I myself love a good barn find story. Here is my question. Why would these cars be put into a barn 50 or 60 years ago. Just to be forgotten about. With all the barn finds as of late I wonder if anyone of you guys have the comlete reason/ story as to why the car/truck was stashed away all so long ago.
A lot of those cars were owned by people on farms a long way from the city. There were no local junk yards or scrap dealers. If you travel to remote parts of the country, you will still see lots of cars in fields. Some in barns. Maybe some of those people had intentions of getting the cars going again one day and just ran out of time.
Time flies. Easy to do, my 54 for example had a fuel pickup issue 3 summers ago. I dropped the tank and have just never got back to it. 3yrs? WTF? it seems like last week I was driving it. Just been busy with other stuff and keep putting off working on it. It happens, especially when you spare room to have something sitting. Maybe I can kidnap Jangleguy and have him get it done and drive it on his trip west ?
The Model A owned by my family has been sitting in the same spot for about 35 years. The barn yard has enough trees growing in it that it might be easier to take the siding off the barn to get it out. I have been into cars since high school but my Dad would not let me do anything to it. He was emotionally attached to all of his stuff. I hope to buy it at some point. It is a 4 door so not the greatest body style. I would like to build a 4 dr fenderless highboy one of these days.
Here in Ks I've found a lot of the time, the farm families used the car for transportation to town on saturday or church on sunday. When the head of the family passed away, usually at an older age, the wife may have driven it but most of the time the cars sat in the garage or barn. The kids are already grown and gone or know it's there and for sentimental reasons or such don't want to disturb it. (we are not all car nuts) The wife or remaining parent goes to a rest home or passes away and it sits some more till a slip of the tongue or someone for some reason goes to the farm with a family member and see's it sitting. (Man I love that moment). I have purchased a few old cars here and I always make sure I treat the owners just like it was my parents car. I wish cars could talk, man the stories!! Lippy
A lot of it comes from the way people were borught up. Especially in hard times. The never throw anything out syndrom was born and breed into a lot of people espcially rural folks. Plus the more room you have to store stuff, the more stuff you store.
Granted not hamb approved but the story holds true.....sitting a half mile from me is a big block 67 dodge coronet...ive asked about it for over 15 years...it was the homeowners sons car who bought it knew and later died in an accident. Its their way of memorializing their son, cant really argue or haggle with that...both of my project trucks were abandoned by the owners in the fifties but years had to go bye before the shop owners could claim them and then turn them over to me. I dont know.
Not hamb style car but... - I found an early 70's muscle car that had been put in a barn after only a couple years on the road,-- the owner got married and his wife couldn't drive a 4 speed so he purchased her a family car, then found he needed a truck for work use, and made those famous "plans" to revive the muscle car at a later date ...... (I purchased the car 27 years later and appreciate that he never got around to his "plans".)
I'm in the Boonies and that's so true. And out here just having "stuff" is important, even if it's junk. Be surprised how many highly educated people are that way.
My caddy was last driven in 1977, when it dropped a valve on the small port siamesed exhaust. No other damage but the valve and piston top. Got some 390 heads, new pistons, and will be rolling it this month.
I could've been guilty. It's easy to do if you have enough space, especially if you're a car guy. In the mid/late 70's, they were easy to find. In 4 years I collected 40 cars "to restore" from rural San Diego county Indian reservations. Not crap, some very cool cars. 3/4 of them where HAMB friendly. Over 14 years including the 4 years of collecting, I restored or semi-restored 10 of these cars. When I moved to Oregon 19 years ago, I brought 6 project cars with me. Out of those, I restored one and sold the rest during some hard times. This leaves 24 cars that I never did anything with. Before moving to Oregon, I sold them cheap to people that I thought would "do something" with them and a few I sold very cheap to good friends. Had I stayed in Calif, they would all still be in my possesion along with anymore cars I found. I would've ended up being the 90 year old guy with a 100 cars that "I'm restoring" Now, finances and space keep me limited to 1 or 2 projects. ~Mark
Frustration, and I can relate. I just spent two days chasing down ignition problems that resulted from a bad coil and a set of points - both brand new parts, just out of the box. I can see how someone who didn't know how to diagnose problems would give up and park it "for now".
I have a 57 chevy 150 2dr, that's been sitting in the back of my barn for 10 years. I've had a half dozen 57s since I parked it there, I'm just not ready to finish it yet.
In many cases it is not unusual to see a chevy or a Ford family have a car out in the field representing each decade or so. When the 1954 chevy broke or finally got to tired to trust, they would park it right next to the 1936 chevy it replaced which would be sitting right next to the 1922 chevy the 1936 replaced. People kept them because back in the old days you used to have to PAY to have scrap hauled off. Besides, you might need a part off of one of them someday. The ones in plain sight would get asked about and bought. The ones lucky enough to be shoved in a barn could not be seen and were not asked about for decades. Until they were found and declared a "barn find"
The plates expired on my T eleven years ago, it's in the corner of the garage and if you look close through the stuff packed in and around it you can see it. It would take a half day to move stuff out to get it outside. Then there is the cost of plates, insurance, four tires to be safe plus whatever it needs to be mobil again. Easier to let it sit, I don't think I'm the only member of that club.
Alot of guys built cars then went to Vietnam never to come back home and the parents held on to the car as a reminder. Now those parents are starting to die off and here come the cars. This only accounts for some though.
this one got parked 69 when he bought a new car. and before the merc he had a 40 ford that he parked when he bought the 2yr old merc.
Bought a 55 short box gmc pu out of a field in 92 for 25 bucks. License plate was 59. They couldn't make it run and was to far to haul it to town. Hot wire for ignition was shorted to the firewall. 28 Dodge phaeton in 71 with 4,000 miles setting covered in barn. tires flat but unmolested. Owners wife wouldn't ride in it in winter as it had no top or windows. They replaced it with a 29 Ford sedan. Owner said he had never thought to open the big trunk on the back. It contained the top and side curtains. Decided not to sell. 60 fuel Vette Hardtop but windows down in chicken coop in 63. Owner scared to drive it after trip through the ditch.Coop still in use then and still is as far as I know. Owner wanted and wants unobtainium amount for it. In the chicken dewky over the rockers a couple years ago. My 79 Wellcraft XL Hasn't been wet since 82. Not tagged since 01. But Istill like going out and fireing it up ocassionaly and looking at it. Don't owe me anything so why not.
Almost HAMB material ... but not quite This 66 GTO was parked in 1976 or so. The automatic transmission died and the owner had other cars ... so it was parked. He still owns it ( inside storage ) and says that ONE Day it will be restored It his case, marriage, a child , a few out of state jobs and NOW a new business venture has all gotten in the way of restoration. I imagine the GTO owner will see this ... as he lurks here
My 55 sunliner was parked because dad needed a larger car and a dealer offered him 50 dollars off as a trade in so in the garage it sat,it was kept running those 30 years untill he died than I started to work on it as the rust did not stop sitting in the garage.
I built a 1935 Ford pickup from the frame up, 350/350, 3 deuces, A/C, dashboard operated cutouts, Truck appears stock except dual exhaust original wheels drove it 5 years, replaced the engine with a crate motor decided to replace the steering box with a 37-48 unit but didnt want to pull the engine again so soon after putting it in, been sitting 11 years now
My dad's cousin parked the old farm pickup when the modern V/8 ford pickups came out....were a lot easier and safer to drive with hydraulic brakes......the ol girl sat for 40 years in the barn. ONe day my dad made his cousin an offer for it as long as it was restored and not rodded and stayed in the family. After all, it'd been in the family since it was a brand new 1930 ford pickup. My dad complied and the little truck was restored in my dad's shop....given to me when he died and promptly stolen...
The car I bought a 47 chevy was repainted in the early 70's and about 2 years later the owner died. His son not much into cars but with the memories of riding with his dad stuffed it into a shed out back on the farm. It sat there until a month ago when the son died and it was picked up at an estate sale. The man that got the find saw something else he wanted more and I just happened to be browsing craigslist and found it. I pulled the thermostat and wow.....an original 47 thermostat with all 7 discs resided inside. The car is completely original and never left because of sentimental reasons. Had the son had a son it would probably still be there.
Maybe this wouldn't apply to HAMB-specific cars, but a lot of 50's and 60's cars were parked in the '71 to about '75 time frame because of gas prices. Dealers didn't want them on trade-in, you couldn't give them away. My old man bought quite a few choice Mopars for short money, because his friends and co-workers couldn't afford to feed their musclecars anymore.
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