What took him a lifetime to put together, car collector Milton Robson disbanded in an auction Saturday afternoon at his sprawling ranch in southeast Hall County.
The historic event attracted "gear-head" bidders from near and far along with a gallery of curious onlookers.
After more than 50 years in Gainesville, Robson is leaving behind his 460-acre ranch and world-famous car collection as he moves back to his Florida roots.
Robson is also known for founding Milton's Institutional Foods, now known as PFG-Milton's, which he sold in the 1990s to retire to "piddle with ranching, cars and real estate."
The auction was held in a 25,000-square-foot horse barn Robson converted into a climate-controlled area for his collectibles.
The "car barn" consists of a front office where Audie Murphy's saddle is on display and a western staircase leads to a full 1900s San Francisco-style saloon.
The inside of the barn also features a Chevrolet and Pontiac dealership facade, a Mobil gas station, a barber and soda shop and a store housing Robson's collection of cap and BB guns. And it's all flanked with classic cars in their parking spots out front and a restoration facility across the back of the lot.
RM Auctions wielded the auction hammer Saturday as 55 world-class collector cars went to the block in front of more than 500 bidders and an array of curios onlookers.
Bidders came from all over North America. Cars went for both more and less than the estimates affixed to the cars' windshields. Several cars fell to unseen bidders online. A 1960 Chrysler 300 going for about $400,000 erupted the first bidding war on the floor.
Robson moved to Georgia when he was 9 years old, and in his teens he started selling chickens out of the back of his El Camino for gas money. He started purchasing unique cars at the age of 25 and made it a lifetime hobby, collecting hundreds of cars that eventually turned into a profitable business.
Starting with basic cars of the '50s, '60s and '70s, he began to move up to rarer muscle and performance cars from Dodge, Chevrolet, Plymouth and Pontiac, all with unique features, special engine packages or convertible tops.