Gary Zimet founded his Moments in Time business in 1979 and deals primarily in original historical documents. But from time to time, he also handles the sale of vehicles with history, and thus he is advertising the 1996 BMW 7 Series in which Tupac Shakur and 1997 GMC Suburban in which Biggie “Notorious B.I.G.” Smalls were murdered.
The asking price on the 7 Series is $1.5 million and $750,000 (recently reduced) on the Suburban.
The murders, which took place more than 20 years ago, are being featured in a 10-part series on the USA cable channel and a six-part series on BET.
Zimet told music website pitchfork.com that he is handling the sales for the families that own the vehicles. Both vehicles have been restored, though the Suburban still has a bullet hole in one of its seatbelts.
“Both these cars are of historical significance,” Zimet told Pitchfork. “You really have to look at this from a historical angle. These are pieces of American history — just like the copy of the 13th Amendment I sold, which was signed by Lincoln, is a piece of American history.
“Historical memorabilia will always have a huge market, and Biggie and Tupac have been eulogized in death, as millions of people dream of going back to that era. This means that these cars are unique relics — museum pieces of great historical importance.”
Who might be interested in such vehicles?
In addition to the just curious, “You also get a lot of car collectors, too, and even hip-hop artists calling in,” Zimet said. “The interest I’ve had from rappers is maybe because they want to reclaim something from the past.”
