Rick Nielsen's 1955 Ford Thunderbird, lot 65. Photo: Julien's Auctions
Rick Nielsen’s 1955 Ford Thunderbird more than doubled in price in about a minute. Three absentee bids late on Oct. 5 took it from $17,500 to $40,000 at Julien’s Auctions. That’s real money, and it’s still $20,000 short of the $60,000 to $80,000 estimate.
The lot 65 listing shows the reserve as not met. So do the listings for his 1958 Ford Ranchero (lot 177, two bids, now at $22,500, estimate $40,000 to $60,000) and a customized John Deere tractor (lot 307, one bid of $5,000, estimate $20,000 to $30,000). All three sell Oct. 24 in The Rick Nielsen Collection, a 307-lot sale at the Musicians Hall of Fame & Museum in Nashville that starts at 8 a.m. Pacific. Julien’s says a portion of the proceeds from each lot goes to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
The three vehicles
- Lot 65, 1955 Ford Thunderbird: 292 cubic-inch V8, two-speed automatic, 198 hp, 78,707 miles. Starting bid $15,000, current bid $40,000 after five bids, estimate $60,000 to $80,000.
- Lot 177, 1958 Ford Ranchero: 352 cubic-inch “Interceptor Special” V8, four-speed manual, 300 hp, 95,444 miles. Starting bid $10,000, current bid $22,500 after two bids, estimate $40,000 to $60,000.
- Lot 307, John Deere 170 tractor with snowplough, Cheap Trick checkerboard livery. Starting bid $5,000, current bid $5,000, estimate $20,000 to $30,000.
The Thunderbird is rated at 198 horsepower and 280 lb-ft in the listing. It has manual steering, brakes and windows, a power bench seat, a removable fiberglass top and a two-tone black and white vinyl interior. Nielsen told Goldmine he bought it in 1978 and called it his first extravagance. Julien’s lists the VIN as P5FH222275 and says the car was shown at the Burpee Museum of Natural History in Rockford, Illinois, in 2012 and 2013.
The Ranchero is rated at 300 horsepower and 395 lb-ft. The listing says it left the factory with a three-speed column-shift manual and now has a four-speed on the floor, a swap that matters to anyone pricing originality. The bed carries a tonneau cover in Cheap Trick’s checkerboard pattern. For a different Ranchero, we covered a 1961 Ford Ranchero listed with low mileage and delivery included.
The tractor is a John Deere 170 with a snowplough in matching Cheap Trick graphics. Julien’s says the drivetrain was modified for a higher top speed, “believed to be over ten miles per hour.” The listing does not say what was changed or how many hours are on it. It also spent 2012 and 2013 at the Burpee Museum.
What a winner pays
Julien’s charges a 28 percent buyer’s premium, so a $60,000 hammer price on the Thunderbird comes to $76,800 before shipping, taxes and fees. The current $40,000 bid would come to $51,200. All three vehicles are in Rockford, and the winning bidder arranges shipping and handles the ownership transfer. Julien’s says it is not responsible for money owed on a vehicle, and every lot sells as-is. Condition reports are available only by email to lotinquiry@juliensauctions.com, requested more than 48 hours before the sale.
We covered Julien’s when it listed the Batman Returns Batmobile, and we went through the cars of Prince, using the estate’s records. In this sale, though, the cars are the undercard. The guitars carry the big numbers: a stage-played 1975 Hamer Standard (lot 7) is estimated at $200,000 to $300,000 and sits at a $150,000 bid.
Bidding is open online now and live in Nashville on Oct. 24. Reserves are still unmet on all three, and the Thunderbird needs another $20,000 just to reach its low estimate. What would you pay for a 78,707-mile ’55 Thunderbird with Rick Nielsen’s name on the title?
Photos: Julien’s Auctions, used with credit. Sources: Julien’s Auctions lot listings 65, 177 and 307 and the auction page, viewed Oct. 9, 2026. Bids change until the sale.
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