Exotic UK barn finds: a thing of the past?
Discussion
We've all read about the doctor's Bugatti 57S Atalante unearthed in Newcastle 3 years ago and maybe some of us remember the butcher's MB 500K Special Roadster that was disinterred from Walsall in the late 1980's.
This one:
http://www.louwmanmuseum.nl/asp/appmain.asp?appact...
But how many more such finds are we likely to witness in the UK?
As the generation of older collectors (who bought these cars relatively cheaply) died out, then I think that we may have seen the last such truly exotic pre-war barn find.
How about post-war 1950's exotics like C & D-Types, XKSS, Gullwing Mercs, Ferrari 250's, BMW 507 etc.? Are they not pretty much all accounted for these days or are there still a few UK registered cars tantalisingly missing?
Or for that matter if we forward fast to the new breed of supercars from the 1960's and 1970's I wonder how many more dusty old Miuras, Ghiblis or Daytonas will miraculously appear from a UK lock-up? I just think that nowadays the general public knows that these cars are valuable and would have cashed in by now given the chance. Also dealers have traditionally been tipped off and been made aware of such vehicles and often used to manage to get their hands on them for a relative pittance (the 500K Special Roadster springs to mind).
I hope I am wrong and that the "Discovered" pages of classic car mags are not going to be forever filled with rusting Morris Minors or XJ6's found in urban gardens, but I reckon that all of the remaining exotic finds will be in other parts of the world.
This one:
http://www.louwmanmuseum.nl/asp/appmain.asp?appact...
But how many more such finds are we likely to witness in the UK?
As the generation of older collectors (who bought these cars relatively cheaply) died out, then I think that we may have seen the last such truly exotic pre-war barn find.
How about post-war 1950's exotics like C & D-Types, XKSS, Gullwing Mercs, Ferrari 250's, BMW 507 etc.? Are they not pretty much all accounted for these days or are there still a few UK registered cars tantalisingly missing?
Or for that matter if we forward fast to the new breed of supercars from the 1960's and 1970's I wonder how many more dusty old Miuras, Ghiblis or Daytonas will miraculously appear from a UK lock-up? I just think that nowadays the general public knows that these cars are valuable and would have cashed in by now given the chance. Also dealers have traditionally been tipped off and been made aware of such vehicles and often used to manage to get their hands on them for a relative pittance (the 500K Special Roadster springs to mind).
I hope I am wrong and that the "Discovered" pages of classic car mags are not going to be forever filled with rusting Morris Minors or XJ6's found in urban gardens, but I reckon that all of the remaining exotic finds will be in other parts of the world.
I think those kinda finds will be very rare. I think the next generation of rare finds will be more like the small collection found last year, where a guy had 2 zero miles BMW E30 M3 Sport Evo's, RS200 and a Merc 190 Evo.
Nothing like as rare as C and D types etc, but nice cars all the same.
Nothing like as rare as C and D types etc, but nice cars all the same.
I still get cricks in my neck peering into the back of barns I pass in rural France - which I've been doing for at least ten years. There's lots of dross but I read once there are three Bentley Continental R-types believed 'lost' over here.
Best I've done so far is a mint 1967 Fiat 500 with 15k, found in the barn of a house inherited by a friend a few weeks ago. That one's not going any further...
Best I've done so far is a mint 1967 Fiat 500 with 15k, found in the barn of a house inherited by a friend a few weeks ago. That one's not going any further...
Leithen said:
IIRC all C's and D's have been accounted for.
Ah, but have they? Read here if you want a good guffaw!!!http://www.jaguarforum.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=43&am...
I am currently searching for a car I am reliably informed is hidden in a barn about 30 miles from me. It is a 1957 DB Panhard that raced at Le Mans and which apparently has sat in the said barn for over 30 years. Years back i knew an old guy who was interested in my cars and my love of such, but he never said a word about owning something. He died suddenly and in his garage was found a Vincent Black Knight, subsequently sold for over £40,000. There are still a hell of a lot of cars out there to find.
The last one I know of wasn't a barn find but an Ebay find, supposedly a Devin fibreglass bodied special. One person knew what he was looking at by the steering box and bought it for $27,000. It was only the 1952 Le Mans and Mille Miglia Ferrari!!! A C-type was also found wearing a Devin body too.
They'll still be turning up for years.
This is an interesting topic.
Occasionally, when the guilt inspired, whiskey induced "keep fit" hangover kicks in, I dig out the mountain bike and trundle off across the fields and lanes that abound over here and life slows to a more leisurely pace allowing me to nosy (ok I admit it!
)across hedges and the like that in my normal day I wouldn't even notice or even find.
In the past five years I've come across an abandonded Jag Mk10 3.8 with a really interesting number single digit plate.
I've met a chap who has four or five Jowett Javelins and a workshop stuffed with engineering lathes and gizmo's that leave me in total admiration and saddended that British Engineering 'aint quite what it was (now there's a thought.. I think I'll start a thread after this one in General Gassing -hop across later!)
But perhaps more in line with the OP's intent on this thread, I have also met an elderly gent who was driving an Aston DB4 convertible.
The Aston was somewhat faded and had mucho patina but he ran it as a car, not as a concours "don't touch me with except with a yellow duster" he had had the engine re-built some years ago and then the front seats re-trimmed but not the back ones (see what I mean?) a lovely guy who extended me the courtesy and pleasure in enjoying his car.
Now to the punchline..... remember the whiskey comment? I can't blinkin remember where the heck he was!
I saw the barn find Aston by Bonham's a couple of years ago and I did wonder then if that was the same car, not too sure that it was though - the shed beckons!
Occasionally, when the guilt inspired, whiskey induced "keep fit" hangover kicks in, I dig out the mountain bike and trundle off across the fields and lanes that abound over here and life slows to a more leisurely pace allowing me to nosy (ok I admit it!
)across hedges and the like that in my normal day I wouldn't even notice or even find.In the past five years I've come across an abandonded Jag Mk10 3.8 with a really interesting number single digit plate.
I've met a chap who has four or five Jowett Javelins and a workshop stuffed with engineering lathes and gizmo's that leave me in total admiration and saddended that British Engineering 'aint quite what it was (now there's a thought.. I think I'll start a thread after this one in General Gassing -hop across later!)
But perhaps more in line with the OP's intent on this thread, I have also met an elderly gent who was driving an Aston DB4 convertible.
The Aston was somewhat faded and had mucho patina but he ran it as a car, not as a concours "don't touch me with except with a yellow duster" he had had the engine re-built some years ago and then the front seats re-trimmed but not the back ones (see what I mean?) a lovely guy who extended me the courtesy and pleasure in enjoying his car.
Now to the punchline..... remember the whiskey comment? I can't blinkin remember where the heck he was!
I saw the barn find Aston by Bonham's a couple of years ago and I did wonder then if that was the same car, not too sure that it was though - the shed beckons!
I don't see why barnfinds should stop.
Given the OP, the price and running costs of Lotus Carltons means some will have minor repairs that will result in them being laid up...
Likewise anyone buying this weeks SOTW - a 7er is easy to get to a point where repair cost is greater than value. The car gets laid up and found in 2035....
I guess the property market has as much influence in these things (as the value of "barns", garages and industrial units goes up over time?).
Given the OP, the price and running costs of Lotus Carltons means some will have minor repairs that will result in them being laid up...
Likewise anyone buying this weeks SOTW - a 7er is easy to get to a point where repair cost is greater than value. The car gets laid up and found in 2035....
I guess the property market has as much influence in these things (as the value of "barns", garages and industrial units goes up over time?).
lowdrag said:
Ah, but have they? Read here if you want a good guffaw!!!
http://www.jaguarforum.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=43&am...
I am currently searching for a car I am reliably informed is hidden in a barn about 30 miles from me. It is a 1957 DB Panhard that raced at Le Mans and which apparently has sat in the said barn for over 30 years. Years back i knew an old guy who was interested in my cars and my love of such, but he never said a word about owning something. He died suddenly and in his garage was found a Vincent Black Knight, subsequently sold for over £40,000. There are still a hell of a lot of cars out there to find.
The last one I know of wasn't a barn find but an Ebay find, supposedly a Devin fibreglass bodied special. One person knew what he was looking at by the steering box and bought it for $27,000. It was only the 1952 Le Mans and Mille Miglia Ferrari!!! A C-type was also found wearing a Devin body too.
They'll still be turning up for years.
that was a classic with the found "ex mike Hawthorn D type " http://www.jaguarforum.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=43&am...
I am currently searching for a car I am reliably informed is hidden in a barn about 30 miles from me. It is a 1957 DB Panhard that raced at Le Mans and which apparently has sat in the said barn for over 30 years. Years back i knew an old guy who was interested in my cars and my love of such, but he never said a word about owning something. He died suddenly and in his garage was found a Vincent Black Knight, subsequently sold for over £40,000. There are still a hell of a lot of cars out there to find.
The last one I know of wasn't a barn find but an Ebay find, supposedly a Devin fibreglass bodied special. One person knew what he was looking at by the steering box and bought it for $27,000. It was only the 1952 Le Mans and Mille Miglia Ferrari!!! A C-type was also found wearing a Devin body too.
They'll still be turning up for years.
The Merc behind the Butchers shop in Walsall was actually very well known about for many, many years prior to it's being rescued........the owner just wouldn't sell! It was more a case of timing than a spectacular 'find'.
Ditto the Atalante.
Most (if not all) of the important cars are most certainly known about within their marque circles, most of the 'canny' money is just on playing a waiting game in these cases.
We know of a number of the kind of cars we work on that would undoubtedly be considered 'barn finds', the owners know exactly what they have, some see them as a pension plan (yes I know......a constantly deteriorating one!) whilst others simply can't bear to part with what they have whether for sentimental reasons or pesonality 'issues'!
Sooooooo, my answer to the original question is that they usually weren't the exotic barn finds they may have seemed!
Ramble over, cheers, Al.
Ditto the Atalante.
Most (if not all) of the important cars are most certainly known about within their marque circles, most of the 'canny' money is just on playing a waiting game in these cases.
We know of a number of the kind of cars we work on that would undoubtedly be considered 'barn finds', the owners know exactly what they have, some see them as a pension plan (yes I know......a constantly deteriorating one!) whilst others simply can't bear to part with what they have whether for sentimental reasons or pesonality 'issues'!
Sooooooo, my answer to the original question is that they usually weren't the exotic barn finds they may have seemed!
Ramble over, cheers, Al.
alsaautomotive said:
The Merc behind the Butchers shop in Walsall was actually very well known about for many, many years prior to it's being rescued........the owner just wouldn't sell! It was more a case of timing than a spectacular 'find'.
Ditto the Atalante.
Most (if not all) of the important cars are most certainly known about within their marque circles, most of the 'canny' money is just on playing a waiting game in these cases.
We know of a number of the kind of cars we work on that would undoubtedly be considered 'barn finds', the owners know exactly what they have, some see them as a pension plan (yes I know......a constantly deteriorating one!) whilst others simply can't bear to part with what they have whether for sentimental reasons or pesonality 'issues'!
Sooooooo, my answer to the original question is that they usually weren't the exotic barn finds they may have seemed!
Ramble over, cheers, Al.
I vaguely remember the story but I thought the butcher sold it for quite a low price and then the new owner made a fortune at auction ? Ditto the Atalante.
Most (if not all) of the important cars are most certainly known about within their marque circles, most of the 'canny' money is just on playing a waiting game in these cases.
We know of a number of the kind of cars we work on that would undoubtedly be considered 'barn finds', the owners know exactly what they have, some see them as a pension plan (yes I know......a constantly deteriorating one!) whilst others simply can't bear to part with what they have whether for sentimental reasons or pesonality 'issues'!
Sooooooo, my answer to the original question is that they usually weren't the exotic barn finds they may have seemed!
Ramble over, cheers, Al.
If it was so well known then surely the butcher would have received high offers and known it's value ?
Edited by mph on Saturday 5th November 08:10
I think there will still be exotics turning up, people buying in the last few years may just stick 'em away, do nothing with them, and in 20-30 years time they'll re-surface again to much excitement.
Although not exotic, only today we drove past an overgrown disused garage I know of, inside and outside which there are several E-Type tubs lying around, plus another body on a jig, something pre-war - Rover possibly - and a few 50s-60s Jag saloons lurking outside in the undergrowth. Long may barn finds continue
RJ
Although not exotic, only today we drove past an overgrown disused garage I know of, inside and outside which there are several E-Type tubs lying around, plus another body on a jig, something pre-war - Rover possibly - and a few 50s-60s Jag saloons lurking outside in the undergrowth. Long may barn finds continue
RJ
Nowt really rare but i know of an E type in a hedge in essex, had a body rebuild then got pushed out the garage when the farmer rented it out and sat there for the last 20 years at least, last saw it 3 years ago and it was full of prickly bush 
There was that recent Jtin barn find, 2 car transporters worth on retrorides, that was a huge find if a little new for this thread ?
There was that recent Jtin barn find, 2 car transporters worth
on retrorides, that was a huge find if a little new for this thread ?rabidant said:
Hi rob3m is the esprit JPS in the uk? saw one in a shed around Leominster i think a few years back.
I have an S2.2 Esprit only 88 made been laid up since 1990 with 32000 miles on the clock I guess if I suffered an unexpected accident
somebody may get it cheap!!
It's down near Bath, had a flat battery/alternator issue so was parked up five years ago.I have an S2.2 Esprit only 88 made been laid up since 1990 with 32000 miles on the clock I guess if I suffered an unexpected accident
somebody may get it cheap!!Gassing Station | Classic Cars and Yesterday's Heroes | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff