wonder how many other places there is in the country.
I went to that auction, still have the catalog. The owner was a very dishonest person, NOBODY had a good thing to say about him. The cars are much better off now with new owners.
I have a buddy in Indiana,,,,,,seems he is always finding stuff tucked away...... leads me to believe the 'motherload' is still out there somewhere
There is so much stuff out there! There are collections of 10-15+ cars that will be on the market within a few years once the old timers p*** on. The key is having the funds to buy them once they become available.
This reminds me of the old fellow I know that has what must be one of the largest collections of HDs in the world. He lives in the middle of nowhere, getting to his place is treacherous. Many buildings full of HDs from the late teens to the late 60's. I once asked him how many he had. His reply: "I started counting one Sat. because I was curious. I got up to 450 by noon. I meant to continue the job, but just never got around to finishing it. I think that was maybe half of them, but not sure." He had buildings packed so tight you couldn't believe it. Also rooms with nohting but cylinders, 4-5 feet deep. Rooms with heads, or transmissions, or complete engines, or gas tanks, etc. He said he had one of every HD made, in every color available from 1929 to the late '60's. Of course there were many duplicates. The Panhead building must have had 200 bikes in it. His sons are interested, and will sell nothing. The parts.....my gosh, thousands of square feet of NOS parts.....Wouldn't he be a neat Dad?
Here's another link about the Miller auction: http://www.rickcarey.com/AuctionReports/AK Miller Auction.htm And here's the final results: http://www.motorbase.com/auction/by-id/730746509/ Wow. Must have WILD. Hey 37kid, got any tales of the event itself? .
Every time some youngster talks about all the cool cars are gone! I ask where did they go? Us old ****s are dieing like flies. all those garages are cleaned out by kids that never could figure why the old man collected **** like old cars. there out there, just never quit looking, someones going to buy that early hot rodded duece three window for $175.00
I know a guy like that in hawthorne, ca that has well over 30 cars in covered buildings behind his house in two lots. he is in his 70's and wil not sell anything. most are from the 20's and 30's. he also has a big block 60's vette and a convertable 68 camaro, and a 59 el camino just waiting. Every so often he pulls out an old 55 thunderbird to drive, but that is a rare occasion. -Sobabstrace
That is the best writen report of the auction I've read. I found the catalog and will post some photos tomorrow.
I went to buy some fire wood a few years back. There were alot of old trucks lying around the property and a few big sheds. We got to talking and he showed me through the sheds.... the two 85 plus year old brothers had been collecting cars for ever. One had a shed full of early Fords the other brother a shed full of Chevs. Must have been about 40 cars and 10 old bikes (BSAs INdians etc.) There was no way they were going to let some 'young rodder" get hold of them. They honestly believed that young guys would still use them as stock cars lol.
I saw that a year or so ago and recently another large cache of 60s Chevy muscle car parts. It is cool to see the stuff preserved but sad that some ones brain got so twisted into hoarding and greed that they couldn't enjoy the stuff for what it was intended for.
Neat story, bummer though, the guy live like a s***bag for 60 years to avoid the government, but they get thier money in the end, It's like the old saying goes, death and taxes.
Man, I think I need to find the grumpiest, shoddiest, old shyster in town and befriend him. That is a great story. Thanks for sharing.
What was he saving all of it for? I've heard of guys saving stuff for years to support their retirement or something but what was this guy's deal? How could you keep that a secret for so long? I wonder what Imagene (his wife) was like....
I would agree that hiding all this old tin is insane. It suited no purpose for anyone not even himself. He didn't get any satisfaction out of driving them or worse yet just wiping them down once in a while and standing back to admire. These looked to be be stored, covered and not even looked at for many years. This is a true waste in my opinion. Thank goodnes they are going to owners that will fix em up and maybe get em running to enjoy. There are tons of other stashes like this and its a shame. Lets dig em all up!! I know I'm trying.
Funny how this popped up . I was about to post about just this same thing. Had a older gent stop by my place and want to talk old cars...I let him in and we visited for a hour or so, showed off some of my love projects. He told me that he had been watching me for years when he came to visit a buddy where I live . He said " I can tell you really love old cars and we have the same interests" hands me a business card and tells me to stop by his place, but call first. I thought about it and quickly grabbed the wife and headed out, called first. I have a new best friend who just wants to talk old cars, he has some medical problems that prevent him from working on them all the time. I have never seen so many 40-50 vintage cars , owned by one man, in one place! Well hidden and fairly well cared for. I'll report back when he will let bring a camera. I was the first non family member to see these cars in 20 years so he says! Karma guys Karma, nice gent, we shall see....... I had never seen a NSU before.
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