The existence of a 110-strong "muscle car hoard" has been revealed to the public for the first time. In September, most of the collection will be auctioned off at the Montgomery County Fairgrounds in Red Oak.

The collection was the life's work of Coyote Johnson and hidden in a series of sheds constructed around groups of the cars on his property near Red Oak. Few outside of his immediate family knew the extent of Johnson's collection.

Within the hoard lies numerous Chargers, Challengers, Camaros, Impalas, GTXs, Chevrolets, Chevelles, Trans Ams, Roadrunners—Johnson's car of choice— and at least one Firebird convertible, all entombed in their sheds and lined up in dusty, multifoliate rainbow rows.

Most of the collection is comprised of models from the 1960s and '70s. The oldest car in the sheds is a 1955 two-door Chevrolet.

Most of the cars haven't been moved in years, though there's little rust to found and they seem to be largely intact. The exact states of functionality for many of the cars won't be discernable until they're removed from the sheds and prepared for auction.

Johnson bought his first car from his grandfather at the age of 16. Now, at age 65, he's decided it's time to sell most of them.

"There's always a time for everything," Johnson said of his decision to sell his collection. "Sometimes it's hard to admit you gotta do things in life where, you know, you don't want to pass a mess onto your kids. I've got one daughter. I really wasn't enjoying 'em like I wanted to and I'm getting old."

Johnson traces his love of classic muscle cars back to his youth, where his group of friends owned four Roadrunners and spent most of their time polishing and competing with one another.

While others of that era grew up and moved on from the chrome allure, Johnson maintained his devotion to a specific breed of boxy, powerful cars built during the zenith of the American classic car.

Yvette VanDerBrink, owner of the auction house that will be conducting the sale of Johnson's collection, first became aware of the sheds full of muscle cars last summer. After a harsh winter that included a fire, a caved-in roof and the death of his father, Yvette said Johnson became convinced that it was finally time to part with most of the cars.

Johnson has made peace with selling them off, but acknowledges that collecting them was his life's work.

"Everybody's got their own way of life. Some people collect dishes, money, farms," he said. "It's just something that just grows on you, something about cars. You know, there's music about 'em... the Beach Boys sang about 'em and all them other people too."

"Cars were just one of those things that made life go on. Some people enjoy 'em more than others, I just like having them around."

Coyote Johnson's muscle car collection will be available to the highest bidder at a no reserve auction that can be attended in person at the Montgomery County Fairgrounds in Red Oak. Potential buyers will also be able to bid on the cars remotely through an online interface. You can learn more about the auction here.

As for Coyote Johnson, he plans to keep a few of the cars, a matter of painful selection he claimed was too personal to delve into too deeply.

One of the kept cars, however, will almost certainly be his beloved 1969 Roadrunner, the car he keeps in the garage in his home and sleeps above every night.

Follow the Register on Facebook and Twitter for more news. Aaron Calvin can be contacted at acalvin@dmreg.com or on Twitter @aaronpcalvin.