Massive car collection seized from owners of bankrupt DC Solar up for auction
A massive car collection is going up for auction. Seized from owners of bankrupt energy company DC Solar there’s bound to be the car you are looking for.
A 1978 Pontiac Trans Am once owned by Burt Reynolds sold for $181,000 on Saturday at the auction of a car collection seized by the U.S. Marshals office that netted a total of $8.2 million.
(U.S. Marshals)
The collection of 148 vehicles belonged to the owners of bankrupt solar power company DC Solar, which prosecutors have alleged was operated as a Ponzi scheme. The owners, Jeff and Paulette Carpoff, have not been yet charged with any crimes, but two employees pleaded guilty last week to fraud and the Carpoffs agreed to sell the cars and put the proceeds into a seized assets account until the matter is settled. It was the largest auction of a single collection ever held by the federal law enforcement agency.
(U.S. Marshals)
The Trans Am was a replica of the one Reynolds drove in “Smokey and the Bandit” and attracted the fifth highest bid among the cars at the Woodland, Calif., event.
(Apple Auctioneering)
Ahead of it was another replica, this one of the 1967 Mustang Shelby GT500SE Super Snake known as “Eleanor” from the 2000 film “Gone in 60 Seconds,” that went for $200,000.
(Apple Auctioneering)
A similar 1967 Shelby GT500SE tribute, but not an official Eleanor car, that was built by Riley Performance Motorsports with a 790 hp supercharged V8 was next at $206,000.
(Apple Auctioneering)
An authentic and fully restored 1969 Dodge Daytona sold for $215,000 to come in second behind one more GT500SE continuation car that went for $232,000.
(Apple Auctioneering)
Another notable car that sold for $167,000 was a 2007 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 that the Carpoffs bought for $1 million at an auction benefiting Las Vegas first responders three weeks after the city was rocked by a mass shooting that took 58 lives in October 2017.
(Barrett-Jackson)
All but one of the cars, trucks, boats and motorcycles found new owners, with a top price of $1,051,225 paid for a 2018 Prevost Featherlite H3-45 motorhome.