'Pawn Stars' boss Rick Harrison comes across vintage Indy 500 car — but doesn't even make an offer
Among the things that turn up on "Pawn Stars," vintage cars stand out, and Rick Harrison is even known to venture out of his shop to look for them. When the owner of the most famous pawn shop in America was going around the country to find interesting items, he came across a race car. He met the owner, Gary, at an antiques sale, and while he found the car 'uber cool,' he chose to pass on it as he didn't have a market for it.
Harrison walked up to the incredible item when the owner was putting it up for display. "IndyCars are the great American thing. There's only Indy racing in the United States, and this country is in love with it and always has been, and when they have the Indianapolis 500, it's practically a national holiday," Harrison explained after breaking the ice with Gary.
Gary shared that the car was built for the IndyCar series, and it had every bit of technology that goes into it. "Imagine this thing's been clocked at like 220, 230 miles per hour," he said. He shared that he wasn't the one racing the car, but he bought it from one of the teams participating in the series. "I've owned IndyCars and been a team owner on and off for 40-plus years. This car ran in 1998 at the Indy 500 by a driver named Jimmy Kite. He finished 11th in this car, and it became available, and it was complete as run, which is kind of unique because usually they get torn apart," he explained to Harrison.
The pawn shop boss then asked Gary for the asking price, and he told him that he was looking to sell it for $75,000. "It is far less than what I've gotten and way less than what it was new. It's an amazing car," he added. Harrison acknowledged that it was the first time that he had come across an IndyCar that was on sale. However, he didn't make a bid for it anyway. "I just don't have a market for it. If I had a market for it I'd buy it because I'll buy anything I can make money off of," he said.
He further reasoned that he had no idea about the race car market either, so he couldn't make a fair bet on the car. "I have no idea where it even starts selling," he said. Even Gary admitted that it was hard to sell the racing cars as there was no designated market for them. He shared that over his lifetime, he had accumulated over three dozen cars, and every now and then, he puts up a sale sign over one.
In the end, Harrison walked away without even attempting to make a deal for what was one of the fastest and coolest items to ever appear on the show. "Thanks for letting me look at it. I appreciate you coming out. Cool car," he said in the end as he walked away from the deal.
