‘Muscle Car Hoard’ up for auction in Iowa September 14th

Finding the next big barn find is always the dream of every car guy and gal. I have seen and worked with many barn find collections throughout the years, and I am always looking for the next find. VanDerBrink Auctions was selling a collection in Iowa in 2018 when a quiet man came up to me after the auction and said, “I would like to show you my collection.“

The location didn’t show up on the GPS, and I eventually turned into a path flanked by trees to an assortment of buildings. Coyote Johnson, as his name soon would imply, would give clue to what was in his over 40-year collection. Coyote unlocked and opened the 1^st building, which was filled with dust, covered muscle cars in every color of the rainbow. A glorious palette of MoPar colors shined bright amongst other survivors of the great muscle car era. I was taken aback with the amazing collection and wondered what was hiding in the rest of the buildings. Building after building was packed tight with muscle cars. Chevelle’s, Camaros, Firebirds, GTO’s, Challengers, Cudas, Impalas, Tri-Five and more were carefully parked aside each other. Coyote explained that he hadn’t shown anyone, not even family members, the collection in over 40 years! He simply tucked them away.

Curious, I asked Coyote how he got his nickname, was that his real name? When Coyote was in high school he received a call from his mom; she told him that she had bought him a car – A green and white 1969 Road Runner. A man had come to her workplace and said he had to sell the car because he was going to have a baby. Always willing to help, the Johnsons bought the car. Little did his mom know, that car would become the star of his amazing collection. Coyote still has the 1969 Roadrunner with his letter jacket still in the front seat as if he was ready to go school. The Roadrunner soon taught Coyote that if you had a cool car you’d get the girls and gain respect from the guys. Having a car with abundant horsepower, Coyote was no stranger to the area drag racing scene. In fact, that’s how he got his nickname, Coyote, from chasing Roadrunners at the drags. “Every summer weekend, if you had a hot car, you went outside Farragut, Iowa and raced,” Coyote said. Coyote won races and gained a reputation for having fast cars.