Dixon:I think the first thing I did as chairman of Harrahs after Bill died was to cancel that project [the new museum]. In 2011, he researched, wrote, produced, and narrated the National Hot Rod Association's 60 Greatest Moments video to commemorate the NHRA's 60th anniversary. If ever you wanted an illustration of the unfairness of life, take a look at Steven Tyler. Of course, some of these finds have been pretty crazy, with cars ranging from the early 1900s and even some insane supercars from the modern world. The notes of this interview were never given to the defense, as required by U.S. criminal law. His favorite is a 1930s royal blue Pierce Arrow coupe. Through an agreement described as "unique," Allen paid for space in the editorial section of the ADN for many years afterward to provide a half-page feature known as The Voice of the Times. He would check off [the cars] he wanted looked into, and we bought a lot of cars that way. William James Allen (April 6, 1937 - June 29, 2022) was an American businessman who was the CEO of the Alaska oilfield services company VECO Corporation. B for Berlin or HH for . Bill Steven's Auto, Inc. is a full service auto body shop also offering sales of used automobiles. mainly a 1912 locomoble and a 1907 Packard model 30. John Gianotti (Vice-president of Community Affairs for Harrah Corporation): He was looking at buying theSpruce Gooseand putting it in the lobby. Those auctions liquidated the holdings of the Harrahs Automobile Collection, considered by many to be the most significant amassment of vintage cars ever assembled. A Gold Star restoration, which was their highest level, was the most comprehensive with no expense spared. 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. Bill Stevens Auto Sales Used Car Dealers, New Car Dealers Be the first to review! Encomp 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. He was handing out trophies and doing commentary as the cars came up on the ramp. 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. The kids would rev their engines and nose up to the crosswalk line, ready to embarrass the silver-haired senior citizen in the boxy Jeep wagon. 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 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). Classic car collectors have become very verbal about their vast vehicular exploits in recent years because of the rise in social media and the ability to show off the best of the automotive world. Contact Information. It was sure an education to have worked there on the restorations, for those years. Join Facebook to connect with Bill Stephens and others you may know. I enjoyed listening to Bill Stephens experience and thoughts about muscle cars. At trial, Allen said Persons had told him the note shouldn't be taken seriously because "Ted's just covering his ass". What cars were most responsible for launching this new market segment? 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. This week sees his 73rd birthday. In this interview, Allen stated that the fair market value of the repairs to Stevens' house was around $80,000, far less than the $250,000 he testified to at trial. It was nice, but all the cars were tightly packed in. His eye-popping favorites include a 1967 Corvette (427/435), 1968 Super Stock Dodge Dart with race Hemi, 1968 Dart hardtop (440)(they only made 48 of them), 1968 Dodge Dart 340, 1969 Plymouth Barracuda Mod Top coupe (hisholy s**t car, people who know what it is are amazed to see the rare car, those who are unfamiliar say same thing because they think its ugly), 1971 resto-mod Dodge Demon Hemi, 1969 resto-mod Mustang with Ford GT motor, 1978 Little Red Express PU with 360 V-8 (15,000 miles, all original survivor), 1971 Dodge Demon Super Stock (Chrysler was going to build and release thiscar but changed its mind Bill got together with designer Tom Hoover and recreated it. "I have determined that it is in the interest of justice to dismiss the indictment and not proceed with a new trial," said Holder. Im in Las Vegas right now and did not even know Harrahs here (or the Linq) had closed the car museum. 2023 SVE Yenko/SC Camaro Is A Demon 170 Slayer, Florida Man Slams Corvette Into Highway Guardrail. Stephens was the last full-time air personality hired by WRKO in Boston before RKO General switched the format from Adult Contemporary to News/Talk in 1981. Visit Website. 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. Website. Bill Stevens Auto Sales, Inc. - 4227 4th St NW Albuquerque, NM 87107. 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. The deal was aborted. [Excerpted from the book,Valley Boy: The Education of Tom Perkins,published in 2007]. 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. 0:00 / 35:51 Part 2- Steven's Collection, 1940-50-60-1970's , A Massive HOARD of 1000 + Classics Cars & Trucks Heart of Texas Barn Finds and Classics 15.8K subscribers 11K views 1 year ago On. Many of the cars in his collection were made in England by Brooklin Models. Spending time between Chicago, Illinois, Florida, Arizona, and Michigan, his car collection has been greatly reduced but he still has many gems in his garages. Required fields are marked *. Some of the notes from the Bill Stephens lecture covered the following points: One take away thought that I got from Bill Stephens lecture on muscle cars is that the market for the truly significant or valuable cars is still fairly strong. Claim This Business Hours Regular Hours Founded in 1852, the Studebaker Co. originally made horse-drawn wagons. Automotive historian and museum curatorKen Gross explored the sale for Hagerty Insider, interviewing many of the people involved. They're (sic) advice to me was just to do what's right, because arrogance and greed aren't right. 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. Sales: Barwick died two years ago, but Lockhart remembers him fondly and thats what he most enjoys about his collection. In 1996, he wrote, produced, and narrated the award-winning documentary series "Wheels", aired on PBS affiliates around the country. Meade Dixon (Harrahs executor and Harrah Corporation chairman):Bill loved to drive automobiles, but he was used to getting into a car that somebody else prepared for himhad it cleaned and all running and sitting out front. After the scheme was exposed, Mark declined to enter his second horse. The Toyota Collection's Off-Road Day Is A Land Cruiser Lover's Dream. Varoom! [citation needed], 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. My dad invited him to be the Grand Marshall of a Concours dElegance that he was organizing. Questo pu aiutarti a scoprire potenziali problemi nascosti che ad occhio nudo potrebbero sfuggirti. In those days, that was a lot of money. Facebook gives people the power to. (505) 344-0447. Business hours. Also in 2003, he authored a biographical picture book on the life of drag racer Kenny Bernstein titled "Kenny Bernstein, The King of Speed". Going off at 50-1 odds, it was the longest ever odds on a winner of that race. 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. Only a few hundred of these were made, Lockhart said. CLOSED NOW Tomorrow: 8:30 am - 6:00 pm 73 YEARS IN BUSINESS (505) 344-0447 Visit Website Map & Directions 4227 4th St NWAlbuquerque, NM 87107 Write a Review Is this your business? His parents permanently separated when he was 13 years old, and following graduation from Somerville High School in 1967, Stephens held several jobs including driving a truck, driving a taxi, making pizza, and working in local auto body shops as a body repairman and painter. On May 7, 2007, Allen, along with VECO's Vice President for Community & Government Affairs Rick Smith, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Anchorage in the Alaska political corruption probe to charges of extortion, bribery, and conspiracy to impede the Internal Revenue Service. Public Home > 1/1 Car photo's > CUSTOM CAR BUILDERS > CUSTOM CAR PHOTO COLLECTIONS > The Chip Chipman Photo Collection > Chip's Bill Reasoner photos Public Home 1/1 Car photo's Some of the most fantastic cars on the list of extraordinary automobiles in the collection include the various Chevrolet Impalas, a couple of classic Firebirds consisting of the first and second generation, and a Ford Thunderbird, which has been called by the videographer the Thunderchicken. Unfortunately, it would appear that incredibly famous vehicles have been put through the wringer quite a few times as they are all covered in decades of dust and dirt which has been caked on in the hot summer sun and then locked onto the body by the frigid cold of winter. Bill Stephens believes that there are a few currently affordable cars that have potential to experience a good return on your investment over the years. [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. 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. He is a nationally published author of several motorsports books and a columnist for a number of automotive periodicals. 26 March 2021. Bill Sefton posing with his 2018 Dodge Challenge Hellcat. Meade Dixon, who became the executor of his estate, would have me go to the office with him, and to sit down to talk with Bill Harrah about what he wanted done on a project. [He said] No, those were things that I wanted, and they were how I approached the company, but Im not going to try to dictate what happens to them after I die., [In fact, Bill Harrah did not make it. I rst met Bill a few years back, at the local Lake Bluff Concours car show. His collection grew erratically at first. In 2010, he was the MC of the "Tribute to Snake & Mongoose" at the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles, California, highlighting the legendary careers of former drag racing stars Don "The Snake" Prudhomme and Tom "The Mongoose" McEwen. Gooding:He ran out of time I think he just bet on the fact that he was going to figure [the will] out and have more time. 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. The company had no money; the companys earnings were in decline; and Bill had substantial personal debt besides the estate taxes to pay. Le domande pi frequenti e le nostre risposte, oltre al contatto con il nostro servizio clienti. Stephens' father was a long-distance truck driver and his mother worked in the restaurant business in the Boston area. It has a 426 Wedge Motor), 2011 Challenger Super Stock (not streetable) with V-10 from Viper (Chrysler built 50 of them and Bills is 50. [Goodings father, Ken, managed the 25-person-strong Harrahs Automobile Collection research department.]. The folks at the Larz Anderson Museum of Transportation made everyone feel very comfortable and atmosphere was great for a lecture about cars to a bunch of car people. We want to hear about what you collect and why. Seeking broader success, Harrah bought his way into the semi-cloistered Reno gambling fraternity. Customers didnt care for it.. He did nally decide to whittle down his collection. Stephens frequently accompanied his father on various truck trips as a child which helped to fuel his interest in automobiles. Bill has entered up to 18 cars per year to this show. They had different car spotters in different parts of the country. He died of a neural hemorrhage. How much were these cars worth when the Energy Crisis arrived in the early 1970s? There were many cars, like a 1924 Franklin, that would be subject toin todays dollarsa $450,000 restoration, on a car that was worth, say, $25,000 to $40,000. or Best Offer. Henry J. Kaiser was in the steel and aluminum business, but for about 10 years he made cars, Lockhart said. Just because you can go fast doesnt mean you should. We want to hear about what you collect and why. 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. Following the spill and cleanup, Allen purchased the Anchorage Times from editor/publisher Robert Atwood. Dixon:The board authorized the expenditure of $45 millionan unheard-of sum in those days [$181 million today]to build this hotel-museum-casino. Moreover, Allen said in the interview that he didn't recall talking to Bob Persons, a friend of Stevens, regarding the repair bill for Stevens' house. He is an avid car collector and has owned numerous collector-grade vehicles including a 1965 Shelby American Continuation Series 427SC Cobra, a 1965 ERA 427 Cobra Replica, a 1993 GMC Typhoon, 1998 Jaguar XK8 convertible, 1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee 5.9, 1994 Mitsubishi 3000GT and 12 Chevrolet Corvettes in model years ranging from 1960 to 1980. Power & Associates, Auto Trader.com, MSNBC.com, and eBay Motors. Ever. [Excerpted from Harrahs Automobile Collection, One Mans Tribute to the Great Automobiles of the World, published 1984]. Your account is fully activated, you now have access to all content. 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. All cars in Germany must be registered with the competent authority in the area where the car's owner lives. Stephens was the last full-time air personality hired by WRKO in Boston before RKO General switched the format from Adult Contemporary to News/Talk in 1981. Stephens has been married twice. 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. You never knew whether it was coming or going. 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. Eventually Peter Helck approached Bill Harrah and asked if he could help him and tell him anything about the artwork. $15.00. Stephens' first appearance on television was on local cable news television in 1982 when he served as the nightly weatherman on Cape Cod Cablevision's Cape 11 Alive News in South Yarmouth. "[11] Rachel Alexandra, with Borel riding her, won the 2009 Preakness Stakes with Mine that Bird ridden by Mike Smith, finishing second, a length behind. We Sold 500 classic cars and pocketed the dough John Mozart (Collector)Holiday Inn just wanted to get rid of the cars. 1 prospect Harry Ford takes minors leagues, WBC stage by storm. That was delirious fun, and it brought him a great deal of joy. Harrahs many other businesses included auto saleshe was a Ferrari dealer, and he became the Ferrari distributor for the Western United States. Gooding:They had broken ground on a massive facility that would tell the story with much more spacing for the cars. [1] VECO had a major impact on the economy of Alaska and employed over 5,000 people worldwide. I asked Bill if he had a bias for MOPAR cars, because from rst glance at the performance cars in his collection, there are a lot of Chrysler Corporation products. In every community across Washington, families are facing the challenge of accessing and affording long-term care. VECO was an Alaska-based oil pipeline service and construction company founded by Wayne Veltri (VECO is short for Veltri Co). Consultare il report CARFAX dellauto usata prima dellacquisto un passo importante, in combinazione con una prova su strada e una revisione pre-acquisto. This page is designed to be a forum to educate collectors of J. Stevens Arms & Tool products. Cindy Wade (Bill Harrahs executive secretary):He had his routine, which he followed fairly closely every day. In 1986, Stephens created a unique speaking skills program, Vocal Point, and has conducted comprehensive training seminars for such companies as General Motors, Sears, Citibank, ADP Payroll Systems, Unifirst Corporation, Cablevision of Boston, Cablevision of New York, Prime Computer, Bull Information Systems, Yankee Software Systems, Cognos Direct, American Frozen Foods, Bell South, AT&T (formerly Cellular One and Cingular), Newpro Replacement Windows, and Epsilon. Reviews. How to register your car in Germany. His daily steed out in Arizona is a 2019 Corvette Z06 coupe with 650 horses making noise under its berglass hood. Phil Satre(Former Harrah Corporation president and CEO, currently chairman of Wynn Corporation):He was extremely shy. sale. [1], Bill Allen had three children, who received $30 million each[citation needed]from the sale of VECO: Kerrigan, Mark Allen, and Shannon West. How much did these cars originally cost when new? For those not in the know, this is the pony car that has 707 horses under the hood. What were the cultural ingredients that fueled the high-performance craze in Detroit? He was making an effort to have an even more extensive collection. Those pioneers could never have envisioned the flashy Studebaker Lark convertible. [Excerpted from 1984Washington Poststory]. 24Saying Donny Stevens has a passion for muscle cars is a bit of an understatement. Stephens has been the recipient of several major broadcasting awards for his radio hosting and production, including three International Radio Festival of New York Awards in 198890, an Achievement in Radio Award in 1990, and National Silver Microphone Award in 1994. In the past year Harbor Country resident and mutual car friend John Nordquist arranged for me to meet up with Bill for a breakfast get together in Harbert, and a little later I arranged for the three of us (along with mutual friend Peter Loveland) to meet up . Among some of his entertainers, there were some enthusiastsJay Leno, Bill Cosby, and others, so its interesting, but among the management team here, I think their view was why arent we building more casinos in more places?. However, very few collections can brag about their quantity as much as this glorious location can with over 1000 vehicles from virtually every year in American automotive history. And he didnt have a (firm) handshake griphe just kind of left his hand out there I came [to Harrah Corporation] in 1975 and he died in 1978. They (Studebaker) were known for their styling, he said. 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. 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Once I bought a car, eager potential buyers could look at it but I would never sell it. This went on for 15 years after he started his collection in the late 1980s. Life's sweet for Alaskan at the center of corruption probes, VECO chairman, VP, plead guilty to bribery, "Oil service execs plead guilty to bribing Alaska lawmakers. When the Clear Creek grade from Carson City up to the south end of the lake was paved, but the curves left unbanked, he was so happy, because it made the curves more difficult to drive at high speed. VECO was an Alaska-based oil pipeline service and construction company founded by Wayne Veltri (VECO is short for Veltri Co). Theyre extremely rare because they were made for kids to play with and the rubber didnt always outlast the kids.. He remarried in 1987 to Deborah Susan Donnell in Yarmouthport, MA, resulting in two sons, Will (born April 9, 1990) and Sean (born September 21, 1995) and divorced in May 2010. Bill in retirement keeps busy. In a sense, however, they all flow from a series of sales that took place in the mid-1980s. He is also a jazz percussionist and briefly enrolled in private instructions at the Berklee School of Music in Boston in 1969. You can read part II here. Albuquerque, NM 87107-3622. I rst met Bill a few years back, at the local Lake Bluff Concours car show. Id love to have a couple more Kaisers, Lockhart said. In 2011, he MC'ed the "Tribute to Phil Hill" at the Petersen Automotive Museum at which the great American world champion was remembered by such iconic racing personalities as Dan Gurney, Carroll Shelby, Parnelli Jones, Jim Hall, Sam Posey, Denise McCluggage, and automotive enthusiast/TV host Jay Leno. [Harrah] looked at everything, and he didnt say a word. It was a year and a half then, when Holiday Inns finally took over. Pretty much from the get-go he was a performance car buff and recalls with great joy being a young man who reveled in hearing the throaty roar of the V-8 engines and seeing the myriad of exciting muscle cars on the streets andhighways in his hometown. Miles Collier (Collector, REVS Institute founder):A lot of collectors, back in the day, when it was revealed that Bill Harrahs collection was part of Harrahs Casinos Inc., which was being sold to Holiday Inn, and the whole collection was going to be sold, got pretty pissed at Bill Harrah posthumously; What kind of a jerk are you? Rally Navigation/Co-Driver Equipment For Sale, Bill Stephens Muscle Car Lecture at Larz Anderson Museum. A couple of weeks before we were to sign, the governor of Nevada got into the act. Dopo l'acquisto, ottieni l'accesso della durata di 30 giorni alle informazioni disponibili online (controlla i prezzi). My dad loved them and we had a Studebaker station wagon when I was a kid.. Clyde Wade:There was no love between us and the guys downtown (at the Casino). No surprise here, he picked a current McLaren F1 streetable supercar. Bill turned around and said, Youre the artist, I like your work. Thats how my father got to know Bill. Bill Harrah would buy a collection, and he had to buy the whole collection, and there would be duplication among vehicles, so he would turn around and sell them, and so did his estate before they made a deal with Holiday Inn. He set up a shop with 125 people full-time just to work on his car collection. If you want to learn more about this article, please contact Dar at dn143@sboglobal.net. The Harrahs Automobile Collection reflected the passion, and the fortune, of one man: William Fisk Harrah. At the Harbert get together I made arrangements with Bill to sit down with me for an interview sometime in 2019. The discovery of this interview was cited by U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder in his decision to move to dismiss Stevens' indictment before sentencingeffectively vacating his conviction. [1] Instead, he was sentenced to 3 years in prison and fined $750,000.00. $6.00. For the majority of his life, when he wasnt working for his company Naperville, Illinois, he was dedicating his time to his passion cars. In 1988 he founded a company that contracted with banks to track credit card loyalty programs. [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. He was 67. A new CEO had not been chosen. The other guys thought it was a waste of the companys assets. Bill Lockhart has never driven a 1953 Kaiser Manhattan, but thanks to the magic of miniatures he can see one every time he enters his home office. What can we expect to see happen to those values as we move forward? William Weyman Stephens Jr., known professionally as Bill Stephens (born October 16, 1949) is an American network television host and commentator specializing in automotive and motorsports presentations. Stephens frequently accompanied his father on various truck trips as a child which helped to fuel his interest in automobiles. Cindy Wade:We started hearing that Harrahs was going to be sold to Holiday Inns. Collier:When Holiday Inn first got involved, they knew that this was a fraught issue. This car won a lot of NASCAR races and the first La Carrera Panamericana race.
