Saturday, January 17, 2009

Ron Pratte car collection

Seriously, You don't want this post, you want the JAN 2012 update: http://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2012/01/ron-pratte-collection-update-his.html


Tere posted a whole gallery of photos of Ron's collection: http://justacargal.blogspot.com/search/label/Ron%20Pratte

for the Jan 2012 update with a the video from inside Ron's collection, and screen shots: http://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2012/01/ron-pratte-collection-update-his.html

for the Jan 2010 update: http://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2010/01/update-to-ron-pratte-post-darryl-gwynn.html

Ron Pratte of Chandler, Arizona, multi-millionaire who sold Pratte Development, one of the nation’s largest wood framing and concrete foundation companies to Pulte Homes at the peak of the Arizona housing boom and cashed out just in time to avoid the slump. Known in the car world for the $5 million winning bid for Carroll Shelby’s 1966 Super Snake AC Cobra 800hp 427 dual quad, dual supercharged. http://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2007/01/carroll-shelbys-personal-cobra-sells.html

Ron is the brains behinds the Pratte Development Company, Inc., which builds one of the nations largest wood framing and concrete foundation companies. To top it off, he has his business located in one of the fastest growing areas of the country.

Most of the other car aficionados know Ron Pratte from his last years purchase of Futurliner bus (he brought it for over 4 million dollars), and he bought the first Shelby GT500 last year for nearly $650,000.
http://www.techbanyan.com/3221/ron-pratte-car-collection/
http://theronprattecarcollection.blogspot.com/

When Pulte Homes Inc. last month announced it has entered a 50/50 joint venture with its largest trade contractor in Arizona and Nevada, eyebrows went up across the American housing industry. A high percentage of them belonged to GIANT production builders who compete head to head with the Bloomfield Hills, Mich.-based colossus.

Pulte and Phoenix-based carpentry trades mogul Ron Pratte are equal partners in the new company, Pratte Building Systems, formed to replace Pratte Development Co., one of the nation's largest wood framing and concrete foundation companies. Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed.
http://www.housingzone.com/topics/giants/giants/pbg04ba003.asp

Philanthropic: Ron Pratt appears to have spent nearly as much on charity as on cars. In a single auction on the Tony Stewart race car, Ron Pratt increased his own bid to $300K, inspired others to throw in additional funding of $80K, had previously donated $100K independent of the BJ auction and helped to achieve another $20K from an auction for a couple of $20 posters.
And then? Donated the car back to the Gwynn Foundation that sold it to raise money a second time by selling it again at Barrett Jackson auction Jan 18th 2009. And it sold for 165 thousand to go directly to buy electric wheelchairs for kids.

Do the math. That’s $500K, yes 1/2 million, raised for the foundation that supports those afflicted for Muscular Dystrophy.
http://blog.hemmings.com/index.php/2007/01/22/who-is-ron-pratte/
Buying the 2006 Jeff Gordon Monte Carlo for $500,000. The proceeds go to the National Marrow Donor Program.

In February 2009, the Arizona Classisc Thunderbird Club may be touring the collection..... So look to their website after that to see if any of their members post photos or talk about the collection: http://clubs.hemmings.com/clubsites/actc/events.html

http://ratevin.com/story.php?title=Ron_Pratte_Car_Collection

The Futurliner bus from Barrett Jackson http://www.darkroastedblend.com/2006/10/vintage-modern-concept-buses.html
Carroll's personal 427 AC Cobra dual supercharged, 800hp
1954 Pontiac Bonneville Special Motorama concept car.
Oldsmobile F-88 show car
the One-Millionth Thunderbird
1924 Ford 4-AT-E Airplane, that was shot in Pearl Harbor's attack in 1941
1945 P-51 Mustang "Ped Dog"
The Cosmonaut retrieval boat
Tony Stewart’s 2007 Home Depot Chevrolet Monte Carlo
Jeff Gordon's 2006 No. 24 Chevrolet Monte Carlo
The Beverly Hillbillies Woody
the first 2008 Shelby GT500 KR Glass Roof
Carroll’s personal 1969 GT500 convertible
The last Sting Ray
The first T-bird
off the assembly line
he started his private car collection at B-J 2003 by buying 52 cars (http://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/showflat.php/Cat/0/Number/184760/page/0/fpart/3/vc/1 )
http://clubs.hemmings.com/clubsites/nevt/PrattGallery.html
http://www.mustangsmustangs.com/p-51/survivors/pages/44-74469.shtml

20 comments:

  1. Anonymous9:01 PM

    Amen! This is man who is a one of a kind. A great car guy with a big heart too!!! wb hb 1 19 2009

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  2. In the day and age we live in Ron Pratte is truly a rare one. To give so freely as he does shows that he is a man deserving of what he has.

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  3. Anonymous5:56 PM

    I have had the privledge to see 1 of his warehouses full of 1/3 (from what I was told) of his collection and words cannot describe it. So much history. He doesnt just have cars and planes. Pedel cars, motorcycles, and gas pumps.

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  4. Anonymous8:13 AM

    The collection is all together now in a magnificent museum with a 50 car mezzanine over looking the main floor. 66,000 tiled sq ft in all. Ron hung all of the hundreds of vintage signs, clocks and pictures himself. Great guy. Not a lot of words but a lot of action. He took care of my dad during his cancer treatments for 5 years.

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  5. who gives a shit?! It's just money and just a fuckn car. He will die and you will die. Why u guys waste your time thinking about stupid shit. What does anyone. Get a life.

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    1. you are an idiot. it's just a fn car?.. Think about how the car has changed your life the next time you try to get from point a to b knucklehead!if its a waste of time why are you even on this site! You need to get a life after you finish eating your captain crunch cereal.. Grow up!

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    2. What a loser, Anthony.

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    3. Nobody gives a shit about Anthony. He's like something that stinks on the bottom of my shoe.

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  6. Anthony...Ron Pratt did get a life..and one hell of a good one. Now he has the kindness and generosity to help others. Do you help others ? Do yourself a favor, dress in all black and go stand in the center lane of the Interstate ! ! !

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  7. I love watching Ron bid at Barrett Jackson. Would love to be able to meet him some day. He is a true gentleman and a genuine caring guy.

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  8. Anthony is showing up the classic example of a freaking pea brain. If brains were gasoline he wouldn't have enough to prime a piss ant's motorcycle to ride around the inside of a cheerio.

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  9. I have never had an opportunity to meet Ron Pratte, but I will tell what, I have a great deal of respect for the man and for what he quietly does for Chandler and the community. Very much a Class act. Scott Taylor

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  10. I see he has a Tucker in his collection. What a beautiful car in that blue color.....maybe he can pick up the other blue beauty, the Tucker convertible. Wouldn't that be winning combination of the two side by side, since the 2 were together when Reinert had them.

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  11. A great big thank you to Mr. Pratte. His contributions to non profit organizations is legendary. His generosity does make a difference.

    My father Doug Roe spent his life committed to the auto industry and auto racing. He was known as Mr. Corvair for all of the success he had racing a turbocharged corvair. If he were here today I know he would appreciate Mr. Pratte's altruistic endeavors and his love for automobiles.

    Thanks again Mr. Pratte

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  12. Whoa. This is a very extravagant collection! I wonder how long Ron Pratte has been collecting all of these. The thing that impresses me the most is that all the cars in his collections are different and are extremely unique! I’d love to visit his car museum some time and be able to see for myself how luxurious and lavish his car collection is.

    Maria Wegner

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  13. Anonymous4:32 PM

    Hey Anthony, you are an asshole. Fact: Sooner or later all assholes run out of gas.

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  14. Anthony, lemme guess; you drink your own bathwater, right?

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  15. Well, all I can say to Anthony and his comments is to quote another Ron (Ron White), when he states, "You just can't fix Stupid!".

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  16. Hey Anthony! Let me ask u a question. Does Ron Pratte come to ur job at McDonalds & put u down? What have u ever done for society but take up precious air that could be used for real & caring men like Ron Pratte! Now go crawl back into Mommies basement & play ur video games! Cuz that's gonna be ur whole life u loser !

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  17. Anonymous3:51 AM

    Great car collection, especially the AC cobra. Ron Pratte is the man!

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