And the best part? It’s pretty much free! My first thoughts were why Winnemucca and where's Winnemucca? It turns out that's where he grew up with his buddy Dave Bengochea, and these gearheads' plan is to give something back to their old stomping ground and in effect put their small town on the big-time map.Camping on one of the largest playa lakes in the state will be something else! You’d think that a bunch of planning is involved, special gear is needed, or perhaps you’d need to get a permit or to jump through hoops to be able to camp at such an epic place…Ĭamping at Alvord Desert couldn’t be any easier. He also had plans to take on the huge task and responsibility of opening a museum in Winnemucca, Nevada. Later that day I had a brief introduction to Whitworth, who is on a mission to collect the best of the best in historic hot rods and customs. When the gavel came down I wondered who it was who was so determined to take the paint box home.

One of the most anticipated moments of this auction (which was most of The Brucker Collection) was when Von Dutch's Paint Box sold for over $300,000. I was fortunate to be an insider at this event and wished one person or organization would buy the entire collection and donate it to a museum.

I first became familiar with Whitworth when I attended RM Auctions' The Originators auction back in 2006. But on second thought I think it's just plain amazing that Whitworth cares enough to collect, preserve, and display all this for us to study first hand. At first I found it a bit strange and kind of a bummer that all these cars were going to be kept in a location that seemed like the middle of nowhere. It's been pretty interesting and exciting to see all these cars end up with one owner. I've been watching from the sidelines and hearing through the grapevine what Ralph Whitworth has been collecting over the last few years. This'll be home to the world's most impressive collection of mainly '50s-through-'70s-era hot rods, customs, drag cars, muscle cars, and related memorabilia. Whether you're driving from California or Utah, your target destination will be the Flying A Garage, which sits next to the site of the soon-to-be-constructed America's Car Collection museum. If you're unfamiliar with the small desert town of Winnemucca, you will soon find yourself having the urge to take a road trip along Interstate 80 which runs through Northern Nevada.

Salt flats oregon