Rick Hendrick is perhaps well-known as one of the most popular and most liked owners in NASCAR, but from time to time his second love involving cars can take a unique turn, in a positive direction. At least Mr. Hendrick thinks so. Not only does he own 15 NASCAR Championships – 11 in the Sprint Cup Series – he is also an extreme automobile collector. Hendrick is not afraid to show his passion, no matter how many bucks he drops to get the car he wants to add to his collection.
Just this past weekend he was at the Barrett-Jackson Auction in Scottsdale to not only sell off some of his memorabilia, but to add more to his collection. The least he paid was for a restored 1979 custom Peterbilt truck used in the first Transformers film. It was custom-made to look like Optimus Prime. For winning the truck, he also earns a walk-in spot in the next Transformers movie. When Burt Reynolds appeared at the auction on Saturday, imagine Hendrick getting a photo-op with him if he had won the 1977 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am used as a promo for Smokey And The Bandit.
The biggest buy for Hendrick was the very first 2017 Acura NSX, which he won for a whopping $1.2 million dollars. He also bought three classic Chevy Corvettes for a total of $1.65 million dollars. All three were the 1955, 1956 and 1957 models. Hendrick now owns a reported total of eight Corvettes, along with a 1969 convertible he bought for $525,000. Now just because he buys them doesn’t necessarily mean he’s going to keep them. The word investment comes to mind as Hendrick actually has a list of classics for sale on his website.
On his website, Hendrick had eight cars going to auction on the same weekend as the Scottsdale auction, but there was no record on the real selling price. The oldest car was a 1933 Ford Roadster. Looking at the prices for his remaining inventory, the two highest priced vehicles are a 1969 Dodge Charger Daytona and a 1970 Plymouth Superbird. Both were on sale for $169,000. No doubt that he has more for sale at higher pricing when buying in person. To find out how much higher, just go to Hendrick Headquarters.
The cars Hendrick most likely keeps for his personal satisfaction are in his museum along with his used race cars of recent years.
If Richard Petty is the King of Racing in NASCAR as Elvis Presley is to rock and roll, Rick Hendrick is the true King of the car collecting world.