In any other state in the U.S., self-described Barn Find Hunter Tom Cotter has to scour the rural landscape to unearth rusted road relics from a 1952 Pegazo Z102 in a California garage to a 1954 Corvette Blue Flame 6 in the Georgia woods. But in Virginia, Cotter has a source named Zach, who's a repository of knowledge regarding where to find some classic heaps. In a video released early in July on the Hagerty YouTube channel, Zach made good on his track record by offering Cotter two locations where he could find a few awesome used cars from a 1969 AMC Javelin to a 1975 Ferrari Dino.
Ferrari In Better Shape Than The Javelin
The first stop in this Virginia junket turned out to be a farm that included a barn fulfilling its sole purpose of housing cats. Considering that the property owner also stores a few vintage sets of wheels in the complex, it's a given that those vehicles had fallen prey to those felines. Ripped upholstery in these cars quickly confirmed that assumption. One vehicle that looked remarkably unscathed and continued to operate was a 1984 Ford F-250 pickup, which Cotter marveled as "a torque monster."
But one nearby car, a 1969 AMC Javelin SST, didn't fare so well with kitty activity, resulting in a rather ravaged interior. "They like the vinyl, apparently," said the owner. Before the household abandoned it in the barn, this Javelin served as a family car with a 304 cubic-inch V8 engine. The windows no longer roll up or down, since the glue that held the windows to their moving mechanism had deteriorated over time. It also didn't help that even when stored indoors, rust inexplicably compromised this Javelin's roof. "It could have been the cats," commented Cotter. For whoever wants to buy and restore the AMC, the good news is that it still retained its original parts.
In another building on the farm, Cotter came across a car in much better shape: a 1975 Ferrari Dino that was previously owned by a doctor who used the sports car exclusively for racing. This Ferrari barely has a scratch on it, and the odometer registers only 18,000 miles on it. Apparently still with its original paint, this three-liter V8 vehicle arrived at the original owner's doorstep as a two-seater with Campagnolo wheels specifically made for competition on a racetrack. The owner claimed that the Ferrari has enough power to "hit 150 at the drop of a hat." Noted Cotter, "Dinos were like stepchildren for a while, but people really love these cars."
One Duster Covered In Dust
Cotter and his buddy Zack then headed off to Rockingham County, often dubbed the turkey capital of the world. It's a boast the district can easily back up, given the plethora of turkey coops dotting this part of Virginia's terrain. One coop in particular attracted Cotter's attention, though, which houses a wide assortment of Detroit offerings. Cotter was quickly drawn to a 1973 Plymouth Duster, which the owner said originally had a 340 cubic-inch V8 engine and was considering a swap involving a crate motor. Visually, the Plymouth looked like it was in great shape, considering it hadn't been driven in 10 years.
Also in good condition was a Barracuda with a slant-six engine that still ran before it was permanently parked in the coop. The three-speed column-shift car originally came in white, but was eventually painted red; whoever performed that job also coated the Barracuda badges in the process. Cotter was also taken by a Camaro, which the owner had found somewhere on a nearby road and lacking an engine. He recalled getting the Camaro in exchange for a .243 deer hunting rifle. "As you can see, I'm a hoarder," added the owner.
Elsewhere in the coop, Cotter found a purple 1966 Pontiac GTO with a flat tire and a great deal of dust on the body, but thankfully no rust. Running with a tri-power 389 cubic-inch V8 engine with a four-speed transmission, this GTO might serve as an ideal project car for restoration, according to the owner. Ditto for a 1970 Ford Galaxie, which body remains intact despite needing a replacement for the dashboard which had caught fire at one point. But an old Army Jeep might still be running if some wag hadn't had a beer too many before he removed the engine, but wasn't able to put it back into the vehicle. "Yeah, beer does that to you," chortled Cotter.
Coop's An Ideal Garage For Car Relics
The owner indicated interest in selling all the vehicles in the turkey coop except for the Duster and his tractor to anyone willing to administer the necessary elbow grease to restore them. When he originally bought the farm, he wasn't interested in the turkey trade, so he used it for vehicles he bought. "He's filled with a few cars that he doesn't really know why he owns," noted Cotter. The saving grace is that the pristine condition of the coop added to the well-being of its four-wheeled contents after years of storage. And with the owner willing to sell pretty much everything in that complex, perhaps this video might spark a few transactions.
Source: Barn Find Hunter, Hagerty