A few years ago, one of the more memorable classic car finds was thrust onto the national stage when a collection of Ferraris were revealed following a barn collapse during a hurricane. The building toppled onto the cars inside, revealing a collection of several notable Ferraris with competition pedigree and limited production numbers. Just as soon as they appeared, the cars were gone, never to be heard from again – until now. Find the collection of re-discovered Ferraris here on The Drive.
The cars belonged to one Walter Medlin, who is a Florida real estate developer that always sounded like a colorful character who was not easily trifled with. Medlin had several business successes to his name which afforded him access to plenty of cash when needed, but that didn’t mean he enjoyed spending it. He often with toe to toe with the IRS, ignoring calls for tax payments, often waiting until the night before one of his beautiful Ferraris was to be auctioned off to show up with a check for a six-figure payment. This breathtaking 1964 Ferrari 250 GT/L Berlinetta Lusso by Scaglietti would be one of those cars I’d never want to risk actually losing.
Which could explain why Medlin was so quick to hide the Ferraris away after the building blew down – perhaps the IRS didn’t know about his additional stash of assets, along with most of the general public. As you can see, the cars he collected were not just run-the-mill, base model Ferraris, littered with old 308s and Mondials. Oh, no – Medlin had an eye for the rare and expensive, including the likes a genuine competition model such as this 1978 Ferrari 512 BB Competizione, which was one of three built by the factory for the 1978 running at LeMans.
Of course, there’s also the sad reality that these cars were heavily damaged during the barn collapse (some of them, at least) and the storage arrangement in the intervening years – a dusty old factory building in Indiana, another one of Medlin’s numerous real estate holdings/projects – was hardly ideal. Plenty of the models in the auction catalog like this 365 GT 2+2 have body damage and interior damage and have been sitting in partially ruined condition ever since Hurricane Charley’s original blow. They will now all be auctioned off, ending years on the run as part of one man’s incredible collection.
Well, well, look what Charley uncovered. The IRS agent working on the case for years,,,”I KNEW IT”!! I ALWAYS feel bad for any natural disaster victims. Personal effects strewn into the next county,, or ocean. I’ve entertained the idea for years, to help clean up, heck, I can run a machine, however, I think the scope of destruction, coupled to peoples lives upended, and never asked for any of it,,,would be too much for me. I don’t handle disasters well. Tip of the iceberg here folks, a shady realtor, in Florida? Man, that’s a new one, and just shows to go ya'[sic], and bolsters MY views tremendously, where all this “money” to buy these classics comes from.
Why would the IRS have anything to do with a car collection? On the other hand, the property tax assessor is currently drooling all over the screen.
The owner is telling the IRS that he has no money to pay his taxes. Meanwhile, he has over 10 million dollars worth of Ferraris. The IRS would want him to sell some assets to pay his taxes.
100 million worth of Ferraris
Remember what Leona Helmsley said? “Only the little people pay taxes.” That’s the kind of person we have here. Taxes are the price we pay for civilization. Without them, those cars never would have been made, much less have roads to use them on. I detest people like him.
Remember Grant, folks who feel that taxes make the world go round, can always send an extra check to Uncle Sam. He’ll welcome it. Me? I like to keep the money I make.
The county tax assessor can drool all he wants ,all he can do is
Take the real estate under the cars ,not the cars themselves.
Only the IRS Can do that!!🤷♂️🤔😲😁🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣💵💵💵💵👋👋👋👋
Mamma Mia! Belissima!
Big deal- how much for that Sears trailer in the background of the first photo?
I’ve been seeing other articles about this collection but you provided some good background. Nice article, Jeff!
Are the titles in foreign lands?
My thoughts exactly! Who actually owns these cars and how many liens have been filed against him? I would be VERY careful.
I should think that the auctioneers have practiced due diligence and wouldn’t be selling them if they had found something untoward about them.
I guess RM Sothebys know what they are doing but the first photo is not a 250GT/L Lusso. It looks more like a Ferrari 330 LMB, one of 4 built for Le mans racing and worth pretty much 250GTO money.
I can see no evidence of either model in the barn down photo but…. who am I to spoil a good internet echo chamber?
just had a look, it is what they say it is but well spotted as it is bodied in a 330lmb evocation
The article never said that he was an unethical realtor or that these cars were aquired by nefarious means. It also did not say that he didn’t pay his taxes. Rather, it states that he often waitid until one of the cars was destined to be auctioned and then he would show up with a six figure check. These negative comments only highlight the writers resentment at another’s ability to acquire cars that they could not. If the cars are being sold for non payment of taxes, then he has got what he deserved, but unless that is confirmed, he may have done nothing wrong. Do we even know whether this is actually an IRS auction sale or the collector himself, or another subsequent buyer, who is selling the cars at auction?
Google his name. See what you come up with.
Within ten seconds I found a news story about his 30 month jail sentence for tax evasion in 2015. You may call that a negative comment, but it appears Mr. Medlin had a history as a tax cheat.
I would call that doing something wrong.
YMMV.