KUNA, Idaho — A southwestern Idaho collection of more than 300 vehicles as well as car parts collected over decades is for sale in an online auction that runs through Friday.
Clarence Haken collected and stored the vehicles at the old Mora schoolhouse east of Kuna. He died three years ago.
“This was his heaven on earth,” his daughter, Linda DeBaets, told KTVB-TV (http://bit.ly/1g0GOLF ). “Fix them up. Put them back on the road. Make my dad’s dreams come true.”
The cars, in varying states of disarray, are spread over seven acres. The vehicles are from the 1930s through the 1970s, all American made. The value of the cars and parts are estimated to be in the tens of thousands of dollars.
“There are some vehicles out here that are probably only worth a couple hundred dollars for parts, and there’s some that are worth a couple thousand dollars because they’re whole,” auctioneer Kyle Musick said. “There’s a lot of ‘40s and ‘50s Chevys and Fords.”
One of the vehicles is a delivery truck originally designed for the military during World War II. The one in Kuna is thought to be only one of seven known to exist.
“It was like he understood cars,” said DeBaets, noting her father could often be found tinkering with them. “He was just a natural at it.”
Musick said he and his staff spent six months collecting vehicle identification numbers and sorting through the property. They catalogued the entire collection for the online auction.
After the auction, auctioneers will start going through the old Mora schoolhouse, Musick said. Anything they find that’s salvageable will be sold, he added.
Then in June, the schoolhouse and surrounding property will be sold in an auction.
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