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Richard Rawlings of Gas Monkey Garage fame is selling the bulk of his car collection, with the help of Bring A Trailer.
Over 25 cars are headed to auction, with the collection to be sold live in September. Rawlings hopes to take advantage of the hot collector car market right now, while freeing up funds and space to start his collection anew with different vehicles.
Despite exhortations that he’s going to “start all over again” and that “everything must go,” Rawlings isn’t actually offloading his entire collection. Several cars will stay, including the first car built by Gas Monkey Garage and the Pontiac Trans Am that Rawlings drove in high school.
Rawlings is releasing a series of videos stepping through the cars up for sale. Part 1 is out now, and there are some impressive rides up for grabs.
Star of the show is the King T, built by hotrod legends Don Tognotti and Gene Winfield. Built on a Ford Model T, it won the trophy for America’s Most Beautiful Roadster in 1964, and was even immortalized in Hot Wheels form. It stands out with its striking lavender paint job, lashings of chrome, and a cushy white interior not unlike that you’d find in a nice coffin.
GM is well-represented in the collection in the form of a red 1962 Chevrolet Corvette, originally bought from Dennis Collins. It’s a basic driver’s car, with nothing but a small block Chevy V8, an alternator, and a waterpump under the hood. It’s a striking ride in bright red, with a hard top and soft top included for flexibility. There’s a ’59 Corvette with patina, too, which Rawlings refers to as a “survivor” car, though admits it’s not a numbers-matching model.
Other All-American hits include a 1966 Ford Fairlane 500, with the all-original car finished in black-on-black. There’s also a stunning 1972 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme 442 replica, with the white interior and bright red paint. It’s been restomodded with given a Performance Unlimited 455 ci V8 engine good for 525 hp. It’s paired with a T56 Magnum six-speed manual, and even has working air conditioning, too.
Crazy truck fans will like the 2002 Chevrolet Silverado 2500 4×4, fitted with an 8.1-liter Vortec V8, one of the last big-blocks GM put in a truck. It’s got a huge lift and shiny, painted running gear underneath for a near-monster truck look. It’s complete with a searing paint job of checkered flags and flames, which even continue under the door jambs. That’s attention to detail, right there. Rawlings notes that the truck needs some work, but it does run and drive.
Pre-war enthusiasts won’t be left out, either. Rawlings is selling his 1936 Ford Model 68 Deluxe Roadster finished in the color of an old Band Aid, along with a 1932 Ford 5-window coupe for those wishing they could live in the world of American Graffiti.
The oddball of the collection, though, is the 1987 Zimmer Quicksilver. A strange two-seat luxury car, it’s based on the Pontiac Fiero underneath, with the chassis lengthened by a full 16 inches. The car had a strong neo-classical aesthetic, and plenty of chrome and fiberglass left the original sports car underneath all but unrecognizable. Only 170 were built, so this could be the last one you see on sale for a while.
Full details of the cars involved will be available when listings hit Bring a Trailer in due course. With everything from European sports cars to rough-and-ready barn find projects headed to auction, most car enthusiasts could probably find something they like in Rawlings’ collection.
Most of the cars are drivers rather than out-and-out trailer queens. Rawlings is clearly the type to drive and enjoy his vehicles, rather than polish and gaze at them up on a lift. If you’re eager to get one of the listed cars for yourself, get yourself to Bring a Trailer in September and make sure your bank account’s ready to compete.
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