(phone rings)
MIKE: What's up, boys?
JERSEY JON: Hey, you there yet, man?
You looking at the sign yet, Corncob?
What's going on with this thing?
MIKE: I'm not there yet, Jersey. I'm like 10 minutes away.
MIKE: Today, Dani's sending me to a guy that claims to have
a billboard from Evel Knievel's
epic Snake River Canyon jump.
I've been a fan of Evel Knievel's
since the day I took my training wheels off my bike.
If this is legit, there are no words.
ROB: Snake River Canyon, baby.
JERSEY JON: Don't mess this up. It's like bad to the bone, Mike.
Make sure you get it.
MIKE: I'm not going to mess it up!
I don't need the Two Stooges
to call me up and rough me up about a motorcycle sign.
MIKE: The only reason Robbie and Jersey are calling me
is because they're jealous.
They want to be in my position,
they want to see this billboard,
they want to be the ones to try to buy it.
MIKE: I know it's epic. I'm the one
who has the relationship
with Evel Knievel's painter, George Sedlak.
ROB: You need to put eyes on it, Mike,
and actually send me photos of it.
MIKE: Alright, so when I get there, I'll send you pictures.
JERSEY JON: Just lay that cash out and get this piece, man.
Make sure it happens. MIKE: Alright.
ROB: Send the photos. MIKE: Bye.
ROB: See you.
(upbeat music)
MIKE: Alright, alright.
(honk, honk)
MIKE: You Bill? BILL: I'm Bill.
MIKE: What's going on, man? BILL: Just having a good day.
MIKE: Heard you got the golden egg?
(laughs) How are you doing?
BILL: Pretty good. MIKE: Nice to meet you.
I just found out, I haven't seen photographs of the sign yet.
The Snake River Canyon piece? BILL: Yes.
MIKE: Were you there? BILL: Yes.
MIKE: No kidding. BILL: Through the whole thing.
MIKE: What was that like? BILL: It was my first
experience getting off the farm.
(Mike laughs) MIKE: Yeah?
BILL: When Evel Knievel jumped the Snake River Canyon,
it was one of those spur of the moment things
when we decided to go.
I just bought a new pickup, so my friends thought,
"Why don't we go?" And it was huge.
MIKE: So, how old were you? BILL: 19.
MIKE: Okay, because... What was it, '74?
BILL: Yes. MIKE: '74, man.
I was 10 years old. BILL: Okay.
MIKE: I remember being on the edge of my seat
for the canyon jump. Everybody was just like, "Ah..."
MIKE: My brother and I were like every kid in the United States.
We had the Evel Knievel stunt cycle toy.
And when you made that jump,
you wanted to go further.
All of a sudden, we were jumping Army Men,
and then my sister's dollhouse.
I think we even tried to jump my mom's car.
Evel Knievel was a real-life superhero that was invincible.
MIKE: Where's the sign? I got to see the sign.
BILL: The sign is here in my security system here.
It's underneath this trailer.
MIKE: This is your safe deposit box?
BILL: Yeah!
BILL: I never thought the sign would be valuable.
(engine revs)
But seeing the way people react to it
told me there's something here.
MIKE: What is there, two pieces? BILL: Three!
MIKE: Dang! How big is it?
BILL: 9 feet tall and 12 feet wide.
MIKE: No kidding. So, how'd you even get this home?
BILL: We put it on top of the pickup and tied it down.
MIKE: Really? This is bad to the bone. Okay.
BILL: Whoa.
MIKE: Oh my God, look at that snake. Killer.
ROB: Dani D! JERSEY JON: What's up, girl?
DANIELLE: Good morning, guys.
I see you have a heatwave coming at you.
JERSEY JON: Yeah. ROB: It's nice and cool
in the van, that's all I can say.
DANIELLE: Perfect. Stay hydrated out there.
That's the most important thing.
ROB: I did. I drank two bottles of water when I worked out
this morning on my yoga mat.
DANIELLE: Good, you're stretched. I like it.
So, that means you're ready for a car-centric pick.
ROB: Car-centric? Yeah.
DANIELLE: Okay, so I've been talking to Jennifer.
Now, her father Charles was a lifelong collector
of anything that has to do with cars, racing, any of that.
ROB: Sounds like my world. DANIELLE: Unfortunately,
Charles passed away last year,
so Jennifer and her mother Sandie
are trying to go through everything and give it the right home.
There's a 1957 Triumph TR3.
ROB: Wow. DANIELLE: A '58 TR3A in there.
On top of that, there's vintage clothes, car parts, tools.
JERSEY JON: Ooh... DANIELLE: Now, Jennifer and Sandie have been going
through it, and Jennifer's husband Jim
has been a huge help as well.
So, I think they're just tackling it as a family.
ROB: Good, good. I like to hear that.
DANIELLE: Coordinates are in your email right now.
You guys be safe, have fun. I'll talk to you soon.
ROB: Thank you, girl. JERSEY JON: Thank you, Dani.
DANIELLE: Bye, guys.
(upbeat music)
ROB: I think it's right here.
JERSEY JON: It's pretty cool. Something's back there.
Big garage. ROB: Another building...
another building... Dani wasn't messing around.
JERSEY JON: There's stuff all over the place, here.
ROB: Look. JERSEY JON: Oh, yeah. That's cool.
(Rob laughs)
JERSEY JON: Let me get a flyer. This is great.
(honk, honk)
JERSEY JON: Hello. ROB: How you doing?
JERSEY JON: Hey, how are you? JIM: How can I help you guys?
ROB: Danielle sent us out. JIM: Oh, sure.
She must have talked to my wife. JERSEY JON: I'm Jon.
JIM: Hi, Jon. ALL: Nice to meet you.
JERSEY JON: This is what we're looking for.
JIM: I recognize a lot of that stuff.
JERSEY JON: Looks like you got a bunch of stuff
piled in here, that's for sure. ROB: What's going on here?
JIM: This is all my father-in-law's stuff
he collected over the years.
Triumphs, AMCs, Chrysler, Dodges.
ROB: Wow. JERSEY JON: All the flavors,
man. This place is packed.
JERSEY JON: There's cars, cars, cars.
But there's stuff all over this place.
ROB: Can we look around in here? JIM: Actually, I'm going
to let you get hooked up with my wife.
She's the one in charge, makes all the decisions
with that. She's up at the house right now.
Just go around back and they'll meet you at the house.
JERSEY JON: Awesome. Thank you. ROB: Okay. Appreciate it.
JERSEY JON: Nice to meet you. JIM: Nice to meet you guys.
(knocking)
JENNIFER: Hi, there! JERSEY JON: Hey! I'm Jon.
JENNIFER: Hi. JERSEY JON: Robbie.
JENNIFER: Nice to meet you. ROB: Danielle sent us out.
JENNIFER: Oh, yeah. Absolutely.
JERSEY JON: This is the stuff we're looking for.
JENNIFER: I think we can probably help you out with that.
Come on in. JERSEY JON: Awesome.
JENNIFER: We're just packing stuff up in here.
JERSEY JON: Wow. Oh, this is cool.
JENNIFER: Hey, Mom. ROB: The lady of the house.
JERSEY JON: Hey! Hi, I'm Jon. JENNIFER: This is my mom.
SANDIE: Hi, I'm Sandie. JERSEY JON: Sandie, nice to meet you.
ROB: Nice to meet you. Rob.
Man, looking at your...
I want to call it a garage, but it's more of a...
JERSEY JON: There's a lot of stuff going on in there.
ROB: A lot of stuff going on in there.
So, your husband was into a lot of different cars.
SANDIE: Yep. ROB: Well, every man that gets
the opportunity to do that, it's always the wife
that has to stand there by his side, so...
JERSEY JON: So, you enjoyed the hobby with him as well?
SANDIE: Oh, absolutely.
SANDIE: Chuck didn't have any collections
when I first met him.
But then he bought motorcycles and cars,
and I thought it was fun that he found something
that intrigued him, so we'd go swap meets
and car shows, and I tolerated the quantity.
(laughs)
JERSEY JON: You guys ever go to Hershey or anything like that?
SANDIE: Not Hershey, but Iola. ROB: Iola.
JERSEY JON: Iola. I've never been to Iola.
ROB: It's the Midwest Hershey. SANDIE: Exactly.
And it was hard walking the swap meet, I think.
ROB: Oh yeah, because of the hills.
SANDIE: And one time when we were there,
we did separate for a little bit.
And I said, "I'll meet you in an hour."
Well, an hour later when we met, he had bought a car.
(laughter)
SANDIE: So, I never separated again.
And we both had to drive home. ROB: Yeah.
JERSEY JON: That's cool. (Rob laughs)
JERSEY JON: Well, I saw some things walking in here.
There's a box over there that says Keen Kutter on it.
I'd love to see it. SANDIE: Okay.
JERSEY JON: Keen Kutter was an amazing company
that started around 1870.
JERSEY JON: This is great.
JERSEY JON: Back in the day, they were known
for their high-quality tools.
JERSEY JON: Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!
He's got Keen Kutter stuff in there too!
SANDIE: Yeah. JERSEY JON: This is a Keen Kutter store display.
I've seen Keen Kutter tools occasionally,
but I never see the Keen Kutter cabinet.
And this is from 1910 to 1915.
JERSEY JON: This was for the silverware set.
SANDIE: Mm-hmm. JERSEY JON: They made nice stuff.
This is very collectible. The logo is fantastic.
The axe. Oh wow, this is great. The scissors.
JERSEY JON: Keen Kutter tools are highly collectible.
I mean, tool collectors, they're always looking
for Keen Kutter items. They're hard to find.
JERSEY JON: I'd be interested in the whole kit and caboodle.
SANDIE: In everything? Okay. JERSEY JON: The Keen Kutter meat cutter,
that's fairly common. The axe is probably
the more desirable piece. That's probably like maybe
a $70, $80 piece. But the big star of the show
is the Keen Kutter cabinet. I mean that's wicked cool.
Um... 350 for all this.
SANDIE: How about 450?
JERSEY JON: 400.
SANDIE: Okay. JERSEY JON: 400?
SANDIE: Okay. JERSEY JON: Thank you, sweetie.
I appreciate you. Alright. ROB: Check this out, Jersey.
JENNIFER: He found Dad's chauffer's license collection.
SANDIE: Ah. ROB: The whole thing. It's all chauffer's licenses.
JENNIFER: Yeah. JERSEY JON: Oh, wow.
ROB: A chauffer's license was issued basically
to anyone transporting paying customers.
Could've been a bus driver, could've been a chauffer,
could've been a taxi driver.
JERSEY JON: Is it all Minnesota stuff?
ROB: Yeah, all Minnesota.
ROB: These were issued around
the early 1900s all the way into the '50s.
The driver would've worn it on his hat or his coat
to show that he was official.
What makes these collectible is each state issued these
and every one of them had a different design.
Everybody wants all 50 states, a full set.
ROB: Some of these are Teamster buttons.
Well, he wasn't a chauffer was he?
SANDIE: No. He was a Teamster. And his dad.
ROB: I was a Teamster. SANDIE: Really?
ROB: I worked for UPS. Yeah.
SANDIE: Well, if you get up in the attic,
I think there's a whole pin collection on a board.
JERSEY JON: There's stuff in the attic?
SANDIE: Uh-huh. ROB: The whole box,
there's like 35 in here.
Some are three bucks, some are five, some are ten.
$115.
SANDIE: 140 sounds better.
ROB: 120 bucks.
SANDIE: Okay. ROB: That work?
You got me intrigued. I want to go up to this attic.
JERSEY JON: We want to look in the attic.
ROB: You said you got pins on a board?
That makes me, like, "Wow, okay."
SANDIE: Come on. JERSEY JON: Show us the way.
JENNIFER: It's right over here. And you're gonna feel the heat.
ROB: Watch your head going up there.
JERSEY JON: Watch your head, Robbie. Wow.
JENNIFER: There's stuff in all the corners.
Not really sure what.
JENNIFER: My dad never threw anything away.
He was a product of the Depression.
When you're young, that directs you
further into your life and that moved onto
wanting to preserve things
that he felt were important parts of history.
JENNIFER: Lots of clothes.
ROB: Is that Navy? JERSEY JON: Oh, that's cool.
ROB: It's not Navy. JERSEY JON: Oh, that's electrically heated.
This might be World War II. Yeah!
JERSEY JON: This is a flight suit from World War II.
The kind they would wear in the bombers at high altitude.
It's electrically heated because they didn't have
any heat in the planes. I mean, you're plugging
this suit into the plane's electrical system
and the electricity going through the suit
heats your body. And I know this is from
World War II because it's a goatskin leather.
JERSEY JON: This is really cool.
I mean, the condition is amazing.
JENNIFER: My dad was in the army,
so he didn't have it in the service,
but he liked it and he used it.
JERSEY JON: I love it. I think it's a great piece
of American history, for one thing.
JERSEY JON: And also, it's very well made.
You want to sell this? JENNIFER: Yeah.
JERSEY JON: Um... 200 bucks.
JENNIFER: Mmm... 350?
JERSEY JON: Oof.
JENNIFER: That's a lot of leather.
JERSEY JON: Yeah, it is a lot of leather. 300 bucks.
JENNIFER: Yep. JERSEY JON: Alright. I'll take it for 300. Thank you.
JENNIFER: Mm-hmm. JERSEY JON: That's great.
ROB: Man, you got some stuff in here.
MIKE: Oh, my God, look at that snake. Killer.
This is crazy cool, man. Here, let's stand it up.
Okay. Alright, where am I going?
BILL: Right straight back.
MIKE: Oh, my God. This is crazy.
You got this on the top of a truck?
BILL: Yeah. And this was on two phone poles,
and the sign hung, and you drove underneath the sign.
MIKE: Oh, no way.
God, I can't believe how big this thing is, man.
This is crazy. Oh my God.
This is nuts.
Alright, alright, alright.
There it is. Dude, that's nuts.
No way, look at that! It's got Harley Davidson on it.
And it's got Evel on his helmet. God, look at that.
MIKE: There's really no way to prepare myself
for what I'm looking at. I mean, this thing is large,
it's very colorful, he's flying through the air,
there's a snake wrapped around him.
It just doesn't get any better than this.
MIKE: So, how did you get this?
BILL: We were fans of Evel's,
and when attempted to jump Snake River,
it was a three-day celebration leading up to that,
so we were out there.
There was thousands of people there,
and they had a wheelie contest.
They invited all the top bikers to compete,
and then about halfway through it,
all of a sudden... (mimics revving)
Evel Knievel comes out.
MIKE: No way! BILL: Yeah.
And he pulls up right by me,
and I wished him good luck on the jump, and he thanked me.
And then he took off and stood on the backseat of it
and he had that thing lit right up,
and it was a circle of people,
and they're all taking pictures.
MIKE: Yeah, yeah, yeah. BILL: And then jumping
out of the way, because by the time
you snapped a picture, the front wheel is about here.
MIKE: But you got to talk to him?
BILL: Yeah. MIKE: You got to actually say,
"Hey, good luck," and he responded?
BILL: Yeah. MIKE: That's pretty cool, man.
BILL: It was. MIKE: I mean, he was such an icon.
I mean, to me, as a kid, he wasn't just a daredevil.
He was a real-life superhero
because of the outfit that he wore, the leathers.
Then he had the cape on,
and he was always talking to us kids.
If he was on TV, he'd be like, "You kids do this,"
or, "You kids don't do that," know what I mean?
So, you're the first guy I ever talked to
that was actually there. BILL: Yes.
So, when Evel was ready to jump,
it was basically a rocket
with four motorcycle wheels welded to it.
And I'm guessing it was probably
a half mile across to the other side.
It was quite a ways.
It was hundreds of feet down.
Just, huge.
And when he took off, it was a missile.
MIKE: Dude. BILL: And when that thing
touched off, his eyeballs were in the back of his head.
And then when he jumped it,
there was something wrong.
The emergency chute was deployed
by the time he hit the end of the ramp.
But he actually went across the canyon.
MIKE: Yeah. BILL: But then the wind
blew him back, and that's how he ended up going down.
He went the hard way. He slammed, banged,
crash for quite a ways down there by the water.
MIKE: I remember I was just crushed by it.
I think there were a lot of people that were really sad.
MIKE: There were weeks before they were building it up,
promoting it. I mean, we were little kids,
we didn't have the money to watch a pay-per-view,
but we were still on the edge of our seats
wondering what was happening.
We all gathered around the news to see what happened.
BILL: I believe the perception was he chickened out,
pulled that emergency chute. MIKE: Okay.
BILL: There's no way that he did it,
because that chute button was off on the side.
MIKE: Yeah. BILL: He just hit it,
and it was in a bad spot.
MIKE: Oh, so he just got threw back?
BILL: Yes. MIKE: Yeah.
BILL: So, there was no way
he decided that everything was going wrong,
because it just got started.
MIKE: Oh, my God.
BILL: Had he not hit that chute button,
he'd have stuck like a dart right on the moon.
I mean, that rocket was going. (Mike laughs)
MIKE: He was going way beyond the canyon!
BILL: He was going, yeah. MIKE: Oh, my God.
MIKE: I know exactly what Bill's talking about.
I mean, obviously, as a kid,
I heard what people were saying about him,
that he intentionally pulled the chute.
People were calling him a scammer.
And then later on as an adult, you see the documentary,
you hear from the engineers, it wasn't Evel's fault.
And then all the bad press that he and his family went through,
and handled it like a superhero.
Then he got back on the bike and showed the world
that he was still Evel Knievel. That's pretty cool.
MIKE: So, were you guys there after the jump
during the rioting and everything?
BILL: Yes. After the jump when he didn't make it,
people were disappointed, and the rioting just started
as a slow burn. And then next thing you know,
they were just burning and wrecking everything
that was there to be wrecked.
They were burning anything out of wood.
And then there was a fella
chopping down the pole that this was on.
MIKE: Okay. BILL: And just before
they got ready to throw her on the fire,
we were able to get it away and we saved it.
It was good to see something get saved out of there,
because basically everything was burnt.
MIKE: That's crazy. I just read about it over the years,
you know. They were saying there wasn't any accommodations,
there was no water. BILL: No.
MIKE: There was none of that stuff.
MIKE: I saw documentaries and footage of the riots.
It was insane. They burned the jump site to the ground.
It is amazing to me that they were able to save this sign
because all of that history was destroyed, man,
it was scraped from the Earth. You know, it's brilliant.
MIKE: Thank God you guys saved this one.
This is a powerful piece of art.
I mean, overall, it's just in amazing condition.
I mean, this is like it was painted yesterday.
I mean, the detail of this and the colors
are so vibrant and everything. It's pretty amazing.
There's a little bit of chipping here,
but that could've happened when it was put up.
MIKE: The condition of this sign is really unbelievable.
You know, from them packing it on top of a truck,
driving back with it, and then the fact that he's had it
all these years, I mean, it's pretty amazing.
MIKE: So, you've had this since 1974.
Why are you starting to think about selling it now?
BILL: It just needs to go some place else.
I'm not using it.
BILL: I don't have a huge emotional attachment to it.
It's a nice sign, but it needs to be seen.
I don't want to hoard this thing.
That's no good to anybody.
And there's people, I think, would enjoy it.
MIKE: Are there any photographs that show this sign
on the property. I mean, if there was a picture
of this on the property, that would be huge.
BILL: None. There is one sign that has this in the center,
and then it has writing on the sides and the bottom.
MIKE: You're saying there's a photograph of another sign
exactly like this?
BILL: Yes. I believe it's a little bit smaller,
but it was at another entrance and there was a lot of writing
all around it. Right here.
MIKE: Let me see. Okay, I see what you're saying.
So, this is the other sign
with all the different advertising on it and all this stuff.
MIKE: Snake River Canyon jump countdown.
That looks like the exact same sign.
I'll tell you what, I'd like to take a couple
pictures of it and just get them off to my brother.
He saw photos. He does a lot of signs,
so I want to take some pictures of it
to give him an idea of the size of it.
It's very cool.
I'll send this to my bro.
ROB: I'd like to get in that garage.
JENNIFER: It's pretty messy, but we've been working hard on it.
It's controlled chaos in there.
It's a lot cleaner than it was when we started.
ROB: You in there, Jim? JIM: I was beginning to wonder
if I was gonna have to come rescue you guys.
JERSEY JON: Yeah. We did alright in there.
ROB: Yeah. JERSEY JON: It was fun.
We got some good stuff out of there.
There's tons of stuff here.
JENNIFER: My dad was mainly into cars.
SANDIE: He loved to tinker with them
and try and get them fixed. We put up this building
because the cars were all outside
and he thought we really shouldn't have these
sitting outside all winter.
ROB: There's so much stuff to look at in here.
I mean, Triumphs...
ROB: Now I'm seeing Charles' whole world right here.
This was his man cave. There's all these cars laid out.
He's got gas and oil stuff, advertising.
ROB: Is that a station wagon back there?
JIM: That's a '62 Chrysler New Yorker station wagon.
ROB: Wow. JERSEY JON: Let's go look at that, Robbie.
ROB: Yeah. So, what's the story behind the New Yorker?
I mean, this is an unusual car.
JENNIFER: They came down to visit me in college,
and went home with it. It was purchased down in Iowa.
ROB: This was an Iowa car? JENNIFER: This was an Iowa car, yeah.
ROB: The Chrysler New Yorker was one of the most
luxurious cars built in America.
The fact that this car, 1962,
is a Chrysler New Yorker station wagon
means they only made a little over 700 of these cars.
It's a rare model.
JERSEY JON: I love it because it's a wagon.
ROB: This isn't original paint.
JENNIFER: No. I know that they had it painted.
ROB: This color would be original on this.
JENNIFER: Yeah, the picture we have of it is this mauve color.
ROB: Yeah, it's like a mauve like, I want to call it a pink.
When do you think is the last time this has been on the road?
JENNIFER: 2002 or 2003?
So, I think probably it's been sitting here
for a good 20-some years, yeah.
ROB: Looking at it, this thing is actually in the gravel.
Honestly, I think we should probably see if that jack
will jack this car up. I want to get it up
as high as I can because I'd love to see underneath.
Can we do that, Jim? JIM: Yeah.
ROB: You think that'll work?
JERSEY JON: Let me get it down all the way.
You may not be able to get it under there, Robbie.
ROB: You can't get it under? JERSEY JON: What about this one?
This one's lower. I gotta get this underneath there.
ROB: Let me ask you this, is the car even for sale?
JENNIFER: Absolutely. JERSEY JON: Get that jack
under there, dude. Watch your feet, dude.
ROB: I'm watching myself. JERSEY JON: Alright, now we're under there.
Now, we can crank that baby. Yeah.
ROB: I'll tell you what I want to buy. The jack.
JERSEY JON: Yeah, the jack's cool.
ROB: I'm telling you. That's freaking awesome!
JIM: Yeah, that's a nice jack.
That's gonna cost more than the car.
(all laughing)
JERSEY JON: Come on, Robbie. Get it!
This is the most work he's done all week.
ROB: Yeah, whatever.
Let me see underneath here, Jersey.
ROB: There's a lot of grease. The transmission seal's
probably let loose on this.
Believe it or not, the rockers aren't that bad.
JERSEY JON: You can see the rockers?
ROB: Yeah, I can see all the way down.
ROB: The fact that this car's been sitting here 20 years,
it's gonna need everything. Gas tank, brakes, tires,
to possibly an engine overhaul.
And you can see the transmission
is gonna have to come out immediately,
because there's oil all over the place
which means, probably, all the seals are bad in it.
But overall, the underneath, there's no rust anywhere.
It's absolutely amazing.
Charles had the forethought to put plastic
between the gravel and the body on the car.
No moisture can get to it.
That's what saved this car.
ROB: Let me look at the interior here.
The dash on this thing is so freaking cool.
Looks like a robot. And this thing has rear AC,
and the beauty of this one is,
it's got the rear backseat. You remember those days, Jersey.
JERSEY JON: Oh yeah. Yeah. It's cool.
It's just so different from what today's family car is.
I mean, this thing looks like a Batmobile, you know?
It's so cool. It's got different style cues on it.
The honeycomb grill. ROB: Yeah.
JIM: What are you thinking?
ROB: I've done enough cars where you start
seeing the amount of oil underneath here,
you're looking at transmission.
This had a push-button transmission,
which was notoriously bad.
So, you're going to spend some money on a transmission,
I can tell you that right now. JERSEY JON: The rear main seal.
ROB: Yeah, everything. And you said 20 years
it's been sitting here, you think?
JENNIFER: Probably, yeah. JERSEY JON: The carburetor is greasy.
ROB: There's peanuts over there.
JERSEY JON: Yeah, mice have been in it.
ROB: Mice. I mean, hopefully the mice
didn't get into the wiring. JERSEY JON: Yeah.
ROB: You know, it never does it justice
when these things sit forever. JENNIFER: Yeah.
JERSEY JON: Let's think about it, dude.
ROB: Yeah, let me think about this just for a little bit.
ROB: So, you know, I saw the Triumphs
when we got here, which is kind of a unicorn.
JIM: Yeah. ROB: They're cool!
So, what was your dad's obsession with Triumphs?
JENNIFER: He had one when he was younger
and he liked British cars.
ROB: When most people hear the word "Triumph",
they think of motorcycles.
But Triumph manufactured cars from the early '20s
all the way into the '80s.
What we have here are the earlier sport models.
ROB: What year is this red one?
JENNIFER: '57, I think? And then that's a '59.
ROB: These TR models were produced from the 1950s
into the 1970s.
I owned one in 1992,
and I used to drive it back and forth from Detroit.
I was one of the funnest cars I owned.
There's a niche market for these type of Triumph
sport model cars in the United States.
ROB: Was that you, Jim, keeping the mice out?
JIM: Yep. It keeps critters out. ROB: Still smells good.
JENNIFER: He got that trick from my dad.
ROB: So, are these cars for sale?
JENNIFER: For the right price.
ROB: How long have these been
sitting in this state right here?
JENNIFER: Probably as long as the New Yorker.
ROB: 20 years? JENNIFER: Probably, yeah.
ROB: So, do you guys have the windows to these?
JENNIFER: You know, there could be windows around there.
They might be on the back wall there.
ROB: Oh, right there. Yeah.
That's one. Oh, there's two right there.
JENNIFER: There it is, yeah. ROB: Okay. Alright.
ROB: The prices on these for a running driving car
could be 6 grand up to 18,000. JENNIFER: Right.
ROB: Not in bad shape at all. It's got wire rims on it.
JENNIFER: Yep. ROB: Knock offs, which is a big
plus on these. Everybody wants the wires.
I'm going to throw my hat in the ring.
The New Yorker and the red one.
I don't really... I'm not a yellow guy.
That's why I'm not even going to go over there and look at that.
Nine grand.
And I'll tell you where I'm coming from.
You got five on that, and I'm at four on this.
ROB: The red one? It's a '57.
It's got everything going for it.
Swooped down doors, it's got the look.
You're going to put $3,000 into it,
but kind of leaning a little bit
like the Triumph is going to run probably on its own.
This car running down the road, 15 grand all day.
JENNIFER: Well, I think we might have to run it by my mom.
ROB: Okay. JENNIFER: Maybe Jim can go get her.
JIM: I will do that.
ROB: I got a couple things I found over here
I gotta ask about.
(phone rings)
MIKE: Hey, did you get the pictures of that sign?
ROB: Yeah. MIKE: It's epic, I mean,
the fact that it survived, you know, because he was there,
they were doing all the rioting,
they were burning everything.
This sign right here, they were pulling it down,
dude, to throw in the fire.
ROB: It's a miracle that he saved that.
MIKE: He showed me a photograph of another billboard
like this one
with some other signage around it.
It's the same exact image.
It's a different sign, though.
ROB: Dude, after Dani sent us the picture of that sign,
I made Jersey drive and I watched the documentary.
There's a picture of that sign in it.
MIKE: There's footage of this sign in the documentary?
ROB: Yes. That exact sign.
MIKE: Dude, that's great!
Where do you think I need to be on this?
ROB: I think between 15 and 20.
It's just finding that Evel Knievel lover
that has to have it more than you.
MIKE: No, I know. Alright, I just wanted you to see it.
I told you I'd send you photos of it.
ROB: I wouldn't... Hey, you know,
the fact that this guy is even willing to sell it,
it's one of those things you can't leave behind,
because you're never going to get a chance to buy it again.
You get one shot at it. MIKE: Alright, I'll let you know what happens.
Alright, bye. ROB: Love you. Bye.
ROB: I got a couple things I found over here
I gotta ask about.
So, these are trip lights.
ROB: Trip lights were added spotlights
that went on the front of a car.
Typically, a Duesenberg or a Packard.
So, when you had four of those coming at you,
wow, it looked spectacular.
ROB: There's three of them here.
Spotlight's cool too.
175 on the three,
and I'll give 25 for the spotlight,
so 200 bucks for all of them.
JENNIFER: Yeah, we can do that. That works.
ROB: Thanks. JERSEY JON: I like these oil bottles.
They're cool. And it's got the carrier too.
ROB: Nine bottles. JERSEY JON: And I like these wrench racks.
They're an advertising piece for a craftsman,
display and point of sale.
It's a shame they got painted on the edges like that,
but they're really cool. Two and a quarter for everything.
JENNIFER: Three? JERSEY JON: Two and a half.
JENNIFER: Yeah, we can probably do that.
JERSEY JON: Thank you. I really appreciate it.
ROB: Look at that. Willard Batteries.
JERSEY JON: Yeah. It's got some rust on it, Robbie, but still.
ROB: It's still got a good look to it. 75 bucks.
JENNIFER: Yep. ROB: Thank you.
ROB: Look at that. The cool thing about it
is the side, did you see the side of it?
"The deadliest war."
SANDIE: I hear you guys want to buy some cars.
ROB: You joined us. SANDIE: I did!
ROB: Well, she said they had to bring the boss out.
I'm interested in the station wagon.
SANDIE: Okay. ROB: And I'm interested in the red one.
SANDIE: Okay. ROB: But they've been sitting a long, long time.
JERSEY JON: Yeah. ROB: I threw an offer out there.
I'm at five grand on the New Yorker.
I'm at four grand here.
SANDIE: I'd like 10 better.
ROB: That car is going to need a minimum
of $5,000 worth of work,
and that's me doing the work by itself, okay?
ROB: You know, my worst case scenario,
I think the transmission is going to cost three grand.
If the engine's locked up,
we got to yank the motor and rebuild it.
There's three grand. We're gonna have to the brakes,
gas tank, tires.
ROB: This thing was painted with a dead chicken.
SANDIE: It was that way when we bought it.
ROB: When you guys got it. I mean, I like it, it's cool.
It's gonna cost me about 2,000 bucks just to get them home.
I'd be at 11 without even touching them.
SANDIE: 95.
ROB: I'm sticking with my guns.
Oh, wait, wait, wait!
9,500...
and I get that jack with it.
ROB: You know, this jack looks like it's from the 1960s.
The fact that it cranked this car up,
this thing is a lead sled, man.
I've got a lot of cars. I've got to have this jack.
ROB: And I like this case here.
It's missing a wheel, but I still like it.
It will look cool in the shop.
Extra 200 bucks for this. So, $9700.
SANDIE: Yep.
JERSEY JON: Haha, good deal.
ROB: Thank you. SANDIE: Thank you.
JERSEY JON: Thank you, Sandie.
ROB: I got a station wagon now.
SANDIE: I'm very glad that they bought the cars.
I realize that they need a lot of work,
but they were some of Chuck's favorite things.
JENNIFER: And it's good to have someone look at it
like Robbie, who knows what needs to be done with them.
So, I think it ended up good.
ROB: Jennifer, that taxi sign,
I noticed that back in the corner.
JENNIFER: Yep. ROB: I like the fact that it's light up.
Still plugged in, still working.
ROB: The earlier taxi signs were made of milk glass.
This is a Lexan type sign,
so it's probably around the 1950s, early '60s.
ROB: 75 bucks. It's not milk glass.
It's the only reason it's not worth more money.
JENNIFER: Can you do 100? ROB: 100 bucks, I'm doing it.
JENNIFER: Alright. Perfect. ROB: I'm doing it. Thank you.
ROB: That's a light up Dodge Truck sign, isn't it?
It's got a backing on it? So, it'd be like 1960s.
ROB: This Dodge sign would've hung in the front
dealership window. The fact that it's intact,
there's no cracks in it, it's money in the bank.
ROB: 400 bucks. JENNIFER: Sold.
ROB: Thanks.
ROB: I wanted to ask you about this.
This is an early gas station piece.
You see how it shimmers? JENNIFER: Mm-hmm.
ROB: Look at that.
ROB: This sign is from the 1960s.
This thing has got little mirrors on it
and it shimmered in the wind.
It was an attraction piece and you're like,
"Oh, they got filtered gas! I got to have it!"
ROB: 225.
JENNIFER: I think we can do that.
ROB: That work? JENNIFER: That works.
ROB: Fill'er up filtered gas!
MIKE: So, I talked to my little bro.
BILL: Okay. MIKE: That's the big bro
when it comes to advertising.
You know, the thing is, with this, to me,
I wouldn't even call this a sign. It's a billboard.
It's so huge, it's inspiring.
MIKE: There's so much connective tissue to this sign.
I mean, it's American history, it's motorcycle history,
it's pop culture. I mean, Evel wasn't just
part of the fabric, hell, he was the fabric.
The guy put on a cape, created this larger-than-life superhero,
and it wasn't bragging.
He actually did it.
This billboard is amazing.
MIKE: Have you thought of a number on it?
Have you thought about what you'd want to get for it
if you ever turned it loose?
BILL: You always think about that sort of thing.
MIKE: Exactly. BILL: The next thing
is if somebody's willing.
MIKE: What do you want to throw at the wall to see if it sticks?
BILL: 70.
MIKE: 70 grand? BILL: Yeah.
(Mike exhales)
(laughs)
JERSEY JON: So, I see guitar cases.
Ah. I love vintage guitars. SANDIE: That's good.
JERSEY JON: This Harmony is cool. That's pretty sharp.
JERSEY JON: When it comes to guitars,
everybody wants a vintage instrument.
The Harmony was made in the 1950s.
It's a pretty common guitar.
But if you want a vintage instrument,
this is a good entry-level way to do it.
JERSEY JON: Whoa!
This is a Gibson. This is a good guitar.
JERSEY JON: This Gibson guitar, this was the model of guitar
that Robert Johnson played.
I mean, he took that guitar and used it perfection.
JERSEY JON: This is a pre-war Gibson.
JERSEY JON: This is a Depression-era,
1928, '29, '30 guitar.
This was the first time Gibson was experimenting
with flattop guitars.
It's from a very special time in America,
because blues guys were expressing their emotions
through these strings.
It's a mahogany top, mahogany back,
mahogany side guitar.
So it has a very distinct sound.
It gives me goosebumps thinking about
what tunes were played on this guitar.
(rattling)
SANDIE: Fixable. JERSEY JON: Well, that's a lot of... Yeah.
SANDIE: What we hear inside, is that the piece?
JERSEY JON: I don't know. Yeah. It's got the tail piece
chunk in there. Good call. SANDIE: Good.
JERSEY JON: Yes, that is cool. I mean, it still needs a
lot of tender love and care to make this thing go.
You still got a piece of mahogany there that's missing.
SANDIE: Mm-hmm. JERSEY JON: But this one is worth diving into.
JERSEY JON: This guitar needs attention.
Obviously, the tail piece is busted off.
The soundboard has got to get fixed.
There's pieces missing.
All that has got to be reassembled in a way
where it doesn't look like anything's ever happened to it,
without hurting the original patina on the guitar.
It's a highly delicate, almost surgical procedure.
JERSEY JON: This guitar here restored, three grand.
SANDIE: Wow. JERSEY JON: $4,000.
But it's gotta be gone through.
You're going to put 1,500 bucks in this guitar very easily.
SANDIE: Right, right. JERSEY JON: For restoration.
But this is a special instrument. This is really cool.
Something you want to sell?
SANDIE: Um, yes, I think I'd like to sell.
JERSEY JON: Um. This guitar here,
750 for this broken guitar.
I'm interested in both of them, by the way.
SANDIE: Okay. JERSEY JON: The Harmony,
that's like retailed,
maybe 250.
What about 850 for the both?
JERSEY JON: This guitar here,
750 for this broken guitar.
I'm interested in both of them, by the way.
JERSEY JON: The Harmony, that's like retailed, maybe 250?
What about 850 for the both?
SANDIE: You got it. JERSEY JON: Yeah?
SANDIE: You got it. JERSEY JON: Thank you, sweetheart.
That's great. I really appreciate it.
Oh, I hope I get to play this thing. Thank you.
JERSEY JON: So, I'm looking at this cabinet back here too.
I mean this is packed in there. Wow!
(Sandie laughs) JERSEY JON: I see some locks.
SANDIE: Yep, he did keep a few of them.
JERSEY JON: Theft warning auto lock,
security lock for the tire. SANDIE: Yep.
JERSEY JON: This is like the earliest example
of an anti-theft device for an automobile
or a motorcycle.
It would grasp the tire and lock it up.
JERSEY JON: It's a pretty cool piece. Want to sell that?
SANDIE: Sure. JERSEY JON: 70 bucks.
SANDIE: You got it. JERSEY JON: Got it?
SANDIE: You got it. JERSEY JON: Alright. Thank you.
Let's see what else is in this cabinet.
Scandinavian padlocks.
The locks are cool. He's a lock guy.
One, two, three, four.
How about 75 for the group? SANDIE: 80?
JERSEY JON: Yeah. No, I'll do 80. That's great.
JERSEY JON: Here we go. This is cool too.
Thomas Edison's first lightbulb.
This was one made as a reproduction
dated 1920-something.
These things actually do work. SANDIE: Yeah.
JERSEY JON: 75 bucks. SANDIE: You got it.
JERSEY JON: I love it. Look at those goggles. They're beautiful.
I mean, these are great for motorcycling.
They got the curved glass.
I mean, it's real glass. It's not plastic.
Would you do 40? You'd do 40? Alright, thank you so much.
ROB: So, I see this jelly cupboard,
but there's a ton of pottery in here.
JENNIFER: My mom and I started collecting pottery together
and she went gangbuster.
So, it's time to get rid of some of that as well.
ROB: Do you guys like Mink Chow?
JENNIFER: Yeah, they used to make dog dishes.
I have dog dishes at home. ROB: Mink developed chow.
ROB: No dog dishes in here. JENNIFER: Oh, actually,
I think that is one. Right there.
ROB: Oh, it is. Right here. That is cool.
JENNIFER: Yeah. ROB: How much?
JENNIFER: 30 bucks. ROB: Alright.
Everybody loves dogs. JENNIFER: I know.
ROB: You know. I gotta ask about this box.
JENNIFER: Mm-hmm. ROB: It's Minneapolis.
It's got metal banding on the outside. 25 bucks.
JENNIFER: Sure. ROB: Thanks.
I got to ask about this right here.
Whirligig.
So, this is just the spin, and the guy
actually is cranking over the Model T basically.
JENNIFER: Yep. ROB: Oh, he's stuck there.
30 bucks.
JENNIFER: Sure. ROB: Alright. Appreciate you.
SANDIE: What are you finding? ROB: I found a whirligig!
JERSEY JON: I like the cabinet. ROB: It's neat.
JERSEY JON: How much for the cabinet? The jelly cupboard.
SANDIE: What'll you give me?
JERSEY JON: This cupboard is used for jams and jellies.
At the end of the season, the fruits are coming
off the trees, you made jam to preserve them.
So, they were stored in cabinets like this
on farms and homesteads throughout the country.
SANDIE: A friend of my husband's grandfather made it.
JERSEY JON: What?!
JERSEY JON: The style of decoration and the molding
of this cabinet tells me this is a piece from
the 1880s, 1890s.
There's a lot of ways this cabinet could be used in a home.
I see it as a tool cabinet.
It's got nice big cabinet doors
on the bottom, and drawers on the front.
JERSEY JON: The primitive style is not dovetailed,
it's a very simple box joint right here.
ROB: It's got a repair on the bottom down there.
JERSEY JON: It's broken on the bottom.
It's really beat up. I mean, it needs a lot.
What are you thinking? SANDIE: You tell me.
JERSEY JON: Furniture's really not doing really well anymore.
SANDIE: That's true. JERSEY JON: I mean, I'm a furniture guy.
Back in the '80s, I was selling furniture like crazy.
Everybody wanted it. Now, it's getting really hard.
Nowadays, you're lucky to get 350 for this thing.
I'll do 175.
JERSEY JON: I'll do that. SANDIE: Okay.
JERSEY JON: Thank you. 175. I appreciate that.
ROB: I think I found those pins that your mom was talking about
right here. Here's one board.
JERSEY JON: Oh yeah, wow! Those are cool. Political stuff.
ROB: All kinds of boards, yeah. JERSEY JON: This display is fantastic. Look at that.
ROB: I say it all the time, smalls are the bread and butter
of all the shops. They're cheap pieces
that people can walk in the store and go,
"Oh, I'll take that button. $1.99 each."
JENNIFER: I remember organizing those with my dad.
JERSEY JON: Oh, did you? JENNIFER: Yeah, he loved buttons.
ROB: These look like thresher buttons.
JENNIFER: Yep. We would go to threshing shows.
ROB: Oh yeah. JERSEY JON: Wow.
ROB: The thresher meets, I loved.
JERSEY JON: The steam shows. ROB: Yes.
ROB: Another one right here. There's so many of them.
ROB: The beauty of the boards
are they covered all the avenues.
ROB: Look at this. JERSEY JON: This is great.
ROB: You got sports, you got political,
you got car shows. Who doesn't want a button?
ROB: All the buttons, five boards, 150 bucks.
JERSEY JON: The political buttons are really cool.
JENNIFER: Yeah, we could do 150.
JERSEY JON: 150? ROB: 150 for the five boards?
JENNIFER: Yep. JERSEY JON: Beautiful.
ROB: Alright. Thank you so much.
JERSEY JON: Thank you so much. That's great.
ROB: I wouldn't mind climbing around back in here.
JENNIFER: Before my dad passed away,
he knew he had a lot of stuff and he said,
"Well, it's gonna be your problem now."
So, we just had to start going through it
and it's probably gonna be a good couple more years
before we get through everything.
SANDIE: And knowing neither of us had the space,
it's difficult.
JERSEY JON: Ah, cool. That's a pretty early helmet.
JENNIFER: Yeah, those have probably been up here
for a really long time. JERSEY JON: Oh, yes. It's nice.
I got them out of this bag. This is pretty cool. It's got the visor.
JENNIFER: Probably when they were motorcycling.
JERSEY JON: That's cool. Yeah? She was out on a bike?
JENNIFER: Oh yeah, yep. JERSEY JON: Oh, cool.
JENNIFER: They used to do that. I think that was pre-me.
JERSEY JON: I gotta hear some of her stories, man.
JENNIFER: Yep. She probably has a lot of them.
JERSEY JON: It's always great to find vintage helmets.
Ones from the '70s and ones from the '60s.
The one with the leather lining in it, that's one I really like.
And the other helmet, man, it's just a really cool
metal flake helmet.
Guys who like vintage bikes collect vintage helmets.
JERSEY JON: 75 bucks for both.
JENNIFER: Hm. I think you can probably bump it up to 125.
JERSEY JON: Hm. 85 bucks.
That gold flake helmet, I'm gonna get 75 bucks for it.
This one here, maybe a little bit more.
They're neat, in great condition, that's what I like about them.
I'll do 90 bucks for the both.
JENNIFER: Yeah. JERSEY JON: Okay?
JENNIFER: Yep. JERSEY JON: Alright. Thank you so much.
JERSEY JON: And how about this jacket?
JENNIFER: My dad loved his jean jackets.
JERSEY JON: Yeah. It's cool. It's probably '70s issued or so.
Maybe even into the '80s.
JERSEY JON: Denim jackets are always great items
for sale at the store. I mean, everybody wants them,
especially nice quality Levi jacket like this.
JERSEY JON: 40 bucks.
JENNIFER: 75.
JERSEY JON: Man. I like your style, girl.
(laughing) JERSEY JON: You aren't bashful.
50 bucks?
JENNIFER: Alright. JERSEY JON: I gotta make a little on it too.
JERSEY JON: Thank you. JENNIFER: Yep.
JERSEY JON: Alright.
JERSEY JON: It was a real pleasure to spend
today with Jim, Jen, and Sandie.
I mean, what a great diverse collection.
JERSEY JON: Yeah, baby. ROB: Woo!
JERSEY JON: And what a great collaboration
to preserve Chuck's collection
and to distribute that collection to other people
who are going to appreciate it just as much as he did.
You can't ask for better caretakers.
JERSEY JON: Sandie. Come here. (Sandie laughs)
SANDIE: Oh, you're wet. JERSEY JON: I know.
(laughter)
JERSEY JON: It's been a sweaty day, hasn't it?
SANDIE: It helped a great deal having people there today
that were passionate and loved the items as much as Chuck did.
We had a good time. They were fun to deal with.
(laughs)
(honks) ROB: Come see us in Iowa!
(laughter)
MIKE: 70 grand? BILL: Yeah!
(Mike exhales)
(laughs)
BILL: Being that it's a one-of-a-kind,
I don't know exactly what it is in dollar signs,
but there's something here.
MIKE: I'm not the guy for 70. I'm just nowhere near that.
MIKE: When he threw out 70 grand,
I knew he was just throwing something at the wall
to see if it sticks.
But something this rare is so hard to price,
I don't blame him for starting at the moon.
BILL: You tell me what it's worth.
MIKE: I mean, we're so far apart on it,
I don't want to insult you.
BILL: I didn't want to say 5,000 and he'd say 3.
I kind of probably overdid it.
You know? (laughs)
BILL: I'm just throwing a number out.
MIKE: I know that, but I mean you threw a number out
that would choke a horse. BILL: Okay.
MIKE: Not a dog. (laughs)
BILL: Well.
It's kind of a Mona Lisa
of motorcycle memorabilia.
There's nothing around like it. I don't know what it's worth.
MIKE: 20,000.
I can't tell you the exact number on the back end of it.
There's nothing to compare it to.
BILL: How about 25 to make me feel good?
MIKE: Um. 22 grand.
BILL: Alright. That's a deal. I'll let it go.
MIKE: Thank you. BILL: Thank you.
MIKE: Thank you, buddy.
Amazing. You were there.
MIKE: Evel Knievel found his way into all of our hearts
by showing us that if you believe in yourself,
you can sometimes,
not all the time, do the impossible.
MIKE: Here we go.
MIKE: It's unbelievable to even imagine
that I have something so one-of-a-kind
that it's directly connected to such a pivotal moment
in Evel Knievel's career.
And the most iconic stunt of all time.
MIKE: Man, I'll tell you what.
There's not a lot of things I've kept that many years.
BILL: I was happy Mike was pleased.
It made my day that it clicked with him
and I wanted him to have it
because I knew that it would be taken care of.
Like I say, it's time for that thing to be seen.
MIKE: See you, buddy! BILL: Take care!
Subtitling: difuze