Napa Valley Expo will auction the George and Ruth Geis carriage collection online starting Oct. 1.

The Napa Valley Expo will sell the George and Ruth Geis collection of horse-drawn carriages at an online auction running Oct. 1 through 6 on BidCal.com, the Napa Valley Register reported.

The collection — displayed at the Expo fairgrounds for more than 30 years — includes at least 64 pieces: carriages, buggies, a stagecoach, a hearse, a covered wagon, a taxi, a thresher, delivery vehicles, a rickshaw and a school bus, among others.

Notable items include a chariot said to be from the 1925 silent film Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ, a San Francisco funeral wagon reportedly blistered during the 1906 earthquake fires, and an 1888 Italian wine wagon.

Expo CEO Corey Oakley said the facility lacks the resources to properly store, maintain or restore the pieces. "We believe this offers the best opportunity for the collection to be preserved, appreciated and cared for by individuals and organizations that can give these historic pieces the attention they deserve," Oakley wrote, as quoted by the Register.

A portion of auction proceeds will go toward creating a historical archive of the Napa Valley Expo and the Town & Country Fair. Proceeds will not fund daily Expo operations, Oakley said.

George Geis, who spent decades assembling the collection, died in 1998 at age 100. Buyers will owe a 15% premium plus sales tax and must pick up purchases at the site after the auction closes.