This weekend will be a wild time near the small town of Wheaton, Minnesota, because a roughly 200-car collection belonging to a farmer who passed away in December is headed for auction. And the fleet, filled with some true gems, will no doubt bring in droves of prospective buyers.
The farmer’s name was James Graham, and he was, according to WDAY ABC News out of Fargo North Dakota, a bachelor whose love for cars began with a 1934 Ford coupe (whose roof Graham and a friend hacked off) that Graham drove to prom many years ago. After that, the vehicles just kept rolling in. From the news site:
Jim Graham, who recently passed away at 88, left behind quite the collection of more than 250 cars he had accumulated over the years. At one point the collection numbered around 500 vehicles, which he housed in sheds across from his farm.
Five hundred cars! That’s wild. The story continues with a quote that has me rather concerned:
“He was a bachelor and I suppose he probably just got into a hobby and (had) nobody to shut him down on it, like a spouse would normally, you know,” said longtime friend Richard Serocki.
The company handling the vehicle auction, which is set to commence Friday and continue to Saturday, is called Vanderbrink Auctions, and it has posted a few videos of the incredible herd of mostly Detroit iron. While the video quality is rather poor, the sheer number of astonishing old vehicles shown on the property is mind blowing:
You can check out the full listing of cars on Vanderbrink’s website, but some of the highlights include this 1958 Edsel Pacer:
Then there’s this old Rambler sedan:
And oh my, is this a Studebaker Champion I see?:
And my goodness, look at the hood ornament on this 1954 Packard 200 sedan:
While some of the vehicles were stored in sheds, it appears that others sat outside for a while. Still, it doesn’t look like the moisture led to major body panel rot (at least, not on the car’s outer panels) on this old Ford F-3. It looks restorable:
And this 1954 Pontiac Chieftain also looks deserving of a few turns of some wrenches:
It’s sad to hear that a car enthusiast has left this earth for the great vintage car show that I assume heaven is, but hopefully the fleet will find its way into some good hands tomorrow and Saturday.
h/t: Keenan