Randy G.

This is one of the most exciting threads I've seen in a while.

I just bought a 1957 T-Bird from a guy I met in Bible Study. He bought it when he was in high school in 1968, stripped the paint and took it apart in 1971 and never touched it again until I showed up to pick it up 42 years later. He was in poor health and decided it was time to sell it to pay some bills. It came with everything in boxes.

Here's what I saw when we opened the garage:





Here it is on my trailer:



And here it is now in my shop:



Can't wait to get started.

provette67

I am not sure if you consider these barn finds or not based on your criteria but here goes.Because they are at the corner of what is now a busy intersection in what is now a very bad part of town.There are two '59 sitting since '65.I first heard about them in 1979.The one car could be seen from the intersection behind the house. After talking to the owner he said that he had another in the garage. They were "NOT for sale and get off the property". Now 34yrs later they are both still there.I sent letters to the address for years regularly.Five years ago the owner finally calls me and said to come over as they are for sale now. The one car is till sitting in the grass where it has always been uncovered and sunk deeply into the ground. The bottom of the doors are underground.The car in the garage has sat in there all of these years with the top down. The garage had holes in the roof and one end of it has rotten and fallen in.From what little I could see the frame was rotted badly and the front end was damaged badly by the fallen roof.These cars are still sitting there and will be there forever.Asking price for the car that has been outside for almost 50yrs is $50K the car in the garage can be had for $75K

Jalopy31

Another T-Bird story, and my best barn find so far - a couple of early T-birds in a barn in southern Virginia.

The owner's nephew told me about them when he found out that I liked old cars, and I passed along the lead to a friend a couple of years later when he mentioned he'd like to restore an early T'Bird.

He pursued the cars and this is what we found when we drove up to look at them:



He bought and restored the red '56.

HandClutch

I've been following this thread with great interest, but as the OP said, it took a turn from what he had intended, albeit a good turn. Well TCracingCA I'm probably the only person reading this board that can lay claim to having a car literally in a barn, untouched for over 45 years. My cousin bought my 1953 in 1967 and did very little to it, it was stripped of paint and was in boxes when he bought it. Except for a short time in my uncles garage the car sat in a corn crib while he had it. I bought it in 1971 and it has been in one of two barns till this day. I have done nothing to the car in those year.

As far as I know only two people have "found" it. One was a fella a few years ago that was peeping thru the windows of the barn when I arrived at my parents property. He is lucky I didn't find him doing that in the early 70's, I probably would have shot him. He came to the door and asked about the car, we talked a while and I told him the car wasn't for sale. The look of disappointment on his face was worth the price of storing the car all these years. The other time was just a few weeks ago at my farm and barn. I had an electrician do some work and he told a collector he knew about the car. The fella was a pretty big time collector but wasn't into Vettes, never owned one. He kept running the car down, kept emphasizing how much it would cost to repair and how little it would be worth when done. He did offer me $40,000 cash that day. I'm still chuckling over that one.

Now, the question of the hour is how does 40 years slip by and nothing gets done on a car. Lack of urgency is one answer, as is lack of motivation. Being several miles away from the car most of the time is another reason (out of sight, out of mind). Getting distracted by 20 years of tractor collecting is another. Procrastination is probably the biggest reason of all

We all have our own definition of barn find, but mine includes the owner not having an idea of what he's really got. I don't meet my own definition as I've always know what I had.

BTW there was and is a 1955 Thunderbird sharing barn space with the 1953 Corvette, that I've had longer than the Vette.

Randy G.

To answer your question about "how does 40 years slip by and nothing gets done on a car?" I think the guy I bought my '57 T-Bird from took it apart and realized he was in over his head. Novice mechanic skills but not enough to bring the Bird back to life so he was overwhelmed. A few years ago he was quoted $61,000 to restore it by one of the larger T-Bird houses and that put and end to his dream of ever driving it again.

91DRM

Damn dude! You need to come hang in OT you'd fit right in.

Revfan

Ha! That reminds me of a friend of mine who "lucked" into two US Army Jeeps ( a 43' and a 44') that were lend lease to the Brits and had been modified for Airborne use. This was 30 years ago at least, and they weren't in the best condition when he got them, though the 43' did run at the time.
He parked them OUTSIDE, at his brothers farm, which was far enough away from him to not worry about em' unless, on the rare occasion, somebody would see them and ask his brother if they were for sale... and of course, the answer was "no".

Our mutual friends tried multiple times over the years to buy them and restore em'... but to no avail, as "one of these days I am gonna fix em up myself", was his mantra. But the reality is, the guy has always lived hand-to-mouth, so he never had the time or money to fix em.

But metal Jeeps and the outside do not good friends make. The last time I personally saw them was in 2003... and the one that "used to run" had a live oak with a 2 foot diameter that had grown up through the middle.

In 2009, his mom (in her 80s) got the double whammy of Alzheimer and Cancer. He had to quit his job to stay at home and take care of her... and quickly went through any money they had just taking care of his mom.

He finally decided, "I am going to sell the Jeeps"... and I was asked to help him get them ready.....

It took 2 hours JUST to cut down enough brush/thorns where we could to get to the jeeps... and there isn't a bolt that is usable on them now... rusted to nothing.

If you could have "seen the look of disappointment on his face"....

I think that there are folks that own Corvettes, and there are Corvette people.

There are also folks that for whatever reason, would rather have a car disintegrate or they would rather burn the barn down with the car in it, then sell it to somebody else.... who may get it running.

Like my friend, it would have eaten him up inside to have another buddy actually restore it and drive around it in... like it would have been a huge "I am a failure" sign stuck on his back.... :its part of the "If I can't do it, I'll damn well make sure nobody else does either" mindset.

Just something to keep in mind when peeking into other people's barns.

my $0.02

Beggers

I found my 71 LT1, numbers matching, T Top car in Steel City Grey sitting in a barn with a 1976 license plate on it. I heard about it from a friend and knocked on the door of the country house and was successful in buying it on the spot. I think it had 57,000 miles on it but it was in good shape after cleaning off the dust. Stripped and repainted it, the original color, went through the brakes, suspension, and cooling system and now have a great driver.