there was a find like that in the states about 10-15 years ago. Over 200 cars in all and everything from two seat t-brids to fullsize 413 chrysler convertibles. There was a huge auction and most of the cars were shot so some went really cheap (I remember a friend going there and scoring an early hemi powered (392ci) dodge for $400.
I am kinda skeptical about barn find car collections these days and they are always trumped up. Unlike motorcycles, cars can't be hidden as easily and espically in small towns people tend to know what is in everyone's barns. I used to stalk barn find scores for a vette shop and let me tell you, in a small town almost everybody knows its there, but they really don't care unless you tell them it is worth money, then they make a big deal. Something tells me everyone knew this guy was into cars and they were on the property, what they were and how many, that is a different story but chances are even the buyer knew what was on the property before he bought it (he may not have known how many cars but he knew they were there). To a lay non-automotive person, those pics look like a junkyard, to an enthuasist it is buried treasure.
back in 2001 a friend of mine told me about a small junkyard his grandfather had on the family farm in middle louisiana. I was looking for GTO parts then so the idea of someone's private junkyard was really appealing to me. It turned out that his grandfather had owned the GM dealership (Chevy, pontiac, GMC) and had used the farm as overstock inventory for the used cars and the models he couldn't sell. A lot of the cars were base model four doors, but some barely had break in miles on it (two cars were new, 1962 byscanes fleet ordered with 327s and 3 speeds and returned with 10 miles on the clock each). Everybody knew about it in that town, the family knew about it, but nobody realized what the cars were worth. When I sat them down and explained everything and what was worth saving and what could be sold for scrap they got real tightlipped and sprang into action. told the whole town they scrapped the cars out of state but really they moved the good ones into the barn and scrapped the ones with bad frames and bodies. I still talk my friend form time to time and everyso often the family will sell some parts or a car when they need money - otherwise it just sits.
Barn stories are the automotive urban legends, hear about them often but they seldom actually happen. I worked at making them happen for me for years and even then it was rare and never like people make it out to be.
Edited by - Geeto67 on Feb 19 2007 4:48:23 PM
I am kinda skeptical about barn find car collections these days and they are always trumped up. Unlike motorcycles, cars can't be hidden as easily and espically in small towns people tend to know what is in everyone's barns. I used to stalk barn find scores for a vette shop and let me tell you, in a small town almost everybody knows its there, but they really don't care unless you tell them it is worth money, then they make a big deal. Something tells me everyone knew this guy was into cars and they were on the property, what they were and how many, that is a different story but chances are even the buyer knew what was on the property before he bought it (he may not have known how many cars but he knew they were there). To a lay non-automotive person, those pics look like a junkyard, to an enthuasist it is buried treasure.
back in 2001 a friend of mine told me about a small junkyard his grandfather had on the family farm in middle louisiana. I was looking for GTO parts then so the idea of someone's private junkyard was really appealing to me. It turned out that his grandfather had owned the GM dealership (Chevy, pontiac, GMC) and had used the farm as overstock inventory for the used cars and the models he couldn't sell. A lot of the cars were base model four doors, but some barely had break in miles on it (two cars were new, 1962 byscanes fleet ordered with 327s and 3 speeds and returned with 10 miles on the clock each). Everybody knew about it in that town, the family knew about it, but nobody realized what the cars were worth. When I sat them down and explained everything and what was worth saving and what could be sold for scrap they got real tightlipped and sprang into action. told the whole town they scrapped the cars out of state but really they moved the good ones into the barn and scrapped the ones with bad frames and bodies. I still talk my friend form time to time and everyso often the family will sell some parts or a car when they need money - otherwise it just sits.
Barn stories are the automotive urban legends, hear about them often but they seldom actually happen. I worked at making them happen for me for years and even then it was rare and never like people make it out to be.
Edited by - Geeto67 on Feb 19 2007 4:48:23 PM
