Chris: 3.5 million square feet. Mike: No way.
Chris: Yes, it's a very big place.
Mike: Wow.
This is a beautiful property.
So this is where he lived.
Have you found any like, big stashes of money or anything?
Jersey jon: Nice paint, man. Robbie: Hooh, this shelby.
Yeah, I mean, that's got such a great look to it.
Ron: Yeah, it's a good bike.
Jersey jon: Ron's an old buffalo biker, man.
You don't get into these collections every day.
Robbie: This is- jersey jon: You got it, robbie?
Robbie: I got it. (chuckles)
Jersey jon: Alright! Whoa... That's cool.
Robbie: As a balloon tire guy, you dream about finding these bike.
Hah!
(train horn sounds)
Danielle: Hey mike, did you make it to the great state of michigan yet?
Mike: I'm in detroit, man. Danielle: Okay good.
You need to be in detroit 'cause I have something epic.
Epic for you! Mike: Okay, what you got?
Danielle: So you know the packard plant, right?
Mike: Absolutely, everybody knows the packard plant.
Danielle: Okay, so have you ever been inside of the packard plant?
Mike: No.
Danielle: Good sir, would you like
To go into the packard plant?
Mike: Of course I would! Are you kidding me?
Danielle: So this guy named chris calls me up.
He's the property manager
And he runs security for the whole place.
Mike: For that huge property?
Danielle: Yes, for all of it.
Now I'm not saying you're going to go in there
And find honey holes and all that kind of stuff.
I am just saying that this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity
For you to be able to go walk into the plant
And just experience it.
Mike: Oh my gosh, yeah! That's like sacred ground over there.
I'd go over there even if there wasn't anything to pick.
Danielle: I know.
Mike: Just the opportunity to walk through the space.
You know I've been working on that 1930s packard dealership
In columbia, tennessee.
I mean, I'm just excited to go over there.
Danielle: The only downside to this,
Is I don't get to be there with you.
Mike: (chuckles) I'll take lots of pics.
Danielle: Alright, have fun, enjoy it.
Jersey jon: So I just got a text from danielle.
Robbie: Yeah? Jersey jon: We're going to ron's.
He's one of the first vintage bicycle collectors in buffalo.
He's got guitars, motorcycle parts.
Robbie: Wow.
Jersey jon: Looks like a great pick, man.
Should be right up here on the right. Robbie: Alright.
Jersey jon: Pull over in front, look it, we got a parking space.
Beautiful. Robbie: Isn't that awesome?
Jersey jon: Let me grab a flyer-roni.
Jersey jon: Hello, hello, hello. (knocks on door)
Robbie: You ron? Jersey jon: Hey.
Ron: Yeah. How's it going? Robbie: How're you doing?
Jersey jon: I'm jon. Robbie: Good to see ya.
Ron: Nice seeing you guys. Robbie: Rob.
Ron: My name's ron egdello.
I collect balloon tire bikes,
I collect guitars, mid-century modern furniture.
Just the old stuff just had so much character,
And the new stuff doesn't.
Yeah, I got... Coke machines.
Jersey jon: Bicycles? Ron: Yeah, yeah.
Jersey jon: Some motorcycle stuff?
Ron: Yeah. Jersey jon: In here?
Ron: Alright, we'll show you some stuff for today.
Robbie: Wow! Jersey jon: Wow.
Robbie: Man. Jersey jon: Nice paint, man.
Robbie: That thing is awesome. Jersey jon: That's a nice job.
Ron: It was built like 30 years ago.
Robbie: Wow. Jersey jon: Gorgeous paint job.
Robbie: Look at the moldings on that.
Jersey jon: Yeah, no cracks, man.
Robbie: Look at the front end of that.
Jersey jon: Yep. It's beautiful. Nice job.
Ron: My car, I've had for 22 years.
I've always wanted a '50s custom.
It's been a great car.
I mean, you could drive it anywhere, it's...
Super dependable.
Robbie: Is all this in here for sale, ron?
What's this, the catch-all? Ron: Uh yeah, yeah.
I kind of wish I didn't have to sell any of it.
But you know, I'm getting a little older,
And I don't want to burden my family with a lot of work.
Jersey jon: I like that cigarette machine, robbie.
Robbie: Yeah, 1930s art deco. That's awesome.
Jersey jon: It's got a great look.
Robbie: What did you do for a living?
Ron: Well I had, I worked at chevy.
And then I opened up my motorcycle shop.
I opened up my motorcycle shop 1977.
I had the motorcycle shop for eight years,
Choppers west.
Jersey jon: Like a chopper shop? Ron: Yeah.
Jersey jon: Cool. After-market parts and stuff you were selling?
Ron: Yeah. I used to do a lot of swap meets in ohio, pa.
Robbie: Like the j&p stuff? Ron: Back in the '70s and '80s.
You never know what you're going to run into in a swap meet.
It's kind of an adrenaline flow
When you find something that's really good.
Robbie: So yeah, that's art deco.
I mean, that's '30s.
Jersey jon: Yeah, got a great look.
Ron: And I think I had a round mirror here.
Jersey jon: Look at that, right. Robbie: Oh, like a blue mirror.
If you can imagine this thing in its glory day,
It had a blue type mirror in the middle of it.
This has channeling on the sides, it's classic art deco,
It's got really cool knobs on the bottom.
A lot of guys will use these things for candy machines.
Jersey jon: Matches. Robbie: It's functional.
Robbie: It's a display piece, basically.
You know, to me, the thing tells a story.
It's the 1930s, everybody was smoking in america.
It's missing the key.
What are you thinking on it, ron?
Ron: How about 450?
Robbie: I'm doing it. Ron: Okay. Alrighty. 450.
Jersey jon: Thanks, man. Robbie: Appreciate it.
Jersey jon: We got a nice pile of stuff in here.
Robbie: So ron, I got to ask, right here.
This shelby with the train light on it.
Ron: Yeah.
Robbie: Yeah, I mean, that's got such a great look to it.
Ron: Yeah, it's a good bike.
Robbie: Shelby was one of those companies that made beautiful bikes.
This thing's got a train headlight on the front of it.
Robbie: Got it? Jersey jon: Yep.
Robbie: Alright, hold on. Jersey jon: I gotcha.
Robbie: Hold on, dude.
There you go.
Jersey jon: The front of the tank is dented in pretty bad, robbie.
Robbie: I know. They always did, 'cause look at the fork.
Ron: Yeah, because of the fork.
Robbie: Yeah. And the fork would hit.
Jersey jon: Love the paint on the rims, ron. That is cool.
Robbie: The cool thing is on that, ron, is that tank.
Look at the size of that, it was huge.
This shelby bike, it was one of the classics.
Chrome tank, a little aerodynamic,
Comes back to a tear.
Train headlight on the front.
All chromed out, springer front end.
I mean, it's just classic.
And it looks all original.
If you were the kid riding this back in the '50s,
Wow, you were the man.
Ron: It's a pretty desirable bike, you know.
Robbie: It is. It's a shelby.
Jersey jon: The paint on it is pretty nice, robbie.
Robbie: (sighs) you know, if we put this back together,
Ron, we got to get a set of tires for it,
Get a chain guard on it. Jersey jon: Clean it.
Robbie: I think it's probably 850
Would be a high retail number, once you get everything on it.
Ron: Oh yeah. Uh-huh. What are you thinking?
Robbie: 500.
Ron: Uh...
I'd go six. That's about the best I can do on it.
Robbie: 600. Jersey jon: Yeah.
That's cool, that's cool. Robbie: Do it.
Alright, appreciate it, man, that's cool.
Jersey jon: Thanks, buddy. Yeah, it's a good find, robbie.
Ron: Yeah, that spring fork works great on it.
Robbie: The plus to this bike is,
You have to do nothing to it. I wouldn't even clean it.
Just ride it as-is.
Mike: Hey-hey, man!
Chris: How're you doing? Mike: How're you doing?
Chris: Oh pretty good. Mike: You talked to dani on the phone?
Chris: Yes sir.
Mike: Dude, this is crazy.
How long have you been associated with this property?
Chris: Eight years, going on nine.
My name is christopher burns. I'm from detroit, michigan.
I'm the property manager here at the packard plant.
Mike: This is cool. So you probably get people bugging you all day long, don't ya?
People trying to come in here?
Chris: Constantly. I'm from this neighborhood.
When I was a kid, I saw this place in business,
Not as the packard plant,
But as the a&p grocery store,
Where we would come into as a kid, my auntie
Would bring me here, and other businesses occupying the space.
Mike: Wow. So how many square feet's here?
Chris: 3.5 million square feet. Mike: No way.
Chris: Yes. It's a very big place.
Mike: I've never even bothered coming over here.
But then when dani called and she said,
You know a dude over here that
Might have some stuff for sale? Chris: Um-hm.
Mike: Cool. So how long has it been like this?
I mean, all the windows and everything out of it.
Chris: In this state, I would say, since the late '90s.
That's when the scrappers started coming in.
The last business to leave from here was 2010.
Mike: Packard was around from the turn-of-the-century
All the way to 1958.
Every packard that I've ever seen came from detroit.
Most of them from this factory.
They were sexy, they were sophisticated,
They were luxurious, they were prestigious.
This is detroit, this is motor city,
And this, to me,
Was the epicenter of what was happening here,
Because it was one of the biggest plants
Or the biggest plant in detroit.
Chris: Now this is the administration building.
Mike: Okay, so this was all like, white collar offices,
Everything for the plant.
Chris: And this is building number 13.
Mike: What was this property?
Chris: This was the place where they built the merlin engine.
Mike: Oh, from world war ii. Chris: Yes sir.
Chris: They collaborated with rolls-royce
And these powered the p-51 mustang airplanes.
Mike: Unbelievable.
Mike: This was all connected at one time.
Chris: Yes sir, it was. Mike: No kidding.
So how many people did they employ here?
I mean, I've heard over the years tens of thousands.
Chris: At its height, they employed 40,000 people.
Mike: Wow. This opened in, what, early 1900s.
Chris: Yes sir, in 1903.
Albert kahn and his brother, julius kahn,
They used a cement-rebar process
Which allowed them to have more open spaces
And to build further up.
They built it so strong,
That each floor is made to sustain cars
And part of the assembly line as well.
Mike: At the time, packard was a state-of-the-art car.
And so was this factory.
The way it was built and manufactured,
It stood the test of time.
Chris: This over here, I've been protecting.
Mike: This?
Chris: This sculpture right here.
Now mr. Palazuelo, he commissioned
A french artist to make a representation
To embody the packard spirit.
And this is what he came up with.
Mike: So... What was he going to do then?
Just stick this out front and kind of show like, hey...
Chris: Once the place was done, he was going to make a...
A base or a dais, and this would be outside.
Mike: Wow.
Chris: And I've been protecting it.
Surprisingly enough, it's in great shape.
With only a little bit of tagging on it.
Mike: I'm not a bougie art guy,
But this thing definitely speaks to me.
It's airflow, it's streamlined, you know, on top of that,
It's in the shape of a car.
Mike: Down this way... Chris: Um-hm.
Mike: I mean, this just looks like,
I mean, an abandoned city, you know.
Chris: Yeah. Yeah, it is.
Mike: There's a lot of opinions,
And a lot of hard facts
In regards to the demise of packard.
After world war ii,
Packard's biggest competitor was cadillac.
And their styling and engineering
Was second-to-none.
It was hard for a smaller company like packard to keep up.
Instead of focusing on being a luxury car brand,
Packard was trying to be everything to everyone.
When packard moved manufacturing
To a more modern, single-storey plant in 1955,
It hit the company particularly hard
Because the quality of the builds started to suffer.
So is a lot of this stuff coming down now?
Chris: The city has now the right to demo the buildings.
Mike: Everything has been stripped from the property
Over all of these years.
What's left is the skeleton.
And that's why a large portion of it is going to be tore down.
Anybody that's into american transportation history, you know?
I mean, especially packard people,
They would love to have one of these doors.
Chris: Actually, up until now,
We had it covered up with wood
So no one would know that it was still there.
Mike: As much as I would love to have a door
From the packard plant, I would never touch this.
Look at the tile in here!
Look at that color, man.
No one's even thought about
Pulling the tile from the floor yet,
Maybe because they didn't see it
Through all the rock, dirt, bricks, and debris
Laying on top of it.
Just to see this floor is exciting.
Chris: And the front entrance is made out of limestone and granite.
Mike: They took the front entrance.
Chris: Took the front entrance.
Mike: How long has this been gone? Did you ever see it?
Chris: This left in, I would say, '99.
Mike: Okay. Chris: '99.
Mike: Were you affiliated with the property then?
Chris: No, no, but I lived in the neighborhood.
Mike: Oh so you actually, oh no, so you saw this,
You saw all this happening. Wow.
Chris: I saw it deteriorate, and I was just saddened by it...
Mike: Oh my god.
Chris: ...How things were going, you know.
Mike: Yeah, absolutely.
Nothing can prepare you
To the scale of this property.
Packard, the titan of the industry that it was,
Still crumbled.
This is the american ruins of what's left of it.
To me, this is like walking around the smithsonian
That's been abandoned and deconstructed.
That's how cool this place is.
Jersey jon: What about these lights, ron?
Fender lights. Ron: Oh yeah.
Robbie: Yeah, those are accessory lights.
Jersey jon: Yeah, accessory lights.
They're like little torpedo-shaped lights,
Got a little plastic lens on the front.
You put a battery in there, and you have a light,
So people can see you on the road.
One, two, three, four. New-old stock. 40 bucks.
Ron: Alright, 40 bucks. Jersey jon: Thank you, ron.
The vintage bicycle market,
It's hot, it ain't going anywhere.
Prices of vintage bicycles are always elevating.
Robbie, look at these things. Ama decals.
American motorcycle association.
Ron: I bought those from a hobby shop
That closed in like 1965.
This guy, I don't know if he bought the building,
But he wanted to clear it out.
And I bought everything that was in there.
Yeah, I got some pretty good stuff, yeah.
How about 20 bucks?
Jersey jon: Exactly what I was thinking, man.
Robbie: Ron I... I found a box of fishing lures.
The marathon spinners.
They don't make them like they used to.
Ron: Yeah. Robbie: 10 bucks.
Ron: How about 15? Robbie: I'll do it.
Ron: Okay. Robbie: I'll do it.
Jersey jon: Johnny burnette trio, huh.
Rockabilly? Ron: Oh yeah, yeah.
Jersey jon: Yeah, that's cool. That's what you play?
Robbie: So how long have you been playing rockabilly music?
Ron: About 30 years. I play lead guitar.
I've been playing guitar for over 50 years.
I had two different rockabilly bands
In the last 20 years or so.
Robbie: Look at that, jersey. Jersey jon: That's cool, robbie.
Robbie: Yeah, friggin' whirligig, that's an early one.
I've seen a lot of these folk art pieces.
This one's unique because the guy's chopping down a tree.
I've seen the ones where they're sawing a tree.
This piece on here is made of metal, here.
This is probably masonite,
This is regular wood, masonite in here.
What are you thinking, ron?
Ron: Unh... How about 60 bucks?
Robbie: I'll do 60 bucks. Jersey jon: Good man, thank you.
Chris: I've been protecting the place 24 hours, seven days a week.
Mike: No kidding.
Chris's passion for the plant
Came from his love for the neighborhood.
He was a young kid that grew up in the shadow of this plant,
And he has taken it upon himself
To become the local historian.
Mike: So look at that doorway right there,
There had to have been a crosswalk there, see what I mean?
Chris: Well, every door that you see, there were crosswalks.
Mike: Okay. Like that one there.
Chris: Actually that's still standing.
We could still go across it,
But I don't- I don't suggest to do it, yeah.
Mike: Yeah it's sketchy? Yeah man, no I'm good.
Chris: Right where we're standing...
In the administration building,
This is where the money, the money...
Mike: This is where the money was counted?
Chris: This is where the big vaults,
You could walk into the vaults
And this is where the money was counted and put in.
Mike: When you were doing the demo, were the vaults here?
Chris: Yes, there was. Mike: No way.
Chris: Yeah, big vaults.
There were two, three feet walls were that thick.
Mike: Okay, see all those bricks right there?
All of those have value.
There was a factory where we're from in moline, illinois,
Called the buddy-l factory.
They made pressed steel toys, large steel toys.
Mike: And they were actually selling bricks from the factory,
They were selling them like crazy.
Because people wanted a piece of that history.
If you're a buddy-l collector, and you want a piece of the factory,
You want a piece of the company history,
You could buy a brick, you know.
Chris: Well, I could tell you one thing, there's a lot of bricks here. (laughs)
Mike: A lot of money floating around.
Chris: Yeah. Dollar a brick, we could do it.
Mike: So what's going on here?
Chris: Well, I wanted to introduce you
To this gentleman right here.
Mike: Hey. Chris: This is greg.
Mike: How's it going, man? Greg: What's going on?
Mike: Nice to meet you. Looks like you got your hands full.
Greg: Name is greg, I'm from detroit.
I'm in real estate development.
I've been doing that for the past 10-plus years.
This was just basically storage
For a couple of companies
That were involved with the previous owners.
So this entire building used to be the machine shop
And a part was the foundry for the original packard plant.
So a ton of history in here.
Mike: Oh absolutely.
Do you guys have any idea when this part of it was built?
Was this early on?
Greg: About 1917, 1919.
It's really the industrial history
Of the packard area that resonates with me.
I think there's a certain beauty to these old buildings
That were built in a time when america
Was solving the world's problems.
To me, it harkens back to a time
Where there was a ton of innovation,
And all of that was right here at home.
Mike: So what's going on with all this?
Where did this all come from?
Greg: Just a bunch of stuff that's been left here over the years.
We're kind of sorting it through and cleaning it out.
We're making space to give it new life.
Mike: The whole building was full of this kind of stuff?
Greg: Oh yeah. 50- 50,000 square feet of... Of junk.
Chris: Well listen, I have to get going,
There's some things I have to do.
Mike: Alright man, thank you buddy. I appreciate ya.
He's a good tour guide, he knows a lot about the property.
Greg: No doubt. He's been here a while.
Mike: Hey absolutely, man, thank you!
Chris: Nice meeting you. Mike: Alright.
What a great roof. Look at that, that's all glass?
Greg: Yeah, those are the original glass panels,
Glass on concrete slabs
That they used to allow the factory workers natural light.
Mike: Wow, that's unbelievable.
And then this is track to move
Heavy pieces of equipment and stuff?
Greg: Yep, yep. There's a track, you can see part of the crane right there.
Mike: Oh yeah, okay. So this is what operated it this way.
Greg: I think it's important to recognize
That in this building,
There was a lot of innovation that took place
Over the past 80 to 120 years.
Torsion bar suspension was invented in this place.
The torsion bar, which allowed packards to ride smoother
Than even rolls-royces,
Was invented right here in this building.
That's why we want to preserve the building
And give it a new lease on life.
Mike: This is so cool.
So the whole floor in here, all the square footage
Is pieces of wood, block of wood.
Greg: Yeah, my understanding is it served the purpose
Of both soaking up any,
Anything that was spilled, oil, as well as made it easier
For the workers to stand on their feet all day.
Softer than a concrete floor.
Mike: I mean, it's actually, to be honest with you,
It's in really good shape.
Greg: Oh it's amazingly well-preserved.
Mike: Imagine the generations of guys that stood on it.
You know, when you got a job at the packard plant,
That was something to brag about,
That was something to be proud of.
You worked for packard
And you were going to be there
Until the day you retired.
There was no reason to go anywhere else.
Jersey jon: Ron's a great guy. He's a really cool old biker guy
From buffalo, man, he's been into this for a long time.
He had a shop,
I've probably seen this guy at swap meets before.
I mean, he kind of looks familiar.
Robbie: What is this, ron? Ron: It's a microscope.
Robbie: Oh it's a new-old stock microscope in the box.
Ron: The microscopes came from the hobby shop I bought out.
Robbie: It was made by... Kaybee. Oh here's another one.
Jersey jon: Here.
Robbie: These are brand new new-old stock, 1960s microscope.
Jersey jon: You're gonna have the whole microscope market cornered.
Robbie: There's three. This one's open. Dude, look at that!
Jersey jon: That's pretty nice. Robbie: Man.
What are you thinking, ron?
So you got two of these bigger ones.
Jersey jon: Two of the senior size.
Robbie: And then you got this smaller.
Jersey jon: Three of the juniors. Ron: How about 100 bucks?
Robbie: I'm doing it. 100 bucks. That's a good deal.
Jersey jon: There's got to be some more stuff,
This is pretty good, robbie. There's some neat stuff in here.
There we go, whoa, aero flyer.
Robbie: Aero flyer. Jersey jon: Yeah, that's cool.
The paint on this thing is... Killer. Aero flyer.
Wagons are fantastic, especially old wooden wagons like this.
I mean, they look cool, it's got advertising on it.
The paint on the tires is nice.
Jersey jon: It rolls.
I mean, you could use this thing at a swap meet.
It's classy as hell, man. Really cool. Not rotted out.
What are you thinking?
Ron: Uhh... How about 100 bucks?
Jersey jon: Ron, that's way too light, dude.
Ron: Is it really? Jersey jon: Yeah. I mean.
I could sell this thing, probably for maybe $300, 350.
Jersey jon: So I feel comfortable at 200 bucks, dude. Ron: Sounds good to me.
Jersey jon: I want to take care of you, bro. Alright?
Ron: Alrighty. Great. Jersey jon: Thank you, sir.
That's great. So ron, I mean, this is cool,
You have this stuff, you have more than bicycles here.
Ron: Yeah. I like old stuff,
And almost anything with wheels on it. (laughs)
Jersey jon: Yeah, right, right?
Anything with wheels on it, it's just cool. Makes us go.
You're well-rounded in your collection,
You've got a lot of different things.
So what was the plan? Were you just buying for...?
Ron: This is my retirement. (laughs)
Jersey jon: This is your retirement? So you're buying collectibles
And antiques to resell... Ron: Yeah.
Jersey jon: Okay. Now.
Ron: Um... I've kind of
Slacked off a bit since I, my health isn't the greatest.
I just had two back surgeries. Jersey jon: Um-hm.
Ron: And... I'm not getting around as good as I used to.
Jersey jon: Yep. I understand.
Ron: Well I'm getting older, and it's either...
Sell it or die with it. (laughs)
Jersey jon: Oh yeah-ha-ha...
You got new old-stock harley parts in here. You're selling this stuff?
Ron: No. (laughs) jersey jon: No?
Ron: No. No, I got to keep that for my '42. (laughs)
Jersey jon: I understand, you got this project going on.
Ron: Yeah. Jersey jon: Where's the project?
Ron: It's in the shop there.
Jersey jon: Well show me that thing, dude, I want to see it.
Ron: Okay, alrighty.
Mike: Wow. So you got your hands full man here,
Have you gone through this stuff?
Greg: Most of that's been really untouched,
So if you want to be the first, be my guest.
Greg: The only plans that we have
For the remainder of the items left
Are to pretty much clear it out.
We're going to donate what we can to some good causes,
And mostly just do what we can
To get the building clear, so we can start building.
Mike: How long have you had this property?
Greg: Since 2015. So it's been coming up on seven years.
Mike: So you're just really starting to dig into it now?
Or you've been cleaning it the whole time?
Greg: No, the building was actually occupied.
There was a guy who lived here for a while.
And believe it or not,
With no heat and water, this was his home.
Mike: No kidding. Greg: Uh yeah.
So not much could be done while that was going on.
Mike: Wow, how long was he in here? Greg: 12 years.
Mike: So was he kind of the caretaker of the property?
Greg: Yeah. He started out that way. Um-hm.
Him and his pit bull, chainsaw.
Mike: He sounds like an interesting dude.
Most people would walk through a place like this
And look at it like it was a bunch of junk.
But it was all about the hustle.
Think about the amount of energy it would take
To fill a building with all of these items.
If you're buying truckloads, van loads,
And you're selling stuff for a nickel, a dime, two bucks,
Whatever it is,
You're on top of the game.
Like over here it's more, like household stuff,
Like garage sale stuff, maybe.
I never met the guy,
But he was living the american dream.
He got a lot of inventory,
He had low overhead, he was self-employed.
Ron: I got some more stuff in here...
Robbie: Alright. Ron: ...You can take a look.
Jersey jon: Alright. Oh yeah. Robbie: Oh look at that.
Most collectors that you meet,
They're a collector of certain things.
Ron was a bicycle guy,
He got into the art deco a little bit,
You see some neon in here, he's a motorcycle guy.
He didn't pigeonhole himself into one field.
Ron: Yeah, this is a project I'm working on.
Jersey jon: That's cool. Robbie: '42 flathead 80.
Ron: Yeah. 74. Robbie: 74.
Jersey jon: Are these your cases? Ron: Yeah.
Jersey jon: Oh you got the machine work done on them already.
All the blushings are in there?
Ron: Yeah. Robbie: So ron, did you do all your own work?
Ron: I didn't do the machining,
But I'll do the assembly. Jersey jon: Sure. Yep.
Not for sale? For sale? Ron: No, no.
Jersey jon: Definitely not for sale, huh.
Man, that's nice, ron. Ron: My last harley I got left.
Jersey jon: Okay. Ron: Yeah.
Jersey jon: Look at this thing. I recognize this.
Jersey jon: Cheese graters, man. Ron: Um-hm.
Jersey jon: This is like, the accessory...
Ron: Yeah. Yeah, it's cool, huh. Robbie: Are those glass?
Jersey jon: Uh no, no. They're plastic.
Motorcycle collectors are always looking for accessories.
These are the things that would be on the front
And back of your motorcycle.
Yeah, look at that thing, like bat wings.
Robbie: That is cool. That's actually got the look.
Jersey jon: I'll give you 100 bucks for this, dude.
Ron: Oh yeah? Jersey jon: Yeah.
Ron: Okay. Jersey jon: No problem.
It's a great accessory for your vintage harley.
I see you got another one behind you here,
Let me grab this one.
There you go, buddy, thank you.
I mean, this is cool. It's the same kind of thing.
It's an accessory, cheese grater. This is actually a...
Ron: It's a back. Jersey jon: It's the back one.
Jersey jon: So it goes like that.
Jersey jon: That's your bumper. It personalizes your bike.
Ron: Sure. Jersey jon: Old chrome.
Jersey jon: There's a front cheese grater,
Which had the bat wing design on the front.
That's for your front fender.
The other cheese grater, it had the bumper on it,
So that went on the back of the bike, it hung down below your fender.
So it's actually like a bumper.
And the cheese grater, it's just a cool accessory.
It enhances the look of your motorcycle.
100-and-a-quarter.
Come on, I treated you good on that one.
Ron: Yeah. Um... Okay. Jersey jon: Alright?
Ron: Yeah. Jersey jon: Thanks, buddy.
Robbie: Here it is. Jersey jon: Let me get this...
Robbie: This is... Jersey jon: You got it, robbie?
Robbie: I got it. This... Is... Look at this.
Aha!
Jersey jon: (laughs)
Jersey jon: Is that neon? Ron: Yeah.
Robbie: Yeah, neon around the inside.
'balloon tire bicycles and toys wanted.'
Ron: When I was set up at the flea market,
I had this in my stand.
Jersey jon: Brilliant. That'll get them in.
Ron: That sign made me a lot of money.
Robbie: Hey, the guy with the neon sign. He's always there.
Was this a two color neon, do you remember, or one?
Ron: I think it might have been two, rob.
Robbie: Yeah? Ron: Red and blue, I think.
Jersey jon: That's bad-to-the-bone. That's really cool.
Robbie: There's no cord on it. The cord is gone.
Ron: It's not broken, but I think maybe the transformer...
Robbie: Transformer's bad.
Jersey jon: Yeah, they always get blown out.
Robbie: The cool thing about this balloon tire neon is,
It's art deco, it looks like it's from the '30s.
And it's probably a two color neon.
None of the glass is broke.
Robbie: I got to ask. Ron: Oh yeah.
Two and a half?
Robbie: I love it so much, I'll give you 500 bucks.
Ron: Yeah? Robbie: Yeah.
Dude, shake his hand, jersey. Jersey jon: Yeah, dude.
Thank you, man. Robbie: That is so cool.
Jersey jon: That's great. Good for you, dude.
Robbie: So now I just got to do this...
Jersey jon: Yeah. Ron: Oh...
Jersey jon: The aztec... Great. Robbie: Who was john l...
Ron: I don't know. Robbie: ...Warin?
You don't know where that came from?
Ron: I bought it at an antique show.
Robbie: Aztec clocks are found, I find them all the time,
'cause of the advertising thing.
It's the marquee that makes it.
And these are made of wood. Jersey jon: Is that wood?
Robbie: This is wood. Yeah. So the guys would cut
And put their own name and all kinds of different stuff on it.
Jersey jon: Got a great look, dude.
Robbie: It's got the look, it's got the marquee.
And usually the marquees are always missing.
These you usually don't find intact in one piece.
This one, I think, replace the transformer,
Put a new cord on it, go to town.
Hopefully the clock mechanism's working.
That's probably 100 bucks if it isn't.
Jersey jon: Yeah, I've replaced them before.
Robbie: The neon on the outside, there's actually two tubes in here,
There's one here, one here.
You know, so you might have to put 300 in it.
Would you, let me ask you this, would you sell it for 1,200?
Ron: Yeah, I guess so.
Robbie: Alright, shake his hand, jersey, I'm doing it.
Jersey jon: Yeah, no problem, dude. That's great.
Robbie: Ron, you got some great stuff here.
Ron: Well thanks.
Robbie: Great accessories, everything up here.
I mean, were you a neon vendor?
I mean, what was the deal with the neon?
Ron: I just been collecting it here and there.
Robbie: You know, this is called stick neon.
'cause basically, this frame does not light up.
They make the letters,
They wire it to this basically, on the outside.
So this would have been the transformer pieces
On the top that would connect to that.
That made the thing actually light up.
Is this stuff for sale? Ron: Yeah. Um-hm.
Robbie: I mean, I'd love to buy all of it.
Ron: That's not broken.
Robbie: Yeah, 'sweetland ice cream and candies.'
Awesome piece. Ron: Yes. Uh-huh.
Robbie: Again. Ron: Oh yeah.
Robbie: So there's an 'ice cream bar.'
It says right there, that's a different one.
There's three here.
This being the fourth.
The merry christmas being the fifth.
In the earlier days of neon,
They didn't make a lot of cans.
So they had to make what they call, a stick neon.
So the glass bender would actually build
A glass frame around the outside,
And then he would lay his neon sign over the top of that,
Attaching it to that glass frame.
So these actually have the original hooks
That hung it from the window.
There's a 'broadway barber shop' here in the back.
Ron: There was a barber shop
And beauty shop, they were in the same building.
Robbie: Do you know ron if any, so did you see these lit up?
Were they multiple colors?
Ron: I don't remember, to tell you the truth.
Robbie: These are probably two color neons.
And get a transformer, hang them up. Wow!
They're just an art deco type piece
That you want to friggin' have in your front window.
There's seven of them here,
There's seven stick neons I'm talking about here,
That pile and this pile here.
Um... $1,400.
Ron: Uh...
Robbie: And I'm taking a chance on them.
Ron: Yeah, I guess I'd take that.
Robbie: 1,400? Ron: Yeah.
Robbie: Alright. Shake his hand. Jersey jon: Thanks, man. Thanks.
Robbie: These are easy to sell. Just need to get them working.
Mike: Oh wow! This is beautiful!
Tons of square footage,
Iron trusses,
All that natural light coming from the ceiling
With those glass panels.
I mean, this is a developer's dream.
This is a beautiful property.
Look at this car, this is nuts.
So this, this was buried in here too.
Greg: Yeah. 1956 bel air.
Mike: Oh, it's got a little straight six in it too.
This looks like an art installation.
Like some hollywood movie set with the light coming through
On the blue car with the green door.
What are you guys going to do with this space?
Greg: So this part of the building,
We're looking at adaptively reusing kind of, something
Similar to what's been done with chelsea market in new york.
Or reading terminal market in philadelphia.
Faneuil hall in boston.
To have this building preserved,
I think is important to the people of detroit.
And both locals and tourists alike.
Mike: What about in here? Is there anything in here?
So this is where he lived.
Have you found anything like,
Big stashes of money or anything?
Greg: Uh... I have not looked through this room.
Mike: So the accumulation just didn't happen out there,
It was in here too, I see.
He's got- oh he's got a laptop.
Oh he's got a computer...
Two or three.
So he had power in here, huh?
Greg: Yeah, apparently he was tapping into the pole outside.
Yeah we found that out...
When we were trying to get the electric set up after he left.
Mike: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Phew.
I don't know, man. It's like...
I'm not seeing anything that...
Jumps out at me, you know what I mean.
Greg: Yep, I hear ya.
Mike: I doubt that he lived in this space
With it looking like this.
So after he passed,
I'm thinking this place got shaken down.
You know, so for me to dig deep inside of it,
Those two things, I assume, have already happened.
Ugh...
So you cleaned all of this off already.
Greg: No, this was like this.
Mike: (exhales) dang.
This building is intact
Because alan was living in here.
There was a heartbeat in this building,
There was a light on.
They knew that he was in here with his dog.
Oh look at that. That still moves.
Greg: Still operational. Mike: Wow, that's cool, man.
If there was nobody in here,
A lot of this building would have gotten scrapped.
All the windows, all the doors,
The crane, you know, hoist,
All that stuff would have been gone.
God... What a great building, man.
When do you think you'll start digging into this thing.
Greg: It's probably going to be game on later this year.
For me it's sort of a personal passion project
To be a part of taking
A once amazing brand and resuscitating it.
Mike: Is there anything in here?
Greg: Uh, there's an interesting sign
That you might want to take a look at.
Mike: Ahh...
Ron: I got all my best bikes upstairs.
Jersey jon: Yeah? Ron: So they don't get rusty.
Jersey jon: (chuckles) yeah. I like that.
Ron: Yeah, I had my tenant move out,
I never rented it again.
I brought all my bikes and stuff up here.
I've had them up there for, I don't know, 15 years.
Jersey jon: So this is storage now.
Ron: Yeah. Robbie: Dang. That's kind of cool.
Jersey jon: Ron's an old buffalo biker, man.
You don't get into these collections every day.
Robbie: Ooh, I like that. Jersey jon: Yeah. Yeah you do.
Robbie: That's a spaceliner. Ron: Yeah.
Robbie: That's '60s, man, look at that thing.
Best middle-weight bike they ever made, ron.
Ron: I think so. Yeah.
Jersey jon: Wow, you got some bikes in here, oohh.
Robbie: Oh yeah, look at that. Jersey jon: Man.
Ron: They're all original paint. Robbie: Wow, phew.
Ron: And that one's only been rid-
Robbie: God, this one does not even look like it's ever been on the road!
Ron: Yeah. It was ridden a couple of times.
Jersey jon: You found these all in buffalo?
Ron: Yeah. The green schwinn, I think it's called a streamliner.
I think that's a 1953.
Well, I bought that bike at schwinn dealership.
It was down in their basement for a long time.
I've had it for, probably 35 years.
Robbie: What the heck!
Jersey jon: Hey, it's cool. Robbie: You gotta be kidding me!
Jersey jon: I see what you see. Wow.
Robbie: Ha, look at this! Hah!
Jersey jon: Whoa... Robbie: Wow!
Jersey jon: That's cool. Robbie: This is an elgin robin.
Jersey jon: I know, it's amazing.
Robbie: Hooh... Yeah look at the tank, it's a zeppelin.
It had a zeppelin tank on it.
It's got original paint on it. The original seat.
Robbie: That opens up, it's supposed to.
There, look at that. Jersey jon: Yeah, there it is.
Jersey jon: That's cool, it's got the original wiring.
Robbie: So it has a separate switch for the light.
It's got a friggin' horn button.
An elgin! This, you know, these were sold by sears.
Ron: Yeah right, yeah. Robbie: Where'd this come from?
Ron: I bought it from another antique dealer,
15, 20 years ago. Robbie: Wow.
This is one of those bikes that's so hot, so desirable.
Ron: Oh yeah, I know, yeah. Robbie: It has the look.
So this is pre-war.
Ron: Oh yeah, it's 1930s.
Robbie: Yeah, '36, '37, '38, I think they made these bikes.
Ron: Yeah, yeah. This headlight lens isn't original.
But I, actually I think I got one downstairs.
Jersey jon: You think you found one? Ron: It's a repro, but.
Jersey jon: Robbie, look it. Look at the weld on the neck.
Somebody repaired that, dude. Robbie: Oh yeah.
Jersey jon: That's been re-welded. Robbie: It broke.
Jersey jon: Right, there's not, there's not much...
Those gussets in there. Robbie: Yeah.
Jersey jon: Yeah, it's still a great bike, I mean,
There are repairs, but it's still a great piece.
Robbie: Can I take a few pictures of it
And send it to my brother? Ron: Yeah sure.
Robbie: He can tell me everything there is to know about this thing.
Jersey jon: Alright, I'll hold it, robbie, you get some photos.
It's a cool piece, it's rare, we all know that.
Robbie: I just love it 'cause it's original.
Ron: Yeah. Jersey jon: Except for the weld.
Make sure he sees that weld. Robbie: Yeah, I got it. Ugh!
Jumping over the top of here, there you go.
Mike: Is there anything in here? Greg: There's an interesting sign.
Mike: Ahh! So who painted that sign?
Greg: That was a period when alan was...
Building bicycles in this room.
Mike: Old bicycles or like newer ones?
Greg: Newer. Mike: So he painted that sign.
That's awesome. I mean, I collect bicycles,
I've been into them for a long time.
This is a really cool, basically a piece of folk art.
Untrained artist, and what I love about it,
Is it's super folky,
And it's got two of the things I love,
Packard and bicycles.
That's pretty cool, man.
And this was like his bicycle shop room?
Greg: Yeah, I think it was a short-lived endeavor.
Mike: What is it made of, is it metal?
Yeah, it looks like it's metal, from what I can tell.
Oh yeah, it's metal.
It's kind of a urban explorer folk-art piece.
Greg: That's probably a good way to describe it.
Mike: You know. 300 bucks.
Greg: You got a deal. Mike: We're doing it? Okay.
Greg: You got it. I'll be a good remembrance of your visit.
Mike: Absolutely.
There we go. Alright. Woo!
Greg: This will look nice in your place.
Mike: This is awesome, man.
When you walk through a place this big,
That was an institution in this country
For such a long time.
You know, and now you see it like this,
It's a reality check for industry in america,
And how important it is
For all of us to embrace
American-made products.
Very cool. I'm excited to see
What you and the city
And everybody's going to be doing over here.
Greg: Yeah, it's going to look a lot different in a couple years.
So come back and we'll have a drink in there.
Mike: Yeah. I know people look at this and they think, hey
This looks pretty bad and maybe they don't have a vision
For it, but it's guys like you that do.
And that's what makes the difference.
Greg: I appreciate that, yep. It's all about the future.
Mike: Alright, man. That's right, buddy.
I'll see you down the road. (honks horn)
Mike: See ya, buddy! Greg: See ya, mike!
Robbie: I got to ask about this thing, ron.
This is a mechanical piece. Ron: Yeah.
Robbie: So where did this thing come from, ron?
Ron: It came from an amusement park.
Robbie: Did he move, or...? Ron: No, he doesn't move.
But the rabbit comes up and down out of that...
Robbie: Oh, so it's like basically, boom.
Yeah, it's pulling a rabbit out of a hat.
They don't build advertising like this anymore.
What are you thinking on it, ron?
Ron: I'll take 300 for it.
Robbie: I like his cape too.
Ron: Yeah. Robbie: 300.
Ron: Yeah. Robbie: I'm doing it.
I appreciate it, it's kind of cool, I like that.
Jersey jon: It's just so weird. Robbie: It's just weird.
Jersey jon: (laughing) yeah. Robbie: Yeah.
Jersey jon: The amplifiers are cool.
Ron: The amps, they've been up here for years.
Robbie: When you say a long time, what's- I mean,
To me a long time is like 25, 30 years.
Ron: At least 20, I would say. Jersey jon: Right, right, right.
So with old electrical appliances or anything
That has a tube or a wire in it,
You don't know what you're getting involved with
Until you really take it apart.
Ron: Yeah, they're probably mainly from the '50s.
Jersey jon: These are from the '50s? Ron: Yeah.
Jersey jon: I mean, they got a great look though, robbie.
Robbie: They got a great look. Put it next to an old guitar.
In the nashville store.
Jersey jon: There's a couple different directions
To go with these amplifiers.
I mean, you could use them as props, or I mean,
It could be restored and used to play music again.
Yeah, we're just looking at them like,
You know, decorator items.
Basically what we're looking at.
We're not even, like, trying to make them work.
Robbie: Basically in nashville...
Yeah. I mean, stores down there.
Ron: I'd have to get 1,500 for all of them.
Jersey jon: 1,500 bucks for the whole group?
Ron: Yeah, yeah. A little over 200 bucks apiece.
Which is very reasonable.
Jersey jon: 1,500 bucks, huh.
Let me see...
Yeah.
Oh this is an amp too.
That's cool, it's danelectro, that's-
Danelectro, yeah. That's a new jersey guy.
Robbie & ron: Yeah.
Robbie: There it goes. Jersey jon: Woo.
Robbie: There you go. Jersey jon: Oh that's cool.
Ron: Yeah, look at that knobs on that.
Jersey jon: Yeah, that's got some great knobs.
Jersey jon: Yeah, that's looking pretty good.
Premier amps, they could be really desirable,
I mean, you could sell them for some pretty darn good money.
They're fantastic.
I'll do the 1,500 bucks, man. Ron: Okay.
Jersey jon: Mike's going to love them.
You got to take a chance sometimes,
And sometimes you get burned,
And sometimes it's gold. You just don't know.
Robbie: So ron, my brother sent me a million things back here...
Ron: Oh yeah. Robbie: ...On the bike.
I'm going to go over what he said here.
He put, 'great bike for its age. It's rare.'
Which we already knew that.
And then he put, 'came out in 1936, this is the '36 model,
In the sears catalog, the bike was right below the bluebird.'
The bluebird was the cadillac of bikes...
Robbie: Yeah. It had the speedo in here.
Um, he said, available,
Came in brown, black, and red, which I've seen the brown
And the black, I've never seen a red one.
Um, the elgin, here's the kick.
This is what he said, which, I didn't know,
'elgin had to redesign the frame,
Because the top tube
Continued to break.'
Ron: Oh-oh. Jersey jon: So that was a common...
That's why it's repaired. Ron: Oh-oh. Huh.
Robbie: Yeah. So this is a '36, this was the very first model of this bike.
I don't mind the broken frame so much,
I like the fact that it helps tell the story of the bike.
'37 they redesigned it.
It's missing the chain guard. Ron: Right. Um-hm.
Robbie: He wants me to make an offer on it.
I know that it's original paint bike.
He's saying that in this shape,
If it had the chain guard on it and the frame wasn't broke,
He's saying 6 to 6,500.
It's a pre-war elgin robin.
As a balloon tire guy, you dream about finding these bikes.
Ron: So what's the, so what did he offer, you know, the way-
Robbie: The way it sits, I'm going to throw a number at you,
And you can tell me what your thoughts are on it.
And mike, he tends to step up on these things,
I can tell you that.
Robbie: 4,700 bucks.
Ron: (exhales) I want five grand.
I know I'll never find another. (chuckles)
Jersey jon: No, you probably will not.
Robbie: No, you know the, I'm just thinking...
Jersey jon: I mean...
Ron: $300 more...
It's even got a bell on it. (laughs)
Robbie: I know.
Jersey jon: Yeah, it's got the scrub bell.
Robbie: Split it with me.
Ron: 49? (laughs)
Robbie: 48.
Ron: Uh... Alright.
Robbie: 4,800. Jersey jon: Ha-hah...
Robbie: I just heard my brother chiming in my ear...
He's like, you better not leave that damn bike there.
Jersey jon: No, he's going to want that.
Robbie: Yeah, look at that. Jersey jon: Thanks, buddy.
Jersey jon: That's great. Robbie: My brother's going to end up with this bike,
And it's probably going to sit in his living room.
All I ask is that I get to ride it one time.
Jersey jon: This is a great bike.
Robbie: Ohh, I'm so happy. Jersey jon: Your brother's going to love it.
Ron: Robbie and jersey jon were excited,
I could see that they liked the stuff I had collected.
Robbie: It's always nice to meet another bicycle enthusiast.
Ron: Yeah, yeah.
Jersey jon: Not just that man, the motorcycle stuff.
Robbie: Yeah, everything. Jersey jon: The history.
Ron: I appreciate their appreciation of this,
You know, stuff I've collected.
(honks horn)
Robbie: Keep it on two wheels, ron!
Ron: Oh yeah.