A Blast from the Past and a Glimpse Forward for Denwerks After the 100th Auction.
I can't believe after a little over 2 years selling on Bring a Trailer, I would have hit my 100th car on BaT. My First car on bringatrailer was a 1965 Volkswagen Beetle Deluxe. The Auction was live 11/18/2015. The people I sold it to were just awesome, there was actually a follow up Success story on this Beetle a month later.
Our #1 Car sold on Bringatrailer.com 1965 Volkswagen Beetle Deluxe
I find it interesting to see how much my business has changed in the past 2 or so years on Bring a Trailer. I have sold No Reserve actually since 2008 on other sites, but to sell NO RESERVE on BaT was a whole another areana. The Reserve model seemed too intimating for me, as I wanted to see my cars sell no matter what. As for the Buyers; I think they love seeing NO RESERVE. No matter what the high bid goes too he knows hes winning the auction. No Reserve, everyone has an opportunity, no guessing games.
#44 on Bringatrailer.com 1969 Volkswagen RCA MK.III Formula Vee
When I get into a rig I have no idea what it will sell for. The auction comes down to "what's the rig worth to you?" I honestly wonder if I am a gambler as I like rolling the dice to see what happens. "I might be crazy for doing it, but I have a passion for preserving cars so that hopefully other generations will be able to enjoy them as much as us old guys do."
#74 on BringaTrailer.com International Harvester
Jason and Leslie both operate DENWERKS (Originally Blue Oval Ranch Inc), it is a great partnership We have been married 16 years, with 4 beautiful children. I grew up in eastern Washington state. When I was a kid, I remember sitting with my friend on our "Big Wheels" near the street. I had hooked a small trailer to my Big Wheel and pretended it was a semi-tractor trailer. My friend and I would sit there and as the cars passed by would say "cool car, ugly car, cool car," etc. A motorcycle was always cool though. My first experience with cars was in the local junk yard. When I was almost 8 years old, my Grandpa took me out there to look for something though I can no longer remember what it was.
#22 on Bringatrailer.com 1974 Subaru 1400 DL
I saw a Blue 1965 Ford Thunderbird sitting there and thought to myself "what a cool car". It must have just been brought into the yard because as I sat behind the wheel, I noticed the key still in the ignition. Curious, I turned the key and to my surprise the Bird fired right up. My Grandpa told me to shut it off and get out of the car so I did. Then as he and I were walking around I saw a 1966 Chevrolet Corvette sitting in the yard too. I started my first "collection" that day which ended rather abruptly. As my Grandpa was pulling parts he needed off of cars, I went around collecting keys out of trunk locks. I approached Grandpa and proudly showed him all the keys I had collected. Well he was not happy. I had about 40 trunk keys, but was clueless on the seriousness of the matter. I was told to put them back. I'll let you guess what I did with them. However, if you ever bought a trunk lid out of that yard and it was missing the trunk key, please do not look me up.
#49 on Bringatrailer.com 1946 Dodge WD20 Dairy Truck
Growing up in my neighborhood at 12 years of age was fun. One neighbor had a neat little project car, a BMW Isetta. Across the street another neighbor had a Burgundy with black top 1964 Triumph TR4 that someone had put a British flag sticker on each quarter panel. That is the car I wanted when I grew up and I kept telling my parents that is what I wanted for Christmas when I turned 16 years of age. Well as the story goes, what I wanted and what I got were two entirely different things though I was very appreciative to have been given any set of wheels. Speaking of wheels, you see my Dad literally came home one day with a set of Appliance (cheaper version of the CRAGAR S/S) mag wheels with raised white lettered Road Hugger tires. I asked him what they were for and he told me they were for the old 1972 Ford Ranchero Squire (fake Woody) that had been sitting on the side of the house for at least 10 years. I asked my Dad what he was going to do with it and he said "nothing, it's your's now". To tell you the truth I was not impressed with it at all.
#90 on Bringatrailer.com 1967 Ford Ranchero
Somehow, flat tires all around, faded wood all over, a ripped up front seat and some outside dents, etc. was not the cool car I had envisioned driving in 1986. So before doing anything else including washing the inch thick layer of dust off the Ranchero, we put the wheels on it which made a big difference right away. Next, I took all the fake wood off of the exterior and as a senior in high school took an autobody repair course at the local community college. As a side note, I won the Washington Autobody Championship and competed in the National Event, in Kansas, that was really fun. Anyways, I welded up every hole where the fake wood trim had attached, did all the necessary body work, redid the interior and upgraded the Appliance mag wheels for some classier looking Enkeis. Then I really started to like the car. That Ranchero was my first car and it was a great one too. I am sure it served him well. It is funny how one's tastes change over time. When I was first given the Ranchero, I could not stand that old factory green color with the fake wood trim. Today however, the Country Squire wagons of the '50s, '60s and '70s are my favorite, so please keep them coming. I will never kick one off my doorstep.
#17 on Bringatrailer.com 1973 Saab 96
As soon as I graduated from high school in 1988, I found my true love in cars, a Maroon 1965 Ford Mustang Fastback with black interior, A/FX hood, CRAGARS and dual exhaust that I bought for $2,500.00. Since then I have bought many cars over the years and decided to get serious about it in 2002. That is when I started Blue Oval Ranch, Inc. and it has been a great experience ever since. I started with a shoe string budget and kept reminding myself that I started the business because of my love for these types of Classic vehicles and if at some point I could make a living solely from the business then all the better. We are a small mom and pop outfit and our kids enjoy helping out from time to time. We have a small staff that works with us and it has been wonderful all the way around for everyone involved, and we offer certified Classic Car and Truck appraisals. That's just a glimpse at my world; Our world.
#40 on Bringatrailer.com 1972 Jeep CJ5
As for what's next... Well I can't let the cat out of the bag quite yet. We've got about +20 cars in the shop and that number seems to continually grow each week! I will say we have quite a few Ford Pickups coming up including a 1978 Ford F-150 Ranger and 1979 Ford F-150. We also have a sharp 1968 Oldsmobile Toronado in the works. Needless to say Our passion and drive throughout the next 100 will only get better from here out!
Just like our 100th car we want to continue to bring oddballs. The Grummans was unique because There's never been one on Bringatrailer. There's no possible way to know what kind of Audience this would bring with nothing to base it off of. I remember sitting down with our team and being like "yep the Grummans is going to be 100". In my head I was like really? The Grummans? But in the end I was like well yeah. It's such a unique rig and has so many different uses, the possibilities are endless! It'll appeal to a wide audience and it did for sure.
#100 on Bringatrailer.com 1964 Grummans Van
Auction Date 4/27/2018
We want to thank everyone who's helped us get this far and the people who supported us Especially you Bringatrailer.com!! It's blown my mind when someone on Bringatrailer mentions me or comments about me on other auctions. It's a weird feeling but at the same time I guess I can say im doing something right. We hope to continually grow and provide top notch service to all of you. Thank you for all the sweet comments and we look forward to the next 100 (and 100 after that 😉😜😜👊💥💥)
- Jason
