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A sad truth of life is that the ability to acquire things often outstrips the ability to do anything with them. Whether it’s a shelf full of books that don’t get read, or a closet full of clothes that don’t get worn, it’s all too easy to amass an unmanageable horde. Cars are no different. Massive collections are not uncommon, and the cars that make them up usually gather dust or get picked apart for spares. But one such collection is being auctioned off, so hopefully some of its pieces will find better homes.
Located in Redwood Falls, Minnesota, the collection is so big—comprising over 300 cars and trucks—that VanDerBrink Auctions will be selling it off over two days (September 25-26). It’s the life’s work of Tim Wertish, the son of a local car dealer who began buying and selling cars himself in high school. He eventually focused on saving classics and bought a plot of land in Redwood Falls to store them. Now he’s selling the land, so the collection is up for grabs.
VanDerBrink Auctions
VanDerBrink Auctions
VanDerBrink Auctions
Wertish did try to get some of his collection running and driving—according to the auction press release, his philosophy is “keep the patina, drop in an LS, slam it, and bag it”—and sold a few cars over the years. But 25 years’ worth of collecting left a lot of metal just waiting for somebody to do something with it. The site has rows and rows of vehicles, all lined up by year, make, and model.
The collection is heavy on trucks, including around 100 pickups each from Ford and General Motors, as well as COE rigs, fire trucks, and grain trucks from a variety of manufacturers, including International and Diamond T. There are some cars as well, including a Hemi-powered 1966 Dodge Charger, a 1967 Plymouth GTX, and a smattering of Camaros and Impalas.
VanDerBrink Auctions
VanDerBrink Auction
Since many of the lots were stored outside and exposed to Minnesota’s brutal winters, this is more an auction of potential projects than investment-grade collectibles. There are plenty of those already, but there aren’t many opportunities to compare multiple examples of your next project side by side and pick the best one. In the case of the COE trucks, at least, buyers will also have the option to take only the cab and leave the frame. Drop that cab on a new chassis, and you could have something really cool.
So if you’ve got cash and garage space to spare, a trip to Minnesota might be in order.
Stephen has always been passionate about cars, and managed to turn that passion into a career as a freelance automotive journalist. When he’s not handling weekend coverage for The Drive, you can find him looking for a new book to read.
