I bought my 32 from a lady that had Alzheimer's. Seriously. Her husband had the car in a barn and had pulled the heads off for some unknown reason and the family just piled junk all over it. It took us about 4 hours to clear the junk to get the car out. He died in 1990, the wife was erratic because of her illness. The daughter who took care of her decided to sell. The only reason the old woman sold it to me was she thought I was someone she knew. Don't worry, she knew what it was worth.....well at least in 1990 prices.
Nother long story: 1949, a 1929 roadster with 42,000 miles was put into a packing shed in Colo. a short distance from my grandmothers house. We found the car in 1962 and ask if was for sale? The lady said yes but some guys had left her a deposit on it and if they didn't return, she would let me know. A year later, she called and we towed that car back to Az. with a double ball hitch and my 64 Chevy 409 SS at about 70 mph (stupid HS kids). We are the 2nd owners of the car. Dying word from my Dad was to save the car for his Grandson. At age 30, I gave him the car which is still in his garage with 46,000 original miles on it. It is the only car I have ever had that I know the Total history on from Production date and place to today. Want the whole story? Either call me (602)942-3124 or E-Mail ([email protected]) and get the whole story. And "Yes" it is "For Sale" Not cheap, but for sale. Am working to get all the picts of it together.
Swamp Yankees. Old cantankerous coots up here in New England who buy things and refuse to sell them. My buddy's uncle was one of them. He passed on, and they're selling off some of the estate. I got a 72 F-100 that the guy bought in 1984, drove around for 12 days on a temporary plate and then parked it (wicked nice shape!). Lots of other cool shit up there too. I never bothered starting a thread out of respect for the family, but OMG, some nice shit. Pardon my Francais.
Some people don't throw anything away. Depression era, farmers with space, hoarders. Don't ask why, just be glad they do.
A lot of these cars were parked cause they had a problem, major then, minor today, but they were GOAN fix it SOON, then it was one day soon, and then it was when I get around to it, They never got a (roundtoit) They are available, you can get then on the HAMB Board, some times for free. But life gets in the way of things you want to do, and if you don't have to climb over it every time you go out side or its in the barn, and seldom seen, well its gets forgotten. We are car guys, we wonder how you can forget, but there not car guys. My 3 cents. Iceman
Another non-HAMB friendly car (two if you look REAL close) that was in my Dad's garage. Euro 350sl roadster sat outside for 10 years, then he put it in the garage for the next 7. It's in my garage now and I got it running again. No small feat considering it has Bosch D-jetronic injection. Oh, all because of a bad ballast resistor that he refused to pay the outrageous sum of $20 for....
Life gets in the way. I still have my daughter's 65 Chevelle SS hardtop half finished. I have all the parts to finish it. She has my 27 T tub, so she is happy. She bought her 65 when she was 16. She is now 35 and I haven't finished it yet. Really too new to get my interest up. I will finish it though, just because. Pat.
in 1996 right outta high school I had an 81 Camaro. I promptly blew the motor on it. Well the Chicago DMV lost my title and it was a pain to get another one. I couldnt sell it or scrap it without one. My dad lived on an old farm near Iowa. I towed it out there pushed it into a barn and left. My dad since moved and the place has been abandoned for 10 years. Its 15 miles fro the next closest house. Who know 50 years from now an 81 camaro will be a sweet barn find.
When I was a kid in Montana in the 50's, it was not uncommon to drive by ranches and to see virtually every vehicle the rancher ever owned parked behind the barn or in the yard (I can only wonder what was considered good enough to park in the barn!). Back in that era, older cars had little resale value and when one would develop mechanical problems, the rancher would simply park the old one out of the way and go to town and buy a new car. He would drive it until it started to break down and repeat the process. I recall see a lot of 20's and 30's Fords and Chevys. Road salt was never used in the winter in Montana and the Dakotas, so they were truely vintage tin. Also, I suspect many were located far enough away from towns with scrap metal buyers that it wasn't practical to haul them away during the WWII scrap drives.
A couple of us GMBs know the whereabouts of this barn find gem. The old timer won't sell it because his wife wants him to restore it. I think it's going to sit in this barn until one or both of them pass away.
I put a car in my garden shed about 15 years ago and just got it back out last week. It was missing a critical part, a rountuit. the wife would say "when are you going to work on that car", I'd tell her "when I get a rountuit". Kurt O. (ducking and hiding)
Well said, RatFink. I wish I had a dollar for every time some guy tried to get my '38 for a song ("Hey, it's just an old car. Don't you want me to get it outta yer way???") Right
Mine was a farm truck, it served its pupose for many years up till about 1983, when the old guy bought a newer used chevy truck to put to work on the farm...And the 49 sat in the barn until I pulled it out 20 some years later. Thats how it often is on a farm, these old trucks are viewed as machinery, and there is no shortage of space on a farm to store old machinery...luckily mine sat in the barn instead of in a hedge row as alot of them do!
Found this in a windowless garage in South Minneapolis. Les, the owner, bought it new as a young engineer for Univac, to drive up and down river road with his wife. When she died 28 years ago, he parked it because it reminded him of her, (and he was really too tall for it...) and it sat untouched....with 5200 miles on the odo. When Les was going to move into a seniors residence, he sold it to me. The lip-stick stained cigarette butts his wife had snuffed out in the ashtray 28 years before were still there. I fixed it up and asked him to meet me at a Stude show. A friend brought the 84 year old guy. I put him back in the driver's seat. That sucker drove it like he stole it! I took home a trophy....and gave it to Les.
Yep, I've got one very much like that spied as well. Neighbor to my wife's pop. The old man died years ago and the old lady says she's keeping it (thinks it worth a fortune) and maybe give it to the kids when she's gone. These 'kids' are all grown derelicts who don't give a shit about old cars, just drive modern junkers to cash their welfare checks and score some dope. It's a complete driveable model A coupe that will get torn to shreds once those 'kids' get their hands on it! Sad
I know of an older man who had a daughter that died of cancer. She had a mint 70 Torino GT that he shoved into a shed when she passed. It is still there all these years later. He also has a 67 T-bird 4 door that has 6000 miles that he shoved into a shed because he got a few hail dents and was waiting for the insurance guys to come. By the time they did, the battery was dead and he had enough money so he just went out and bought a new one. Sometimes the reasons are good and sometimes they just don't make sense.
Still the case up in the Montana hi-line, my previous 51 pontiac 2dr post came off a ranch up there and was parked for brake work in the early 70's. My 52 hardtop came from off another ranch 150 miles from the first. Around Montana alot of the 30's stuff, if the motor still ran, were converted to irrigation motors, feed pushers, air pumps, etc. If it didn't run the chassis and/or axles were harvested for buck wagons and trailers. IN the barn? Only tractors and equipment go IN the barn.
I know a guy younger than me (i'm 54) who has a least 10-12 60's & 70's Mopars. Not crappers but a 70 440 Challenger, 2 300 Hurst, a 300 convert and so on. All need a resto but he doesn't have the knowledge to do it himself, no money,less ambition and has them stashed in barns out in the country. Gets close to selling once and awhile, but when it comes down to brass tacks, he refuses to sell them even for stupid big bucks. Truly a classic hoarder. I've met many of them over the years be he is the youngest so far. I'm sure he will die with them and they will be sold off then.
As some have mentioned here--some of the cars we currently have will be garage finds someday-our black 55 that we have had for 34 years will never be sold as long as I am alive and I don't think my wife will sell it either, unless she gets really in need of funds-we only have about $12K in the car and drove it for many years, many good memories--so some day it will be one of these garage finds too--as others have also mentioned, many of our kids don't have any interest in these so they will just sell them when we go-I'm sure this is more prominent than we realize.
I bought 2 barn finds this year. Both '59 Edsels. The first one was parked because the engine blew up. The second one I've only had for 3 days, so I haven't figured it out yet. Both were in the barn for 30+ years. The second one had a large tree growing in front of the door. The best part is when you get that barn find running and driving. There's nothing like being the first person to drive a car in 30 years.
Race cars are have a limited time when they will be compettitive. When that time runs out, you can try to bring it up to date, but more often, new technology exists that makes it more desireable to just start over. If space exists, the car gets pushed out of the way, if not it gets scrapped. Hot rods, especially those built by kids often go out of favor when a career, raising a family, etc. get it the way. Again, some simply move on and scrap them. Others have the idea they can get back to it someday in the future. Of course, if all of the old race cars and hot rods, etc, were kept in barns, and not scrapped, there would be nothing to make them special. The rarity makes it a wonderful thing.
This car has been in my family since 69 when my brother bought it for $700.00 at an auction most of his kids used it for high school drags, but when the fuel injection started to give him trouble he parked it in a number of garages and finally in a barn. Where it sat until he passed away. We almost lost it cuz of my sister n laws knowledge of cars, and a couple of unscrupulous fellows. I now have it in my care for my nephew. for when he is ready, I'll keep it safe...John
A few years back a friend of the families stumbled upon a '51 Cusso in a barn in the back blocks of NZ. He managed to buy it for next to nothing from the old man who owned it since new, threw a battery in it, some fresh fuel, air in the tyres and drove it home, chicken shit and all. Turns out the old guy bought it for his wife as a birthday surprise, and parked it in the barn so she wouldn't see it. Unfortunately, she never came home that night from doing the monthly shop in town, being killed in a freak car accident on the way home. The old man said that he just couldn't bring himself to even look at the car, let alone drive it, so it just sat there. With no kids, there was no-one to pass it on to. Due to ill health, he was forced to give up farming and was due to leave the property the next day to relocate to an aged care facility. He was just going to leave it there for the new owner of the farm. My mate was quite happy to discover it had less than 100 miles on the clock. So it does happen .... for whatever reason.
Hoarders,i met a old man that showed me his barn it was packed with everything,he had a broom stick with at least 40 model a dashes on it,7 or 8 34 ford grill shells hanging on the wall(i was looking for a grill shell for my 34)32 ford roadsters,coupes,flatheads,ardun heads!,everything imaginable,i asked if he would sell me one of his shells he said oh no,none of this stuff is for sale,i just wanted to show ya what i collected over the years,but i do have a shell outside in the weeds i will sell ya for 100.00,the entire bottom was gone and the bars missing,i asked him was this a joke?,he said no your just building a hot rod,,he hated hot rods only antiques he loved,,,,from that day on i was restoring whatever i had not hotrodding it,,last i knew the oldtimer was still alive and kicking,his kids should have a field day,,
I'm guilty of stashing stuff away, in 1956 stashed my Schwinn Phantom bicycle in the garage, in 1994 sashed my motorcycle away in garage and they'll probiably be there when I die.
my father-in-law passed away with 23 mustangs in his garage,barns and out behind some of the barns-he just didnt get to get back to them after all the kids/grand kids,etc,etc
The Jalopy Journal
