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Your Next Project Might Be Hiding in This 400-Car Auction
If you’re in the market for a new project, regardless of how much time you want to spend on it, you might find what you’re looking for at a massive, 400-car auction organized by VanDerBrink. The auction house is helping liquidate a hoard of vintage cars and lots of parts that a collector spent years putting together.
The collection is located in Epping, a town in rural North Dakota with a population of 79. Put another way, land is plentiful, and it’s the ideal place to hoard cars. “[The owner] collected for many years. He was a geologist for the oil fields, so he saw a lot of stuff and brought it home over the years,” VanDerBrink said. It doesn’t take much time on Google Maps to find the stash: It’s linked to an auto repair shop called PLS.
It sounds like a list of the cars that are looking for a new home isn’t available yet—we asked and couldn’t get one—but the pictures speak for themselves. There are rows and rows and rows of cars. Most look like they’re at least 50 years old, the vast majority of them are American, and many seemingly need a full restoration. Alternatively, they’d make good parts cars or a perfect starting point for a rat-rod build.
Vintage models from Dodge, Hudson, Chevrolet, Ford, and Packard all answered “here!” during roll call. Beyond “old” and “American,” there’s no set theme to the collection. We spot sedans, coupes, a lot of pickups, and even a handful of vans all parked in a field. Not all of the cars will need to be dragged home, however. The pictures also show a couple of cars that look like they’ve been restored and are parked in a garage.
Parts, tools, and other assorted memorabilia will be sold, too, though here again a full list isn’t available. If you see something you like, however, head over to Epping on June 7 with your checkbook and a trailer.
I would love to see what the inventory is. I will fill out the form I’m not that far away from where you are.
At first I thought it was “that place” in So. Dakota on highway 212. The guy has about 400 cars sitting there lined up the same way. Funny thing is, he wouldn’t sell a thing. Just a Hoarder I guess. Used to pass by on hunting trips. Maybe he is OLD enough to start getting rid of that stuff now. Who knows.
Please share your findings with the rest of us. I am dying to know what they have. Just to quench my curiosity.
Looking for old membalia. Grandfather stated in 1925. Bought an old blacksmith shop..1st product was Willys overland
ThenDesoto Plymouth and Chrysler.looking for old Stuff and advertising signs that were in the building.
IIRC, I have part of a cardboard sign that listed fees that a blacksmith could charge for various services. IIRC, it was a print by the State of North Dakota circa 1920s.
I’ll see if I still have it.
If you listen closely to the winds in rural North Dakota you’ll hear the screams of 400 wives sweep across the plains.
Screaming with delight.
Too bad they’re left in an open field so they can rot into the ground.
They’re lucky there wasn’t a grass fire in that field.
It is very cold, and very dry in that region. These cars were parked long before the heavy use of road salt. Other than sunburned and sandblasted paint, they are likely less rusty than a 15 year old car in the same region.
Agree!
Having experienced North Dakota in winter, these cars may have benefited from dry ice cleaning.
“Hoard” sounds about right from the look of it.
I hope to see a follow-up story on this in the future.
I’m sure they will sell at least 10
Without a list it’s hard to know if we should be excited here.
This find may be 15-20 years too late. The interest in total restoration for a 1950’s American car and or even rat rods are past tense. The interest in these is fading with younger enthusiasts.
Amcfan… I hate to say it but you are probably right.
And in a few years the tools to rebuild them will also be gone because of no one caring about them or how to use them.
It has become a just go buy a new one era.
Or watch a youtube video and they think they will have the skill to do whatever.
I attend many car shows and notice the younger generation has little interest in muscle cars or cars shown in the auction shown. They tend to gravitate towards the Japanese and similar cars.
This is a neat thing. I agree with most of the comments on the fact the younger generation cares nothing about a 40’s or 50’s anything. They simply have no knowledge to even have the ability to have interest in these cars. It’s a lot of work and cost just to own a nice restored unit. Everything from service, aging tires with no miles, good local shops to rebuild and diag and fix anything. I’ll be you ask about end play on a wheel bearing and minds would melt. I own a fleet from 60’s to the 80’s and they’re easy to keep up if you know them.
Hmmm, I wonder. I only have two cars, a 67 and a 37, but the ones that scream ‘great car!’ from the sidewalks are all very young people, I can see me in them from back then. I expect the old car craze is alive and well for generations. Maybe an electric motor transplant at some point, but that will be okay too!
i have noticed a lot of guys on the internet doing chassis swaps – buy a newish car with body damage. buy another much older car with totalled drive train, cut the majority of the body away from the newer car and gut the old one, lift it up and lower it onto the newer chassis. My wife drives a Hybrid RAV4 that would make an interesting drive with something like a forties Plymouth body welded on.