5 Of The Rarest Ever Barn Finds
Automotive treasures lurking in abandoned barns
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I drove by an abandoned barn today and it got me thinking. What could possibly be inside. I took this picture. I did a little research. I discovered some interesting facts about a connection between exotic cars and abandoned barns.
People park their classic and exotic cars in barns. Then they forget about these precious vehicles.
How could someone park an exotic car in an old barn and not remember? Apparently it happens a lot of the time. We repeatedly hear about exotic vehicles being discovered decades after they were parked.
Most exotic/classic car enthusiasts treat their cars like gold. In temperature controlled facilities with regular maintenance.
But not everyone. Some individuals totally forget about these cars. They leave them to rot in abandoned buildings and barns for years and even decades.
There are treasure hunters out there. Searching for these abandoned beauties in these lonely old barns. And, these enthusiasts are lovingly restoring these cars to their original glory.
Let’s look at 5 such discoveries:
A 1968 Lamborghini Miura P400 was discovered in an abandoned barn on a farm in France in 2018. It was discovered with 81 additional rare cars left for dead. Auctioneer Henri Adam found them. They belonged to a compulsive buyer by the name of Henry Ruggieri. They were barely used. The Lamborghini was rusty and covered with muck. It had 49,000 miles on it. After it was restored it sold for 560,000 pounds at a 2019 auction.
A 1969 Dodge Charger Daytona, of which only 503 were made, was discovered in an abandoned Alabama barn. This rare car had been bought in 1974 and had spent decades with rats chewing away at its seats. The car was purchased from the owner, restored, and sold for $90,000 at auction.
A Porsche 901, introduced in 1964, was discovered in a barn in Brandenburg, Germany. The car was in horrible condition. Porsche paid more than 100,000 pounds to restore this vehicle and add it to its classic collection.
A 1957 Ferrari 250 GT Ellena is one of the most sought after Ferrari models. One was found sitting dormant in an abandoned garage. It had been there for more than four decades. The car had been imported from Switzerland. It had been housed in an American garage and scarcely driven. The Ferrari had all of its original intact components. The owner was working on restoring the car but wasn’t interested in fixing the rusty exterior.
A 1967 Shelby Cobra was discovered hidden in a barn since 1991. The Cobra was eventually uncovered and sold at a Gooding & Company auction for $1,045,000 in 2018. It fetched over a million dollars despite being unrestored.
The next time you drive by an abandoned barn, allow your imagination to run wild. Besides images of rusting farm equipment and livestock housing, what other treasures can you imagine waiting for liberation.
