Ray Skeff is pained to let his pride and joy — a 1981 customized convertible Cadillac — go, but he’s comforted knowing it will be for a good cause.
Skeff and his wife, Colette, are auctioning the prized car to benefit the newly opened Rio Grande Hospital Clinic in Del Norte.
The car, which Skeff has owned since 1998, has been in numerous parades, including the annual Ski Hi parade in Monte Vista.
Skeff, who retired from the appliance and furniture business after 25 years, owns several other collectible cars. The is the second classic vehicle the Skeffs donated to the hospital. They’ve also donated cars to help other projects in the San Luis Valley.
But the Cadillac, nicknamed “Liberace,” is special, he said. He hopes it will be sold for as much as $100,000.
“One of the guys working for me said it was ‘so beautiful, I bet it came from the Liberace Museum,’ ” Skeff recalled with a laugh. “A rumor got out that it was Liberace’s car, but it wasn’t.”
The new clinic opened Nov. 1 and serves the communities of Creede, South Fork, Del Norte and Monte Vista.
Skeff is a hospital board member.
Liberace is set to be auctioned in January in Scottsdale, Ariz., by Barrett-Jackson Auction Co.
Separate donations may be made to “Operation Clinic,” with checks payable to Rio Grande Hospital, 310 County Road 14, Del Norte 81132.
Kieran Nicholson: 303-954-1822 or knicholson@denverpost.com
