The Nick Begovich Collection

“WHEN OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS…” It’s a proverb referred to often, but rarely in life does an example come that better illustrates the meaning of the phrase than the acquisition of 13 vehicles from the collection of Dr. Nicholas Begovich by the Audrain Collections in July of 2020.

Nick Begovich was an extraordinary man — an engineer, philanthropist, passionate car enthusiast — and endlessly curious about mechanical solutions. He pursued a brilliant career as an electrical engineer and physicist in senior positions at Hughes Aircraft and later Litton Industries, where he worked on, or was responsible for, many of the key missile guidance systems which kept NATO ahead of the Soviet Union throughout the 1950s, 60s and 70s.

Dr. Begovich’s work naturally took him to Europe on a regular basis and he quickly developed a love for European sports cars, the first of which was a 1952 Jaguar XK120 Fixed Head Coupe he bought new and kept for the rest of his life. Next up was a 1956 Porsche 356 Speedster, also retained until his death.

The pattern was clear — once a car came into his collection, it rarely left. Naturally, as an engineer, his focus most often gravitated towards interesting and advanced mechanical design solutions, the more complex the better. Begovich enjoyed maintaining and tinkering with his cars in a well-equipped shop until the end of his life.

It must be equally emphasized that while the “oily parts” caught his fancy, Begovich also possessed a keen aesthetic sense, and well-styled cars drew him in in equal measure. Beautiful design was a passion and clearly seen in many of the vehicles he added to his collection. Ironically, he drove many of his cars very little. For most of his life he resided a very short distance from his offices, and the cars saw minimal use.

In late 2019, Nicholas and Lee Begovich donated 14 post-War sports cars to California State University, Fullerton, to support its College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics in research, education, and outreach in gravitational-wave astronomy, physics, and astrophysics. When he passed away at the age of 98 on May 3, 2020, these cars became the property of the university.

To monetize the gift of the vehicles and to fulfill the donation, the school looked to sell the collection. The Audrain’s great friend Jay Leno was advised of the availability of the cars and contacted us to gauge our interest. From there things moved very quickly. As might be imagined, there were a great number of people who expressed interest in this unrepeatable collection.

With a list of the cars in hand and brief descriptions, I was tasked with doing a preliminary appraisal of the collection from which we would be able to make an offer. From here things moved quite quickly indeed. A proposal with an offer was sent on Friday, May 15, 2020, to the University, with the offer contingent on my inspection of the cars and valid for one week.

On Monday, May 18th, well before dawn, I climbed aboard a small jet in Rhode Island along with my friends and colleagues Ben Mercer, the Audrain’s COO, and Sean O’Donnell of Audrain Motorsport for the flight to John Wayne Airport in Santa Ana, Calif. We arrived just after 7:00 a.m. and were met by a regular logistics consultant to the Audrain, former F1 Sporting Director and Team Manager David O’Neill, who accompanied us on the short drive to Begovich’s garage and shop in Fullerton.

We were there by 7:45 and shortly thereafter Jay arrived to join us in inspecting the cars. It was immediately clear at first sight of the vehicles, which were parked in the garage and adjacent shop, that this was by any definition an astonishing and very special collection. Two of them were in the workshop, in states of restoration — ultra-rare Pegaso Z-102 coupes, one a GT coupe for the street by Carrozzeria Touring and the other one of three ENASA bodied, lightweight competition coupes.

The remaining cars, with one exception, had not seen the road since circa 1978 and that exception had last been driven in 1998! While a number of members of the collector car community knew of Dr. Begovich’s cars and some had known him, most often the only visitors to see them were engineering students at Cal State Fullerton, whom Begovich invited in small groups to discuss the cars and what particular engineering and design made him acquire them. After a thorough inspection of the sleeping beauties was completed just short of lunchtime, I made a call to report back to the team in Rhode Island our findings and my opinion. We immediately agreed that our offer was to acquire all the cars, rather than looking to cherry- pick one or two of the obvious “stars,” such as the Porsche 904 Carrera GTS, Lamborghini Miura, Mercedes 300SL Gullwing, Talbot-Lago T26 Grand Sport and ATS 2500 GTS.

With a mission to “preserve, celebrate and share automotive history,” keeping this collection together, from the 904 to the Corvair Monza Spyder Club Coupe, would be the only way forward and, as it transpired, was the key to being able to conclude the transaction with the University in a way that most closely honored Dr. Begovich and his wife Lee and their shared passions for automobiles and science.

By 2:30 p.m., we had confirmed our intention to move forward with the acquisition, funds were wired, and the transporters from Reliable Carriers, Inc., which had been retained for the operation, and which were standing by a few miles away, came to the garage to begin loading the collection. A receipt for the transaction was signed at 4:15 p.m.

Before 6:00 p.m., the last of the cars from the garage had been loaded and the trucks were on their way. O’Neill and Mercer finalized the plans for the latter to return for the retrieval of the two Pegasos and their various parts, to be collected in the weeks following. By 6:15, we were on our way back to John Wayne Airport and to a well-deserved rest on the flight home — the end of one of the longest, yet exhilarating, days of my life.

From acquisition to exhibition

A primary goal of the acquisition was the mounting of an exhibition at the Audrain Automobile Museum in Newport, R.I., showcasing the collection and honoring the man. The exhibition “Engineering + Design = Passion: The Nick Begovich Collection” opened on November 20, 2021, and was on display through February 13, 2022. The run of the exhibition also included a very special reception on November 29th in the gallery to celebrate what would have been Nick Begovich’s 100th birthday and was attended by his widow, Lee, and many of their family.

It marked not only the first time that most of these vehicles were seen by the general public, but also celebrated their return to the road after decades of resting in silence. The work of specialist experts across five states was required to slowly and carefully bring these dormant masterpieces back to brilliant life. It was clear that Begovich did not plan to store any of his cars for an extended period. While many of the cars had covered very limited mileage in his ownership, for reasons we will never know, after the late 1980’s most were parked and had not left his garage workshop until they were collected by the Audrain in 2020.

The challenge of recommissioning in each case was a very different one; all presented object lessons in not only what can happen to a car when it sits for an extended period, but also the decisions that must be made as the caretaker of objects which are so closely identified with a single owner for such a long period. Their revival has also served as a concentrated exercise and lesson in the choices the caretaker of historic objects must make in preserving the record of the object while ensuring its survival for years to come.

One of the most compelling aspects about many of the collection’s cars is the low mileage they have; while Nick loved cars, he did not drive them very far. For most of the time he owned them, he lived about a mile from his office and his demanding schedule seemed to allow for very little leisure time for pleasure drives. The intense curiosity and talent for devising engineering solutions also combined to keep some of the cars off the road. He built a very well-equipped machine shop in which he analyzed, designed and created needed replacement parts for some of his cars and especially those he was restoring.

Since that landmark exhibition, the Begovich collection cars have been featured (and enjoyed!) on the road in videos for the Audrain Museum Network on YouTube, and several have been seen at concours events across the United States, in Italy, Switzerland and the U.K. Among the most notable of these appearances have been those of the 1964 Porsche 904 Carrera GTS, which returned to the Pebble Beach Concours d’Eleganceâ in 2022, where it was awarded the coveted Best in Class, Post-War Preservation trophy.

Prizes have also been won by the 1953 Pegaso Z-102 Touring coupe, the 1968 Lamborghini Miura, the 1952 Pegaso Z-102 ENASA Lightweight Competition coupe, and the 1964 ATS 2500 GTS. More importantly, these remarkable cars and others from the collection have been introduced to thousands who have been able to share their history, importance and presence — what counts most in the world of vintage cars.

The Audrain Collections will continue to share these and the other vehicles which were thoughtfully acquired and preserved by Dr. Begovich — bringing the legacy of an extraordinary man to as many as possible.

I feel that I came to know a bit of the man just by spending time with the cars in his garage, studying the voluminous files he kept on each and working diligently not to disappoint him in sharing the reasons why he came to own them.