Let's hear about your barn/farmers field finds

[Darkane]

Been watching a lot of Fast and Loud, Counting cars, Wheeler Dealers.

Anyone locally here have any good stories about finds?

Roughly 10 years ago right on Dunbow and I think 32nd, the acreage there had a mint, silver '86 mustang SVO I tried to buy 3 times. Always turned away claiming it was his sons car. Killed me he had it parked in the long grass outside.

Don't post about the find with the GT's and like 30 other new cars in that old guys barn near Lethbridge lol.

[NoPulp]

I love reading about barnyard finds. They seem to not happen as much anymore since most people can Google the car that is sitting at their grandparents farm. I have been reading about a few superbirds and Daytonas lately though.

My step grandma's brother has a mid 80s gold Trans Am sitting in the barn. I'm sure if the 1" of dust was removed it would be pretty minty.... well except for the mice issue. But he wouldn't ever be able to let it go. Probably thinks it's worth millions.

When we bought my dad's 56 Ford we asked the owner what was in his little beat up shed. The yard was covered in junk and half finished projects so we were expecting more half finished projects. He opened the door and this beautiful comp orange cougar was sitting there. He told us he didn't like orange, then asked what colour my car was

[BerserkerCatSplat]

A number of years ago, a family friend's wife wanted us to restore a '68 GT500 for her husband as an anniversary present. He'd had a '68 GT500 in Wimbledon White back in the day, but he sold it to finance his first restaurant. Anyway, we kicked around ideas and eventually she decided she'd try to find the actual car he'd owned. She searched for over a year and eventually tracked it down, so we went to visit the owner to see if he'd part with it. Sure enough, it was sitting in a barn under a tarp covered in bird shit and full of mice - it clearly hadn't been touched in a very long time. Regardless, the guy wouldn't sell it at any price and was quite content to let it rot. We eventually built a clone of the guy's car using a different GT500, but I was still a bit ticked we couldn't get the original vehicle.

[corsvette]

Old oil company dude out by Longview had a 1980 Cadillac sedan De'Ville he bought brand new for his Wife. They went splits a few months after, he NEVER drove it as he preferred Chevy Suburbans as his mode of transportation. I bought it off him for $5,000 a few years ago. It had just a tick over 11,000 kms on it. What made the car interesting is this was the only year of the V8-6-4 engine, Cadillac was well ahead of its time with cylinder deactivation to save fuel....it was a disaster and nearly all the 8-6-4 engines had the deactivation system disabled and removed under warranty. The engines with the system still working are extremely rare.

I've had/still have several low mileage old cars, sorry, no exotics or priceless muscle cars.

[carson blocks]

More of an urban find than a 'barn find', but on the street I grew up on, there's a '55 Chevy 2dr post just sitting outside. It hasn't been roadworthy since sometime before we moved there in 1992 and hasn't moved from the driveway in at least 15 years. I've been trying to get the car since my early teens, and lately have been visiting the owner yearly to check on it, and I think I'm getting closer to getting the car.

It looks faded but solid from the street, but when you take a close look, the car is rotten with rust, has many previous patches, and unfortunately got hit in the hail storm last year. It needs every panel replaced, rockers, floors, trunk pan etc. and will cost twice as much to restore as simply buying a better car, but it just wouldn't be the same. The owner is a nice guy and loves the car (his high school car from the sounds of it) but without a garage, he can't give it what it needs. Someday I'll get it and put $60k in to making it a $30k car so I can drive the wheels off it.

[Graham_A_M]

This is a very small amount that I know of close to me. All of these are for sale for a grand or less each. If anybody wants them

http://s267.photobucket.com/user/Gra.../CarsandTrucks

About 2 kM'S NW of me is this 1972 Trans am. (Exceptionally rare car as the plant went on a union strike that year, so actual 72's are a very rare find.)

Complete with the HO 455 and 4 speed manual. I just wish it was the Super Duty (Nascar spec) 455, those are about as common as unicorns with finding an unrestored 72 with the SD. Engine was pulled out of it and it was left to sit in his huge field of broken down machinery. My brother and I were going to buy it as we were going to restore it. But there was a huge fire that scorched the field 4 years ago, so there isn't much left of it anymore.... just a roasted car sitting in the grass. Breaks my frickin heart. Restored that would have been a 60k-$80k car, with its #'s matching 455 he still uses today in some piece of equipment, as in a high flow water pump for his cattle.

No pics of that though, same with the other 1910-1980's cars and trucks he has in his field, which are about a dozen.

SO many amazing cars and trucks around here.... don't have time to snap pics of them all as I'm quite busy out here. Other neighbor has a 87 Buick GNX with 6k original kms on it, just sitting in his garage, hasn't been fired up for at least 20 years now. Not selling that either....

I found a 37 Diamond T 1 ton, excellent shape. Those too are very sought after trucks, very commonly called the "Cadillac of trucks". Use Google images to see how bad ass they look.


If anybody wants anything specific. Message me, I may be able to find it. .... just so long as its something iconic like a 32-34 Ford or a Shelby mustang lol

[Paul]

I don't know if this counts as a barn find, but a car I picked up ended up having quite the interesting history to it. This summer I was working (read: surfing kijiji) and I came across a mint looking Porsche Boxster (1998) that was within my budget for a summer cruiser. Went to Edmonton, car barely ran but seemed fixable so I picked it up for 70% of asking price. Seller did give me a 2" binder with the entire history of the car dating back to its original purchase:
- originally sold from Porsche of Beverley Hills
- all maintenance done at said dealer until car was sold later that year
- 2nd owner listed as "Techart USA"
- car was used as model for the 1st gen kit they made (can still buy poster of my car from website)
- car was toured around a bit and then sat in storage for a number of years
FF 2014 some mechanic in Edmonton bought the car and imported to Canada through eBay
Mechanic never got it running properly (he was a Nissan Tech)
When I brought the car to Calgary I dropped it off at Riegal Tuning and has it running perfectly $2400 later

Car came with 3 bodykits, aftermarket stereo (all JL), headers, exhaust, and a bunch of other stuff (obd1, car cover, battery tender) that apparently added up to $25k
Only had 90k km on it when I bought. Paid $10k

[Alak]

I lived down the street from an old guy who had a true 1970 Charger Daytona finished in blue with red stripe. Year after year people would go and make an offer, to have a door slammed in their face.

Old guy just wouldn't let it go. I remember cutting the grass around it a few times in his yard when I was a kid.

[Sentry]

I had an 84 SVO for a year and a bit. One owner car, 170k KM. 2500 bucks. The guy was just sick of it after 30 years and consigned it to Graham Auctions. Just happened to be there at the right time.

Thing was 9/10, loved driving it.

[Darkane]

Good stories of everyone.

Graham I'd love to know about that GNX. If it's a true X and not just the base GN, that's insane.

[corsvette]

There's a 1978 Trans Am in my family that has been sitting in a machine shed since 1978. My great Uncle bought it brand new, it's the S/E edition (smokey and the bandit car) He drove it from CMP Gm to his place out by Cremona, hated the car and never drove it much past then. He tried to sell it several times in the late 70's early 80's but nobody would make the trip all the way out to Cremona to see it.

It's never been wet, no rain, no snow, no carwashes. He starts it several times a year and puts it through all the gears (its up on blocks) He won't sell it, turned down $35k for it years ago. I want it!

Looks identical to this, even has the c/b antenna.

[andyg16]

Originally posted by corsvette
There's a 1978 Trans Am in my family that has been sitting in a machine shed since 1978. My great Uncle bought it brand new, it's the S/E edition (smokey and the bandit car) He drove it from CMP Gm to his place out by Cremona, hated the car and never drove it much past then. He tried to sell it several times in the late 70's early 80's but nobody would make the trip all the way out to Cremona to see it.

It's never been wet, no rain, no snow, no carwashes. He starts it several times a year and puts it through all the gears (its up on blocks) He won't sell it, turned down $35k for it years ago. I want it!

Looks identical to this, even has the c/b antenna.

[SkiBum5.0]

There are a few old timers out at my in-laws farm. A 1931 DeSoto Coupe, and a late 60's Parisienne coupe.

The hired man buys old cars from the area just to save them from junkyards. He has an acre full of 50's and 60's trucks, and cars. Nothing worth saving although you could probably piece together a C10 from 5 or 6 out there.

He does have some better stuff stored away but it's hard to get to. He's a packrat for sure.

[Graham_A_M]

Originally posted by Darkane
Good stories of everyone.

Graham I'd love to know about that GNX. If it's a true X and not just the base GN, that's insane.

It is.... he knew it was a collector item the day he bought it new. Now he's in his late 60's.... I've been eye balling it even since I first laid eyes on it when was 14. Don't think I haven't tried endlessly to buy it since.... as he's nearing retirement, not too sure what his long term plans with it are, but yeah its worth a mint in its condition.

Still has all the documentation it came with when new, key chains, window sticker/build sheet, just everything. It's all sitting in a trunk in his garage along with it.

[corsvette]

A mint GNX is fast approaching the six figure mark.....and thanks to the interweb every owner of one knows it.....

No backyard/barn bargains anymore

[16hypen3sp]

There is an old school mechanic in central AB that owns a tank, possibly a Sherman. Not exactly sure but definitely a tank. Keeps it in his barn.

[gogreen]

I pulled my project truck out of a field, but I wouldn't classify it as a "find" as it was in clear view of a major highway with a for sale sign on it.

The recent Barrett-Jackson influence along with that of the aforementioned programs seems to have inflated perceived values of stuff significantly. Not just the traditionally desirable stuff either. It seems these days that old equals rare, which automatically equals high dollar, regardless of how desirable or rare the model might actually be.

I've also had a situation where a friend located a shortbox truck he thought I might like. The farmer thought it was pretty worthless since it couldn't haul as much as a longbox, but as soon as he found out someone wanted it he changed his tune, lol.

[toastgremlin]

Originally posted by corsvette
A mint GNX is fast approaching the six figure mark.....and thanks to the interweb every owner of one knows it.....

No backyard/barn bargains anymore

I'm not sure there are still backyard/barn bargains for regular (not even T-type or Grand National) Regals anymore. G-bodies have sure shot up in price, or maybe the prices stayed still as the cars rotted.

[speedog]

Originally posted by toastgremlin


I'm not sure there are still backyard/barn bargains for regular (not even T-type or Grand National) Regals anymore. G-bodies have sure shot up in price, or maybe the prices stayed still as the cars rotted.

G-body prices, couple of factors at play here. Finding one is difficult enough, finding a good one is even more difficult plus many people that were in their early twenties/teens when these were the rage are now at an age where they have the money to get and build the G-body they loved so much some 30 or so years ago.

Also, they are a fairly good platform for ridiculous horsepower engines - 80 Malibu wagon in sleeper mode. Try to find a Cutlass or Grand Prix G-body, pretty much as rare as Regals of any type. Malibus are the easiest to procur and even they're difficult to find in good condition. El Caminos and Cabellaros, tough finds as well.

How about a V8 Monza - that's a rare beast.

[legendboy]

Originally posted by corsvette
I want it!

I also want that. You need to start putting some sort of plan in place to get the car!