It's always interesting to read about all the excellent iron that folks discover and or recover in their travels. Without question a lot of great stuff has been saved to drive again over the years. My question is how many vehicles does anyone know of that have been barn found that were parked there at the year of manufacture, for whatever reason. Stuff that was parked there(wherever) practically new and for whatever reason only to be discovered or rediscovered ,I guess, much later. I know this is the kinda stuff that urban and rural legends evolve from, but there must be some finds out there that fit the criteria. Just wonderin'.
I’ve never experienced it, but I do recall threads where owners of car dealerships would rat hole away a new year model car every year. I’ve never even come across an NOS penny from the HAMB era.
Off the top of my head.... One car meets the criteria.... The Tulsa OK septic tank (time capsule) Plymouth Fury parked brand new in a buried septic tank 1957. That car was ruined by ground water a month after it was buried.
My pops has a very low mile 90’s muscle car he bought new. They are collectible now, but I’m sure the value will go up more.
Urban Legend.... I do believe this has gone around the Hemmings/Hersheys Circles..... Supposedly there was this fellow in rural PA....On his property he had 10-15 1932 Fords of all flavors. The story goes he was a dealer and had to close his dealership in 1932. These "new" cars were locked away in barns and sheds. When asked to sell the old man replied..... " Son, I could not sell those cars when I had too in 1932. After all these years, I don't have to sell them now, so they can sit." Who know if there was any truth to this? This could be like the P40 in the crop duster hanger or the stack of crates full of WWII Jeeps. Just a tale.
I know up here of a bmw dealership that closed down in 86 a brand new M6 a 7 series and a 3 series in the showroom and a bunch of brand new cars parked in the shop Plus the dealership still had all the parts etc in it. like they closed up on a Friday and just never came back. the stuff sat until maybe 5 years ago. no word what happened to any of it. I know it’s not Hamb friendly stuff but a brand spanking new 1986 bmw m6 …… yup I’d be happy being the very first owner of that thing . and the really funny part was the grass was kept cut and the cars where dusted off and cleaned from time to time over the years nothing moved in or out but it was kept up. then everything disappeared , building got sold amd now it’s just and everyday used car dealership with no fanfare or anything about all the new cars that where there.
Back in the sixties my step sister's father in law bought a used car lot in Timmons where he lived which was he intended to start a new car dealership. There were cars on the lot at the time which for some reason he never sold them and were brought back to his barn where they sat till the late eighties. My mother took these pictures while visiting when he finally decided to sell them.
As close a story to what you asked , that I can personally relate. A local Doctor bought a brand new 1955 Belair wagon at the local dealer . He drove it till late 1956, when he backed into something; kinking the driver rear quarter. So he traded it in on a plum and white 1956 Nomad. The head body man named Hal Boltz, buys her ; with intentions of fixing the quarter. He puts it in a rented shed at the dealership . He dies around 1980, having never fixed it. His widow keeps paying the rent, and complains to a friend of mine about the expense. He tells her to just sell it. So he gives me a call, we hookup my trailer and go get it. 14,467 miles on it. It had clear seat covers , that I just had to remove; to sit on those NOS seats. The 265” had 15lbs of compression, so I pulled it. That’s as far as I got back in 1986, so she’s been slumbering since then. Proof is in the pictures…
I knew a guy who bought a brand new mid 80's Buick Grand National and had the dealer leave all the plastic and paper covering on the interior that is normally removed during dealer prep. He trailered it the 10 miles home, and then pushed it into his storage building. It has never been driven. He's a very eccentric guy who has never been married or had kids so he spends his money on whatever he wants. His house is small and plain, but the car building is huge and nice. He has other cool cars (34 3W, 40 Ford PU, 41 Willys Coupe, 60's muscle cars) he's collected over the years that I don't ever see at shows.
I see the fascination, but any of these cars sitting that long end up needing an extensive rebuild to drive reliably again. The stories attached are as good as the cars. Resto crowd being able to document one is great stuff too.
from the web page: This car, a 1916 Model T touring is one of the most fantastic original examples of an early T we have ever seen. Produced on April 27 of 1916 this touring car was delivered to its dealership in Bristol, Tennessee where it was sold to its first owner. Used very seldom and kept inside, it would stay with its original owner, escaping the scrap drives of the early 1930’s and WWII until 1961 when it was sold to George Helms, also of Bristol, Tennessee, where the car would stay in his care until our acquisition a very short time ago. George’s transaction with the original owner is documented with a title from 1961. Every little detail on this car is 100% correct and original. Everything from the riveted windshield base, four rivet style rear fender brackets, three fluted Ford script oil filler cap, correct rear axle with no reinforcing ribs on the backing plates, tapered rear spring and non tapered in the front, may west spring shackles with brass oilers, cast iron end straight pipe muffler and the list continues. Incredibly preserved it even has its original top, original upholstery, original side curtains with original protective storage cardboard, original front rubber Ford script floor mat, original Ford script Champion X spark plugs, and it even has its original cocoa rear carpet. It is just incredible. Upon our acquisition of the car, we put gas in it, checked the fluids and plugs and it started up on the first few cranks on Magneto. It runs and drives great and has lots of power. The engine has great compression as well. This is a fantastically preserved 1916 Model T. The old story of Rip Van Winkle where a man named Rip Van Winkle falls a sleep during the civil war and doesn’t wake up for many years describes this car perfectly, this is a true “Rip Van Winkle” Model T Ford. This car should continue to be preserved and should be shown and displayed as one of the best original Model T’s in existence today.
Back in 1958 or so, a new supermarket was being built in Brunswick, Maine. The owner had a 1954 Corvette that, for some reason, he had bricked into a corner of the store. Around 1986, the building was sold, and his daughter hired some contractors to take down a brick wall to pull the car out. I think it has something like 2900 miles on it. I'd heard the story several times, and had even been in the supermarket: later on I got to know a guy who worked there as a teenager. He recalled that there was a trap door in the office above to get in there to change a light bulb, and even took a peek at it once. Funnily enough, it was one of those stories that never spread beyond the local area until it was removed from the building.
I know (knew) where a nice mid 50s ford was sitting. Small town, guy traveling through had a heart attack or something behind a building and died in the car. A few warm summer days later locals wondered what the deal was and the smell. He was removed and the car was put behind the police station and sat there until at least the 90s. Was a new car at the time. I looked at it a few times wishing I could buy it. It wasnt able to be bought at that time
I recall reading about this (in Hemmings?) when the story broke. Amazes me that people have the financial ability (and desire) to buy a brand new car and salt it away. I'd guess that the most common car ever salted away would be the 1978 Indy 500 pace car Corvette. Must be many dozens of them salted away with little-no mileage. Considered an "investment" at the time. https://www.corvetteblogger.com/202...w-on-display-at-the-national-corvette-museum/
The first “RVW” story is below. Others have also been given the title. “That car was purchased new in 1917 by Oscar Peterson of Center City, Minnesota and driven 5.9 miles from the dealer to Mr. Peterson's homestead and parked in a garage where it sat unused, on jacks, for 20 years. In other words, it "slumbered "for 20 years, like the character Rip Van Winkle in the short story of the same name by Washington Irving, until 1937 when Mr. Peterson died and it was sold at his estate auction to Ford dealer Eugene Princeton. It was still shiny and in new condition at that time. After the estate auction, Eugene Princeton started the car and drove it across the border to his Ford dealership in St. Croix Falls, Wisconsin and subsequently used it for promotional purposes whereupon he gave it the "Rip Van Winkle" moniker because it had "slept" for 20 years as explained above. Unfortunately, Mr. Princeton eventually put the car in poor storage, an open shed, where it suffered deterioration until Twin Citians Norm Nielsen and Gary Hoonsbeen "rescued" it in the 1970s. Norm Nielsen was an early member of the Minnesota Region of the AACA and a friend of my father. I also knew him. I wouldn't doubt it if Norm had known about the car and its whereabouts for many years but kept it a secret until he and Gary brought it out of hiding in the 1970s.”
I read a story a few years back where 2 farmer brothers would pay cash for a new car. One day they went in and bought a brand new 64? Chevy. They drove it home and were unhappy with their purchase and they put it in the barn with like 21 miles on it. It sat their until their deaths and the estate sold it. I tried finding the story but am coming up empty.
Some off-topic experience. My long-time girl-friend bought a new '84 Pontiac Fiero in late 1983. She ended up hating the car and bought a new '85 Dodge pickup. The Fiero accumulated about 30K miles in the first 5 years of it's existence, being used on nice days, and after about 5 years, just sat in the back corner of my shop. I would occasionally start it and move it around, but about 15 years ago, it got pushed way back in the corner and basically forgotten about. She passed away 3 years ago, and about a month ago, I decided I needed to get it going and sell it. To make a long story short, it needed everything; gas tank and lines cleaned out, new brake fluid, radiator drained and flushed, engine and transmission oil and filter changes, a fuel pump, and idle compensator motor (whatever that is), and on top of everything else, the gas gauge doesn't work and the plies had separated on a couple of the (original) tires. I'm getting it going, but it was a long expensive process, and about the only thing I'll gain is a little shop space. This was a car that was prepped for long term storage and kept under good conditions all of the time. Long term storage is not good for any vehicle, and I'm here to prove it.
A bit off topic referring to a late model muscle car here in Australia called the Walkinshaw Group A which was a high performance Holden. A friend had one and he knew of 2 brothers who each bought one and shipped to their house with 17kms on the odometer. Originally they sold for $47000 and now bring over $1 million. Don't know what the brothers did with theirs but that was over 20 years ago.
I worked with Gary Hoonsbeen in the late 1970s, that guy was hard core...I remember seeing him driving his Model T truck on a subzero day in January.
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