Canada’s most famous collection of cars is going up for sale — and it’s an auction not for the faint of heart.
On Saturday, the bidding will begin on Mike Hall’s collection of 500-plus vehicles in B.C.’s Southern Interior, with every one of them needing restoration work.
Some need minor work, while others will require hundreds of hours of labour.
Hall isn’t happy to see his collection go — an effort that took decades — but the star of Rust Valley Restorers says he doesn’t have enough time to fix them all, and would rather see them go to new homes where they’ll be restored instead of rotting away.
“I realize I’m never going to live long enough to restore them all,” Hall told Global News from his famous field in Tappen, B.C., on Friday.
“I have all these cars and there’s all these people out there that would like one.
“I’ve caretaken some of these cars for 40 years; I’ve done my job, it’s now somebody else’s turn.”
Hall is the lead character in the Rust Valley Restorers reality TV show, and he relishes restoring old wrecks into beautiful rides.
“It’s going to be bittersweet,” Hall said of the auction. “I just hope … a buddy of mine once explained to me we don’t own these cars, we take care of them.”
While Hall is shifting gears into retirement, he admits he’ll be keeping a few vehicles.
“I was only supposed to keep 10. I’m up to 52,” said Hall. “So, as I like to say, I have a full deck of cards to play with still.”
Potential bidders were welcomed to Hall’s lot in Tappen, to take a look and get a head start before the bidding starts.
“There’s a couple cars that we’re keeping our eye on if we can get it for a good price, because we have to ship it all the way to San Diego,” said David and Stephanie Miller of San Diego, Calif.
“Living in San Diego, you don’t see often classic cars like this, especially a big collection of a 500 (vehicle) lot.”
James Walker of Richmond, B.C. said, “We’ve got a list of probably 25-30 cars trucks and cars printed out, so we’re just going to narrow it down to like five or six.”