Hot Rod Hoarder's Four-Decade Stash Goes to Auction

For the past 10 years, no one, not even his son, was allowed inside Bob Koepke's home near Titusville, Fla. The retired NASA accountant had been a fixture for many years around the area's hot-rod circuit and swap meets, and had long wrenched on his own vehicles. When he died last November, his son opened his house — and found it occupied, floor to ceiling, with cars and parts.

After months of pulling vehicles from the weeds and unpacking some four decades of gathering, Bob Koepke's wares will go to auction April 11, and there's a little something for everyone — from the well-preserved 1973 DeTomaso Pantera with 3,800 miles to a bushel of Chevy Tri-Fives and mid-30s Ford coupes in varying states of rust, to hundreds upon hundreds of intakes, carburetors, starters and other parts, including a few built by former friend Smokey Yunick.

Bob Koepke's son Dave recalls growing up with his father's hot-rod hobby, and as an adult often talking about some new car or gadget he'd found, and telling him "some of the best stuff is outside." Many of the cars Koepke gathered over the years — in particular Chevy Nomad wagons — were wrapped in tarps to provide some small protection from the Florida climate.

The inside of the house was another story, says Yvette VanDerBrink, the auctioneer who fielded the huge Lambrecht sale two years ago. The driveway was blocked; Koepke had a drive-in basement garage where he apparently would bring cars and start disassembling them. Inside, Koepke had left himself walking trails to his bedroom and kitchen; otherwise, every available inch was occupied. "Not garbage," VanDerBrink said, "just parts."

While it sounds chaotic, there was an order to it. VanDerBrink says Koepke tagged and labeled every part in true accounting fashion, making the sale that much easier. The near-complete car list includes 18 Depression-era Fords, including a few 3-window coupes still in high demand today by hot-rodders, as well as 14 Chevy coupes, wagons and convertibles from 1955-57, along with an unfinished 1958 Corvette project.

Not all the cars were left outside. In addition to the DeTomaso — which still wears the Goodyear tires it was sold with new — there's an all-original 1958 Porsche 356 that's close to running order, and a 1978 Ferrari 308 that needs a fuel pump and not much else. Among the sea of carbs and intakes lay one wrapped in plastic — a prototype for a big-block version of the Cross Ram intake used on the 302 V-8 in the 1969 Camaro Z28, built by Yunick for General Motors and signed by him on the side.

Already online bidding for the parts and cars has begun, and while nothing will be sold with a reserve, Dave Koepke will keep a '35 Ford Roadster and Model A that he had worked on with his father, to build with his children. Some things are worth holding on to.