Robert “Bob” Lee with Barrett-Jackson CEO Craig Jackson at the 2013 Reno Tahoe Auction.

Barrett-Jackson was saddened today to learn of the passing of a longtime friend and avid car collector, Robert “Bob” Lee of Sparks, Nevada. Lee most notably won the coveted Best of Show award at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance twice; first in 2006 and again in 2009. He also won the Quail Motorsports Gathering Best of Show in 2006 and 2012, and the Amelia Island Best of Show in 2014.

“Bob was as hard as nails, but as soft as butter,” said Don Williams, a longtime Barrett-Jackson associate who has been friends with Lee for many years. “If he wanted a car, he was a great negotiator and he would get it. His word was good. You shook his hand and it was done. You can’t beat a person like that.”

Beyond his love of fine cars, Lee was also a lifelong enthusiast of rare firearms, exploration, conservation and hunting. While living in Angola in the early 1960s, he was instrumental in obtaining government protection for lion, cheetah, black rhino and their habitats. He then designed the first ecologically sound wildlife management program in Africa to counteract the decimation of the big game population by poachers.

In 1965, he was the founding owner and president of the luxury goods brand Hunting World, Inc., with more than 100 retail points of sale throughout North America, Europe and the Far East. In 1980, Lee was the first Westerner allowed by the People’s Republic of China to conduct the first of three scientific expeditions into the Chinese Pamirs and Tien Shan mountains. There he rediscovered the legendary Marco Polo sheep and documented their migration.

Lee was also an author. His expeditions and conservation achievements are memorialized in the book “China Safari.” He was also the author of “Safari Today” and coauthored the five-volume miniature series “The Art of the Gun.”

Lee funded the endowment of the Robert M. Lee Gallery of American Arms at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and in 1999 was presented with the C.J. McElroy Award from Safari Club International for his contributions to hunting and conservation.

“Bob and his wife Anne have been coming to Barrett-Jackson auctions for many, many years – since the 1980s,” said Barrett-Jackson Chairman and CEO Craig Jackson. “I considered him a good friend; we often talked about cars on a personal level. He had an impeccable eye for cars and was an astute collector. We were honored to regard him as a member of our Barrett-Jackson family, and he will be missed.”

Our hearts and thoughts go out to his beloved wife Anne Brockinton Lee, who was always at her husband’s side.

With the gallery below, we fondly look back on some memorable moments with Bob at Barrett-Jackson and other automotive events.

Tom Barrett, Craig Jackson and Bob Lee on the auction block in the 1980s.

Tom Taffert, Brian Jackson and Bob Lee.

Bob and Craig at Pebble Beach.

From left: Carolyn and Craig Jackson, Anne and Bob Lee, and Elise Norman at the 2014 Scottsdale Auction.

Bob Lee was a familiar figure at the Barrett-Jackson auctions.

Craig and Bob with the Carano family at the 2013 Reno Tahoe Auction.

Craig confers with Bob at the 2013 Reno Tahoe Auction.

Bob Lee studies the auction catalog in Reno Tahoe. “He had an impeccable eye for cars,” said Craig Jackson.

Anne and Bob Lee at the 2013 Reno Tahoe Auction.