[music playing]
We're going to a guy named Rick's.
We've been to Rick's before.
You sent us there.
Remember the guy who had the bubble cars?
Yeah.
Well, now he's interested in selling one of them.
See this jacket? See this?
Oh, the Cars of Distinction.
Yeah, I bought this from him.
[car horn]
Ah, there he is.
There-- oh, he's cleaning-- he's polishing it.
He's self-caring the car.
He must want to sell it.
Rick.
What's up, man?
What's going on?
Hey, buddy. - Hey, Mike.
How are you doing?
You're getting it all polished up.
It's outside. Dang.
Yeah, looks a little different, huh?
Look at this, Dannie.
Yeah.
I love it, man.
Even though I was here before and I saw the car,
this is the first time that I'm actually seeing it.
There's nothing inside of it.
I can walk around it.
And it's blown my mind.
Oh, my gosh.
So last time we were here this was buried in the garage.
You got to look in here.
There's a little bit of everything.
God, can you imagine driving this?
This thing down the road, it's unreal.
- I can't even imagine. - Unreal.
So now you got it all cleaned out and everything.
You're polishing the--
I've tried to clean it up a little bit--
--polishing the top and everything.
--and tried to dust it off and make it look halfway decent.
Man, those seats are crazy.
Look at those seats.
Just pick up the top.
All right.
And you just grab the handle and open her up.
Let's see.
What do they call it, the Ultimus?
The Ultimus.
Everybody saw the beauty in these cars
when they first came out.
They dominated the car shows, and they were on the cover
of every car magazine.
But after they went away and were
considered kind of novelties, they were pushed aside.
Rick was one of the first guys that
saw that they were significant in the history
of transportation.
So for him to think about wanting to sell one now
is a huge deal.
It's like the evolution of a collector.
There's that hunting, gathering stage, and finding these cars,
coveting them.
But then after living with them for a while
and experiencing them, then I think a collector, like even
such as myself with some motorcycles,
I just feel like it's time.
When I was talking to him on the phone,
I could tell things were different.
Will this chair hold me?
Well, I hope so.
Look at this thing, man.
Whoa. - Man, that ain't even a chair.
It's like popping a wheelie.
It's a strip of fabric.
Here we go.
Oh, you're so close to the ground.
That's wild.
No way, man.
I like how they just took a stock steering wheel
and cut it down. - Yes.
So do you remember the first bubble car you ever saw?
Yeah.
It was Starbird's Predicta.
That was the first one I ever seen.
I bought that magazine.
It was on the cover of it.
And wow. - No kidding?
That was it for you?
Yep, yep.
There was something about discovering things
like this in a magazine, or at a car
show where you can physically see it
and maybe put your hands on it.
Just like when Rick saw his first bubble top car,
it was like a light switch went on.
It was etched in his brain.
It was part of him all of a sudden.
He never forgot that, and then later on in his adult life
started acquiring these cars because they
meant something to him.
I mean, it's so wild how this stuff
was being shown in the '50s and it was called futuristic.
But I don't-- do you really believe anybody at that time
thought that was the future?
Like, really, like--
Yeah, no.
--that it was going to ever go that way?
- No. - That's crazy.
Yeah, it's pretty wild.
When I bought these, I was going to restore these cars.
But I was building everybody else's cars,
and my stuff was always on the bottom of the list.
I enjoyed them when I had them, but I
think it's time now to let them go and see somebody
else have some fun with it.
I mean, I love it.
The last time we were here you didn't have a number at all.
This time you have put a number on it,
and I very much appreciate that.
I really do. - OK.
I mean, because I know what a big deal it is.
You've had this for a very long time.
Here's what I'm thinking on the car.
I think you know as well as I do that the car is
worthy of restoration.
Sure.
100%.
And in order for someone to restore this car,
they have to be into it for a number
that makes sense to do it.
I know you're asking 75 for it.
$65,000?
No, it takes 75 to buy it.
Work with me a little bit, just a little bit.
Work with me a little.
I'm pretty much firm on that, Mike, at 75.
Look, Rick don't need to sell the car.
The man knows what it's worth.
Cars are his business.
This is what he does day in, day out.
So I can't see us arguing on price too much.
I mean, any more, it's going to cost
me $2,000 just to move it.
Hauling isn't cheap anymore.
No, I know everything's up, fuel prices and everything.
Obviously, it needs to be in an enclosed trailer.
You got an enclosed trailer? - Yes.
Well, there, you see.
Now we're kind of talking the same language.
I got two of them.
$70,000.
- Take 75. - Really?
Take 75, Mike.
Have you priced it before?
- No, I haven't. - You haven't?
No.
This is the first time you've put through a number on it?
Yep.
This is a lot of money to throw down for this car.
But cars like this do not come up for sale very often.
If I don't buy this car, the guy behind me will.
Huh.
I hate to say goodbye to it.
Well, what do you think?
I mean, you're not going to find another one like it,
right?
I don't want to walk away from this and have Mike regret it,
or regret it myself.
I'll do the 75 if you can bring it to Tennessee.
Let's try to make that work.
I'll see what I can do for you.
So you're going to lean into it?
I'll see what I can--
Because that would help a lot.
I'll see what--
If I'm at 75 on it, and you can bring it, that'd be huge.
I'll see what I can do.
OK, then 75.
Hot dog, it's done.
All right, we're doing it.
Yeah, yeah.
We got there.
That's exciting.
Well, I'm happy it's going to go to a good home.
It could have went to the scrapyard many years ago,
but I saved it.
I'm happy with that choice.
OK.
I just want to get it to somebody
that's going to restore it.
We'll figure that out together, maybe, you know.
There were tons of ideas that were generated on paper
but never got made.
But for some reason this idea resonated with people.
This car of the future has been given a future
because of what Rick saw in it.
To be able to buy a car like this, this historically
significant, this unique, this different, this custom,
is amazing.