I know of a 54 Ford convert, mild custom, that's been in a garage since the early 60's. The son drowned and dad wouldn't part with the car. Now dad has died but the brothers/sisters won't consider selling it either.
I've come across most of reasons given. I also find that for some guys its a financial issue. You can't afford to fix it, but you don't want to let it go either. I've seen cars sit for a decade for someone to hope their situation improves or they get more time. Usually along the way bad health sets in and they sit for another 10 until the person passes away. Barn finds that sat 20 years are along the same lines as a guy with 5-6 active "projects" but is perpetually broke.
Some times people have their cars for sell and people don'twant to pay what they want for it so it goes out in the feild or barn. Hell they are payed for and they are not eating anything so they set. Then their are parents that have lost their kids in war or car crash ect.. that don't want to let their kids stuff go and it sets. Some want to be reminded of their hayday. This is what I havefound in talking to alot of farmers and hill folks. But all will tell a story if you will just talk to them and listen. And some times you get to know them they will sell it to you.
I doubt anyone forgets about a car on purpose, time and priorities just get in the way. I bet at one time the owner of the “barn find” liked, or even loved the car and wanted to enjoy it but, for some reason could or would not, so it sits. I am sure all of us have in our possession something of value that we have stashed away. It may or may not be “forgotten” but we value it none the less and would miss it if it disappeared. Then one day you bump your head on a plane ride and wake up dead and I bet Billy Mays had plans for his “barn find” maybe it wasn’t a 32 ford or 55 chevy but I bet he had something in the wings waiting for its time. Fast forward 30 years and Mrs. Mays is running low on oxy-clean residuals and she remembers the car Billy put away for retirement, voila! barn find.
The kid who built my Essex back in 1978 had a '67 Plymouth Belvedere II 2-door hardtop as a daily driver. It was done up as a typical late 70's street machine...Cragars, hood scoop, lifted in the rear end, etc. In 1988 he decided to restore the Plymouth and turn it into a GTX clone. He didn't have the room to have both cars at once, so he parked the Essex in a storage shed, threw a cover over it, and left it there. 20 years later I moved back to the area and ran into him. He offers the Essex to me at a steal of a price, so now it's mine. He had a few people show interest in buying the truck from him over the years, but he wanted it to go to someone who would appreciate it. I'm glad he did that. I got to drive it back in '79, and it was the first hotrod I ever got to drive. You always remember your first. This is the Plymouth in 1979... This is the Essex in the storage shed the day I picked it up... This is the pair of them in 2008, together for the first time in over 20 years...
Bought my '64 GP in '86. It had sat behind a closed gas station/house combo- inspection sticker said the last time it was on the road was 1971. I drove it about 4 weeks in '89 (not getting it inspected) and it's been in my 'barn' ever since then. Other projects came in front of it, plus as a low-mileage/hi-option 1st car, I have always wanted it to be 'factory perfect', but I've not yet accumulated the funds to start that process (looking at college bills in 3 years!). At this point, it's 1/2 price (at least) to buy one done already, so I've toyed with putting her on the block...
When I was going to collage in Yakima, Washinton in 1968, I was renting an apartment in a home in a residential neighborhood. Across the street under the eaves of a big old 20s house sat a premo 29 A 2dr sedan. I finaly got the nerve to ask if it could be bought. The old man who answered the door said no. It was his sons who was in the service and he was going restore it when he go home. I said thanks and went about my business. I found out later from my landlord that the old man's son was a casualty of the Korean War but was still waiting for him to come home. I'm sure that the old man passed years ago. As for the car; who knows?
I'm thinking as time goes on "Barn Finds" will be few and far between. the days of getting a good job and buying a home where you live til you die are gone. fuck... you can't even get a job with GM and stay til you retire these days... the world is a changin', and not for the better. divorce, companies going under and fucked up buyouts that toss the workers into the shitter are the norm now. I know a guy who's job it is is to find businesses to buy and "part out" with no thought of the people who work there. new homes here in the S.F. bay area do not have a place to keep extra vehicles. pick yer part is full of cars towed off the streets. many still with parking tickets on the windshield. I have a 1970 BMW R/75/5 that my best buddy owned. he passed in 1993. I'm never going to sell this bike, I knew this guy since I was 12 years old.... and there's a good chance I'll never get it insured and back on the road again. so in 2050 when I die at age 90 it will become a "barn find" for someone who hasn't even been born yet. if something comes up where I can't store it anymore I'll stick it in my brothers barn. that's how I got it figured anyways
Why ??? Is it that hard to figure out? Mostly because old cars (stockers) were expensive almost a years ... Plus salary back in the day .. So when it lost its usefullness it still was a investment .. "dammit i got 10 months of wages in that car and i'm a gonna keep it ..use it around here for a whille then the gas goes bad the starter craps out .. Blah blah blah may seem silly to kids in the burbs but old farmeres and their kids were usally the ones that had money saved up ... From working so hard all the timeand bein frugal and they were good at keepin some machinery runnin albiet not the right way sometimes... They were very mcgiverish and the barns were pretty safe and dry places . For a few years anyway..besides most old barns have plenty of room now that the cows and the horses and the chickens are gone and parents awlays had room for the kids and the grandparents stuff after the moved away to town .. Furniture , hotrods , cycles , boats, ol trucks and so on thats why the ol farm stead/ barns and buildings were saved except for the land .. So the family have something to come home to.. Holidays and such rural life has changed alot in the last 20-35 years . Then people get old................. Our current throw away soceity makes these preserved items seem so odd example do you still have your first? .. Cell phone ,wallet, radio ,clothes- books ,magazines from your high school days .. Probably not the farm auctions i attend they saved every thing from old magazines to cool whip bowls to every rusty tool , nut , nail ,broken hinge, wire , wooden box . Couple hundred fruit jars etc .. Cuz it may come in handy some day .. And its paid for and it can be reused thank goodness some have done what they do "their kooks" maybe ...but there are way more hotrods now than ever before thanks for lettin us play with your ol toys you took care of for so long
not to mention that all the barns are being dozed. Farm land is prime land for devloping. and all the old time farmers are dying off. kinda sucks
I Bought my 51 F1 panel in 81 put @8-9k into it Volaire frt 351c fmx nwrd 9" Been set in ever Since, bought,57 chvy 2 dr wagon project in 82 setin evr since, traded 2 days work 4 a org 40 chevy sedan in 84, set in ever since, fell into several 57 -59 chevy trks in 86, all projects setin ever since. Started raising a family fell into a couple muscle cars (stangs, Monte) got them about 85% set in also , Always said I was planing my Retirement.After 28 yrs of working hard. I Disable my self. Now I set at this computer trying to figure out a way of Completing all of these on a DIME. But would I sell them. Not a chance this as been my Hobby since I was ?? 14-15. I believe a person should have integerity and don't give up on them plans. Anybody that truly knows me would say thats was 1 of the things he was really all about. I'm fortunate enough to have a place to put them all inside and trully believe that 1 day I will get to everyone of those. Or I will Die trying. They will be able to say I died a happy Man.
Not quite o/t. The rolling 45 frame that i got out of a bodyshops attic was a project that never came to be. It was in the attic foraround 25 years and setting in a pasture against a tree for 10 years before that.then it set in my barn for 25 years got it on the road last thanksgiving. Time has a way of moving on.
Cars can sit longer out of sight in barns or sheds. If you can't see them from the road people don't stop and try to buy them. Reasons why they would be parked in barns? That's where I'd store a car if I had a farm....
My Falcon sat in a barn since 1993 and I bought it in 2008. The previous owner drove it to Minnesota from California, and was a druggie. IT appears his mind was so messed up he could not drive any more so it was parked in his brothers barn. His brother got tired of looking at it and sold it to me. When I bought the car the previous owner could hardly sign his name to the title. Now the Falcon has sat in my barn while I finish the 54F100 project, put a new motor in my Surburban, make a living ect. jim h
My '48 Dodge pickup has been sitting for a long time now - got married, bought a house, lost a few jobs, playing catchup with finances so no money for the truck. When I have had time (laid off, out of work) I have had no money for hobbies. Now I am working two jobs to pay off debts and have no time. This is sometimes where things go awry with projects.
mine would be placed under "life gets in the way"....wife , kids, move back home.the 2005 purchase and the 2007 "it'll be on the road for sure" guestimate don't quite add up....may suck for the project or intended plan, but what can you do?
My A was pushed in the barn in 1953 when the engine locked up. The guy was going to fix it, then restore it. At 70 years old was diagnosed with terminal cancer. I had an add in the paper looking for model a parts. He called me and asked if I would be interested in the whole car. The guy I bought it from passed last fall. Had the car for 50plus years and never did anything with it. I never want to be that guy.
As said above, sometimes life just gets in the way. For a lot of us older folks, our parents are going or gone and the old estates are being cleaned out. Many "kids" have no sentimental attachment to stuff their parents or grandparents kept. For me, I'm finally getting around to having the '56 Fairlane I bought in '68 while in school restored. My son and I recovered it in the summer of '07. It sat not IN the barn, but BEHIND it at the old farm for 39 years. All my kids are are their own and I've been blessed with steady employment & good health so now have the $$$ for the car. I think a lot of other folks keep their rides with hopes and dreams of someday being able to bring them back too. Unfortunately, some aren't able to do so.
Sometimes the car represents a vain hope. My Edsel was parked in 2001 when when a family member took ill and couldn't drive anymore. His son brought it home, where it just sat there under a tree. The whole time, they didn't want to get rid of it, since it's "Mike's" car. They didn't have the knowledge or inclination to keep up with it either, so there it sat. If I hadn't have come back from California and seen the thing, it would probably have been there for the next 20 years. I only got it because I was going to keep it in the family.
Time passes. my folks lived on the same farm from 1957 until last spring. My dad wouldnt sell any thing never traded in a old car tractor etc. Also he attended farm auctions regularly. And if he went he would buy if he thought it was a bargain(even when he didnt need it He thought he might someday) . So now there is a large amout of old tractors cars equiptment ect. ect. ect. on my parents farm. I would like to get some of it. But my parents now in their eighties are in the nursing home. The children 7 of us dont get along so the stuff just sits. Other family members are constantly uncovering exhaust and doing other stupid things because they are greedy jealous assholes. My dads folks lived to be over 100 years old. So it is highly likely that all of this old stuff wont get sold at a estate sale for another 10 or 15 years. it cost $7, 000 a month for the nursing home so the 144 acre farm will have a large DHS lien on it when it finally sell,s. OldWolf
I gotta walk past MY OWN DAD'S tiny one car garage all the time behind his house that covers a rock stock low mileage '33 plymouth sedan!!! He bought that sedan in '70 for $400.00. He drove it for about 6 months and I was born in '71 and he never drove it since!!! He towed it from house to house whenever the family moved. I had to grow up this whole time wanting to do SOMETHING with that car. He won't let me. I own a restoration shop for god sakes.... We actually got in a fight about it once when I told him I was gonna take it to the shop and get it running while he was on vacation. He said: "Whatever you do to that car you better remember...IT'S MINE NOT YOURS!!" I told him he was a fool for never doing anything with it and there it sits. To this day. My brother will probably get it and sell it for some quick cash when Dad passes. Oh well..........
Mine was in storage since 1968.The owner passed away and the family didn't pay the storage fee's,so the owner of the storage lien sold it.Mine might be a barnfind someday for someone one day.It's on hold,because I'm not working right now.
My daily driver is a 1994 Impala SS. It is heavily modified for road racing and is a modern day hot rod. It is getting old and will leave daily driver status in the future. I really like the car and dont plan to sell it. But, I do plan to park it and stop driving it. My plan is to put it in my barn and cover it up for the next generation or maybe rebuild it when I retire in about 15-20 years. Mike
My Dad has a '57 4-door bel-air that has been sitting for 18 years. He has owned it since he was 16. He refused to give it up. He's going to "Fix it up" as soon as he gets some $$. At least it's semi-indoors. but still getting some serious surface rust. I think I may finally get it as soon as my new shop is finished next summer. But we'll see...
LIFE gets in the way of getting shit done....... I took my Charger apart @ 3 years ago, as I had my hotrod to bomb around in....had big plans to fix all the rust and go through the car. Now my hotrod is gone and my Dodge is in a carport, covered in dust and cat hairballs, with the interior, trim, and front end scattered about the garage. Just no time...easily distracted with other "stuff" (more hotrods, painting, family, blah, blah)... I'll get to it one of these days (famous last words).....
I used to have a stepfather with family up and down Eastern Kansas. His uncle was a truck driver and would pick me up after school let out for the summer to spend time up there. My family would follow later in time for the family reunion and I would go home with them. One summer my stepfather decided it was time to retrieve his old motorcycle. His grandfather died while restoring his 2 old '46 Indians Chiefs. One was a basket case- broken down awaiting a rebuild and one was whole. The grandmother never touched them in 35? years. The only 2 grandsons were my stepfather and his cousin. They were promised to them. That was 16? years ago. As far as I know the other Indian is in a barn somewhere near Iola, Kansas waiting. My stepfather needed the money and sold his. A cousin of mine is a hamber and REALLY hates this story. He really wanted that bike. I made 2 posts about Kansas in 1 day. That time of year.
Lemme re-title this thread. "Barn finds....thank god they did!" I think I counted 3 times in 1/2 hour I saw the 'cash for clunkers' commercial this morning and I threw up a little in my mouth. Don't know about you, but I am very thankful our elders are not tossing stuff out. My mom tells me stories of when she was a kid and her mom explaining that 'we don't throw anything out'. Not a pack rat kind of thing, but during the depression, folks re-used everything they could. Remember grandpa's "bolt bin"? It was mason jars everywhere, filled with nuts, bolts, etc... And if he was really organized, the lids were screwed to a rafter for easy viewing. Thankfully it has rubbed off on me. Mason jars are staying in the kitchen though. I hate cleaning up broken glass.
Oh, yea-here's my contribution. Not really a barn find, but it's been sitting since 1970-72 in a garage, and we picked it up a year or so ago. Trying to get it done this summer. Everything re-done by me in my little shop, except paint.
I think a lot of guys touched on a LOT of real reasons people stop using a car & either set it asied or put in a building. One biggie, in my opinion, is that people in the country always had the space for things, whereas that is/was more problematic in the cities. Even before the Depression years, lots of rural people would keep anything metal, against the time you might need to cobble something together for non-automotive purposes. Then, too, I honestly feel lots of people feel as attached to a car as they would an old horse that has served them well. They put them aside WITH ALL GOOD INTENTIONS of fixing them up and making them roadworthy again. I'll BET one in 20 such cars every get fixed by their owners, for reasons of money, time, other obligations, etc., etc.
barn finds happen when people have the space and don't need the money the car might bring. my 61 Dodge has been sitting for about 5 years due to it needing brakes and a drum needs replaced and they are hard to find. plus I'm unmotivated to fix it. I didn't drive it too much even before the brakes failed. if I owned this property it could very well sit for another 20 years, though hopefully I won't be in this shop for that long. it's worth more to me than anyone would be willing to pay. gotta remember a lot of these barn finds were tucked away when they were not worth anything, so motivation to sell was minimal.
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