'59 Plymouth Forum

Chuck Kee made his millions by buying rights and then supplying much of eastern Oregon with Cable TV. He then went out and bought every ForwardLook car he could find for sale in the area. My guess is he ended up with 1000 cars. I first learned of him from an article published in some magazine. More accurately, some website tipped me off to the article. At any rate, I learned about this collection and had to experience it. Chuck got into trouble selling parts, he was not licensed to be a salvage yard. This yard was located 50 miles out into the desert of central Oregon. So he was only selling complete cars, and reportedly for what he paid for them.
I drove out there..I told him I was coming...I drove to the gate, which was open, there was no cell service out there and no house to find him at..
Way in the back I could see a man driving a tractor, so I drove into the field and began to have a look around.
Time passed and a storm was coming in, so I headed back to the gate. It had been locked.
I walked to the nearest building, which turned out to be a cafe of sorts. And there, having dinner with his wife was Chuck Kee.
I introduced myself. He responded by recording my drivers license number and giving me the third degree. He was a paranoid person...possibly brought on by his age...late 70s...he said the remote yard had been visited by thieves...
His cars included 2drs, 4drs, and wagons.
I see from Google Earth that much of the vehicles I saw 10 years ago are gone, but much remains. The auction will be held in Brothers, OR May 7-9.
While I dont have any money to play around with, I may drive out there just to torment myself.

among the auction listings is a Lot of 250 boxes of Mopar parts...what do you suppose THAT will sell for?!

I had bought a '57 D-500 Dodge from him years ago, but haven't been there since. I am thinking of attending the sale, although I have little room for any more cars.

---John

This sale was interesting, to say the least. The boxed parts were a mish-mash of a little bit of everything, example- a box marked '59 Plymouth had some damaged headlight rings, and lawn sprinkler parts. There were some good items, but it would have taken quite a bit of digging to find what you were looking for. The better cars were auctioned first, then the parts cars. Top sale was a '59 Coronet that my friend Carlo bought, most of the other decent cars were in the 1-3,000 range. I bought a '57 Belvedere 4-door HT, and a '57 Saratoga sedan with a '59 Desoto swivel seat, as well as a brand new '59 Plymouth windshield, and used back glass for a coupe.

---John