Usually, a native automotive public sale wouldn’t be the sort of factor we’d cowl right here at Jalopnik. The proprietor isn’t precisely notable, however once we noticed the Tampa Bay Instances article about this specific public sale, the unique proprietor sounded simply too fascinating to not cowl. In spite of everything, he additionally owned two 14-foot fiberglass sharks.
Based on the article, Leroy Gonzalez, who handed away in January on the age of 84, didn’t develop up with a lot cash. Going into actual property allowed him to make the cash he wanted to purchase the automobiles he had been envious of others proudly owning whereas rising up. However whereas some wealthy folks do boring issues with their cash, Gonzalez was something however boring.
Because the Instances put it, “He was additionally a racetrack proprietor and automotive present promoter, may need had a hyperlink to the Cuban Missile Disaster and owned 14-foot fiberglass sharks. He can safely be described as somewhat eccentric.” Race tracks, faux sharks, and worldwide intrigues? You’ve received us hooked, Leroy.
Based on his son Richard, “He additionally mentioned he as soon as had one thing to do with a dragway in Miami. Each time we might begin ingesting, he’d inform me the story of when he pulled as much as open that dragway one early morning to search out the Nationwide Guard had gone inside with out permission to arrange missiles pointed at Cuba throughout the missile disaster.”
Did that really occur? Perhaps not. Gonzalez additionally claimed the sharks he owned, which have been rented out to automotive sellers as sights, have been modeled after an precise shark one among his mates shot with a harpoon out of a helicopter. Which appears unlikely. However who doesn’t love that one uncle who will get drunk and tells wild tales whether or not they’re actual or not? On the very least, it makes Thanksgiving dinner extra fascinating.
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Apparently, he additionally loved buying automobiles greater than he did driving them, maybe as a result of he didn’t need to rub them in different folks’s faces. So not solely are the automobiles in his assortment reportedly nearly all “in pristine situation,” his son didn’t even know what number of his dad nonetheless owned till after his loss of life. He principally stored Corvettes at his workplace, however the remaining have been saved in barns on his ranch.
“He drove them proper off the lot to the barn,” mentioned Richard Gonzalez. “I knew he purchased them however had no concept he nonetheless had them. He by no means talked about them. For my dad, it was in regards to the chase. He discovered the automotive after which moved on to the following one. It wasn’t about getting them to brag. He simply needed to get them.”
When you’re eager about Leroy’s assortment, you may discover the public sale itemizing right here. It says on-line bidding will begin quickly, so that you don’t even should go to Florida to get in on the motion. Highlights embody a 1958 Chevrolet Corvette, 2004 Dodge Ram SRT-10, 1999 Plymouth Prowler, 1965 Cushman Eagle, and what seems to be the engine from a Dodge Viper. Oh, and, in fact, the large fiberglass sharks.
