Most car collectors pride themselves with a collection of cars that they have accumulated over a period of years, representing their make and model interests and preferences. It is usually a collection that grows every year with the addition of new-found treasures and rarely does the total sum of cars diminish. Car enthusiasts like to keep what they have added to their collections.

On the other hand, Dennis Collins, best known for his eight appearances on episodes of Fast N' Loud in 2013, 2014 and 2017, has collected cars for many years, but with the intention of restoring them to their original condition and selling them for profit at auction. In the process, he has been the owner of many unique vehicles, most of them representing his personal preferences. However, his collection is dynamic, with the constant addition of new vehicles and the sales of restored models.

Mustang is Collin's favorite car to restore, and his collection has included the Law Man Mustang, a 429-horsepower machine which he resold for over $2 million. Collins claims he has restored over 200 vehicles during his automotive career.

Besides his appearances on the Discovery Chanel’s reality show Fast N' Loud, hosted by Richard Rawlings, Collins made appearances in 2007 on TV series Bull Run: Cops, Cars, and Superstars and the documentary Garage Rehab in 2017.

The following are some of the best cars that Dennis Collins has owned, restored, and resold.

15 Dennis Collin’s Background

Via: mamotorcars.org

Born on January 28, 1965, in Wylie, Texas, Dennis Collins attended the University of Texas in Dallas and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Economics and Finance.

In 1984, he and his brother founded the Collins Bros. and Jeep Company which specializes in the manufacturing of Jeep parts, restoration, and sales of custom Jeep vehicles. In 2007 a custom line of Jeep products was launched under the Black Mountain name. The Collins Bros. Company focuses on CJ’s and Wranglers, converting stock vehicles into unparalleled off-road vehicles.

Collins sells many of his rebuilt cars at auction. In 2017, he set a world price record with the sale of six of his Fox-body Mustangs at Barrett-Jackson-Scottsdale.

14 1990 7-UP Special Edition Ford Mustang

Via: hooniverse.com

The 7-Up Fox-body Mustangs were initially intended to be a very limited production (30 cars) and used for a giveaway contest at the 1990 NCAA basketball finals. The program was canceled so Ford decided to build 5,000 units and market them as a commemoration of the car's 25th anniversary.

Ford equipped the 7-Up LX convertible Mustangs with the Fox-body era 5.0L V8 engine, rated at nearly 255 horsepower. All were painted with a Deep Emerald Green clearcoat metallic paint and included a white leather interior with a white convertible top.

Collins said, “My 7-Up car was a Ford exec’s car that got picked up at the factory on a trailer, it never went to a dealership it went straight to the exec’s house. When I got the car, it had all the plastic on the seats, all the chalk marks, all the shipping stuff, and it was just something most people would never see unless you were a Ford exec in 1990. It had 16 miles on it, so it was arguably the best in the world.” He sold it at auction for $82,500.

13 1967, 1968 and 1969 Z28 Camaro 

Via: http://hooniverse.com

Chevrolet designed the Z28 with a performance package to compete in the SCCA Trans-Am series. Equipped with a solid-lifter 302 V8, 4-speed transmission, and power disc brakes, it featured two wide stripes on the hood and trunk lid.

The top speed was rated at 134 mph with an acceleration of 0- 60 mph in 6.8 seconds and a 1/4-mile elapsed time of 15.4 seconds at 96 mph. Collins sold a ’67, ’68, and a ’69 Z28 at the same auction with mixed results.

He said, "I usually go to Barrett-Jackson with 15-20 cars, and I typically average out, so if one car doesn't do so well I'm not too disappointed. [The ‘67] should have brought somewhere between $160,000-$180,000; it sold for $100,000. Finding that '67 took me eight years, so that was kind of a tough pill to swallow."

12 Boss 429 (The Lawman)

Via: Just a Car Guy

Dennis Collins has bought and sold some of the world’s rarest muscle cars. While most were profitable ventures, the Boss 429 could have been much more profitable.

Developed by Ford to compete with the famed Chrysler 426 Hemi in NASCAR's Sprint Cup Series, the Boss 429 featured an engine derived from the Ford 385.

The cars were rated very conservatively at 375 bhp and 450 lb⋅ft of torque. However, actual power output was more than 500 hp. Some have even estimated that the engine produced 600 or more horsepower, though nothing has been proven.

Collins regretted selling the Mustang: “I sold that car at Barrett-Jackson roughly ten years ago for $116,000 [2007]. The current owner now, Mr. Bill Goldberg, has turned down $2,000,000. So, that’s the Mustang I should’ve kept and never let go!”

11 1994 Indy 500 Pace Car

Via: hooniverse

In 1994 Ford released a major redesign of the Mustang, code-named, "SN-95. The rear-wheeled drive car still based on the "Fox" platform, offered styling features of some earlier Mustangs. The highly successful Cobra GT-40 model also returned, equipped with the 5.0 L engine, rated at 240 hp.

The convertible Mustang Cobra was used as the Indy 500 Pace Car, making it the third time that a Mustang was selected. Named Motor Trend Magazine’s Car of the Year for the third time in 1994, one thousand Pace Car replicas were built and sold through select dealers.

Dennis Collins sold his unique pace car at auction but got a better price for one of his other SN-95s.

Collins: “…that pace car was a one-off car that had two options on it that no other pace car had ever received and was built specifically for a Ford exec. But the other two SN-95 cars were very impressively priced, and I think the one that made people freak out the most was the 1994 GT (red with red interior and white top), but you’ve got to realize that the car had just 500 miles on it,”

10 2013 Lamborghini Super Trofeo

Via: hooniverse

Usually owned by a dealership, the Lamborghini Super Trofeo is a difficult car to find. Powered by a 5.2-liter V10 engine with a power output of 570hp, only 40 of the 2013 models were made.

Dennis Collins was successful in buying one when bank financing fell through on a purchase. The cost to lease the Trofeo and get spare parts is over $400,000.

Collins made an additional investment to make the car street legal: “We took the car back, did a major service on it, raised the suspension up and inch and a half so that I could drive it on the street, put street tires on it, added a passenger seat, completely remapped and relocated the engine computer, added rear view mirrors and made it so that it could be realistically driven on the street.”

9 Earls Court Motor Show Car, Goldie

Via: Hemmings Motor News

Dennis Collins has been buying and selling Healeys since high school. He has owned all the models: 104s, 106s, and 3000s, more than 500 in total. He spent more than 25 years chasing the “Goldie.”

He says, “Everything on this car that you can that shines is legitimate 24 karat gold. It also has a John Thompson Motor Pressings race chassis and is the only Healey ever to get the John Dunlop racing 4-wheel disc brakes, which you could only get on the 100S race car. All the materials on the dash are real ivory, the seats are real mink from Her Majesty's own farrier in London as well as Chinese kin leather. It was also the first Healey to leave the factory with a radio.”

8 1972 Dodge Charger Rally Edition

Via: YouTube.com

Dennis Collins not only sells refurbished cars but on occasion he offers a rare car that needs some attention, but that has features that make it a good buy.

An example is this 1972 Dodge Charger Rally Edition. Collins claims that this car may be one of only 160 factory-equipped with the following set of options. The car includes the top of the line engine, 440 Magnum with a 4-barrel carburetor and a net rating of 280 bhp.

It is painted Hemi orange with door indents indicating the Rally edition and includes L37 concealed headlights, N96 fresh air hood (only 160 cars were made with the N96), factory hood pins, Rally dash and bucket seats (no bench seat). The car comes with the original radio and power steering and power brakes. Although the car needed the transmission to be rebuilt, Collins offered this Charger for $19,800.

7 The First 1950 Nash-Healey

Via: Hemmings Motor News

Many experts agree that the 1950 Nash-Healy was the very first American car intentionally built to be a sports car, making it a rare and valuable acquisition.

The very first Nash-Healey production car built is the rarest of rare: Chassis no. N2001 and Engine no. NHA1001, included a handmade Panelcraft alloy body.

The Nash-Healy initially sold for $8000. During the same period, Ferrari sold their most expensive car for $9,500. However, the car was not competitive with the easier-to-produce steel Pinin Farina cars that were less expensive. It was discontinued in 1954. The road trim version was capable of 124 MPH while the race trim could achieve 144 MPH. No other American car came close.

Dennis Collins was the sixth owner of the chassis serial #N2001. The car recently sold for $500,000.

6 Two Decades of Fox-body Mustangs

Via: Gas Monkey Garage

Collins love affair with Fox-body Mustangs began in high school when he and his buddies drove them. He wanted to put ten restored cars together but discovered that there weren't enough reproduction parts available to even restore one. So, he acquired eight by purchasing (and paying a premium price) for models in excellent original condition.

Collins said, “Most of them came from Ford execs, I'm not allowed to say who had them, but that's how I got into them. Most of them had not gone through dealer prep, and the majority of them still had the window stickers on them. Six of the eight cars did set world records, and there's a reason why; because they are some of the best Fox Bodies in the world and some of the rarest in the world. One had seven miles on it (1985 SVO Hatchback Turbo), one had 16 miles on it, one had 150 miles on it, so there was a reason that they brought what they brought.”

In 2018 Dennis Collins sold an 18 car collection of Foxbody Mustangs representing all model years except ’80 and ’81, all with less than 20,000 miles.

5 1982 Fox Body Mustang GT

Via: FordMuscle

In 2018 Dennis Collins assembled 19 Fox body Mustangs for auction at Barrett-Jackson auction in Scottsdale. The premier model of the group was a 1982 Fox Body Mustang GT.

The first year with the GT designation after dropping the Cobra name, Ford also brought back the 302-engine including cast-iron valve covers. The car was equipped with a 4-speed manual transmission, power steering, power brakes, and A/C.

The GT also featured TRX Alloy wheels, fold-down rear seat and the original radio. Marchal Fog lights were mounted on the front, a factory-installed accessory that Collins estimated to be worth over $2000.

Perhaps the most unique feature of the Mustang was the presence of all original stickers including dealer deliver sticker.

4 2014 COPO Camaro

Via: www.barrett-jackson.com

At auction in 2016, Dennis Collins sold a rare 2014 COPO Camaro one of the ultimate muscle cars of all time.

Out of the 69 COPO Camaros built in 2014, only 18 were body-in-black program cars, and Serial #002 was particularly rare, an exceptional turnkey-completed car with numerous rare options. These included The 454 LSX engine, turbo 400 transmission, Holley/COPO injection, COPO hood, power steering, air conditioning, line lock, functioning lights, wheelie bars, mirrors, power windows, and D.O.T. tires. The car was NHRA Certified to 8.50 estimated ETA low 10s.

The car sold for $93,500.00 with no reserve at auction in Scottsdale, Arizona.

3 Ferrari F40

Via: jalopnik.com

The originally red-colored Ferrari was owned by a Houston businessman who left it with a mechanic while he was in Europe. The mechanic nearly totaled the car when he crashed it into an iron fence.

Although the frame was severely damaged and the car appeared to beyond repair, Gas Monkey Garage took on the challenge. The restoration was featured on an episode of Fast N' Loud.

The result was a supercar with better features than the original. They added rebuilt turbos, an aluminum flywheel, a Tubi exhaust, custom Penske Racing adjustable shocks, Kevlar clutch pack, HRE three-piece alloys, and boosted the power to 550 hp.

The repainted black Ferrari was sold at auction to Reggie Jackson for $675,000.

2 Black Mountain Jeep

Via: collinsbrosjeep

If you purchase a Jeep from Chrysler equipped for off-roading with parts such as hoods, wheels, lift kits, winches, bumper guards, brush guards, gauge clusters, and dashes, they are Black Mountain parts.

Dennis Collins developed his Jeep parts business servicing hundreds of CJs, YJs & TJs from 1984 to 2007. Today Black Mountain has focused on the JK (launched in 2007) market by selling Black Mountain edition Jeeps on the lot as well as producing off-road style parts and accessories for an affordable price.

Black Mountain is continuously developing new products from Bumpers and Winches, LED Lights, Fuel Covers and much more, while searching for new product ideas within the industry.

1 2007 Cannonball Run Ferrari 550 Maranello

Via: Ed Bolian

In 2007 Dennis Collins and Richard Rawlings, owner of Gas Monkey garage and host of the Discovery Channel’s Fast N’ Loud program broke the enduring 1979 Cannonball Run record with a time of 31 hours and 59 minutes at an average speed of 87.6-mph.

Best friends, the pair were also two-time winners of both the Gumball Rally and the Bullrun Rally.

Collins and Rawlings drove a 1999 Nero Daytona colored Ferrari 550 Maranello. A front-engine V12, 2-seat grand tourer, the Ferrari 550 Maranello was produced by Ferrari from 1996 to 2001. The 5.5 Liter engine produces 486 hp and 410 lb.-ft. of Torque. The stock fuel tank capacity is 30.0 gallons. However, Collins modified the fuel cells to reduce the number of times required to stop for refueling.

Sources: articlebio.com, tireburn.com, thedenniscollins.com, gasmonkeygarage.com