The current owners of the white Ford Bronco at the center of the infamous 1994 OJ Simpson police chase say they hope to sell the vehicle for at least $1.5m now that he has died.
Simpson’s former agent Michael Gilbert and two friends of Al Cowlings – the SUV’s original owner – said they would probably sell the vehicle amid burgeoning interest following Simpson’s death on 10 April, the collections website cllct first reported.
Simpson died of cancer at the age of 76. In 1995, the former American football star was acquitted of murdering his former wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman.
The controversial trial was among the most-watched events of the 20th century.
The SUV’s current owners say they had already planned to sell the Ford Bronco this year because it was the 30th anniversary of the chase which took place as police sought to arrest Simpson in connection with the June 1994 murders of Brown Simpson and Goldman.
“Before OJ passed, we had always thought this was going to be the year we were going to sell because it’s the 30th anniversary,” Gilbert said to cllct. “Who knows if we are all going to be around for the 35th or the 40th?”
The last offer for the vehicle was $750,000. The owners now hope to sell the car for at least double that.
The two-hour Simpson Bronco chase down the California 405 freeway unfolded after he failed to surrender to police on two counts of murder. Cowlings, who was also a close friend of Simpson, was driving the SUV.
Cowlings warned police that Simpson had a gun and was threatening to kill himself, and he requested that police not tail the SUV.
Police didn’t abandon the pursuit but did slow down. Media extensively covered the ensuing slow-speed chase, with about 95 million people tuning in to watch, CBS Sports reported.
Fans of Simpson even gathered along the interstate, cheering for him as he drove past, as the Washington Post reported.
Simpson later surrendered to police at his mansion in Brentwood, California.
Following Simpson’s acquittal at his murder trial, the white SUV sat in a parking garage for 17 years.
The Ford Bronco was then loaned out in 2016 to the Alcatraz East Crime Museum in Pigeon Forge, eastern Tennessee, a popular vacation site.
