Colorado family auctions off 300 vintage cars starting at 50 cents each

Got two quarters burning a hole in your pocket? That might be all you need to open the bidding on a classic car in Colorado this week.

The family of the late Doug Born is auctioning off close to 300 vehicles from a field outside Eaton, about an hour north of Denver, in what they’re calling the “Born Family Estate Collection.” The collection spans three generations of car obsession, with models dating from a 1912 Ford Model T all the way to a 1995 Ford F-350 with a 7.3-liter Power Stroke diesel. There are ’30s Ford coupes, a 1955 NAPCO pickup, a 1964 Bel Air, a 1957 Pontiac Super Chief wagon, a 1974 Firebird Esprit, International trucks, a Plymouth Ramcharger, and enough F-Series pickups to stock a small dealership. Oh, and a 1934 school bus project, if that’s your thing.

“It’s been a lifetime collection for my grandpa and my dad,” DJ Born with Rocky Mountain Relics told FOX31. “There’s too many cars to have, and there’s too many nice ones to part out, so we’re trying to pass them on to somebody else. They can collect them and share them and keep that history going.”

The starting bid on the vehicles is 50 cents with no reserve. Online bidding is already open, but the live in-person and online auction goes down Friday, Sept. 19, through VanDerBrink Auctions. Before you start mentally clearing out your garage, a few caveats: most of the cars will need work to be roadworthy, though some are already fully restored. There’s an 8 percent buyer’s premium if you show up in person and 10 percent if you bid online. And you’re responsible for hauling whatever you buy out of that field yourself, which, for a Model T shell on a rural property with no paved access, can quietly double the real cost of your “50-cent car.”

Browse the full catalog at vanderbrinkauctions.com.