Last Thursday night I went to the Larz Anderson Museum of Transportation in Brookline, MA to listen to a lecture by Velocity Networks Bill Stephens. 4227 4th St NW. Thanks guys! Bill Stevens Auto Sales Used Car Dealers, New Car Dealers Be the first to review! He is a nationally published author of several motorsports books and a columnist for a number of automotive periodicals. [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. 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. Get breaking news delivered to your inbox as it happens. He offered his suggestions for our consideration; some of those cars are as follows: Of course, no one really knows for sure about the future values these cars, not even Bill Stephens, but given Bill Stephens experience and knowledge about cars, his thoughts are worthy of serous consideration. Oldsmobiles first Rocket V8 had a 303 cubic inch, 135 horsepower overhead valve engine in a body that for those days would be considered lightweight in that era. This has led to the discovery of some of the most incredible vintage vehicles ever to see the sales floor, and it would appear that a new automotive adventure is made every day. He was handing out trophies and doing commentary as the cars came up on the ramp. Bill Stephens 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. Per ogni veicolo che conosciamo, creiamo un report dellauto usata e lo mettiamo a tua disposizione. 1 views today. 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. i was just a kid when my parents took me with them to Harrahs both in Reno and Las Vegas and the hotels always had special feel to me. Copyright 2023, The Spokesman-Review | Community Guidelines | Terms of Service | Privacy Policy | Copyright Policy, Spokane Valley Fire roundup: Multiple engines, water tenders fight rural home blaze in Otis Orchards, Downtown Spokane stadium groundbreaking set for Tuesday , Pandemic project: Dental lab owner Robert Carnell paints pop art abstracts of celebrities , Gardening: Bird feeders safe to hang this winter after salmonella epidemic in 2020 , Pandemic projects: Retired Freeman High School teacher self-publishes Welsh mystery series , Getting There: WSDOT reminds Spokane it could close local access to U.S. Highway 195 if safety issues arent addressed, Cheney High School student dies after incident during PE class, Craig Chamberlin, former voice of Spokane County Sheriff's Office, dies, Seattle Mariners No. Bill Stevens Auto Sales, Inc. - 4227 4th St NW Albuquerque, NM 87107. Bill Stephens: TV anouncer (1949-) | Biography, Facts, Information Satre:Meade Dixon went with him to the Mayo Clinic along with Verna. The detailing on Lockharts miniature version is so exact you can feel the ridged edges of the upholstery and the shine of the chrome trim sparkles. Dixon:I had calls from all over to save the collection: from United States senators from other states; from Dave Thomas, the chairman of Wendys; and from the mayor of Reno. This vast collection is a massive stockpile of some of Americas most excellent classic cars within the confines of a truly gigantic piece of land. In just three years, he had parlayed a $100 per week Tango Bingo game into a $25,000 annual business. He lived a very extreme life. Mark then entered the horse in the second leg of the Triple Crown, the Preakness Stakes. In February 1994, he was hired by Diamond P Sports as associate producer of "NHRA Today" for The Nashville Network, necessitating a relocation to Nashville, TN from his home in Osterville, MA on Cape Cod. Im a brand X guy and like all American muscle cars, he replied. and from private owners. Stephens' father was a long-distance truck driver and his mother worked in the restaurant business in the Boston area. 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. Founded in 1852, the Studebaker Co. originally made horse-drawn wagons. Some of the near great cars have seen some softening in prices, but not a significant collapse in pricing. Used car and truck sales. 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. What cars were most responsible for launching this new market segment? 2023 SVE Yenko/SC Camaro Is A Demon 170 Slayer, Florida Man Slams Corvette Into Highway Guardrail. 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. We had arranged a $25 million line of credit to make that acquisition, and we had all the documentation ready, and Meade said, Do not sign it; do not send the cash until we know if hes going to make it through this operation., [Id asked Harrah,] do you want to do anything with Middlefork Lodge, or with the automobile collection? The Tailor-Made Guide to 6 Museums You Should Visit in Ingolstadt, Bavaria He would check off [the cars] he wanted looked into, and we bought a lot of cars that way. His 1967 Corvette convertible with the 435 horsepower big V-8 under the hood. For those not in the know, this is the pony car that has 707 horses under the hood. B for Berlin or HH for . He was making an effort to have an even more extensive collection. Lloyd Dyer (Harrah Corporation president, 19751980): We acquired 360 acres on the southwest and southeast corners of McCarran Boulevard and I-80, and we hired an architectural firm out of San Francisco to design a [new] museum for us. Vintage Relish/Celery Dish Old Nuremberg Bavaria Germany. Bill Stevens Auto Sales, Inc. | Better Business Bureau Profile Stephens has written three books for Sports Publishing, LLC of Champaign, IL. Cindy Wade:We started hearing that Harrahs was going to be sold to Holiday Inns. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Your email address will not be published. What was the event most responsible for touching off the collector car boom in the late 1980s? Automotive historian and museum curatorKen Gross explored the sale for Hagerty Insider, interviewing many of the people involved. Goodbye Chevy Bolt: An Owner Laments The End For A Unique And - Forbes Dopo l'acquisto, ottieni l'accesso della durata di 30 giorni alle informazioni disponibili online (controlla i prezzi). I rst met Bill a few years back, at the local Lake Bluff Concours car show. Lower overhead means profit and joy, Your email address will not be published. The most beautiful car to Bill? Mark Smith(owner, Smith Automotive Investments):He was a true gentleman, just the nicest man, and a true car guy. Allen was succeeded as chairman of the board by his daughter, Tammy Kerrigan. 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. 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. Consultare il report CARFAX dellauto usata prima dellacquisto un passo importante, in combinazione con una prova su strada e una revisione pre-acquisto. In 1972, at the age of 23, he enrolled in the Columbia School of Broadcasting, a correspondence course, and after completing the program, began his radio career at WRYT in Boston as a staff announcer and control board operator. Customize this page. Facebook gives people the power to. Bill Steven's Auto, Inc. is a full service auto body shop also offering sales of used automobiles. Classic Car Graveyard Is 1000 Vehicles Deep - Motorious peoplepill id: bill-stephens. His favorite is a 1930s royal blue Pierce Arrow coupe. only to return to ColoSpgs last night and get Rear-Ended. To this day, those events stand as the greatest going-out-of-business sale the classic car world has ever seen. During the promotional marathon, demonstrators assembled outside the Asylum St. facility, picketing the management of WCCC to hire Stephens. I worked on the [contracts for] cars and I worked on his divorces [laughs], of which there were many. The Exxon Valdez oil spill was the second-largest in United States history, after the BP Gulf of Mexico Deepwater Horizon oil spill. According to the government, Franklin Adell gifted Kevin Adell $6.6 million to pay a court-ordered legal judgment that was entered against the son. If ever you wanted an illustration of the unfairness of life, take a look at Steven Tyler. (505) 344-0447. Business hours. You can read part II here. It would have been disaster for the company. [1] VECO had a major impact on the economy of Alaska and employed over 5,000 people worldwide. Bill Stevens Auto 4227 4th St NW Albuquerque, NM 87107 Map & directions https://www.billstevensautonm.com Sales: (505) 308-1580 Today 8:30 AM - 6:00 PM (Closed now) Show business hours Inventory Sales Reviews (0) New Search Search Used Search New By Car By Body Style By Price ZIP Filter Results 16 listings Vehicle price Base (1) Big Horn (1) This article was originally written by Dar Davis of The Herald-Palladium, a newspaper distributed in the Southwest Michigan region. Hewas the one who loved it. By the way, Bill bought his cars at both auction houses like Russo and Steele, Mecum, RM, Sothebys, tc. A reformed gambler himself, he worked to overcome the gaming industrys sleazy reputation by creating the Nevada Gaming Control Board in 1955. 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. Allen operated the newspaper until shutting it down and selling many of its assets to its rival, the Anchorage Daily News, in 1992. Bill asked an interesting question of the audience to identify the first car that could be considered a muscle car. The Harrahs Automobile Collection reflected the passion, and the fortune, of one man: William Fisk Harrah. Bill Stevens Auto Sales - Albuquerque, NM 87107 - Yellow Pages 135, Buying and selling in 2023 is getting increasingly unpredictable, Avoidable Contact #104: Build a better Miata and the world will beat a path to the worse one. He is also a jazz percussionist and briefly enrolled in private instructions at the Berklee School of Music in Boston in 1969. Now in its 10th year, thousands of attendees make their way to this show. What were the cultural ingredients that fueled the high-performance craze in Detroit? Stephens has been married twice. Meet Bill Sefton, muscle car collector bar none by Dar Davis [5], On May 11, 2007, the VECO Corporation announced that CEO Bill Allen and Vice President for Community & Government Affairs Rick Smith had resigned from the corporation. Most Americans Struggle With Car Maintenance And Can't Afford Unexpected $1,000 Repair Bill. In a sense, however, they all flow from a series of sales that took place in the mid-1980s. Satre:They appraised the assets, and I dont have the appraisal in front of me, but it was in the neighborhood of $30 to $40 million, as I recall. Clyde Wade:There was no love between us and the guys downtown (at the Casino). The IRS ran an audit and determined that the . [2] VECO's quick actions are credited with limiting the devastating environmental impact of the Exxon spill. Although his personal life, for a time, was erratic, the steady success of Harrahs glitzy hotels and casinos helped finance an immense automobile collection which reached nearly 1500 vehicles, including some of the rarest and most valuable cars of all time. As a teenager, Stephens developed a fascination with radio broadcasting after seeing several remote broadcasts presented by WBZ Radio in Boston during the rock and roll era of the 1960s. His shortest marriage (four months) was to singer-songwriter, Bobbie Gentry, whose haunting ballad, Fancy, describes a star-crossed relationship between an older man and a poor Southern prostitute. Sign up for the Insider newsletter to get a deep dive into the collector car market every Sunday.]. 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. He estimates since the Mach 1 purchase that hes owned more than 200 cars. 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. There were different levels of restorations. I guess it was the second year of Atlantic City, at the old convention hall. During a review of the case triggered by allegations of prosecutorial misconduct, investigators for the United States Department of Justice discovered a previously undocumented interview between Allen and prosecutors. or Best Offer. Jul. 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. Old Nuremberg Bavaria Germany for sale | eBay sale. Email this Business. My father had conversations with him about it and he said No, Ive got a plan in place. He assured my Dad and many others. 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. Bill Stephens Profiles | Facebook A Tribute to Bill Stevens - RC Groups Every week hed give me one.. Stephens has been married twice. Performance buffs unfamiliar with this successful event should visit www.mcacn.com and plan a trip to Chicago come November. Email Cindy Hval at [email protected] or call Voices editor Kimberly Lusk at (509) 459-5457. His speedy Tahoe Miss won five races and was the American Power Boat Association (APBA) Gold Cup winner in 1966, on the way to a National Championship. At the Harbert get together I made arrangements with Bill to sit down with me for an interview sometime in 2019. 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. [Goodings father, Ken, managed the 25-person-strong Harrahs Automobile Collection research department.]. Welcome back! That was delirious fun, and it brought him a great deal of joy. Bill Gates' Favorite Car, A 1979 Porsche 911 Via PCCarMarket.com Also known as Bill Gates' favorite car, the Porsche 911 was introduced to the masses back in 1964. $10.20 shipping. Volvo sent dealers promotional plastic models, Lockhart said. 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. Henry J. Kaiser was in the steel and aluminum business, but for about 10 years he made cars, 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? [1] Also in 2003, he authored a biographical picture book on the life of drag racer Kenny Bernstein titled "Kenny Bernstein, The King of Speed". These were primarily duplicate vehicles (and parts). He is a television producer and writer for various automotive television programs and a communications consultant providing media training for motorsports personalities and vocal and listening skills training for business people at all levels of the corporate world. The deal was aborted. [Excerpted from the book,Valley Boy: The Education of Tom Perkins,published in 2007]. Ill tell you a funny story. In 1989, Stephens was named writer, producer, narrator of the award-winning automotive TV series Wild About Wheels, produced at Global Television Network in Acton, MA and aired on The Discovery Channel. On March 24, 1989, the oil tanker Exxon Valdez ran aground on Bligh Reef, spilling eleven million gallons of crude oil into the waters of Prince William Sound. This applies even if you move to a different city within Germany, due to the fact that all German number plates display a code indicating where the car is registered (e.g. Lockhart took a tour of the facility in Bath, England, and said it was amazing to see the handmade metal models being produced. 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. This Pontiac is not alone because it would appear that the brand is one of the most popular demographics in the collection. Initially (my Dad) was the car spotter in the L.A. area, so hed write in and say, I know about this car, and they would say tell us more. Hed take photos and write up reports, and they liked his reports, so they eventually hired him to come work in Reno. This week sees his 73rd birthday. The Columbia Falls trucking company operator is in the process of building a museum to showcase his 45 . Many of you will know Bill Stephens from his commentary on the Velocity Networks Mecum Auction Shows plus the show Whats My Car Worth? It was clear from listening to Bill that he is very passionate about cars. Stephens frequently accompanied his father on various truck trips as a child which helped to fuel his interest in automobiles. Other rare items include a 1953 Nash Healey, thought to be the first American sports car. Eventually Peter Helck approached Bill Harrah and asked if he could help him and tell him anything about the artwork. To celebrate its legacy, the . 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. Stephens has written, produced, and narrated numerous automotive and motorsports home videos in national distribution. 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. The guys downtown figure theyre generating the money and were spending it, and they dont like us at all. For the uninitiated, a resto-mod automobile has been upgraded with improved suspension systems, fuel injection, radial tires, disc brakes, etc. Oh tidings of profit and joy There he was at the collection, and we knew that a new owner would not maintain the collection the way Mr. Harrah had done it, or even keep it, and so we knew the end was coming one way of the other. (505) 308-1580. We want to hear about what you collect and why. Hes married with one daughter and two grandkids. His pick of the 1968 Dodge Charger 4-speed Hemi R/T with bumble bee stripe (black with red interior and red stripe) was the answer for his nominee for the most successful, iconic muscle car of all time. He is a television producer and writer for various automotive television programs and a communications consultant providing media training for motorsports personalities and vocal and listening skills training for business people at all levels of the corporate world. He had about 25 to 30 paintings and pen-and-inks, and Bill Harrah walked up, and I believe Helck didnt actually know who he was. Collier:When Holiday Inn first got involved, they knew that this was a fraught issue. Under Allen's guidance, VECO (along with its unionized subsidiary, NORCON) was responsible for large parts of the spill's cleanup, hiring 2,500 workers to clean up the environmental disaster. 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. In CARFAX, riuniamo gli eventi della vita di milioni di auto usate di 20 Paesi europei, degli Stati Uniti e del Canada. Harrah felt that these cars should be preserved, and he thought that a full-blown restoration was the best form of preservation and celebration of these carsand that it was very important to restore a car to the highest, most authentic level, so it could be understood, seen, and preserved in perpetuity. During the promotional marathon, demonstrators assembled outside the Asylum St. facility, picketing the management of WCCC to hire Stephens. Scottsdale. He was, absolutely, a man head of his time. [excerpted fromEvery Light Was On]. [Excerpted from the book,Every Light Was On, published in 1999], Verna Harrah (Bill Harrahs wife): He wanted to have a casino with the car collection, and he wanted to have amusements for kids (which is exactly whats happening in Las Vegas), and he would have been out front, the very first. Of course, he had the resources to do this. 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. [1] New Mexico veterinarian Leonard Blach and Mark co-owned Mine that Bird, ridden by Calvin Borel, which won the 2009 Kentucky Derby. They talked about doing another backhand donation, which I think went up in smoke the moment they realized how valuable all this stuff was. He co-hosts the series "RVing in the USA" on Motor Trend TV and has written, produced, and narrated numerous automotive and motorsports home videos in national distribution. Dixon:The board authorized the expenditure of $45 millionan unheard-of sum in those days [$181 million today]to build this hotel-museum-casino. 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' father was a long-distance truck driver and his mother worked in the restaurant business in the Boston area. Id love to have a couple more Kaisers, Lockhart said. But it grew big enough that, by 1962, Harrah moved the fleet into a jumble of former ice storage buildings in nearby Sparks, Nevada. 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. Reviews. This car was prepared by Roush.). 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. BS. Overall, it was a very enjoyable evening and very interesting lecture. Back to wagons, the collector has several woodie models. 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. For the majority of his life, when he wasnt working for his company Naperville, Illinois, he was dedicating his time to his passion cars. [Holiday Inn ultimately donated about 175 cars for a non-profit museum, which became the National Automobile Museum in Reno.]. 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. Stephens served as a national event PA announcer for the NHRA Championship Drag Racing Series for 4 years between 1994 and 1997 and is a frequent Master of Ceremonies for various automotive and racing tributes, banquets, and award presentations. According to family members, at the age of three, Stephens was able to identify every make of automobile on the road before he could even read. The other guys thought it was a waste of the companys assets. Albuquerque, NM 87107-3622. As he looked at the beautiful craftsmanship and design represented in the die-cast metal cars, Lockhart referred to his collection as aspirational, because owning the real thing is out of the average persons price range. [12], Allen died on June 29, 2022 at the age of 85; at the time of his death he lived in Grand Junction, Colorado.[13][14]. Website. Bill turned around and said, Youre the artist, I like your work. All cars in Germany must be registered with the competent authority in the area where the car's owner lives. Encomp His daily steed out in Arizona is a 2019 Corvette Z06 coupe with 650 horses making noise under its berglass hood. What was the next economic shift which has recently impacted the values of the most popular Muscle Cars? We had some great ideas on how to display the cars at different angles and in different lighting, and some of the wheels would be turning They were also going to put an old steam train out there and some airplanes. 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. His success with the company enabled him to retire seven years ago at the age of 61. [All Dixon quotes excerpted from the book,Playing the Cards that are Dealt, published in 1992.]. He has covered virtually every major automobile racing series such as NASCAR, NHRA, Champ Car, and the Atlantic Championship along with many specialty automotive and motorsports events such as collector car auctions, sprint car racing, tractor pulling, drag boat racing, lawn mower racing, mud bog racing, custom car shows, automotive expos, and motorsports awards ceremonies. 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. All of his items are miniature versions of real vehicles. He is an avid car collector and has owned numerous collector-grade vehicles including a 1965 Shelby American Continuation Series . 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. Ed was the first Volvo dealer in California and at first he didnt have any cars to show customers. 6 Telly Awards for Television Production, Writing, and/or Narration, Imperial Palace Award for Historical Automotive Television, 1996, 3 International Radio Festival of New York Awards 1988, 1989, 1990, It may need editing to conform to Wikipedia's, Please help to demonstrate the notability of the topic by citing, Learn how and when to remove these template messages, Learn how and when to remove this template message, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bill_Stephens&oldid=1089575057, This page was last edited on 24 May 2022, at 15:44. John Gianotti (Vice-president of Community Affairs for Harrah Corporation): He was looking at buying theSpruce Gooseand putting it in the lobby. The kids were left in his dust. GERRY WITH KATIE OSBOURNE OF NBCSN AND HOST OF POWERNATION TV GERRY WITH HERB MCCANDLESS, DRIVER FOR THE ICONIC NHRA TEAM, SOX & MARTIN .