Jarrod Franklin didn’t plan on buying this car.
But the morning of the first Saturday in May, a story popped up on his Herald-Times newspaper app that I wrote previewing an auction that very day. Former Clark County Sheriff Jamey Noel’s collection of 43 fast, vintage and eclectic vehicles, purchased with tax dollars he pilfered during two terms in office, were to be sold.
Noel won’t be driving any time soon since he’s serving a 12-year prison sentence for theft, obstruction of justice, tax evasion, money laundering, corrupt business influence and official misconduct.
The sale of his cars netted $1.2 million during the two-day auction at French Lick Resort, which equals nearly half of Noel’s restitution owed Clark County.
Franklin, the aforementioned Bloomington man, helped lessen Noel’s debt that Saturday by making a $59,500 contribution of sorts to the cause when he raised his auction paddle and the gavel fell on the sale of Noel’s 1959 Chevrolet Corvette.
What started out as a road trip with his two youngest kids, 12-year-old Thelma and 9-year-old Jack, to their first-ever automobile auction turned into an unexpected adventure. “They had a great time, and they were asking me to bid on a lor of cars.”
But he’s cautious with money, like comparing cost per ounce for items when grocery shopping. He watched as a few others bid on the Corvette, the last of the three to sell.
“I didn’t intend to buy a car,” Franklin said. “I didn’t know I would bid until my hand went up.”
And there it sat in his driveway this past week, a classic red-and-white vintage Corvette convertible, the kind of car some people dream of. Not me, since I’ve never been a big ‘Vette fan (my apologies to Harry Bond in Nashville) and am not much for red cars.
But I do like convertibles and must say that the Franklin family’s new car was lovely, parked there in the dappled shade. And I feel sort of responsible for it being there, given that auction story I wrote that piqued Franklin’s interest.
When he and the kids arrived at the auction venue, he registered as a potential bidder, “just in case.” Franklin was most interested in checking out Noel’s collection of high-end 1960s and ’70s muscle cars like the 1970 Plymouth Superbird that ending up selling for $175,000. Really.
And he was drawn to the three vintage Corvettes on the auction block: a restored 1954 red one with a $97,000 reserve price, a pale yellow 1958 that sold for more than $80,000 and the one now parked in his driveway.
Before leaving home that day, the family had been browsing the auction website admiring the variety of cars. Franklin’s wife Amanda and 14-year-old daughter Daphne, who had other plans for the day, agreed they were partial to the 66-year-old two-tone Corvette, red upholstery and all.
But they didn’t expect their husband/dad to buy it. Amanda received a text message from him that afternoon that said, “Anything else?” with a video attached she didn’t immediately watch.
Imagine her surprise when she got a free moment and viewed the video that showed Franklin making the winning bid on that car she had admired. Sold!
She’s looking forward to being in the driver’s seat.
Have a story to tell about a car or truck? Contact My Favorite Ride reporter Laura Lane at [email protected] or 812-318-5967.
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