GIVE ME THE VIN
John Claye Wolfe, left, and Richard Rawlings with their former prized possession.
Fort Worth natives John Clay Wolfe and Richard Rawlings partnered on the sale of a 6x6 Hellcat customized Humvee, which went for a record-breaking sales price.
The Humvee sold at the Barrett-Jackson auction for $825,000 on Friday, a record for any full-size SUV category at the auction. The Humvee also generated 154 million views on a single Instagram reel, making it one of the most viewed posts on the platform.
Wolfe is president and founder of GIVE ME THE VIN. Rawlings is founder of Gas Monkey Garage in Dallas.
“This was one of the most adrenaline inducing, risky, fun and lucrative deals on a single car that I've ever been involved in,” Wolfe said in a statement. “We made the car a celebrity, which is exactly what Danton Arts Kustoms wanted us to do. We set the bar high for our next one.”
Wolfe and Rawlings made $675,000, according to a press release.
Wolfe is a 2023 Fort Worth Inc. Entrepreneur of Excellence Award winner.
Based in Fort Worth, GIVE ME THE VIN™ is the nation's largest vehicle wholesaler with nearly $2 billion in annual revenues, according to the company. Wolfe, the first online vehicle buyer, launched the privately held company in 1996.
Wolfe has hosted a nationally syndicated radio show for more than a decade. He can be heard on more than 60 radio stations from coast to coast each Saturday. That’s where Givemethevin began. Living in Vernon, he began purchasing vehicles from customers on-air.
His company employs 200 working in 34 offices nationwide.
Wolfe created a behind-the-scenes video of the sales process. It can be viewed on the John Clay Wolfe Show.
Rawlings, a 1987 graduate of Fort Worth Eastern Hills, is the former front man of Discovery Channel’s Fast N’ Loud, at one time the hottest hot rod in cable television programming. It ran from 2012-20. The show was a hit, at one point the No. 1 cable program among men 25-54.
“Anything that goes that fast and makes that much noise, I’m down,” he once said during an interview at Texas Motor Speedway.
“This blew all my wildest expectations,” Rawlings said of the sale. “Stay tuned because we're all doing it again soon.”