Legendary Cheap Trick Member Rick Nielsen’s Collection to be Sold by Julien’s Auctions

On Saturday, October 24, 2026, Julien’s Auctions will sell The Rick Nielsen Collection at the Musicians Hall of Fame & Museum in Nashville, with part of the proceeds going to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Most of the 300-plus lots are guitars, but three vehicles are included. The Cheap Trick guitarist’s 1955 Ford Thunderbird, owned since 1978, is estimated at $60,000–$80,000. His 1958 Ford Ranchero is estimated at $40,000–$60,000, and a checker-liveried John Deere tractor with a matching snowplow at $20,000–$30,000.

A founding member of Cheap Trick with Bun E. Carlos (Brad Carlson) and Tom Petersson in 1973, followed by Robin Zander, whom they recruited in 1974, Rick Nielsen has spent more than five decades as one of rock’s best-known guitarists and guitar collectors. As a longtime Cheap Trick fan, I was thrilled to learn of the upcoming sale of the Rick Nielsen Collection by Julien’s Auctions, which is fast approaching this Saturday, October 24, 2026. Some 300 items are to be sold, including more than 70 guitars, including stage- and studio-used examples from Hamer and Gibson, plus stage-worn sweaters, clothing, and memorabilia. Among the lots on offer are three vehicles that say as much about the man as the guitars do.

While I had hoped that a possible interview with Rick would materialize, given the short time remaining before the auction, I’m honored to have received the go-ahead from Julien’s PR representative to use their images and provide pre-auction coverage.

Rick, if you see this article, you and the boys in Cheap Trick made this writer a confirmed fan, way back in the late ‘70s, as a friend with much cooler older siblings let me listen to your awesome early stuff just before tunes from Cheap Trick at Budokan tickled my youthful ears – first on AM radio, no less. Your energy, wild on-stage presence, sense of humor, and pure classic rock-and-roll sensibility made an impressionable boy a lifelong fan. Hell, Tom even married a Playmate! By the way, how did Bun E. Carlos maintain that rock-steady beat with cigarettes dangling from his mouth? This inquiring mind wants to know.

The 1955 Ford Thunderbird: a 1978 purchase, kept for 48 years

Nielsen bought his 1955 Ford Thunderbird in 1978, the year Cheap Trick released its third studio album, Heaven Tonight, and recorded the wildly popular Budokan concerts in Japan that made them certified international stars. In Rick’s words, “In 1978 I bought a 1955 Ford Thunderbird which I still have today,” he told Goldmine magazine. “That was my first extravagance.”  

Many musicians mark their first success with something new and loud. Nielsen chose a 23-year-old Thunderbird and then simply kept it. Julien’s describes the car as an original 1955 Thunderbird, personally owned and driven by Nielsen. In 2012 and 2013, it was displayed in his hometown of Rockford, Illinois, in Rick’s Picks: A Lifelong Affair With Guitars & Music at the Burpee Museum of Natural History.

The 1955 edition was the first Thunderbird. Ford introduced it at the Detroit Auto Show in February 1954 and put it on sale that October as Ford’s answer to Chevrolet’s Corvette, but with a 292-cubic-inch V-8, wind-up windows, and a snug removable hardtop, the Thunderbird was far more successful than its rival. Buyers responded: Ford sold 16,155 in the first year, against roughly 700 Corvettes. The estimate is $60,000–$80,000 and this high bid was $50,000 so far this morning, Thursday, October 22, 2026.

The 1958 Ford Ranchero

The 1958 Ford Ranchero is the more personal of the two Fords. While quite stock in overall appearance, its cargo bed carries a tonneau cover in Cheap Trick’s signature black-and-white checkerboard pattern. Inside, it has white vinyl upholstery, a black-painted dash, auxiliary gauges under the dashboard, a column-mounted tachometer, and an “Interceptor Special” badge on the glovebox door. Consistent with Rick’s keen sense of humor, the front license-plate frame reads “Cheap Trick” up top and “RockFord,” observing his Rockford, Illinois hometown and the Ranchero’s maker. The auction estimate is $40,000–$60,000.

The John Deere Lawn Tractor

Then there is the tractor. Catalogued as a “1989 Custom Rick Nielsen Checker John Deere Tractor,” it wears a black-and-white checker-pattern livery, in contrast to the usual John Deere green and yellow,  with custom graphics throughout. It comes with a vintage snowplow, also decorated with Cheap Trick graphics. Rockford winters can be long, and even the snowplow got the Cheap Trick treatment. The tractor shared the Burpee Museum exhibit with the Thunderbird and is estimated at $20,000–$30,000. Again, Rick’s sense of humor shines through with the tractor’s 5^th-gear detent adorned by a small “Go Baby Go” plaque, a comical nod to the shifter/NOS button from Eleanor, the GT500 replica used in Gone in 60 Seconds.

The rest of the collection

Naturally, Nielsen’s guitars headline the sale. The 1975 Hamer Standard, serial No. 0004, is estimated at $200,000–$300,000. It was his first from luthier Paul Hamer, who actually loaned his own example, Number 0000, to Nielsen while he awaited completion of his own Hamer. Nielsen played it at Tokyo’s Budokan theater on April 28, 1978, and on stages through the mid-1980s.

His wild 2004 Hamer five-neck, a scaled-back version of an original idea for a six-neck guitar that spun like a wheel, is estimated at $175,000–$200,000. Other auction lots include handwritten Heaven Tonight lyric sheets ($3,000–$4,000) and the Detroit Tigers cap from the One on One album cover ($700–$900).

Nielsen is matter-of-fact about selling his noted collection, amassed and used over more than 50 years on the road and in the studio. “It seemed like a good time to sell some of it – you can’t take it with you,” he says. “When it’s all over, hopefully I’ll still have one guitar.” A portion of the proceeds will go to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, founded by Danny Thomas. “I knew Danny and Marlo Thomas, and they’re great people doing really good stuff,” Nielsen says.

Auction details

Cars kept by one owner for almost half a century rarely come up for sale, and a rock star’s “first extravagance” is rarer still. For fans who grew up with Cheap Trick on the turntable and collectors who value genuine, long-term provenance, Saturday offers a chance to take home a piece of Rick Nielsen’s story, and to support St. Jude while doing it. Registration is open now at Julien’s.

All images courtesy of Julien’s Auctions.

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