THE ROBERTSON COLLECTION, PART ONE: A distinctive dozen heading to Reno Tahoe

July 15, 2015
Posted by Barrett-Jackson

As an 11-year-old, Marty Robertson was old enough to know that his stepdad had a pretty cool job: crew chief for the renowned drag racer Shirley “Cha Cha” Muldowney. He spent many memorable hours sitting in a race car while his stepdad was working, watching his every move. Evidently Robertson’s interest didn’t go unnoticed: his stepdad took him to a swap meet and the two purchased a 1970 Chevy Nova for $100. “It was a rust-bucket with hardly any parts on it,” Robertson remembers. Together, they tore that car down to the frame and built it back up again, giving Robertson valuable lessons in auto mechanics, persistence – and patience. Although the car was completed when he was 15, he had to wait another year before his stepdad tossed him the keys.

Building cars and racing has been a passion of Robertson since those early childhood days when he spent time with his stepdad at the racetrack and in the garage. Today Robertson runs a number of successful businesses affiliated with the oil and gas industry, but keeps his hand in the motoring world by collecting cars, sponsoring PDRA and NHRA teams, and getting behind the wheel himself for his NMCA team. Robertson also has an entire venture devoted to keeping things in top running order – his team there specializes in restorations, performance work and maintenance.

“I just love great cars,” Robertson says. From an iconic 1936 Ford Custom to brand-spanking-new Dodge Hellcats, the collection Robertson is bringing across the block at the 3rd Annual Hot August Nights Auction presented by Barrett-Jackson, August 6-8, 2015, at the Reno-Sparks Convention Center would certainly qualify as great. Here are six of the 12 members of the eclectic collection. Look for the rest of his collection in Part Two of this article on Friday.

This iconic 1936 Ford Custom (Lot #639) features an all-steel body, 350ci small block Chevy V8 and has only 2,510 on build.

Built by D&D Specialty Cars, this 1955 Chevrolet Nomad Custom Wagon (Lot #638) has a 348ci engine bored .060 over and only 187 miles on build.

This 1962 Chevrolet Impala 409 Re-creation (Lot #704) boasts an upgraded 409/409hp engine with 425 ft/lbs of torque.

Resto-Mod frame-off build on this 1964 Chevrolet Corvette Custom (Lot #644) was completed in 2014 with 270 miles on build.

Restored in 2002, this 1966 Chevrolet Corvette Convertible (Lot #702) is one of 2,111 built in Mosport Green.

This 1966 Canadian-made custom Acadian Canso (Lot #700) has a 5-speed manual transmission and a big block Chevy V8 engine.