Ritchie Bros. sells special edition Volvo 'Gold Rush' excavator for US$290,000 in Orlando, FL auction

Discovery's Gold Rush stars Tony and Kevin Beets were onsite to catch bids for the item

ORLANDO, FL, Feb. 26, 2020 /PRNewswire/ - It's amazing what can happen when companies come together to raise money for a great cause. To celebrate 10 years of Discovery's Gold Rush television show, Volvo designed a special edition EC200E excavator, which was sold at Ritchie Bros.' premier global auction in Orlando, FL to an online buyer from Belgium for US$290,000. All proceeds will be donated to Habitat for Humanity and Building Homes for Heroes.

The special edition excavator has a one-of-a-kind paint job—all gold with the 'Gold Rush' logo on the side—and the operator seat was imprinted with signatures from Gold Rush TV stars Tony Beets, Parker Schnabel, and Rick Ness. The item was displayed at Ritchie Bros. site during its Orlando auction, where Tony Beets and his son Kevin hung out and took photos with customers.

"What an amazing experience watching our special edition excavator sell and thank you so much to the buyer," said Ian Harvey, Product Marketing Sales Enablement Director, Volvo Construction Equipment. "Every penny of the US$290,000 will be going to Habitat for Humanity and Building Homes for Heroes, two tremendous charities doing some very important work. We will be handing over the checks to the charities in CONEXPO-CON/AGG, where the excavator will be displayed before being shipped overseas to its new owner."

Tony Beets and his son Kevin had the unique opportunity of standing at the front of the auction theater while the excavator sold, catching bids from the crowd and relaying them to Ritchie Bros. auctioneer Trev Moravec.

"It was so exciting. It was awesome," said Tony Beets. "We're very happy with the final price we hit."

Ritchie Bros, the world's largest industrial auctioneer, sold the excavator on Day Five of its Orlando, FL auction, held last week. More than 13,500 equipment items and trucks were sold in the six-day event for US$237+ million.

"We are so proud of our continued partnership with Volvo and their confidence in choosing us to sell the 'Gold Rush' excavator and I think we proved our ability to bring top dollar," said Logan Mellott, Director, Strategic Accounts, Ritchie Bros. "Both Habitat for Humanity and Build Homes for Heroes are fantastic charities and we are so happy we are able to help the cause."

About Ritchie Bros.:
Established in 1958, Ritchie Bros. (NYSE and TSX: RBA) is a global asset management and disposition company, offering customers end-to-end solutions for buying and selling used heavy equipment, trucks and other assets. Operating in a number of sectors, including construction, transportation, agriculture, energy, oil and gas, mining, and forestry, the company's selling channels include: Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers, the world's largest industrial auctioneer offers live auction events with online bidding; IronPlanet, an online marketplace with featured weekly auctions and providing the exclusive IronClad Assurance® equipment condition certification; Marketplace-E, a controlled marketplace offering multiple price and timing options; Mascus, a leading European online equipment listing service; and Ritchie Bros. Private Treaty, offering privately negotiated sales. The company's suite of multichannel sales solutions also includes Ritchie Bros. Asset Solutions, a complete end-to-end asset management and disposition system. Ritchie Bros. also offers sector-specific solutions including GovPlanet, TruckPlanet, and Kruse Energy, plus equipment financing and leasing through Ritchie Bros. Financial Services. For more information about Ritchie Bros., visit RitchieBros.com.

Photos and video for embedding in media stories are available at rbauction.com/media. 

SOURCE Ritchie Bros.