History Looking for cars in barns stories!

http://jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=300942

Here is mine and use the link within the post too see how it started.

 

Kerry, I have to MOVE to Arizona! LOL

 

Oh, BTW, that Stude Tourer was a 1923 -- near-pristine, dude. Holy! I'd have loved to have had it. Would have been pretty EASY to restore (with some elbow grease & basics).

 

HotrodRon, YOU are one dedicated & talented rodder! What an entertaining thread. I was especially enthralled by the FRAME work!!!

Not only is the car something to be proud of, it's a tribute to the man behind it. Hotrodding doesn't die, it just keeps getting better!

 

Here is my barn find from last year:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTn-ebm2K3E

My avatar is my barn find from this year.

 

I recently completed a book "Grumpys Toys" that will be available January 15th through CarTech. Being a good part of the book centers on non HAMB friendly cars, I did ask for stories, info and photos on numerous other boards.
Though Im glad very few contributors asked to see photos, the ones that did were sent a PM stipualting that if a photo was sent, they not post them online. Each person gave me their word and as far as I know, they have stuck to it. Just fair business in my opinion. Scratch my back and I'll scratch yours.
On that note, I am looking for photos and stories of 1960's stockers for my next project.

 

74 GTO's are pretty rare in their own right. I see SD-455 on the Fenders. I know they only came with a 350 but if someone had a real SD in there you hit pay dirt !!

 

Some pretty cool stories in this thread, but seems to me like the original poster is full of shit.

Then again, stranger things have happened...

 

This `28 A was less than two miles from my house. My buddy helped this old man move his boat out of the bank barn to sell it and he spotted the car. I bought it, aired up the tires and pressure washed the dust off.
Came with a California title too.
You just never know..

 

^ Too cool!

 

Here's a story I wrote about an old car museum that had been closed for like 50 years full of dusty but amazingly preserved cars. I posted about this here once before, but there are a lot more pictures now.

Click right here for the lost car museum story.

There was some really incredible stuff in there.

 

so, you just walked up to the place, opened the door and took a look, well all I can say is you're lucky it wasn't my place

 

OK not a barn but a shed and not American but British................
Went to a "place" to buy a wood boat asked the owner if he had a tape measure, he said sure and opened up this shed only to find this MG coupe that had been sitting since the '60z. Still there sittin!

 

My car had been in a garage in a collector's possesion for 40 years, does that qualify as a barn find? Myself and many others new about the car for years maybe decades, but I had the cash when it became for sale.

 

I've had moments where I shouldn't have come back the next day. After a few of those I've had many more moments of canceling other plans and calling AAA that instant and staying with whatever deal it is till it's unloaded at home.

 

Gluefoot told me about this place, we came across it yesterday and we will be going back to talk to the guy and try and get permission to have a look at the rest of his stash.

 

This one I found in a barn about 17 years ago. It was stored with a bunch of horse drawn sleighs he had stashed in there.
The car was out of Minnesota way back when, then lived in Connecticuit for about 10 years, then it found me.
It's been a restored stocker, hot rodded at some point, then burned up from a blower backfire, then fixed up for another chace at life.

It been a fun ride for us!

 

Found this one about twenty years ago, moved it to my garage... it's still sitting there

 

Dug this one out of my uncle's barn in 2002!

 

.



Bumping this old thread for any new "Barn Finds"...


Lets see them!



.

 

Here is how I found my 57 wagon, not as packed in as Dave's Nomad, front, back and DR's side has all the clutter around the car so I just walked on all the junk. It was in a garage on an old closed pig farm near Pembroke ON.

 

Heres a few I played a part in

Here is Tony's '63 Impala 409. This was my uncles project before he died, it spent 21 years in the dark.






I got this one a few years back, it sat in this barn since 1946. It sat in another barn before that.

 

I was just out of the service thumbing through the classifieds when an add that said old chevy some how caught my eye. The lady didnt know the year or even if it ran but I had that thousand dollars in my hand. It was way back in the corner of this old ramshackle barn with 30 years of dust and dirt on that old army tarp. I pulled the cover back and boy was I pissed it was a 81 chevy chevette..... Thats about my luck when people tell me about an old car, turns out to be a pos. But I always go amd look cause you never know when that special one will turn up.

I never was in the service....

 

I'm only the 3rd owner of my 35 Chevy. I bought it from a fellow who bought it off the original owners. He pestered them for years until they finally gave in and sold it to him. He stripped the car down and that's when I came into the picture. By then it had been sitting for years, last registered around 1969?. My 46 Olds is similar, it came into Australia in 1990 and has been sitting in sheds over 20yrs before I came along and bought it. Last registered in Texas in 1967. By then it had 2 x previous Australian owners and the car hadn't been touched in all the at time. Still a work in progress but that's another story.

 

Was this book ever published?

 

Hi all !

Here is my french contribution for your thread

A few years ago, in the french campain, close to bordeaux, my cousin told me about a car he knew when he was younger, a pontiac !
In the begining of the 80s, that was unforgettable to see that kind of car here on our very small roads... for remind, usual cars at this moment were renault 4, small peugeot....

As that man was still alive and not living so far from my house (around 5 km), we decided to try to meet him, at least to share cars experiences !

That has been possible, meeting has been arranged by my cousin and we went in the begining of an afternoon...

We met a very nice american man, after many stories about his life in Chicago, his differents jobs here and there, the fantactics cars he owned in the past, he finally guest to see the pontiac wich was still here waiting into the barn





It appears that was a 68 convertible catalina, I bought as a new car and brought in Europe in the 70s while he was working as american diplomat.

The car was in amazing shape ! Here the climat is far from So cal climat, oldies are usually so rusty....

After a long and great moment talking about cars and especially about that one, I finally guest to buy it, to put it back on the road before the time wins on the mecanic

So disapointed, he explains to me that this car is like a baby for him, he has a lot of memories with it and he has definitly enought money, he didn't want to sell his car (he is 85 at this moment).

Anyway, that's is life rules, you can't allways get what you are looking for, we continue talking, that was a really great meeting !

After a few hours talking, we finally decided to leave this nice guy and go back home. While escorting us to the gate, he saw my yellow beetle (my daily driver at this moment) and falled in love for it, so we stayed a long time talking again about all the job which has been done on it, the ways which has been followed to make good quality job....

Well, we finally leave the place, happy about the meeting, even if no car

The story got an incredible turn a few weeks later as he took contact with me, after thinking about our meeting, and due to the good feeling he had with me, he finally agreed the car could become my property.... But as he still didn't need money, the deal was to give me the car for free to retore it and bring it back to the road....

To save your time and your brain trying to understand my language, I will forget the details about the pick-up, the travel back with my new big package... As my garage was not complete, I had to park the pontiac in my mother's garage while I prepare the place at home....

here some pics







after a fast washing:







2 years later, when everything has been ready to bring the car in my garage, I started as #1 priority to retore all the drivetrains, the engine, everything except the body job, to put the car on the road quickly. The reason is simple, the scope was to show to my american new friend the car back and drivable.... what has been done few month later, there is approximatively 1 year now !



That was another great moment, I didn't inform him about the car I will use this day, as we keep contact since he gave me the car, he was not supposed to see me different this day....

Here most pics of the car as it is now, I still have as project to make it a bit lower from the front, but I have to finish my house before wich has been post-pone during I was working on the car





For your information, the catalina was not available in France and today it could still be a problem to get title for it.... but this one had a french "diplomatic" title in 1972 so that helped me so much....

Untill now, it's still the only one I know in France

Well, congratulations, for still reading my story, I hope it was not too boring and my english not too bad

 

heretic, love the story. and the car!! i used to hate those cars but now im wantin one BAD.youve done good with that old girl.cruisin the french countryside in a v8 american convertible, man what more could you want!!!!!

 

I just found this labor day weekend, it had been in storage for years. A one off 1961 Cadillac Eldoardo factory custom.

 

A regret of mine: in the mid-90s I went to look at a car that was in the classifieds. It was a '37 Dodge 4dr parked in a chicken house. Covered in piegon droppings, it was just a little dusty inside, good upholestry, no bad rust, all the trim. Guy wanted $1000. Back then I was still living at home and had money, but I didn't go for it. I would have gotten well over $1k worth of fun out of it, no matter what I did.

Last year my father happened upon a barn full of Cadillacs (maybe 6 of 'em) from the mid-60s to the mid-70s. Convertibles. Guy bought them up in the late 70s as an invetsment when it looked like there would never be another new droptop. But, they were never maintained and the dirt floor/humidity ate 'em. The owner started seeing dollar signs about the same time that my Dad started seeing the bottoms of the fenders...most of them met the crusher.

The only real barn find that I grabbed is O/T, a 70s IH pickup that was parked one day when it wouldn't start and forgotten about, tucked in behind a combine. To this day I don't think the previous owner can believe that I really wanted it! Of every vehicle I've ever owned I don't think anyone makes me happier to drive than that old 6cyl/3spd truck.

One lesson for everyone: if you see it, ASK. Lesson two: EVERYTHING is for sale. Stack the Benjamins high enough and it will be yours, no matter what they tell you.