American Pickers Shelled Out Nearly $20k For These Two Classic Ford Cars

When you really take a moment to contemplate what "American Pickers" is about, it's hard to fathom it's been on the air for more than a decade now. After all, at its core, the History reality hit is essentially just a show about a couple of antique lovers driving around the country to buy other people's garbage. And at some point, that concept just seemed doomed to become dull.

Yet 23 seasons and 347 episodes into its run, "American Pickers" continues to earn its keep in the History original programming landscape as fans just cannot seem to get enough of OG picker Mike Wolfe and his various cohorts plucking treasures from barns, backyards, and garages all across the land. Of course, they often have to shell out serious coin to do so as these days, even amateur collectors know better than to part with their prized possessions for even a penny less than its worth.

Though they've never exactly shied away from paying big money for big-ticket items like classic cars, Mike and the gang have always erred on the side of caution when doing so. That makes it all the more thrilling when the "American Pickers" team decides to break the bank on a big car pick, much like they did to scoop up a pair of vintage Fords a few years back.  

To be clear, Mike Wolfe wasn't shelling out close to $20,000 for a 1960s-era Mustang, or a late-'50s Thunderbird on "American Pickers." Rather, he and his now-former co-star Frank Fritz went all-in for a pair of classic Fords from the earliest days of automobiles. That seriously pricey pick came in a Season 13 episode of "American Pickers," and happened more or less by happenstance.

As Mike tells the story, he and Frank only find their way to the front door of a Virginia collector named Larry after a couple of local scrappers put him on their radar as a man who may be hot to sell a vintage automobile or two for the right price. And its safe to say the duo is sincerely stunned when they walk into Larry's garage space to find not only a well-kept 1931 Model A Coupe, but a 1911 Model T with the original motor apparently intact.

According to Mike, the Model A would've been worth the trip, but he clearly had no intention of walking away without the Model T which, per Ford's website, is a legitimate historical artifact even if it isn't road-ready. This one is. And after crunching some numbers in his head, Mike moves to lock down both cars, initially offering $18,000 for the pair. Though he comes up a couple hundred bucks to close the sale at $18,200, it still feels like he got the deal of the century.