Ivan 'Ironman' Stewart shifts gears, sells his stuff

Ivan “Ironman” Stewart’s high-speed lifestyle of flying through the desert, leaving a rooster tail of dust, is taking a turn down a calmer, gentler road.

Stewart, 64, is ready to slow things down and create more time for himself and his family. “I’m not retiring,” he insists, “just changing directions.”

Last weekend he sold his off-road racing truck business and everything that goes along with it. He had more than 35 years of one-of-a-kind racing artifacts, memorabilia and assorted off-road racing equipment--enough stuff to fill a leased warehouse in El Cajon, Calif. Eschewing sentimentality for practicality, he sold it all in an auction.

One of the biggest names in off-road racing, Stewart achieved a remarkable 82 wins behind the wheel of race buggies, Mickey Thompson stadium trucks and Baja trucks. His trophies include three Baja 1000 wins and a record 17 Baja 500 wins. Off-road video games bear his name, and longtime sponsor Toyota even produced a limited number of Ivan Stewart “Ironman”-edition trucks.

Stewart retired from racing in 2000 and founded the ProTruck racing organization, which has its own class in off-road events. Over the years, Stewart and his employees built 53 spec racing trucks for ProTruck. On Saturday, one of those ProTrucks, with 142 hours on the meter, sold at auction for $40,000. The ProTruck business itself--complete with tooling, parts drawings, tech equipment, Web site, rights to the ProTruck name and associated licensing--also crossed the block on Saturday, for $60,000.

The Saturday auction featured the “Top 150” lots, sold to a live crowd of at least 300 bidders and spectators at the El Cajon business site. Many signed photos and posters of Stewart in action went for $100 to $200. A welded “Ironman” sculpture, given as a trophy only to solo drivers who win Baja 500 or 1000 races, sold for $575. An additional 500 lots, including dozens of racing trophies, sold on an Internet-only auction on Sunday.

“Some guys say, ‘I’ve been in that race,’ and they would love to display that trophy on their mantle. And that’s where it should be, not packed away in a box,” Stewart said. “I want to see my memorabilia in restaurants, museums and other guys’ shops where people can enjoy them.”

Among the auction’s 300 fans, spectators and bidders were ProTruck racers Jimmy Nuckles and Rick Johnson, who bought a historic Ivan Stewart racing suit and helmet among other memorabilia that he intends to display in his hotel.

“These things have a special place in our hearts,” Johnson said.

“They’re a part of racing history,” Nuckles added.

Stewart’s former crew chief in the mid 1980s, Bryant Hibbs, said, “Ivan helped build the sport of off-road racing; he made the sport evolve. He always made events a family environment that brought folks together.”

That family spirit was present at the auction, where Stewart enthusiastically greeted friends and former competitors and signed autographs for fans on their newly acquired items.

Part of Stewart’s lifestyle downsizing includes his home. Stewart and his wife, Linda, have already moved from a two-story log house near Alpine, Calif., to a high-rise condo in downtown San Diego. There is simply no room for all the accumulated memorabilia and vehicles, Stewart said.

“It’s hard to give up the classic cars, but I’ve got two parking spots now and a bit of extra room for motorcycles and bicycles.”

But no space for his ’55 Chevy or ’72 Plymouth. So they were among about a dozen vehicles sold. The 440-equipped Roadrunner crossed the block for $37,500; the hot-rodded Bel Air went for $28,000, and an unusual 1967 Mercury M100 Canadian-spec pickup, restored by Stewart, sold for $20,000.

The original fully restored Chenowth two-seat race buggy in which Stewart won his first Baja 500 in 1973 sold for $7,000. A 1974 Funco single-seater race buggy is ready for the next Mexican 1000 vintage NORRA race, according to Fritz Ochs, who rebuilt the vehicle. It sold for $10,750. Ochs, who helped build some of Stewart’s spec ProTrucks, emphasized that Stewart is not turning his back on off-road racing.

Stewart confirmed that he’s looking forward to driving in stock-truck classes for Toyota, as he did in a 2010 4Runner in last year’s Baja 1000. “I also want to travel more, visit Europe, and return to Mexico with my wife, when I don’t have to get from one point to another as fast as possible,” he said.

Some of the funds raised from the auction will be invested in a new business enterprise featuring two-wheeled vehicles, Stewart explained.

Slower, gentler and greener, the Ivan Stewart Electric Bike Center will hold its grand opening at 2012 India St. in downtown San Diego’s Little Italy neighborhood on Sept. 11.

By Dan Prescott