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The 'Barn Find' is not dead my friend...

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by Jive-Bomber, Oct 2, 2012.

  1. kyvetteman
    Joined: May 13, 2012
    Posts: 759

    kyvetteman
    Member

    About 15 years ago my insurance agent came to the house and noticed all the old cars and trucks lined up along the driveway of my place, and mentioned that he knew where there was an old car in a shed the next little town over, and so far he was the only one that knew about it other than the owner... Needless to say that really got my attention!

    I bugged the crap out of him about it until he sweet talked the old woman into letting us take a look at it and I could not believe my eyes; it was a '34 Ford Fordor, last licensed, driven and parked in 1959. Holy crap this thing was a virtual time capsule! Nothing was wrong with it when parked except that her late husband had spun it around in the road in a curve, run it off the road and through a fence late one night and wouldn't drive it after that... very light damage to one rear fender...

    She was iffy about selling it and when she finally agreed to she made it clear that it wouldn't be sold if it was not going to be restored to as-new condition. I am a man of my word and probably should have lied my ass off but I knew that wasn't what I was going to do with it so I didn't get to buy it.

    Turns out an acquaintance of mine was wiling to lie his ass off and found out about it, fed the old lady a line of bullshit and brought the car home, made a street rod project out of it and sold it.

    For me that's the one that got away, but at least I got to be there when the door was opened for the first time in 40 years and it was incredible!
     
  2. seatex
    Joined: Oct 24, 2006
    Posts: 2,670

    seatex
    Member

    how true. I went to pick up a leaded glass window for my wife she found on CL, and just casually asked the guy if he had any old cars, porcelain signs, other antiques, etc., and his answer was "yes, yes, and yes......"
    ended up with numerous old stuff from a barn out back, and there was a Studebaker LandCruiser (54 maybe?) behind the barn that I got for $200.00. It's rough, pans are way gone, but the trim is pretty cool and I may just plasma the front sheet metal for a wall hanger (is that a sin?) because it is so far gone......, but damn, I almost crapped myself when I saw it! too bad someone had swiped what he described as a "boatload " of old porcelain signs (mostly grocery related, coca cola, root beer, bread, etc.). if you would have driven by, you would have never even known there was a barn there. waaaaay cool to dig into
     
  3. Jive Bomber,
    It is the idea that it has been neglected but not thrown away. It was important enough to someone to entomb it so as not to let it go to hell and you have the opportunity to give it back its life.

    It also has a down side, how do you personalize something that was that important to someone.
     
  4. S.F.
    Joined: Oct 19, 2006
    Posts: 2,895

    S.F.
    Member

    I will forever remember this moment. chills.
     

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  5. SquireDon
    Joined: Aug 8, 2010
    Posts: 600

    SquireDon
    Member
    from Oregon

    Sometimes I enjoy the hunt & the find more than owning it.
     
  6. S.F.
    Joined: Oct 19, 2006
    Posts: 2,895

    S.F.
    Member


    yep "its all about the chase"
     
  7. Very well written indeed! Still on the hunt for my first find...
     
  8. fur biscuit
    Joined: Jul 22, 2005
    Posts: 7,828

    fur biscuit
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    obviously there is more to this tantalizing bit of literature...such as the vehicle that stoked the mental juices that created this artistic prose...so wax poetic with some more pictures...:D
     
  9. jfg455
    Joined: Apr 22, 2011
    Posts: 171

    jfg455
    Member
    from NH

    If I procrastinate much longer my O/T muscle car will be a barn find. Been in there 6 years now under a cover. Is it a barn find if it is yours and you just remembered it was in there after X number of years? *sigh*:rolleyes:
     
  10. ClarkH
    Joined: Jul 21, 2010
    Posts: 1,412

    ClarkH
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    Even more thrilling is when you hear "Just take it, I need it gone." That's happened to me twice! Barn finds often come to light only after the person who socked it away is out of the picture, and the new owner doesn't have the same level of attachment.
     
  11. The best one i found in a old dusty barn was a 1932 Huson and it was a very cool car
     
  12. racer756
    Joined: May 24, 2006
    Posts: 1,559

    racer756
    Member

    Great thread!!
     
  13. schuyler
    Joined: Dec 18, 2009
    Posts: 30

    schuyler
    Member
    from Tennessee

    I felt that way when I finally found my '56 F100...it was hit in the front and parked in the barn since the late 70's. Not complete...but from the firewall back is untouched.

    [​IMG]
     
  14. dmikulec
    Joined: Nov 8, 2009
    Posts: 590

    dmikulec
    Member

    My '62 Imperial Crown was parked for over 20 years. All original and complete survivor from southern Ohio.
     
  15. RH2795
    Joined: Sep 22, 2012
    Posts: 298

    RH2795
    Member

    I've never had the pleasure of a "barn find". I envy those of you who have.
     
  16. eightbanger
    Joined: Feb 17, 2007
    Posts: 378

    eightbanger
    Member

    It truly is one of the best feelings ever. I located a 31 model A coupe in a shed on a piece of property that left me wanting that thing like nothing else before. The entire shed was a time capsule. Oil cans, filters, tools and parts to a Desoto Firedome were inside. Of course the property owner would not sell, but I still found myself driving 20+ miles just to get a glimpse of that car sitting in a shed about to fall apart. Still haunts me.
     
  17. Stu Padasso
    Joined: Sep 11, 2008
    Posts: 476

    Stu Padasso
    Member

    I took these pictures of this 40 Standard Coupe sitting in a building on a farm in Watsonville, Ca. It reportedly had sat there in that condition since 1957. All the other sheetmetal, etc. was scattered around. Dave found it, and let me take over the project late last year. Other picture shows the car back in the mid 50's. So far, the chassis is done, looking for an appropriate engine/trans.
     

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  18. Pulling back that stubborn barn door for the first time in decades, and dragging the reluctant beast out into the sunlight will always be a thrill.

    Steve
     

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    Last edited: Oct 2, 2012
  19. Blackmaria60
    Joined: Apr 30, 2008
    Posts: 532

    Blackmaria60
    Member

    I thought about shellacking the mouse skeleton I found in my barn find '62 Olds and hang it off the rear view mirror.
     
  20. vtx1800
    Joined: Oct 4, 2009
    Posts: 1,709

    vtx1800
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    I found a 68 GTO in a shed, tried to buy it but the owner of the shed said that a friend of his had stored it there and was going to come get it. I talked to him occasionally and about a year later my neighbor (who was his friend) said they talked about just hauling it in for salvage but there wasn't enough money to do so. I called him and offered him $125 for it (there was no interior, doors or straight sheet metal on the car. I brought it home and parted it out, netted $1200 on parts that I sold off of it and still have the steering column. Probably the only good deal I will ever find.
     
  21. ss34coupe
    Joined: May 13, 2007
    Posts: 4,239

    ss34coupe
    Member

    I still can't believe how lucky I was to find this 34 Ford coupe this summer in a barn. All it took was talking to the right guy at the right time.
     

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  22. El Jefe
    Joined: Dec 12, 2002
    Posts: 738

    El Jefe
    Alliance Member

    You mean like this..........
     

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  23. Normant93
    Joined: Apr 23, 2009
    Posts: 152

    Normant93
    Member

    Great thread Man, I love this stuff. I grew up in the late 60’s & 70’s spending tons of my time with my Dad tracking down cars that he had heard about one way or another. He loved the hunt, and convincing reluctant sellers to part with the cars as much as he did the cars themselves, he was a master at it, some where in barns, others in city garages, others on old New England estates. A few years ago, before he died, we went through folders containing Bills of sale for all the cars we had owned over the years, reminiscing about the misadventures behind many of them, road trips to retrieve others and just reliving the fun. I had forgotten some of the shit he used to make me do when I was a kid, like crawling under the collapsed floor of an old barn to jack up a 38 Lincoln Zephyr convertible whose wheels had fallen through the rotten floor (at 10 years old) because he wouldn’t fit. Or when I had go look in the windows of every garage for a dozen blocks in Springfield because “people were less likely to call the cops on a young kid” until I found the ‘48 Chrysler Town & County Conv. he had heard about. He laughed about the time he made me drive home a ‘42 Pontiac fastback that we got running after pulling it out of an old carriage house in Marblehead it had been sitting in for 30+ years. The thing was smoking like crazy, so he figured if I got pulled over the cop would just think I was a stupid kid, but if he got pulled over, he was old enough to know better and would more likely get a ticket. What a great way to grow up, I really miss him.
    Anyway, I think there is a ton of stuff out there waiting, that was found once in the 60’s or 70’s, put in a garage to be restored or the restoration started then stalled, fast forward to now, the car’s been sitting for 40+ years and the owner is moving to a retirement home or died and car resurfaces. I’m chasing an A coupe that was disassembled 30 years ago, the fellow died 10 years ago and the widow just wants it all out of the basement so she can sell the house, it may take a while but I’m determined to get it. I heard about it through a friend of the late husband whose car I was admiring.
    Last winter my son and I tracked down a 50 Olds 88 (friend of a friend knew I was into cars) that had been sitting since 1965, had 45k miles and was a totally original and nearly perfect, unfortunately the owner was convinced it was worth way more than we could spend, but it was great to share the adventure with my son. I think he’s hooked! We’ve since found him an MG (a client told me about). It was parked 10 years ago, totally rust free with a rebuilt motor from the 2<SUP>nd</SUP> owner who parked it after a u-joint failed because he was tired of spending money on it. Admittedly off-topic, but I had to buy it; it was a mile from my house and 500 bucks. My son’s first question…what V8 do you think we could fit in that car dad? This is gonna be fun!
    So I guess my point is, there are a lot of cars out there waiting to be found, but I don’t think it will be via electronic media, more likely it’ll be through old fashioned conversation. They’re out there, you just gotta listen.
     
  24. You have an UNREAL story your telling about this find, but then again your a lawyer so we understand...
    -Shiny
     
    Last edited: Oct 3, 2012
  25. zibo
    Joined: Mar 17, 2002
    Posts: 2,361

    zibo
    Member
    from dago ca

    Holy Chit!
    TP
     
  26. zibo
    Joined: Mar 17, 2002
    Posts: 2,361

    zibo
    Member
    from dago ca

    Holy Chit!
    TP
     
  27. flamingokid
    Joined: Jan 5, 2005
    Posts: 2,200

    flamingokid
    Member

    My first barn find was a Karmann Ghia when I was 15.The car was in beautiful shape and other than the battery and a few minor details.The car was owned by the father of a soldier who died in Vietnam.The car was just like he left it.My next barn find was a '63 split window Corvette.Almost the same story,but the kid who owned it was an amateur painter and had several mils of extra paint.His dad decided it was time to let it go.The thing that I came away with was that both guys expected to come back to the U.S. and get back to their lives and their cars.Neither did.I tried to make sure those cars went on to good homes.I guess some day,that'll happen with my stuff and I hope somebody cares as much as I did.
     
  28. sodbuster
    Joined: Oct 15, 2001
    Posts: 5,040

    sodbuster
    Member
    from Kansas

    Hmmm........no comment.
     
  29. Big Mac
    Joined: Sep 12, 2007
    Posts: 1,565

    Big Mac
    Member
    1. Utah HAMBers

    I'm still working on a 40 coupe that my dad was after since the early 1980s. I remember him taking me there when I was a little kid, maybe 6 or 7. Even back then it was parked in the garage all covered in dust. A few months ago I stopped by to say hi to the old guy and chat for a bit. It still just sits. Perfect 40 coupe, factory black paint, completely stock. Unreal to see it still sitting in there. I told the guy that the car is part of my family too since I've been coming to see it for 30 years. He agreed. Someday......
     
  30. flathead okie
    Joined: May 22, 2005
    Posts: 1,480

    flathead okie
    Member

    My wife owns a small restruant here in town.
    One day about a month ago she was cooking. A guy at the bar mentions a 32 with an inch of dust on it for 10 grand.
    she keeps on cooking to finish the order, then turns around and the guy is gone.
    She told me about it that night. I told her she should have found out all the info then, let the food burn and recook it.
    She told me don't worry the guy will be back,,,,,,he's a regular customer..........Haven't seen him since. :rolleyes:
     

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