The 10 Best Barn Finds Of All Time
Sometimes, You Just Get Lucky
Following the success of my curated article “What’s The Appeal Of A Barn Find?”, I’ve trawled the internet looking for the most interesting, unique barn-finds.
There are literally hundreds to chose from, stories of people who took a chance on an old rust bucket and came out on top. After much deliberation, here’s my top 10 list of the best barn-finds ever found.
1. The Buried Ferrari
Way back in 1974, a brand new Ferrari Dino 246GTS was reported stolen. Police couldn’t fathom how the car had apparently disappeared into thin air and the case went cold.
About four years later, two boys digging up their backyard hit something metallic. After further excavation, it turned out to be the roof of the missing Ferrari, which had been buried as an insurance scam.
Unbelievably, the car was still in good condition, considering what it had endured, and still salvageable. A buyer was found and it was restored to its former glory.
To this day, the Ferrari wears a vanity plate that reads DUG UP.
2. Not Your Average Mustang
Regarded by many as one of the greatest movies of all time, Bullitt is famous with old movie buffs and car lovers alike, mainly for to its iconic car chase scene through the streets of San Francisco.
Two Mustangs were used for filming: a “hero” car and a stunt double. After filming was over, the double was sold off and would ultimately re-surface wearing a faded, white coat of paint in a Mexican scrap yard. Sitting out in the open had done the Mustang no good.
Barely recognisable, it was in bad shape and lacked an engine or transmission.
Were it not for the reinforced strut towers and holes drilled in the body — presumably for additional lights during filming, no one would have given the car a second look.
Its chassis number was sent to Kevin Marti, a Ford specialist, and he was able to confirm it was in fact, the long-lost Bullitt ‘stunt’ car. Since then, the car has undergone restoration.
3. Cuban Mercedes
When rumours surfaced around 2005 that there was an ultra-rare Mercedes 300SL Gullwing lost somewhere in Cuba, the hunt was on. After a lot of searching and considerable research, the car was eventually discovered, rusting under a banana tree by car enthusiast Miguel Llorente.
It was in bad shape and missing its engine, transmission and interior but still worth saving.
4. The 901
Had it not been for a copyright claim by Peugeot, the iconic Porsche 911 might have actually been called the 901. Just 82 cars were built before the French manufacturer intervened, making an original 901-badged car seriously rare.
None were officially sold to the public due to the claim, and many are thought to have been destroyed — for a long time even Porsche themselves didn’t have one.
When German television station RTL2 hinted at a potential 901 sitting at the back of a barn in Bradenburg, the Porsche factory team leapt into action. The car turned out to be chassis 300.057 and was in very bad condition. Both front wings were missing, there was plenty of rust and the interior was in tatters.
Despite all this, Porsche still paid €107,000 to add the elusive 901 to its classic fleet.
5. Big In Japan
In the late 60s, Ferrari built five aluminium-bodies 365GTB/4 Daytonas designed for the track. One of these ultralight cars somehow made its way to a Bologna car dealer for road use and was purchased by Luciano Conti, founder and publisher of Autosprint magazine.
The car made its way to Japan and was acquired by car collector Makoto Takai, who hid the Ferrari away for nearly 40 years.
In 2017, the legendary Ferrari resurfaced, still intact with matching numbers and paperwork to go along with it. One of the rarest Ferraris ever, chassis 12653 went on to sell at auction in “as found” condition for a cool €1.8 million.
6. The First Land Rover
Nicknamed “JUE477”, this Land Rover isn’t a prototype like the Porshe 901 on our list, but the actual first model intended to reach the public. It sat in a Northumberland barn for countless years, before being re-discovered in 2017 and finding a new home. Despite its dilapidated state, the car is said to have been restored and put back on the highway.
7. Ferrari In The Sun
One of the rarest Ferraris ever built, a 1950 166MM Barchetta, turned up for auction after it had sat in the Arizona sun for decades. Despite the condition the car was in, it sold immediately for over $1 million in “as found” condition.
The car is one of only 25 ever built.
8. French Haul
What’s better than a barn-find?
81 of them, of course.
This impressive car collection was housed in a suitable large barn, along with a few cars scattered in the surrounding fields among the brambles. If the vast size of the collection wasn’t impressive enough, an ultra-rare Lamborghini Miura was also found among the classics.
The Miura, number 118 of 275, turned out to be a matching-numbers 1968 P400 and despite being in poor condition, sold for €560,000 in January 2019. A 1953 Porsche 356 Pre-A found on the property also sold for €48,000 despite not even having its original engine.
9. The Unfinished Dream
French entrepreneur Roger Baillon had a long-standing vision of founding a classic car museum. Unfortunately, his finances ran dry and he never achieved the dream. Around 50 of the 200 cars he’d collected were sold, with the rest were hidden away in shelters around the family home in France.
In 2014, the haul of forgotten machines was rediscovered — including an ultra-rare Ferrari 250GT SWB California Spider, which sold for a staggering €16.3m in 2015.
Other cars found on the property included a Bugatti Type 57, a 1956 Maserati A6G 2000 and many other pre-’50s cars.
10. The Belgian Trio
When Matthieu Lamoure and Pierre Novikoff made their way into a ramshackle garage in Belgium, they found not one, but three extremely rare Bugattis, plus a 1920s Citroën.
The cars belonged to Dutch sculptor August Thomassen, and had been in the barn since the late 1950s, lying untouched for the best part of 60 years. Rumour has it that Thomassen, being a Bugatti aficionado, used them for research rather than transportation.
The standout piece was a Type 57 Bugatti Cabriolet, wearing coachwork by Graber.
It’s one of just nine produced and was found with all its original components, its dashboard and its instruments.
The collection was auctioned in 2019, with the Type 57 selling for €500,640, a 1929 Bugatti Type 40 fetching €190,720 and a Type 49 Limousine making €196,680.
Classic & Sports Car. 2020. The 35 Greatest Barn-Finds Of All Time. [online] Available at: <https://www.classicandsportscar.com/gallery/greatest-barn-finds-all-time> [Accessed 19 July 2020].
