Master Collector Award
Bruce Wanta
Bruce Wanta was born in Milwaukee, WI, and moved to the Seattle area with his family when he was 10 years old. He gained an interest in all things mechanical selling, repairing, and setting up bicycles in the shop his father owned. Bruce has always liked anything with wheels, and at age 15, he was particularly inspired by an issue of Road & Track magazine with a Maserati Bora on the cover. From that moment on, he knew he wanted to collect cars.
Bruce graduated with a mechanical engineering degree from the University of Michigan, and went on to build his company, Spectrum Controls, which develops and sells industrial controls.
Today, Bruce has about 35 cars and the best way to describe the collection is: Eclectic. Several of his vintage cars have what were considered high-performance characteristics in their day. He has everything from pre-war vehicles to modern supercars, including some novelty automobiles such as a 1926 Ford “Black Widow” Model T roadster pickup that was first issued as a toy model which he built as a young man. Bruce’s introduction to the builder of the Black Widow, Troy Ladd of Hollywood Hot Rods, began an ongoing partnership along with concept designer Eric Black for additional car projects.
One of the more notable vehicles in Bruce’s collection is the 1936 Packard known as the “Mulholland Speedster.” Ladd and his crew completed the build of Black’s unique design in January 2017 where the car won America’s Most Beautiful Roadster (AMBR) at the Grand National Roadster Show. Shortly after that it won World’s Most Beautiful Custom. No car in history has ever won both of those awards. It has gone on to win numerous awards including “Best of Show” at Concours.
In addition to impeccable and unique cars, Bruce also collects extremely rare antiquarian books, various memorabilia spanning sports to Hollywood film items to air and space, and a variety of historic artifacts.
