Clive Cussler's cash? It's in his cars, baby!
Bankrate: You've put so much money into this pursuit over the years. Have you gotten any money out of it?
Cussler: I suppose you could say I did. I did write a couple of nonfiction books on the shipwrecks, but I never went into it with any profit motive at all. As far as the wrecks and everything else, no -- that's money that's gone. There's no return on it.
Bankrate: Of course, your novels have done very well. Has NUMA been your primary investment?
Cussler: No, it would be automobiles. Before "Raise the Titanic!" hit, I was driving through the country one day with my wife and she pointed out a 1946 Ford Club Coupe like I had in high school that was for sale in front of a farm. So I went back, checked it out and bought it and drove it home. My son and I actually restored it out in the street because we didn't have room in the garage. It's the first car in the collection. So when "Titanic" hit, I started collecting in earnest.
Bankrate: How do you go about acquiring vintage cars?
Cussler: I have a woman broker. If I'm interested in a particular car, she'll look for it. And then I go to the auctions. I just got back from the Otis Chandler collection auction in Oxnard, Calif. He owned the L.A. Times and he was a big collector.
Bankrate: What's the size of your collection now?
Cussler: I think at last count it was about 94 or 95. I have them warehoused in Arvada, Colo. My daughter has turned it into a museum. It's open to the public from May to October. I'm doing a car book on the collection so the crew is starting them and driving them around.
Bankrate: What are your plans for that collection?
Cussler: That's the kids'. It belongs to them. The IRS had it appraised and we paid the gift tax and they own it now. That was some years back. I still buy a car now and then.
Bankrate: Do you handle your own finances?
Cussler: I was very fortunate, my son, Dirk, got his Bachelor of Science in business and worked at the General Accounting Office for two years, then went to Berkeley and got his M.B.A., then worked for Motorola for 13 years. He's a financial analyst. Then he decided he wanted to write. He's working on his third Pitt book now. He handles most of my business, and then I have a tax attorney and an accountant. Dana works on any kind of PR for the books and Teri works on the car museum and handles all of my personal finances. It works out very well.
Bankrate: What's your next adventure?
Cussler: We're looking for a lost airliner in Lake Michigan. It went down in 1955 with a hundred and some people on board. And we'll go back next summer and look for the Bonhomme Richard. I've always said if I can find two wrecks I'd be happy; one would be the Hunley and the other would be the Richard. I'm halfway there.