While Kleve may not have foreseen the extent to which people would one day go to possess his once-battered chassis, he certainly would have appreciated the passion behind it.
He started his collection in 1939 with his mother’s black 16-cylinder 1936 Cadillac, according to an obituary in the Cincinnati Enquirer. By the time his Ferrari was stolen, the collection was so vast that his neighbors had started to complain, prompting a court to order him to clear his yard.
“Do you know anyone in America who’s limited to two cars?” Kleve asked the judge in 1990, according to the newspaper. “Especially one who loves cars? Cars are my life.”