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Friday, June 8, 2012

Wanted CEO Abandoned This Amazing Car Collection Somewhere In Bolivia

June 8th, 2012Top Story

Wanted CEO Abandoned This Amazing Car Collection Somewhere In Bolivia

By Endras BMW

Wanted CEO Abandoned This Amazing Car Collection Somewhere In BoliviaSomewhere in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, sits a secret underground car collection that's rumoured to contain over 60 extraordinary cars. The collection is said to be owned by Humero Roca, who recently fled from Bolivia and, depending on the source, sought refuge in either Miami or Spain.

Roca is the former president of AeroSur, Bolivia's troubled private airline. He's been accused by the Bolivian government of "illegal enrichment" following allegations by current AeroSur president and half-brother Sergio Sanzetenea of embezzling $37.2 million from the company. The company is currently in serious financial trouble and trying to stave off bankruptcy.

While all of this is happening on the surface, underneath the Bolivian soil sits an amazing collection, lost in the drama.

Roca's son, who shares his dad's passion for all things fast and exotic, took the time to individually document about half of the cars in the collection. From a 2007 Ferrari F1 car to a supercharged lime green 1969 Dodge Charger, his YouTube channel provides hours of entertainment. Unfortunately, on March 26th, Roca's son posted his last video and told his viewers that "I won't be able to make any more videos of the cars in Bolivia." More on that later.

Click to view To our pleasant surprise, Roca seemed to be quite the BMW aficionado. From a 1-in-27 Frozen Black E92 M3 Coupe, a beautiful 1973 3.0 CSi, and 1989 E30 M3, to a 1992 V12 850i, Z3 Roadster, and yellow E36 M3, Roca had quite the collection.

Keep in mind that even the BMW Z3, which isn't exactly the world's rarest car, is extraordinarily difficult to obtain in a country such as Bolivia. This means that if the Z3 is tough to find, the actual exotics within the collection are almost unobtainable for the average Bolivian.

Other videos show off an original 1996 Toyota Supra (link), a 505 HP V10 2006 Dodge Viper (link), a 650 HP Nissan GT-R (link), a 1970 Ford Mustang 351 (link), 500 HP 1971 Dodge Challenger RT (link), Aston Martin Vanquish, Ferrari 308 QV (link) , Ferrari F1 2007 (link), and many more rarities.

Roca's son also tells us the 5-speed E36 M3 was bought in the US and was marketed in the Bolivian catalogue as "The Fastest Car in the Entire Country."

Roca's 2011 E92 M3 is apparently one of only 27 units made in the world and only 1-of-3 in South America. The exhaust has been changed to a full Akrapovic system but Roca's son admits that it's not his favourite M3 out of the three at his disposal. Only an E46 M3 Coupe is missing to complete the M3 lineup but he's never had a chance to buy one. Only three exist in his city of Santa Cruz and all three are unfortunately owned by his friends.

The question of what will happen to the abandoned collection remains unanswered. Will the Bolivian government claim it? Will Roca find a way to transport his cars out of his home country?

Even more worrying is the caption underneath the last posted video on Roca's son's YouTube channel. Here is a direct excerpt from the post:

"PS: As some may know and other not, My Father after Attempting to Fight the COMUNIST [sic] Government, Had to leave Bolivia and it's Government [sic] is still fighting against him and my whole family. So I wont be able to make more videos of the other cars in Bolivia."

We're not quite sure what to make of the situation but all we know is that the future of this rare-for-Bolivia car collection is uncertain. Let's just hope it doesn't end up in the wrong, unappreciative, hands.


This story originally appeared on Endras BMW's Powershift Blog on June 7th, and was republished with permission.

Email us with the subject line "Syndication" if you would like to see your own story syndicated here on Jalopnik.

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