I work in a cool office. By "cool," I don't mean we keep our air conditioning at a brisk 68 degrees. Our office is cool because we're surrounded by an amazing classic car collection owned by our president and CEO, Don Christy, Jr.
Just a few of the cool cars in the NADAguides.com Garage.
When I first joined NADAguides.com, one of the things I found appealing is that it was a vehicle pricing and information company run by auto enthusiasts. In addition to calculating car prices and specs, these folks have a passion for all things automotive ranging from sports cars and classic cars to motorcycles, boats and RVs.
The biggest car enthusiast at NADAguides.com is Don, whose father owned several used car lots when Don was growing up, so cars were in Don's blood. In his early years, Don raced dirt bikes and then flat-bottom boats, all the while buying, fixing up and selling various cars to support his racing habit.
Though he's owned classic cars for years, Don officially started collecting in 1984 when he bought a '33 Ford hot rod for about $20,000. "I went to Boyd Coddington to have him build me one, but it was too much for my budget, so this car was the next best thing," he remembers.
Today he has a collection of over 30 classic cars, antique motorcycles and dirt bikes, as well as a couple of vintage flat-bottom boats, including a wood deck Barron Sprint with a blown injected Chrysler Marine Hemi. The vast majority of the collection calls the NADAguides.com Costa Mesa, California offices home, where they reside in a showroom-like "garage" adjacent to Don's office.
This is one of two 1933 Ford hot rods in Don Christy, Jr.'s collection.
"I don't really consider myself a collector," he says. "I just love cars." Don's strategy for selecting cars for his collection is to simply buy what he likes, which makes the collection very diverse, ranging from a pair of 1933 Ford hot rods (a three-window coupe and a roadster) to a 1963 split-window Corvette and a 1969 Ford Boss 429 Mustang muscle car.
This sweet 1967 tri-power Corvette is one of the cars in this diverse collection.
Stay tuned for future posts highlighting some of the unique cars in the NADAguides.com Garage–you won't want to miss it. I'm told the collection might be growing soon. Don says he has his eye out for a dark green 1966 Ford Mustang Fastback with a 390 c.i. V8 and four-speed tranny identical to the Bullitt movie car as well as a 1972 Ferrari Daytona. Unlike some other collectors, he won't jump at just any model–it has to be the right car at the right price. Would you expect anything less from the head of a vehicle pricing and information company?