with us? we'd love to hear it. send me an e-mail or or go to our website, strangeinheritance.com >> a texas family inherits a houseful of history worth millions. >> bam! >> bob davis was a world-class collector. >> [ imitates sword whooshing ] >> he had a love affair with these items. >> that's smart. >> and speaking of love affairs... >> what's this gun? >> this is a sawed-off shotgun that was carried by the barrow gang. >> the barrows? like bonnie and clyde barrow? >> like bonnie and clyde. >> their violent exploits spawned a legend... >> those images of these young outlaws shooting up the highways of america... [ gunshots ] ...somehow touches people. >> ...that may yield a fortune. >> the place is packed. people on the telephones are bidding. there's intense interest in the bonnie and clyde story. >> it was a mind-blower to watch. [ door creaks ] [ wind howls ] [ thunder rumbles ]

[ bird caws ] >> i'm jamie colby, and i'm headed into waco, texas, where i'll meet a man who inherited a massive collection of artifacts and documents and weapons that he says tell the story of the lone star state from the days of the alamo all the way to the legendary and bloody crime sprees of the 1920s and '30s. >> i'm earl davis. my father, robert e. davis, died in march 2003 and left us a vast and eclectic collection. and we were at odds in a dilemma of what to do with these items. >> i meet earl davis at his mother's house, where he keeps his strange inheritance. hi, earl. >> how you doing? are you jamie? >> i'm jamie. great to meet you. >> good to meet you. glad you're here. >> earl tells me his father built a mom-and-pop printing business into a multimillion-dollar operation, successful enough to bankroll his real passion -- texana artifacts.

>> well, there's a lot of stuff in here. >> this is a very nice autographed letter signed by sam houston in 1840, and you can see how nice his... >> beautiful signature. >> ...signature was. >> in the process, the family's home becomes a shrine to texas history -- the alamo, the battle of zacatecas. there's even stuff going back to the spanish conquistadors. >> this is conquistador's helmet, all metal. i don't know how they wore it without a liner, but you can feel it's quite heavy. >> oh, my goodness. >> can you imagine carting that on your head all day long? >> yeah. if you're having a bad hair day, it takes care of it. >> it would take care of your bad hair day. >> [ laughs ] >> no doubt. there's more stuff. come and look. let me show you. >> more than this? >> more than this. we got several rooms. >> there are weapons everywhere. >> this is what i was talking about. >> whoa. you promised guns. you got a lot of guns. >> guns galore. >> what's this gun? >> this is a sawed-off shotgun that was carried by the barrow gang. >> the barrows? like bonnie and clyde barrow?

>> like bonnie and clyde. you want to hold a piece of history? >> whoa. it's heavy. unbelievable. >> earl explains that the barrow gang accidentally left this weapon on the side of the road while changing a tire on their getaway car. dad loved the whole bonnie and clyde story, didn't he? >> loved the story -- as we all do. it still holds up to today. >> and you have to wonder why. they killed a lot of people. >> fascination with the americana and the gangsters. [ up-tempo banjo music plays ] >> 1930 -- bonnie parker, an unemployed waitress, meets clyde barrow in west dallas. she's 19. clyde's a year older and on the run from burglary charges. >> they are these mythical characters who did nothing but cause trouble and pain in their lifetime. it's a young boy and a young girl who went against the system. and by all accounts, it was love at first sight. the only thing that separated them was that police arrested him and hauled him off to jail.

>> bonnie sneaks a revolver into the jail, and clyde makes a run for it, but is recaptured, jailed, and beaten by the guards. he's released in 1932 a hardened criminal. he and bonnie go on a rampage, robbing banks and killing a dozen people. but all along, clyde is consumed by one idea -- revenge against the guards who beat him at eastham prison. >> "let's raid this place. let's turn everybody loose, and i'd like to shoot every damn one of these guards." >> clyde leads the raid in january 1934. >> five convicts are released from prison, and one prison guard is killed. >> state prison chief lee simmons is humiliated. he calls on a retired texas ranger named frank hamer. >> he said, "i told frank hamer, 'put clyde and bonnie on the spot and then shoot everyone in sight.'" those are his own words.

[ tires screech ] >> hamer develops an informant who reveals the duo's location. [ dramatic music plays ] the posse sets up an ambush. clyde appears over a hill, bonnie at his side. [ round chambers ] [ rapid gunfire ] the lawmen open up with a deafening fusillade. bonnie and clyde are dead before they can return a single shot. in the death car, posse members uncover an arsenal. >> the inevitable end. here is bonnie parker and clyde barrow, who died as they lived -- by the gun. >> to augment their meager pay, the officers take the weapons and other personal items. >> frank hamer wound up with all of the weaponry that was recovered in that car. >> it's no surprise to earl that an avid collector like his father would covet these macabre trophies.

>> bonnie and clyde -- you can ask a 3-year-old kid, and they know who bonnie and clyde is. >> through sales, auctions, and trades, robert adds that shotgun from the barrow gang to his houseful of texana artifacts, as well as clyde's pocket watch and bonnie's makeup case. but it's not enough. robert eyes two more objects to cap off his gangster collection. >> a gun, .45, that was in clyde's waistband. another thing was a .38 taped to bonnie's leg. frank hamer wrote a note that bonnie was squatting on this gun. the smaller guns... >> it takes patience, luck, and some quick thinking, but those two weapons will end up in earl's strange inheritance. so -- wow. he obviously got what he wanted. >> yes. he always got what he wanted. [ both laugh ] >> but this time, he almost blows it. up next, mrs. davis's white-knuckle moment. >> let's take it up a notch. >> what'd she pay?

[ gunshots ] >> and now our "strange inheritance" quiz question. what was clyde borrow first arrested for? stealing a case of beer, failing to return a rental car, or stabbing a high-school classmate? the answer in a moment. ♪ limu emu & doug and now for their service to the community, we present limu emu & doug with this key to the city. [ applause ] it's an honor to tell you that liberty mutual customizes your car insurance so you only pay for what you need. and now we need to get back to work. [ applause and band playing ] only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪

she would come home and tell us the stories of all the children that she got to work with on a daily basis. we were taught and raised that we all exist here on this planet to benefit others. that's how my wife and i feel when we give to st. jude every month. our giving is right up there with our mortgage, that's the priority that we put on giving to st. jude. ♪ >> so, what was the charge in clyde barrow's first arrest?

it's "b." barrow was a few days late in returning a rental car. >> you know, clyde was quite a dapper guy, really, when you look at it. >> no way! >> yes. >> this is clyde? >> that's clyde. >> this photo of clyde barrow is part of the huge cache of texas memorabilia that earl davis' father, robert, amassed over several decades. through shrewd purchases and trades, he acquires the barrow gang's shotgun, clyde's watch, and bonnie parker's makeup case. even 80 years after they died in a hail of gunfire, almost anything associated with these notorious criminals is valuable. by far the most valuable are their guns, snatched from the death car by lead bounty hunter frank hamer. >> they were able to take these things as souvenirs. >> i track one of those weapons here, to the texas prison museum in huntsville. >> okay, jamie, let me show you a little artifact. >> jim willett, who runs the

museum, explains that frank hamer gave bonnie's pistol to texas prison chief lee simmons, who had ordered the ambush. >> this is the pistol that bonnie parker had in her lap when they killed bonnie and clyde. >> really? >> mm-hmm. >> how did you get it? >> the family of lee simmons loaned all this stuff to us. >> love to see it. >> sure. let me get that for you. this gun was in her lap with a magazine over it. probably heavier than you think it is. >> so, from bonnie's lap to jamie's hands. it is heavy, and it's beautiful. look at that handle. it's been decades since her death, but still it gives me a shiver to be holding one of the bonnie parker weapons. you better put it back 'cause i would like to take it home. >> i bet you would. >> i really would. >> yeah. >> add it to the collection. i'm starting to see why collectors would want to own pieces of texas history like this. >> you look back at these people who were ruthless, but it's a

piece of americana. you know, my dad always said, "even though history may be bad, history's history." >> in 1986, earl's father, robert, learns that frank hamer's family is about to auction off two spectacular pieces of bonnie and clyde memorabilia -- the ill-fated duo's most personal weapons, a .45 that was in clyde's waistband and a .38 that bonnie had taped to her thigh. he sets his sights on adding them to his treasure trove. >> when the opportunity came up of history, holding a gun that he knew clyde probably used and had on his person -- this is his top joy. >> robert and his wife, maryanne, drive to austin for the sale. >> other texas history buffs -- robert's friends and competitors -- fill the hall. >> it's kind of funny. my dad apparently got up to converse with somebody, go get a drink, and the guns came up for auction. he wasn't in the crowd.

>> robert's golden opportunity is slipping away. maryanne looks around -- no sign of her husband. the hammer's about to go down, so she takes matters into her own hands. >> my mom, knowing my dad wanted them, you know, at whatever price -- she was the one that actually purchased the two guns. [ applause ] >> so, she did the bidding because he was nowhere to be found? >> absolutely, absolutely. and he was very happy that she did that. >> what'd she pay? >> it was under $40,000 for the two guns. >> earl's dad keeps on collecting texas history. but in 2003, beset by health problems and depression, he takes his own life at the age of 69. >> he decided that was it, and like most of us control our life, he controlled his death, if you want to look at it that way. but it was a traumatic event for the family. >> earl takes over his father's role as head of the family's printing business. and it falls on him to decide

what to do with his dad's enormous collection. it turns out to be worth a texas-sized fortune. one estimate -- $4 million. >> wow. dad leave a will? >> he did, and we have a family trust. so, everything basically went into a trust. >> did he give you any specific instructions on what to do? >> the instruction was, "do not dismantle my collection." my mom didn't have the passion that my dad did. you know, i love it, but didn't have the passion he did. >> so earl decides it's time to sell off at least some of his dad's stuff. he figures he'll start with a few alamo documents. he begins working with new hampshire auction company exec bobby livingston, who had dealt with earl's father, but had never seen his entire collection. when livingston comes to texas and steps into the davis home for the first time, his jaw drops. >> i was there to pick up these alamo documents. and we know how much bob davis loved these things.

we really didn't understand how much bob davis collected. >> or the variety of what he collected. >> i looked, and he goes, "well there's bonnie parker's gun." and i'm like, "what?" [ gunshots ] and my eyes lit up. >> that's next on "strange inheritance." >> here's another quiz question for you. though clyde barrow never served in the military, he did tattoo his arm with the insignia of which branch? the navy, the army, or the marines? the answer when we return. plastic.

it's our most dangerous addiction. so we took our worst vice, and turned it into the dna for a better system. we created bionic and put the word out with godaddy. what will you change? make the world you want.

♪ >> so, which military insignia did clyde barrow tattoo on his arm? the answer is "a," the navy. he tried to enlist, but the navy

found him medically unfit. >> any more guns? you have a lot of drawers. all ammunition? after his father's death in 2003, earl davis ponders what to do with his strange inheritance, a stockpile of texas memorabilia that includes everything from alamo artifacts to guns owned by bonnie and clyde. what should he sell first? earl settles on some letters from the legendary william b. travis, commander of the alamo garrison. but the moment auction company exec bobby livingston steps into the davis home, he locks on to something else. >> this was bonnie parker's pistol coming right from frank hamer, the bounty hunter that hunted down bonnie and clyde. [ gunshots ] i knew this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for our auction house. we had to get this collection. >> though bonnie and clyde last rampaged through the dusty roads and small towns of the south and midwest 80 years ago, livingston

knows their story still strikes a chord. >> those images of these young outlaws shooting up the highways of america somehow touches people. >> he groups the bonnie and clyde guns with other notorious artifacts and prepares a video to advertise the sale. [ dramatic music plays ] >> the name of the auction is gangsters, outlaws, and lawmen." >> but there's a problem, one that puts livingston's big event in jeopardy. >> the very first gun that earl davis sends us up is the bonnie parker .38 detective special. and we go to look for the serial number, and the serial number has been scratched off. we can't sell the gun because it's felonious just to have it in our offices. >> oh, my gosh. he faces a quandary -- should he call the federal bureau of alcohol, tobacco, and firearms, fess up, and hope they'll make an exception? >> there is a big, big chance, if we tell them we have this

gun, they could seize it, melt it down. it's gone, and there's nothing you can do. one of the biggest challenges we faced to hold this auction was picking up the phone and calling the atf. >> livingston decides to make the call and set up a meeting at their boston office to present his case. >> we showed them the gun. we had the letter from frank hamer saying that he had taken this gun from bonnie parker. and it did have a good case to not be destroyed because of its historical significance. >> the fate of earl davis' strange inheritance... [ gunshots ] ...hangs in the balance. that's next.

>> now back to "strange inheritance." >> guns, guns, guns. >> may 2013 -- texas businessman earl davis is working with auction company exec bobby livingston to sell off part of his strange inheritance -- >> one of the few that you can directly attribute to

bonnie parker. >> two guns found on the bodies of bonnie and clyde. almost immediately, the plan hits a snag. >> we realized that bonnie's gun -- the serial number had been scratched off. and that being the case, it doesn't hold too well with the atf. >> davis and livingston anxiously await word from federal authorities. will they allow the sale to go through or seize the gun? >> graciously, they decided that this was a historic artifact, it needed to be saved, and they went ahead and reissued a serial number and stamped it on the gun. [ metal clangs ] >> five months later, earl davis's bonnie and clyde collection, including bonnie's .38 and clyde's .45, are the centerpiece of r.r.'s "gangsters, outlaws, and lawmen" auction. >> my wife and i went to new hampshire for the live auction. [ auctioneer calling ] and we had some anxiety and some anticipation. >> we had media come in from

russia, from japan, all over europe. these two young people on the roads of america somehow resonates with the world, and it was incredible. yeah, i was nervous. >> what's happening to your heart as you're watching it all unfold? and what was the actual bidding going back and forth? >> the place is packed. the people on the telephones are bidding. the internet bids are coming on. so the bidding's getting up to $60,000, $70,000, $80,000 $100,000. [ auctioneer calling ] >> at $140,000, the bidding seems to stall. >> your heart's sinking that the bidding's gonna stop. [ auctioneer calling ] ♪ but all of a sudden, the two main bidders -- both on the telephone -- began to bid again. >> $150,000, $200,000. two anonymous phone bidders battle it out. >> it finally hammered at $262,000. it was amazing. [ cash register dings ] >> a record price for a bonnie

and clyde gun. >> it was a mind-blower to watch what we thought wouldn't go for what it did, did. [ applause ] >> there was a lot of cheers, but then we had to sell the next gun. this was clyde barrow's 1911 colt .45. >> again, the top bids come over the phone. >> it got up to $100,000, $150,000, $160,000. >> then past $180,000, $200,000, $220,000. >> and a phone bidder hammered it, and it sold for $240,000. [ cash register dings ] >> it goes to the same anonymous bidder who bought bonnie's gun. back in 1986, earl davis's mother had paid less than $40,000 for the guns. now just two of the many items in the davis family's strange inheritance sell for more than $500,000. >> to watch these two items in a 25-year period increase 1,000% -- that was exciting, very exciting. >> you know who bought the

bonnie and clyde guns? >> i really don't. the person was anonymous. i know he's a texas individual, but i do not know. >> bobby livingston can't reveal the buyer's name, but he does share the surprisingly personal reason the mysterious buyer valued the two weapons so highly. seems that his family had crossed paths with bonnie's. >> he told me, "after bonnie parker passed away, my mother took pity on the parker family and would naturally just bring them food and help them out through this tough time in their lives." i said, "well, why'd you buy the clyde barrow?" and he told me, "well, i felt they should stay together." >> the sale of the bonnie and clyde guns suggests to earl that his father's collection is worth every bit of the $4 million he's been told. he plans to gradually sell off most of it. and so robert davis's 50-year love affair with texas

memorabilia certainly has paid off. still, earl has his regrets. >> even though we may get a good monetary reward for it, you know, it's like a piece of my dad. so, you know, as i see things that aren't there that were there, hey, maybe a tear comes to my eye, and then i'll just -- you know, "good old dad -- i wonder what he's thinking." he would have never sold. >> earl describes his father, robert, as especially proud to own the map that mexican general santa ana used in 1835 at the battle of zacatecas. but in the 1960s, business was slow, and robert was forced to sell it. but every time robert looked at the bare spot on the wall where the map had hung, he wished he had it back. it took him years and quite a few dollars, but robert davis restored that map to its place on his wall. i'm jamie colby for "strange inheritance." thank you so much for watching. and remember -- you can't take it with you. do you have a

"strange inheritance" story you'd like to share with us? we'd love to hear it. send me an e-mail or go to our website -- strangeinheritance.com >> was he a lifelong hoarder or a shrewd collector? the answer lies inside this salvage yard filled with rusty old cars. >> did you know how many cars grandpa had? >> the locals say it's a worthless eyesore. >> whoo-hoo! >> his grandson calls it an "iron gold mine." [ auctioneer calling ] which is the truth? we're about to find out. >> sold it! [ door creaks ] [ wind howls ] [ thunder rumbles ] [ bird caws ] >> i'm jamie colby, and i'm just driving in to enid, oklahoma, which is about 90 miles north of

oklahoma city. population -- roughly 50,000. right here in enid, they have the third largest storage capacity for grain on the planet. but wedged in between enid's silos lies the tale of a cantankerous legend who left his grandchildren with a very strange inheritance. >> my name is stuart piontek, and in 2003, my brothers and sisters and i inherited something pretty unusual from my grandfather. his name was oliver jordan, and he died at 95. he was a child of the dust bowl. grandpa would hold on to just about everything that passed through his life, whether it was a tin can, an automobile, a piece of copper wire. >> and oliver jordan kept it all here. for 60 years. this salvage lot was his home, his sanctuary, his fort knox. hi, stuart! >> welcome to paradise. >> i found it! the rusted old cars in this shed -- some of them relics of

the roaring '20s -- are a few of the more than 200 that jordan accumulated over his lifetime. born in 1908, jordan was raised on a wheat farm. but his real interest was that fabulous new invention, the car. >> grandpa was around machinery all the time, and automobiles were just beginning to happen. he got interested, and it was just a lifelong passion. >> jordan grows up, gets married, and then, at 34 years old, abandons his wife and three young kids for a 16-year-old girl in town. >> when my mother and her brother and sister were still children, my grandfather left the family for another woman. her name was ruby, and that was quite a scandal. everybody was hurt by it. >> in 1946, oliver buys a salvage yard in enid, where he and ruby live, and where he makes money selling old cars and parts. oliver runs the salvage yard

successfully for seven years. but then in 1953, he gets into a nasty argument with the town of enid over zoning and regulations -- two words he detests. >> the city came in and told him he had to put in a bathroom and do some other things, and grandpa just didn't like to be told what to do. >> he was just not a rule follower. >> yeah, he was like, "then fine. i'll close the doors." and that's what he did. >> oliver continues to hoard old cars. he cuts himself off from most of his family and rarely lets another soul inside the shuttered salvage yard. >> pretty much everybody in this town would drive by grandpa's property and see all these old cars sitting right there. and some people -- they thought they were an eye sore, you know. >> enid native brad waken recalls venturing over to the old man's place as a very young car buff in the 1970s. >> i walked across the street. it was, "mr. jordan, i'm looking for a starter for a continental six-cylinder engine. do you have one?" well, after a long pause he

basically said, "well, it's gonna be $50." well, came back about a month later with my $50. he said, "nope. $75." [ chuckles ] i learned a little bit of horse trading at that point in time. >> as a boy, stuart never gets to know grandpa oliver. stuart's mom, oliver's daughter, dies when stuart is only six -- a tragedy that separates him further from his grandfather. >> we would come to town to visit my grandfather, and grandpa had all these cars out in front of his property. it's like a little boy's wonderland. and he had them protected with a fence and with big mean dogs. we couldn't get past the dogs. >> did you ever wish that he spent more time with you? >> you know -- >> were you curious about him? >> yeah, i was eager for the opportunity to get to know him. >> after his mother's death, stuart and his family move away.

when stuart graduates high school in 1984, he decides to take a summer road trip back to enid. >> i got a greyhound bus ticket and went out to enid on my own. he took me over to his shop, and for the first time, i got to spend some time with my grandfather. >> and with all those cars. sure, they look like heaps of scrap, but stuart comes to understand this was his grandfather's pride and joy, his collection. its centerpiece -- these two depression-era cords. >> grandpa had a fascination with the cord, because it was the first car that had front-wheel drive, and they had done some really ingenious things under the hood. >> after his high school road trip, stuart heads out west for college and then launches a successful furniture business in san francisco. then, in the fall of 2000, a call from out of the blue sends stuart scrambling back to enid. >> he opens the door [chuckles]

and he's covered from head to toe in feathers. >> that's next. >> but first, our "strange inheritance" quiz question. the answer when we return.

betty: honorary forest ranger betty white here lending a hand to my dear friend smokey bear because for 75 years, he's only said... smokey: only you can prevent wildfires. betty: but there's a lot more to say. like if you park your car on tall, dry grass, the hot exhaust pipe can start a wildfire. so keep the animals safe, especially the cute, shirtless one. go to smokeybear.com to learn more about wildfire prevention.

>> so, what was the lowest priced mass-produced american car? it's "b," the 1925 ford model t runabout. at $260, it sold for $5 less than the 1924 model. ♪ >> for half a century, cantankerous junkyard owner oliver jordan accumulates hundreds of old cars, some very rare and mostly intact, but all of them rusting as he grows old. then, in the fall of 2000, his grandson stuart gets a phone call that opens the door to a new relationship and to a strange inheritance. >> ruby, his companion of 60 years, had fallen off a ladder and broken her hip, and she was in the hospital. she called worried about grandpa, because he was back at the house and he was 94 years old. and that was the open door. >> and it took till his 90s,

really. >> yeah, because of who he was. he didn't want to need anybody. >> stuart hops on a plane to oklahoma, not knowing what to expect. >> so, here i knock on the door. he's 6'4", and even at 94, he has got quite a commanding presence. and he opens the door [chuckles] and he's covered from head to toe in feathers. he and ruby had a couple of dogs, and one of the dogs had torn up the feather bed. there was something about him that still just commanded respect, even covered in feathers. >> seeing oliver in such a terrible state, stuart decides to stay in oklahoma for a while and take care of his grandfather. >> i was getting to know my grandfather through these cars. he was so proud to be showing them to me and me experiencing his life's work and his pride and joy. >> to stuart, two things become immediately clear. first, oliver knows he doesn't have much time left. and second, he's worried about the fate of those cars. >> at one point, he said, "thank god for you.

thank god for you." and i think he was so worried about what would happen to his things. >> stuart's no car expert, but he does his homework and confirms that the centerpiece of the whole collection is indeed those cords from the 1930s, the ones he remembers from his high school road trip. what did the last cord sell for? >> i'm not sure, but maybe not more than 400 of these or 500 of these were ever made. >> best-case scenario. >> i'm thinking best-case scenario, restored, is probably $300,000, $350,000 maybe. >> thoughts like that lead stuart down a road that will take him more than a decade to travel and cost him plenty. just for starters, he lays out tens of thousands of dollars to ship in secure containers and build a steel storage building to house the most prized cars. >> it's his life's work, but also if these things are so valuable, why are they just rotting away here, you know? and someone has to step in and do something about it. >> in august 2003, oliver jordan

dies at the age of 95, leaving his enormous automobile collection to stuart and his siblings. >> the original windows that they would stick in the sides... >> stuart tells me this 1924 rollin touring car is one of his personal favorites. the model was popular among bootleggers during prohibition. >> so, there's toggle switches on the dashboard where they would turn off the taillights if they were being followed by somebody. >> to hide the booze. >> that's right. >> but these cars represent just a snippet of oliver's vast collection. i've never seen anything like this, stuart. there are so many cars. >> it's quite a strange thing to inherit, isn't it? >> before he dies, oliver gives stuart some business advice. >> he said, "now, don't sell all of those cars and parts all at once. you sell them one at a time." 'cause you'd make more money that way. >> but after trying to sell a couple online, stuart realizes it would take the rest of his life to sell them one-by-one. turns out just getting the

titles for all these old cars takes months. >> you had to get title to every single one of these cars? they're from the '30s. how do you that? >> let me show you. >> first, you have to find the cars' i.d. numbers. >> oh, my god. you can still read it! >> well, we had to polish it off. but we were able to actually get titles for the majority of the cars. >> the years click by like odometer miles. and stuart keeps spending more to authenticate and protect the old cars. a lot of plane trips from san francisco and back, too. by 2013, he says, he's invested $400,000 getting the collection primed for auction. ready or not, it's time to sell. >> hey, jamie. >> hi. how are you, yvette? stuart contacts auctioneer yvette vanderbrink to appraise the collection. so, is stuart sitting on a pile of junk or a potential gold mine? >> there's about 220 of them.

they're mostly american cars, and they're pre-war, which is pre-1942. very rare cars, 'cause at the start of world war ii, they started limiting production. and you could only get one from a ration coupon. >> stuart and yvette make plans for a one-day auction right here on the salvage lot. word begins to spread about oliver jordan's old treasures. stuart soon learns that's not altogether a good thing. >> we arrived at the property and found someone had cut through the fence and then cut a hole in the side of this building the size of a human body, and they stole over 250 antique radiators, tons of chrome parts, a lot of nice stuff. >> the antique radiators alone are worth nearly $40,000. but the biggest loss for stuart is the theft of oliver's rare and beloved 1904 harley-davidson, possibly worth several hundred thousand dollars. >> so, it really set us back, and we had to hire additional security and we had to move the

auction forward. >> that entails some word-of-mouth advertising by him and some seat-of-the-pants hot-rodding by me. you have this thing insured? >> yes, i do. >> oh, good thing, because there's a tree right there. that's next. [ tires squeal ] >> here's another quiz question for you. the answer when we return. some people say "dress your age."

that's ridiculous. age is just an illusion. how you show up for the world, that's what's real. what's your idea? i put it out there with a godaddy website.

>> so, which of these deceased celebrity's cars sold for the highest bid at auction? it's the actor steve mcqueen. in 2013, his ford gt40 sold for

$11 million. >> stuart piontek is racing to auction off his strange inheritance -- hundreds of vintage cars. his grandfather's lifelong obsession has become stuart's own. he's invested 13 years and $400,000 in the collection. ♪ i catch up with him at the hot rod association rally in oklahoma city. >> hi, my name is stuart. did you know my grandfather? >> while stuart works the crowd, i'm gonna see if i can get behind the wheel of one of these souped-up automobiles. >> how are you doing? hey, i'm jamie. >> hello, jamie. >> how are you? >> hello, i'm steven. >> tell me about this car. >> well it's a '37 chevrolet, so it's 77 years old. so, i've had it quite a bit of it's life. >> part of the family. >> yes, it is. >> oh, my. i've just gotten the keys. >> we can do that. >> let's go. >> all right. >> you have this thing insured? >> yes, i do.

>> oh, good thing, because there's a tree right there. >> all right. hold on. whoo-hoo! now we're talking! [ tires screech ] this would work for me in new york. auctioneer yvette vanderbrink is here, too. so, yvette, you know, you see these shiny red cars, and, i mean, you can tell there must be some value here. but some of them look like junk. but they're not? >> no. they're not junk. you know, it's a different trend in the car-collecting hobby now. >> that trend is called patina. it refers to the factory-original paint that shows the ravages of time. some car collectors relish that vintage, barn-find look and spray a clear coat of varnish on top to preserve it. that could be good news for the rarest cars stuart has -- those two cords from the 1930s. but if you're like me, you're wondering what they might look like restored.

i didn't have to go far to find out. remember brad waken, who once tried to buy a starter from old oliver jordan? he's now a cord aficionado. he's spent over 30 years restoring this cord. it's a stunning example of what a cord looks like in all its glory. >> we went through the engine, we painted it, we fixed the interior. it's something that we looked at restoring history and not just putting on a nice paint job and chroming everything. [ indistinct p.a. announcement ] [ auctioneer calling ] >> on june 7, 2014, it's finally the big day of the auction. >> we're gonna have fun and we're gonna book and i just killed 10 minutes. >> auctioneer yvette vanderbrink welcomes a crowd of at least 300 people. >> hope i covered everything for you. all right? >> stuart's sister starla crosses her fingers. >> it's been a lot of hard work.

i hope that stuart just at least he gets back what he's put into it and that my other siblings, that what they've put into it, they get back. >> all right, guys! this was one of mr. jordan's favorite vehicles. >> stuart's put in 400 grand. will he get it back? >> $35,000. >> i have $40,000. >> $40,000. >> that's next.

more than one million people in the united states are living with hiv. we are your family, friends, and others that you love. hiv does not define who we are. when you support us, you make it easier for us to live healthy lives.

we all have the power to stop hiv stigma. >> now back to "strange inheritance." >> the buzz over oliver jordan's antique-car auction has brought collectors from all over the country to enid, oklahoma. some are just looking to buy parts, but others are here with plenty to spend for just the right vehicle. >> i came with a trailer and a pick-up, and if i have to, i'll run back and get a bigger truck and a bigger trailer to haul more cars. [ auctioneer calling ]

>> you have to be quick to purchase in this game. these cars can go in less than a minute. >> [ calling ] sold it! [ calling ] sold it! sold it! sold it! sold it! $9,600. >> people seem in good spirits, and things seem to moving pretty well, so it's going pretty good. >> stuart's cautiously optimistic as oliver jordan's two beloved cords are about to go up for bid. stuart thinks they'd each be worth six figures if fully restored. but how much in this condition? >> the 1937 cord 812 beverly supercharged. this was one of mr. jordan's favorite vehicles. it's going to need every little piece restored. okay. $35,000. >> i have $40,000. >> $40,000. >> yes! >> now $42,000. [ calling ]

sold it! $42,000. going to new york. >> what will the second cord fetch? >> tara, what do you got? >> i got $20,000. >> $20,000, and we're going. [ calling ] sold it! $22,000. >> it's over in seconds. the same anonymous telephone bidder pays $64,000 for both cars. stuart says he's not disappointed. >> in this condition, that's a great price for them -- as much as we could have hoped for. and it's really great because they're gonna move on. >> after an emotional day, the grand total for this auction -- $540,000. subtract the $400,000 stuart

invested and it's a profit of $140,000 to split with his siblings. add in all that time the family invested in this strange inheritance, and it's no windfall. >> so, here we go. >> whoo-hoo! >> that's a good one. >> all right. >> then again, watching the grandchildren of oliver jordan pop open the bubbly has to make you wonder -- was their 13-year-old enterprise ever really about turning rusted iron into gold? or was it about a different kind of alchemy -- one, perhaps, that restores broken and brittle family ties into strong, lifelong bonds? >> we lost our mother when we were rather young, and we didn't really get to know her parents that well, and so this brought us closer. >> would grandpa -- what would he say? he'd say, "stuart..." >> i think he'd say, "i'm proud of you," you know? >> would that be important for you to hear from your grandfather? >> yeah, definitely.

and that's really what it was about for me -- doing right by him and by my family. >> stuart sold all of his grandpa's cars, and he regretted losing only one -- the 1924 rollin touring car. it was a favorite of prohibition bootleggers, and on auction day, an 86-year-old woman came just to see it. she explained that her grandfather had driven it to the hospital the day she was born and then sold it to oliver jordan. of all the stories about this strange inheritance, this may have been stuart's favorite. so, stuart asked the man that bought the touring car -- for $4,800 -- to let him know if he ever resold it. stuart might want to buy that one back. i'm jamie colby for "strange inheritance." thanks so much for watching, and remember -- you can't take it with you. do you have a strange

inheritance story you'd like to share with us? we'd love to hear it. send me an e-mail or go to our website, strangeinheritance.com. [♪] lou: good evening, everybody. tonight we are bringing you the latest on the outbreak of the china coronavirus that killed at least 41 people and infected 1,000 others nationwide and around the world. while the virus is still spreading. right now the number of new cases beyond china is not particularly alarming. in the united states a second case has been confirmed. the patient is a chicago woman in her 60s. the centers for disease control said they are