Bill revealed that other car collectors referred to him as the black hole. For a long time he never sold a single car from his collection. He has a Studebaker push-me-pull-you car. [4] Bill Allen's testimony, at the trial of his former friend, Alaska Senator Ted Stevens, helped secure Stevens' conviction, in U.S. District Court on charges of felonious corruption. Your billing info has been updated. (I worked with those 4 guys in the white coveralls, Aldo, Joe, George and Al.). The Volvo is unique in his collection because the majority of his models are the smaller 1/43 scale and made of sturdy die-cast metal. He has also served as Senior Producer for WheelsTV in Acton, MA, producing video features of new and pre-owned automobile evaluations and analysis for various automotive Internet sites such as Vehix.com, J.D. Mark attempted to collude with another owner to enter two additional horses, in order to exclude Rachel Alexandra from running by filling the field and to allow him to have Borel ride Mine that Bird again. Those pioneers could never have envisioned the flashy Studebaker Lark convertible. 49 talking about this. He currently can be seen as an expert commentator on the Mecum Collector Car Auctions (NBCSN) and selected episodes of "What's My Car Worth" (Velocity Channel). My particular passion is Studebakers, he said. In 1972, at the age of 23, he enrolled in the Columbia School of Broadcasting, a correspondence course, and after completing the program, began his radio career at WRYT in Boston as a staff announcer and control board operator. Bill went on to say that he collects two types of cars: dead stock and resto-mods I like resto-rods because they have the looks of the old cars and the drivability of new cars. The Toyota Land Cruiser is a legend in the history of the automobile, the utility vehicle serving as the gold standard of off-roaders ever since its introduction. Part II, on the sales, will be published next week. He would come into the office by 10:00 and would usually stay, have lunch, and then go out to the auto collection and spend the afternoon, then go home. Who could afford a car like this in 1936? he asked. I worked on the [contracts for] cars and I worked on his divorces [laughs], of which there were many. Website. There were different levels of restorations. He explained that if he does have a bias toward the MOPAR performance cars its because ChryCo had seemingly so many more choices for buyers, such asRoadrunners, Chargers, Barracudas, Demons, the Duster 340, etc. (505) 308-1580. Housed in a striking circular glass and steel building, designed by Gunter Henn, the collection boasts around 50 cars and 30 motorcycles and bicycles, as well as numerous other exhibits relating to the history of the Audi, DKW, Horch, Wanderer and NSU brands. This week sees his 73rd birthday. Im in Las Vegas right now and did not even know Harrahs here (or the Linq) had closed the car museum. John Gianotti (Vice-president of Community Affairs for Harrah Corporation): He was looking at buying theSpruce Gooseand putting it in the lobby. Bill Allen was born in Socorro, New Mexico and at the age of 16 left for the oil fields of Alaska to become a welder to help support his family. It can be said that Bill Sefton, from a car guy standpoint, has lived a charmed life. If you are into awesome cars, you have come to the right place. Consigli e trucchi per acquistare un'auto usata in sicurezza. Bill asked an interesting question of the audience to identify the first car that could be considered a muscle car. We had arranged a $25 million line of credit to make that acquisition, and we had all the documentation ready, and Meade said, Do not sign it; do not send the cash until we know if hes going to make it through this operation., [Id asked Harrah,] do you want to do anything with Middlefork Lodge, or with the automobile collection? His collection grew erratically at first. A couple of weeks before we were to sign, the governor of Nevada got into the act. Also in 2003, he authored a biographical picture book on the life of drag racer Kenny Bernstein titled "Kenny Bernstein, The King of Speed". $15.00. Yet the circumstances around the saleswhy they had to happen in the first place, how they were organized, and what their true impact washave never been widely understood. Stephens is a six-time winner of the national Telly Award for Television Production and has won the Imperial Palace Moto Award for Excellence in Historical Automotive Television. [Excerpted from 1984Washington Poststory]. This car was prepared by Roush.). Bill Stephens: TV anouncer (1949-) People / Bill Stephens. Navigazione sicura grazie ai massimi standard di sicurezza. I rst met Bill a few years back, at the local Lake Bluff Concours car show. His love of performance cars was forged early on. It was not clear if the position of Vice President for Community & Government Affairs would be refilled. Required fields are marked *. [Harrah] looked at everything, and he didnt say a word. Always focusing on customer service, renowned as a benevolent employer, and described as an impeccable host, Harrah raised industry standards, attracted and befriended headline entertainers, like Frank Sinatra, Bill Cosby, Sammy Davis, Jr., the Smothers Brothers, and a young Jay Leno, while expanding his operations to Las Vegas. What cars were most responsible for launching this new market segment? At the Harbert get together I made arrangements with Bill to sit down with me for an interview sometime in 2019. During a review of the case triggered by allegations of prosecutorial misconduct, investigators for the United States Department of Justice discovered a previously undocumented interview between Allen and prosecutors. This directly contradicted Allen's testimony at trial, where he claimed Stevens had asked him to give Persons a note Stevens had sent asking for a bill for the repair work. Sign up for the Insider newsletter to get a deep dive into the collector car market every Sunday.]. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Your email address will not be published. Following the spill and cleanup, Allen purchased the Anchorage Times from editor/publisher Robert Atwood. Stephens has written, produced, and narrated numerous automotive and motorsports home videos in national distribution. All cars in Germany must be registered with the competent authority in the area where the car's owner lives. Used car and truck sales. You've successfully signed in. Collier:When Holiday Inn first got involved, they knew that this was a fraught issue. They talked about doing another backhand donation, which I think went up in smoke the moment they realized how valuable all this stuff was. Last Thursday night I went to the Larz Anderson Museum of Transportation in Brookline, MA to listen to a lecture by Velocity Networks Bill Stephens. Very sad ending, and your article here is a fantastic history of both Harrah and his venues and passions. Floral w Gilding Vintage Candy. Mark then entered the horse in the second leg of the Triple Crown, the Preakness Stakes. In 1984, he was chosen from over 300 applicants to become the morning VJ on the Boston-based music television station WVJV-TV (V-66) which was owned by former Boston-area Disc jockeys Arnie "Woo Woo" Ginsburg and John Garabedian. He Is one of the founding owners of the annual Muscle Car and Corvette Nationals that are held in Stephens Center in Chicago the weekend before Thanksgiving. Thanks for all the history youve put together in this article! Theyre extremely rare because they were made for kids to play with and the rubber didnt always outlast the kids.. While those cars intrigue, the collector has another intense interest. If ever you wanted an illustration of the unfairness of life, take a look at Steven Tyler. He has covered virtually every major automobile racing series such as NASCAR, NHRA, Champ Car, and the Atlantic Championship along with many specialty automotive and motorsports events such as collector car auctions, sprint car racing, tractor pulling, drag boat racing, lawn mower racing, mud bog racing, custom car shows, automotive expos, and motorsports awards ceremonies. Oldsmobiles first Rocket V8 had a 303 cubic inch, 135 horsepower overhead valve engine in a body that for those days would be considered lightweight in that era. In CARFAX, riuniamo gli eventi della vita di milioni di auto usate di 20 Paesi europei, degli Stati Uniti e del Canada. For serious collectors of vintage cars, the calendar is filled with top-flight auctions, many of which could vie for the title of most important. In February 1973, Stephens was instrumental in one of the most ambitious promotional stunts in Connecticut radio history when he locked himself inside the WCCC AM&FM on-air studios in Hartford and played the Top 40 song "Bitter Bad" by Melanie for 35 consecutive hours to protest the station's reluctance to offer him a full-time job. Ever. [Excerpted from Harrahs Automobile Collection, One Mans Tribute to the Great Automobiles of the World, published 1984]. How much? Helck said, Which one? and Harrah replied, How much? He boughteverything. You've seen the photos and videos from this amazing facility before, but in our latest video, we show (and talk about) even more!This ever-evolving car colle. Lockhart enjoys researching the history of the cars he collects and he especially likes models from less-common manufacturers like Kaiser Motors. My father had conversations with him about it and he said No, Ive got a plan in place. He assured my Dad and many others. We had some great ideas on how to display the cars at different angles and in different lighting, and some of the wheels would be turning They were also going to put an old steam train out there and some airplanes. Back to wagons, the collector has several woodie models. He had about 25 to 30 paintings and pen-and-inks, and Bill Harrah walked up, and I believe Helck didnt actually know who he was. 7 Dmitry Lomakov Hed go to the Indianapolis 500, and hed take an entourage and everybody who got to go on that (trip) felt very specialI know Meade and Lloyd didbecause that was a very big event. Just because you can go fast doesnt mean you should. Thats how my father got to know Bill. Stephens served as a national event PA announcer for the NHRA Championship Drag Racing Series for 4 years between 1994 and 1997 and is a frequent Master of Ceremonies for various automotive and racing tributes, banquets, and award presentations. He offered his suggestions for our consideration; some of those cars are as follows: Of course, no one really knows for sure about the future values these cars, not even Bill Stephens, but given Bill Stephens experience and knowledge about cars, his thoughts are worthy of serous consideration. Dixon:I think the first thing I did as chairman of Harrahs after Bill died was to cancel that project [the new museum]. Over cold beverages at Mickey Ds in Bridgman recently, I spent an hour or so being amazed and delighted as Bill shared his very interesting life story; a life lled with hard work and following his dream of owning some truly fabulous performance cars from the 1960s and 70s. The Exxon Valdez oil spill was the second-largest in United States history, after the BP Gulf of Mexico Deepwater Horizon oil spill. His favorite is a 1930s royal blue Pierce Arrow coupe. But it grew big enough that, by 1962, Harrah moved the fleet into a jumble of former ice storage buildings in nearby Sparks, Nevada. My uncle, Lenard Davis had restored these 2 cars. Used Cars for Sale. Mr. Harrah came with his wife, Verna, and Bill Cosby, and we all spent time with him. This has led to the discovery of some of the most incredible vintage vehicles ever to see the sales floor, and it would appear that a new automotive . You've seen the photos and videos from this amazing facility before, but in our latest video, we show (and talk about) even more!This ever-evolving car collection has been under the care of ESOTERIC for over 5 years now, and we are happy to share the details with our viewers.For more information and photos please visit https://www.esotericdetail.com/collection-2018/Please be sure to see one of our other very popular videos from this facility highlighting a LaFerrari Aperta: https://youtu.be/grmvRakMCdEESOTERIC - Fine Auto Finishinghttp://www.esotericdetail.comNew Albany, Ohio [5] When you compare the value of the vehicles to the value of operating the museum, the museum operated at a pretty significant loss, of almost $1M annually. His speedy Tahoe Miss won five races and was the American Power Boat Association (APBA) Gold Cup winner in 1966, on the way to a National Championship. [citation needed] Stephens is the host of the nationally syndicated Time Capsule radio feature, and has been heard on such nationally broadcast radio programs as Westwood One's Focus on Racing Radio and ESPN's RPM Radio. These were primarily duplicate vehicles (and parts). The IRS ran an audit and determined that the . Thats what travelers on the Oregon Trail rode in, he said. This event attracts the best of the best muscle cars, stock or modied. Ive got a Ferrrai now and the next time I take her out, Ill be dedicating the ride to Harrah, his hotels, and his car collection. 26 March 2021. VECO was an Alaska-based oil pipeline service and construction company founded by Wayne Veltri (VECO is short for Veltri Co). Ed was the first Volvo dealer in California and at first he didnt have any cars to show customers. [citation needed] He currently can be seen as an expert commentator on the Mecum Collector Car Auctions (Motor Trend TV) and is the former co-host of "What's My Car Worth" seen on the Velocity Channel. This has led to the discovery of some of the most incredible vintage vehicles ever to see the sales floor, and it would appear that a new automotive adventure is made every day. peoplepill id: bill-stephens. He was also the only music disc jockey on the airstaff to move to the new format, co-hosting WRKO's Morning Magazine program with Norm Nathan for two years. [Goodings father, Ken, managed the 25-person-strong Harrahs Automobile Collection research department.]. Under Allen's guidance, VECO (along with its unionized subsidiary, NORCON) was responsible for large parts of the spill's cleanup, hiring 2,500 workers to clean up the environmental disaster. Email this Business. Rtromobile. Bill Stevens Auto Sales, Inc. - 4227 4th St NW Albuquerque, NM 87107. And he had thousands of model cars. He was also interviewed on the phone during his 35-hour broadcast by Don Imus on WNBC in New York and Larry Glick on WBZ in Boston. Those auctions liquidated the holdings of the Harrahs Automobile Collection, considered by many to be the most significant amassment of vintage cars ever assembled. Over the past few years Bill has whittled his once enormous collection of 160 performance vehicles to just 20, and most reside in the Chicago area.
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