>> a gold ring... >> it might have been an engagement ring. >> from the great jane austen? >> i expected it to be a fairly flimsy story. >> a story of romance, mystery, and money. >> money was critical. i mean, it was about survival. >> but from a british icon to an american idol... >> i probably could have snuck it out of the country. but i would've been, like, banned. >> inheriting a national treasure can get rather complicated. >> did england know that the ring existed? >> no. >> wow. [ door creaks ] [ wind howls ] [ thunder rumbles ] [ bird caws ]

>> i'm jamie colby in oxfordshire, england. and i feel like i'm driving right into a scene from a 19th-century romantic novel, which, in a way, i am. i'm on my way to meet a descendant of the great writer, jane austen. austen left a strange inheritance worthy of a quintessentially british uproar two centuries later. >> my name is nicky gottelier. i inherited a ring that once belonged to jane austen, my great- great-great-great-great aunt. >> hello. i'm jamie. >> hello. i'm nicky. >> my first question for nicky -- how did she get the ring? >> i shall tell you. come with me. >> she invites me in and explains her family lineage. >> jane was one of eight children. and her eldest brother, james, was my forebear.

so it came down through my grandmother, my father, and then me. >> did everybody know about your family's connection to jane? >> in those days, you didn't really brag about the fact that i was a five-times great niece of jane's. >> nor would it be proper to brag or even mention that the family is the keeper of this ring made of turquoise and gold. they believe it was worn by aunt jane. if so, it's one of the few possessions still around that once belonged to one of history's most beloved novelists. >> she wrote there? >> she did. >> mary guyatt is the curator of the jane austen's house museum. this must be the holy grail when people come to visit. >> it is. many a visitor have a little cry here. >> i really can't believe the size. it's not much bigger than a dinner plate. jane's born in 1775. she starts penning poems

and stories when she's 14. >> mary, what's here? >> it's a red riding jacket. and it's said that the austen children used to dress up in this. they used to act together and write stories. >> by the time she's 23, she's written the first drafts of three novels, "northanger abbey," "sense and sensibility," and "pride and prejudice." but it's not until she's 35 when, with the help of her brother, henry, she finally sees one in print. even then, "sense and sensibility" is published anonymously. why did jane publish without using her name? >> at the time, novels had a bit of a dubious reputation. and for a women to be writing a novel was not necessarily the thing to be seen to be doing. >> nevertheless, jane's career is off and running. she goes on to publish, again anonymously, "pride and prejudice," "mansfield park" and "emma,"

all of which use biting wit to show how polite society worked at the turn of the 19th century. >> she was writing from a woman's perspective about subjects that still affect us -- love, marriage, money. >> she's pretty blunt about what she thinks women should do, like finding wealthy husbands. >> money was critical. i mean, then it was about survival. finding a husband with a significant income was part of the job of the family. >> but jane herself never marries and never gets wealthy from the books that tens of millions of people will read over the next 200 years. when she dies of a mysterious illness in july 1817, at the age of 41, she doesn't leave behind many worldly possessions, which is why nicky gottelier's strange inheritance is so intriguing.

>> it's just a very plain ring set in gold. we don't know where jane got it from. >> what do you think the story is behind it? >> it's thought that it might have been an engagement ring. >> say what? coming up... did she have a lover? >> but, first, our "strange inheritance" quiz question... the answer when we return. announcer: there are everyday actions to help prevent the spread of respiratory diseases. wash your hands. avoid close contact with people who are sick. avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth. stay home when you are sick. cover your cough or sneeze. clean and disinfect frequently touched objects with household cleaning spray. for more information, visit cdc.gov/covid19.

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>> so, which teen actor rose to stardom after appearing in a 1995 jane austen adaptation? it's "a." alicia silverstone hit it big in the movie "clueless," a revamp of austen's novel, "emma." >> when jane austen dies in 1817, the world does not yet know she's the anonymous author of "sense and sensibility," "pride and prejudice," and "emma." unmarried and of modest means, she leaves her sister, cassandra, a very small number of cherished belongings, including, apparently, this curious ring of gold and turquoise. >> it happened to be her birthstone. it's also mine. that was it. >> the ring is passed through

the female descendants of jane austen's family and winds up in the hands of nicky gottelier's grandmother, winifred. what was your grandmother like? >> a terrifying woman. i have to say that i didn't like her terribly. she would never have talked about the ring. i didn't actually see it until i was 15. >> grandmother winifred keeps her treasure hidden away until she dies in 1973. nicky and her sister, sarah, rarely see it until their father, robert, passes away in 1981. did dad leave specific instructions in a will of who gets what and how it should be divided? >> no. i think he knew that we would do it in a fairly honorable way. >> the sisters decide that nicky should get the ring while sarah gets this portrait of aunt jane painted 50 years after her death. >> were each of you satisfied with your decision?

>> i think so, yes. >> nicky, now 36 and married with two young sons, socks her ring away in a drawer, much as her grandmother and the generations before her did. >> to all intents and purposes, for a long time, it was pretty well forgotten about. >> but it's jane austen's. >> i know. but you can't have it out. we had two small boys. lots of people come into the house. anything could have happened to it. >> did england know that the ring existed? >> no. >> wow. >> nobody. >> with the passage of time, the story behind the ring is lost to history. nicky speculates it could be an engagement ring, which would be really something, since the great writer of english romance novels, whose characters extol marriage as indispensable to a woman's happiness, never herself walked down the aisle. but how close did she come? i ask mary guyatt at the jane austen's house museum.

did she have a lover? >> well, who knows? there's, of course, tom lefroy, who was a young irishman, who she met at the age of 20. >> after jane meets tom, a middle-class law student, she write her sister, cassandra, to say, "i rather expect to receive an offer from my friend in the course of the evening." weeks pass. the proposal never comes. >> he wasn't well-off. and nor was she. and that combination was doomed. >> by her parents, do you believe? >> by the older generation. a young couple could not marry unless one of them had some wealth. >> jane never sees tom again. six years later, at the age of 26, she receives a marriage proposal from a wealthy family friend named harris bigg-wither. does harris give her this ring? impossible to say. all we know

is that jane accepts. but, overnight, the match fizzles. why do you think she called off that engagement? >> i think she just got cold feet. perhaps she wanted to keep writing and knew that marriage would mean children and a different kind of life. >> when she dies 14 years later, four people attend her funeral. only after her brother, henry, reveals her true identity does all of england come to love jane austen. >> there weren't that many women who wrote books at that time. and she wrote so well about the times. it was just a very accurate description of what happened and how things were done. >> such is the stuff of timeless classics, the books that become required reading in high school and college. but jane's not just homework. generations upon generations of students love to read her and, eventually, watch her. by the 1990s, there are movies,

more movies and even some career-changing roles. >> you must allow me to tell you how ardently i admire and love you. in declaring myself thus, i am fully aware that i will be going expressly against the wishes of my family, my friends and, i hardly need add, my own better judgment. >> actors like colin firth as darcy and gwyneth paltrow as emma inspire a third century of austen fans, including these so-called janeites, decked out in regency dress for an annual 10-day jane austen festival in bath, england. >> ladies, tea? twenty-year-old sophie andrews and 24-year-old laurie valet-deleyre... >> so, hey, thank you for having us. >> yeah. thank you for having us. >> ...are really enthusiastic about their heroine and her relevance in the 21st century. what is it about jane austen that has you being jane austen? >> her novels still endure

200 years later. the characters, they're all still totally relatable. >> we all are looking for our mr. darcy, aren't we? >> oh, yes. >> but hanging out with janeites is not the way to find a man these days. >> no. if there are any men at the festival, they're either gay, or they have been dragged there by their girlfriend or wife. so, we have no chance. >> we should go to bars more. >> yeah. >> we do too old-fashioned... >> like this? >> no. >> maybe not. >> no, maybe not like this. >> these ladies, and goodness knows how many others, would covet anything jane austen touched. but a ring, maybe even an engagement ring, can you imagine? which brings us back around to our heir, nicky gottelier's, strange inheritance and her sudden and momentous decision to sell it. >> my first instinct when it's jane austen -- i'll let this person down gently. >> that's next. >> here's another quiz question for you...

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>> so, which writer said jane austen was her favorite author? it's j.k. rowling, who said she finds austen's books unput-down-able. >> for 30 years, nicky gottelier has barely thought about her strange inheritance, a gold-and-turquoise ring that, according to family tradition, belonged to her ancestor, the world-renowned novelist, jane austen. but when nicky hits her 60s, she needs to figure out what to do with the heirloom that's been in her family for some 200 years.

>> i have two sons, neither of whom were interested. and it was mine. i could do with it what i wanted. >> including sell it. was there ever a plan to sell it before? >> no, never. i thought, "there's no point in hanging onto it forever." now, she is really big all over the world. i thought, "let's see what happens." >> nicky and her husband, david, first connect the jane austen's house museum. but it has little to spend. so they try the literature expert at sotheby's auction house in london, gabriel heaton. >> my first reaction was to kind of prepare myself to disappoint someone. and so you kind of, like, put your hand over the phone, so to speak and went, "pfft." >> well, i expected it to be a fairly flimsy story. >> he thought he had a couple of nutters on the phone. >> until nicky's husband explains the family lineage.

>> it was when he said, "oh, no, no, we're descended from the austens" that i really got very interested. >> heaton promptly sets up a meeting. >> we got there and produced this tiny, little ring in its tiny, little box. >> and that's not all. nicky also produces this handwritten note dated 1863 from the widow of jane's brother, henry. "my dear carolyn, the enclosed ring once belonged to your aunt jane." >> yeah. >> how exciting. "it was given to me by your aunt cassandra as soon as she knew that i was engaged to your uncle. i bequeath it to you. god bless you. november 1863." >> yeah. >> was that it? >> yeah, that was -- for me, that was it. that was tremendously exciting. most of her belongings went, of course, to her favorite sister, cassandra. then, here, you see cassandra giving this ring to eleanor when she marries jane's

favorite brother, henry. >> did the letter, on its face, read authentic? >> it did look authentic. but the main thing that we did was to compare the handwriting. it was undoubtedly the same. >> he was amazed that it was something that was real. >> the idea that you're handling something that's one of the greatest writers of the english language kept on her finger, it's a special feeling. >> heaton gives the ring an estimated price of £30,000, or roughly $45,000, and sets the auction for july 2012 in london. >> we knew that there was interest. quite where that would go, we didn't know. >> with nicky sitting quietly in the audience, bidding starts at £15,000. and then what every auctioneer hopes for most happens, a bidding war, £30,000, 40, 45. >> i felt that it would probably go for about £50,000. >> but there's an anonymous

bidder on the phone who is determined to get that ring. >> very, very quickly, it climbs up. >> £85,000, 90, 95. >> it just went up and up. at nearly £100,000, i began to feel a bit sick. >> £115,000, 120,000. that's over $200,000. who is this mystery bidder? >> and the hammer comes down at £126,000. >> okay. >> and you're thinking... >> i'm thinking, "goodness." >> with buyer's fees, that amounts to about $236,000. >> we got up and left. and we walked down bond street and had a bottle of champagne, which i paid for. >> miss bennet. >> i did not expect to see you. >> but like any good austen story, this one can't end without a twist.

>> the powers that be refused to let it out of the country. >> for it turns out the winning bidder is from america, a huge jane austen fan and an idol in her own right. that's next. what's your "strange inheritance" story? we'd love to tell it. send me an e-mail or go to our website, strangeinheritance.com. with coronavirus still spreading, people at higher risk, must take extra precautions. you are at higher risk if you are over 65, or if you have any serious underlying medical conditions, like heart disease, chronic lung disease, diabetes, or if your immune system is compromised for any reason. if you're at higher risk, wash your hands frequently with soap and water for twenty seconds. avoid touching your face. disinfect frequently touched objects. and wash up after being in public spaces. and when it comes to social situations...less is better.

stay six feet or two arm lengths away from other people. better still, stay home if you can. if you're sick, please stay home and away from others. and if you think you've been exposed to the virus, call your health care provider before going to their office. in challenging times, the choices you make are critical. please visit coronavirus.gov for more information. [mom] the doctor sat down with me in a room

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>> now, back to "strange inheritance." >> nicky gottelier has just auctioned off a ring that belonged to her ancestor, novelist jane austen, for $236,000. >> it went for an absolutely phenomenal amount of money. >> it's revealed the buyer is american pop singer kelly clarkson. turns out she's a janeite. >> i just loved how her characters were so strong and so confident and almost had the mentality sometimes that a man would portray

in that time. >> there's just one little hitch. before clarkson's allowed to get her purchase home to nashville, the british government steps in and declares the austen ring a national treasure. >> she's so important to the idea of britishness. >> philippa glanville sits on a committee that makes the call. >> it's extraordinary how little trace she's left except in our imaginations. >> i totally agree. it is a national treasure for y'all. but i kind of felt like they'd maybe should have claimed that before i bought it. but... >> did you think it was a national treasure? >> it never crossed my mind. >> what now? the u.k. minister of culture gives a deadline of five months for a british buyer to come forward and save the ring for england. and the british savior must match the price kelly clarkson paid for it. >> that gave the museum, suddenly, an opportunity to have a second chance. >> mary guyatt and the jane austen museum launch

a campaign to raise the money to buy the ring from the american pop star. within six weeks, they succeed. >> i was surprised at how fast things moved. >> once it becomes clear that kelly clarkson will never get to have the ring, her own mr. darcy reproduces it for her. >> my husband actually surprised me at christmas that same year. he embellished it with diamonds because he doesn't do anything without diamonds. and i bawled when he gave it to me. >> nicky's strange inheritance is finally unveiled on valentine's day 2014 at the jane austen's house museum. today, you can buy your own replica of the ring for $550. the janeites i met say that's a bargain. >> i wear it every day. i like having it as a reminder of jane, really. i feel like she's always with me then. >> as for nicky gottelier,

whose family safeguarded the ring for 200 years... are you happy with where the ring is now? >> oh, i think so. yes. in the end, poor kelly had to part with it. i would much rather she'd kept it because she was such a fan. but it did finish up at the jane austen museum in chawton, which is actually where i would have liked it to have gone in the first place. >> so esteemed is jane austen in great britain that, in 2013, it was announced that her face would appear on the country's 10-pound note. the image printed on the bill, the original one depicted on nicky and her sister's other family heirloom, that portrait of austen commissioned in 1869, half a century after her death. that little painting may not be deemed a national treasure as nicky's ring was. but it's good enough for the bank of england. i'm jamie colby. thanks so much for watching

"strange inheritance." and remember -- you jolly well can't take it with you. >> they're cars you never heard of. >> he liked to buy unique cars -- kissels, grahams, overlands. he always used to say, "i don't want to meet myself on the road." >> it's a great hobby. keeps you out of the beer joints. >> do you have your foot on the brake, teacher? just in case? >> i haven't jumped out yet. >> these heirs hit a fork in the road... >> so that is a point of contention. do you donate cars here? do you have an auction? >> it's really tough to get every sibling on the same page. >> yeah, i'd say we're no different. >> ...until they hear an emotional voice from the past. >> when we go by his gravesite, he's probably on high spin mode up there. >> it's just money. can't take it with you.

>> i'm jamie colby, and today i'm cruising through boone county, iowa, smack dab in the middle of corn country. i'm here to meet the heirs of a man who left behind dozens and dozens of "orphans." orphan cars, that is. so, what's an orphan car? you're about to find out. >> my name is jerry quam. my father, grant quam, liked to collect orphan cars, which are cars that were manufactured by companies that are no longer in existence today. many of these are rare cars of which there's only a few known to exist. >> i meet up with jerry and his brother john at this modern, climate-controlled barn. what's in the barn? you got tractors, you got horses? >> something better. >> better than that? >> you're gonna love this. >> whoa.

i am in heaven. did you know i love cars? >> i've heard a rumor. >> this is an incredible collection. you inherited this? >> our father's collection. >> i imagine there's a great story behind these cars. >> each and every one. >> these car stories begin right up the road in roland, iowa, where john and jerry's father, grant quam, grew up in the 1920s. >> why was your dad so passionate about cars? >> he grew up on a farm and they were pretty poor, but he'd see people coming into town driving around in these fine cars, and that got him excited about it. >> while grant may not be able to afford these fancy cars, he sure can fix 'em up. >> he had a real knack for fixing things. he was just fascinated with machinery and cars. >> soon enough, the budding mechanic is running a little repair operation out of the farm corncrib. and when he's a teen, grant

finally figures out a way to buy his first car -- using his school lunch money. so cars were more important than food. >> that's probably true. >> when the great depression hits, it devastates farm country and grant's family. >> his father -- they lost the farm and stuff. you know, when he left home, everything he owned was in a shoebox. >> at the same time, hundreds of car manufacturers are losing it all, too. in the early 1900s, nearly 1,800 companies are in the carmaking game. and as late as 1925, some 237 remain. but the depression wipes out a great many of those, with some luxury brands hanging on only to collapse after world war ii. >> cars like the pierce-arrow, peerless, and packard, you don't hear of any of those today. they're all gone. >> so an orphan car is a car with no parents. >> yeah, that's basically right. >> so when grant reaches his mid-50s and starts seeing some real-estate investments pay off,

he's finally able to track down those orphan cars that fascinated him in his youth. >> there's not a lot of fords or chevys. he liked to buy unique cars. he always used to say, "i don't want to meet myself on the road." >> grant's not likely to meet himself on the road driving one of these. not only are his cars from unique manufacturers, many of the particular models are extremely rare, too -- like this 1936 pierce-arrow roadster. >> there's maybe fewer than five that are known to exist of that car. >> i'm totally loving the paint. is it also unique? >> the guy he bought it from liked butter-nut coffee, so he painted the car to look like the butter-nut coffee can. >> grant's 1925 kissel gold bug, made popular by amelia earhart, is just as rare. can i get inside? >> absolutely. >> i'm gonna try to slide in. [ grunts ] wow. you had to be petite.

not so graceful. i could drive this. now you guys know what i like, okay? some of grant's finds are so uncommon, they were thought to have vanished long ago. >> this is a 1934 plymouth phaeton. when he first bought this, a lot of plymouth people here in the u.s. claimed that the car didn't exist. >> what? >> and they said that it was false advertising on the car. but finally, after some background checks, it turned out to be the real deal. >> and here's another rare phaeton, this one supposedly built at the 1934 world's fair in chicago. grant's orphan cars even become the focus of segment on a local public tv program in 1999. did you see the pbs clip when it aired? >> i did. it was a show that they were doing at the time in iowa that

was about people had unique collections. in 2007, grant passes away at the age of 91. >> was he specific with you, jerry, and your family about what he wanted you to do with the cars? >> he never really approached it when we were alive. he never really talked about that. >> do you wish he was more specific? >> yeah, in some ways it would have been better. >> six years later, when their mom, betty, dies, grant's four children -- now "orphans" themselves -- still haven't settled on a plan for their strange inheritance. >> so that is a point of contention. do you donate cars here? do you have an auction? every family has their differences. some want to do this, some want to do that. >> the oldest sibling, john, wants to keep the collection intact. the youngest, jerry, who's gone into collecting, leans that way, too. but the other two siblings, jim and marilyn, don't have the same emotional connection to the

cars and would just as soon sell them. >> we're all pretty independent people. >> that's hard. >> absolutely, it's hard. >> and it won't be getting any easier -- because while grant had plenty of beauties like these, he left behind even more like this. >> i thought, "oh, my gosh, what have i gotten myself into this time?" this was like entering a crime scene almost. >> a crime scene?! we'll walk it, next. >> but first... the answer when we return. as a struggling actor, i need all the breaks that i can get. at liberty butchumal- cut. liberty biberty- cut. we'll dub it. liberty mutual customizes your car insurance so you only pay for what you need. only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪

>> there never was an airmobile. o-we-gos were produced in owego, new york, american chocolates in a chocolate factory, and a car without a name thought owners might prefer to title their models themselves. >> grant quam's passion was tracking down orphans -- rare and unusual cars from now-defunct automakers. can you rattle off for me some of the rarer cars in the collection? >> 1925 kissel gold bug. 1911 and a 1913 overland.

1913 studebaker. pierce-arrows, grahams. >> he gathers over 80 unique models, such as this 1920 peerless roadster. >> it was one of the most original cars he's ever bought. it still has the original radiator hoses. they're white because that was the natural color of rubber, and they started to color rubber black later on. >> after grant's death in 2007, his heirs are torn about what to do with their father's unique car pool. do they sell? keep? donate? >> you know, i find, with inheritances, it's really tough to get every sibling on the same page. >> yeah, i'd say we're no different. >> but before any decisions can be made, the family needs to know what the cars are worth. for that, they bring in appraiser jim mcdonald from des moines. he learns grant's hoard of automobiles is spread out among three locations, and not every car looks shiny and new.

this machine shed is jam-packed with grant's junkers, barn finds, and project cars. >> when i first walked into it, i thought, "oh, my gosh, what have i gotten myself into this time?" this was like entering a crime scene almost. a lot of these cars had been sitting for 10, 15, 20 years. this looks like it was last driven in 1956. >> these cars are worth a little, maybe a thousand -- more if they get fixed up. a second building holds about 15 mid-tier-quality cars. jim puts these in the five-figure range. but the real money is in the final storage area, what grant called his "inner sanctum." >> this had his pierce-arrow, it had his auburn, it had his kissel. it had all the better cars. >> jim photographs and grades each one, including this exceptionally rare model, a 1922 detroit electric. >> electric cars were very

much favored by women in the early days of cars. they were popular because women weren't able to crank the cars and get them started. >> i'm in! >> this is the steering wheel. >> really? >> well, kind of. this is like a tiller on a boat. >> okay. >> so if you want to go this direction, you push that way, if you want to go that direction, you pull back here. >> okay, i got it. >> then, this is your speed. here is the brake that works sometimes. >> sometimes, john? >> ready to go? >> yes. >> let's do it. >> the engine turns on with a simple flip of the switch. >> the first click, and there you go. >> oh! yikes. >> there you go. >> oh, slow it down, slow it down, slow it down. >> pull this back. >> i'm an excellent driver. i'm an excellent driver. this is like driver's ed. do you have your foot on the brake, teacher? just in case? >> i haven't jumped out yet. >> going straight is one thing, but now the real challenge -- turning! the turns are not so easy. >> no. you'd do well back in that time period. you'd be the, uh, envy of

the neighborhood. >> whoo-hoo! how'd i do? >> excellent. >> yay! >> better than me. >> sold. including that detroit electric, the appraiser arrives at a total value for the collection of over one million dollars. a nice chunk of change, but even that doesn't shift grant's heirs out of neutral. the siblings need something more to finally settle the dispute on how to handle their father's cars. that's when they receive a message, almost from beyond the grave. that's next. >> here's another quiz question for you.

the answer when we return. (music) ♪

>> he committed the first speeding infraction in the u.s., winding up in jail for driving a breakneck 12 miles per hour down lexington avenue, four over the limit. >> grant quam's four children can't agree on what to do with their strange inheritance -- 80 so-called orphan cars potentially worth over a million dollars. >> jim and marilyn think it's time to sell, but jerry and john would like to see the collection kept together. >> i've had a chance to experience most every car here.

spent a lot of time in these. i've driven most of them through the years. >> it's two against two. something's got to give. how do they decide? they go to the videotape. remember that local-tv piece featuring grant all those years ago? turns out a crucial part of grant's interview was never broadcast. >> it was like a 15-minute segment, but later they offered up the entire raw footage of the shoot. >> they pop the cutting-room-floor footage in the vcr. during the unedited, hour-long interview, grant is asked about many topics that never reach air, including the future of his cherished autos. listen. >> [ laughs ]

>> their father's words end the debate -- the siblings will auction off the cars. >> now, for me personally, um, that was probably a harder pill to swallow. >> did you fight it? >> no. there's a time when things, whether you like it or not, need to happen. my ideal thing would have been not to have sold the cars, but that -- that wasn't gonna work. >> soon after, the family hires auctioneer yvette vanderbrink to handle the sale of their dad's collection. >> my first impression was, wow, this is really a lot of automotive history. >> yvette immediately puts the family to work. she wants as many of the vehicles as possible up and running by the auction. >> so here we are at the farm. this gives you an idea of what we're up against. >> how much work went into getting them ready for auction? >> it's overwhelming to deal with. you got to get the mechanics up working on 'em, you got to get

the detail people to come up. it's a long process. >> despite the challenge, the family brings many back to life. and as the auction nears, the reality of saying goodbye to dad's cars begins to sink in. >> this is a piece of dad. it's very personal to your father. >> yeah. but he always used to say there's time slots in life, right, for different things. and, uh, anyway, this time slot is over, right, so it's time to sell 'em and -- and move on. >> of course there's no telling what grant's unusually rare models might sell for. >> how do you set a price on some of these? >> that is the hard part. how do you find a comp for a '36 pierce when there's never been one sold and there's only five made? >> what do you expect? >> it's really, really hard to know, because as my dad used to say, an auction, you need two buyers that want the car, three is better. >> up next -- which of grant's orphans find a good home... >> at 40, 40, 40. now 5. >> ...and which ones do not.

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>> now back to "strange inheritance." >> in september 2015, the heirs of grant quam are auctioning off their father's treasured fleet of orphan cars. you think you're doing this auction to his satisfaction? >> well, that's a good, good question. we always tease that, uh, when we go by his gravesite, he's probably on high spin mode. >> the biggest concern -- whether the right buyers will make the trek to small-town iowa for these exceedingly rare models. >> it's been a long adventure, nine months of getting ready. so we're kind of anxious to see how this all goes today. >> at 37, now 8. at 38, at 8, at 8. >> auctioneer yvette vanderbrink kicks things off with the heavy hitters.

>> we're gonna start with the better cars and sell them right off the bat, and the reason why i like to do that is, everybody has money and comes to the sale. everybody wants to take the prom queen. >> but some of those prom queens aren't going anywhere without the right bid. >> this is a 1936 pierce-arrow. this also is being sold subject to confirmation. >> this will be the car that tells the tale on the auction. there were some serious players here yesterday looking at it, so we'll see what happens. >> at 35, at 5, at 5. at 35. where are you gonna find one? it's one of five, guys. >> but today, that right buyer doesn't show up. >> okay, folks, that has not met the reserve. if you are interested, come talk to us. >> grant's 1925 kissel gold bug also fails to hit the minimum bid. >> you have to have the right people here, and you never know. we don't want to give the cars away. >> after that distressing start,

they learn they won't have to. the auction picks up speed with the '34 phaeton, said to have been built at the chicago world's fair. >> at 45,000. at 45, 5, 5. at 40,000, let's go. you have to step up your game there. at 51, 1, 1, at 1. at 51,000. it's just money. can't take it with you. sold at $53,000. [ applause ] >> soon after, someone steers away with that detroit electric i drove for 48 grand. >> [ calling ] >> and the auction just keeps rolling. grant's '34 plymouth goes for 45k. his '37 lasalle brings in another 48. a '36 graham fetches 28k,

while this 1913 studebaker sells for 25,000. >> so far it's looking -- looking okay >> now up for bid -- grant's 1920 peerless roadster. >> 60, 60, 60, at 60. at 60,000. now 5. at 65, 5, 5. at 65. now 90. at 90, 90, 90. at 90, at 90,000. now 5. at 95, 5, 5. at 95,000. 1, 1, at 1. at 101. 101,5. sold at $101,000. >> that was surprising because it takes a very special buyer to buy that car. >> by the end of the day, the family hauls in over 700,000 bucks. and with those two big-value cars still left to sell privately in the future, the family believes they'll break the million-dollar mark. >> it's a bittersweet thing. i mean, as i started seeing cars

going out of here, it's kind of reality. but it feels good to see people that love them, and they'll take care of them. >> and isn't that what adopting an orphan is all about? jerry's sure he's done right by his dad, getting his babies into good hands. >> his time slot is over. it's time for another custodian to take ownership and enjoy the car, because sitting inside in a dark building made no sense. they should be out and enjoyed. so we're happy to see that, and he would have too. >> before the auction, jerry quam purchased a few cars from his father's collection. he didn't pick the ones that were the most valuable or rare. in fact, the cars didn't even mesh with his personal car collection. the vehicles simply reminded jerry most of his father. so even after his children have to bid farewell to their dad's precious cars, a part of grant's legacy will live on and

stay in the family. i'm jamie colby for "strange inheritance." thanks so much for watching. and remember... >> it's just money. can't take it with you. >> found in grandpa's attic... >> it was a dirty, dusty old box. and then it's like, "wow. i don't know what it is." >> ...a discovery that will make the baseball world flip. >> you've got honus wagner, ty cobb, cy young, christy mathewson. >> i'm thinking to myself, "oh, my god. i have $1 million sitting in a chair." >> but is it almost too much of a good thing? >> it certainly changes the market in a negative way. >> i'm jamie colby, and today, i'm in northwest ohio, on the edge of an area called the