Someone who spends a lot of money on a beautiful and powerful car would ideally take utmost care of their new toy, wouldn’t they? Sadly, it is far from an ideal world we live in, and for every gearhead who takes care of their car like it is their baby, there are plenty who simply drive off from dealerships and forget to ensure the well-being of their vehicle and its parts. The worst part is when they absolutely forget about them altogether, leaving them on their own, at the mercy of time and the elements in barns for years, if not decades.
Thankfully, it isn’t all bad news, as these forgotten rides don’t stay lost forever. Quite often, they are rediscovered, and even though they’re sadly found in terrible conditions, are then restored, and given new life. Barn finds, as the culture calls them, always excite everyone involved, as they aren’t just old classics to work on and renew, but also windows into the past, back when they were bought and used, before being lost. It is the years of sleuthing, the unraveling of their histories under the thick and several layers of dirt and grime that is the most exciting part about barn finds, and finding and meeting the pristine classics that lay underneath all of it is the reward.
While there are many more barn finds that have gone down in history, here are ten of the coolest ones that saw the light of day over the last decade.
10 Lamborghini Miura
It was in 2018 when a French auctioneer happened upon a collector's goldmine. To say the man was taken aback after discovering almost a hundred classic cars hidden in a huge barn, surrounded by nothing but farming fields, would be an understatement. These cars, all of them, belonged to Henry Ruggieri—a Frenchman known for his compulsive purchases.
As such, many of these classics were barely used, and the one that stood out the most from them was a rusty and muck-covered Lamborghini Miura P400. Upon restoration, the car was made almost as good as new, before it fetched a staggering $592,000 at auction.
9 Mercedes-Benz 190SL
This was a rare find and even more of a coincidence. Three years ago, when Michael Potiker went out for a walk around his neighborhood, he happened to glance inside the garage of one of his neighbors, who had apparently left the garage door open. He spotted a car under a custom-fitted sheet, with a big Mercedes-Benz logo sticking out. The Silver Star knows how to grab attention, don't they?
He then proceeded to talk to his neighbor about the same and discovered that the car that lay underneath the cover was a rather rare Mercedes-Benz 190SL. Seeing as the owner was under palliative care and couldn't speak, Potiker contacted the owner of the estate and bought the car, which he then transformed into a breathtakingly beautiful Barchetta cruiser.
8 Dodge Charger Daytona
An extremely important piece of American racing history, the Dodge Charger Daytona was built in 1969 to make up for the poor performance of the Dodge Charger 500 in 1968. Built to win NASCAR races, this car is one of the most recognizable in American automotive history, which makes it all the more shocking that it was discovered rotting away in an Alabama barn.
The Dodge Charger Daytona was bought in the 1970s but then ended up spending decades inside the barn instead of turning heads and making people envious on the streets. While it was protected from the elements, the rats proved far tougher, and sold as found, the car fetched $90,000 at a Mecum auction.
7 Ferrari Daytona
There are rare Ferraris, which only get a few hundred models built, and become quite the collector's dream. However, far rarer is this Ferrari Daytona. Although they built about 1,200 365GTB/4 Daytonas in total, the Italian carmaker made only 5 alloy-body versions for the purpose of competing in the 24 Hours of Daytona competition. They made one all alloy version that was street legal, and this was that one-of-one Daytona.
A Japanese collector shipped it to Japan and ended up keeping it in a garage for almost four whole decades. In 2017, the Daytona saw the light of day again, and surprisingly, was in excellent condition. With less than 25,000 miles on the odometer, the car then went on to sell for a whopping $2.2 million when auctioned.
6 Jaguar E-Type
The Jaguar E-Type is inarguable one of the most beautiful cars of all time, so much so that it remains coveted for its design even today. Celebrities, too, love owning this beaut, and who can blame them? While any gearhead would assume that every E-Type out there would be looked after with the utmost care, that isn't always the case.
In the UK, one E-Type owner simply forgot about his car and left it rotting in a barn for over four decades! This was a 1964 Jaguar E-Type that housed a 3.8-liter six-cylinder engine, and while it did look good when found, it did have a multitude of problems on the inside. Thankfully, it was E-Type UK, a professional restoration service, who came to the rescue and renewed the car's life.
5 Ferrari 250 GT By Ellena
It was Tom Cotter, the host of Hagerty's Barn Find Hunter, who, upon one of his expeditions out in the US looking for old and forgotten cars, came across this Ferrari 250 GT by Ellena. While Cotter has, over the years, happened upon some of the most incredible cars, few of them are as coveted and valuable as this 1957 250 GT.
In 2018, Tom Cotter found this Ferrari in an American garage, where it had stayed for almost half a century. Surprisingly and impressively, the 250 GT by Ellena managed to retain all its original components intact, including the V12 power unit. In fact, the original factory tool kit was found with it as well.
4 1968 Ford Mustang GT “Bullitt”
The silver screen has raised plenty of cars to iconic status, and perhaps one of the best examples of this is none other than the 1968 Ford Mustang GT 'Bullitt'. This is the very same car behind the wheel of which the legendary Steve McQueen sat as he escaped the bad guys on San Francisco streets in the 1968 flick Bullitt.
In fact, two cars had been made for the movie, with the other one being a stunt double. This find was the stunt double, which was sold after filming, but resurfaced in 2017 in an old Mexican junkyard. Having seen decades of neglect, the Mustang's paint had faded to oblivion, and it even lacked plenty of important parts, but it was later confirmed that this was definitely the long-lost Bullitt Mustang after all.
3 Porsche 901
The entire world of automotive enthusiasts loves and admires the iconic Porsche 911, which is often called the quintessential sports car. Lesser known is the fact that it was originally called the Porsche 901, but Porsche had to change the name after Peugeot filed a copyright claim within the car's first year. Seems the French carmaker had a patent on car names with a zero between two other numbers. By then, Porsche had already made 82 units of the Porsche 901.
Many 901s were destroyed, and for quite a while, it was almost as if they'd dropped off the face of the earth. So much so, that even Porsche themselves didn't have a 901. Then, when a 901 was reported to be found rotting away in a Brandenburg barn in Germany itself, Porsche swooped in and recovered the car, shelling out over $100,000 for the vehicle.
2 BMW M1
BMW as a brand has given the auto industry numerous cars over the decades that have become an important part of history. However, the M1 is perhaps one of the most iconic cars by the German automaker, as it is considered to be one of the very first German supercars. With a design ahead of its time and till then unprecedented, the BMW M1 took the world by storm and remains a highly sought-after collector car today as well.
Only a handful of these were ever made, and a 1981 BMW M1 was discovered a few years ago in Italy, cooped up in a garage for over three decades. Found in 2017, the car did not even have 5,000 miles clocked on the odometer! It even came with the original toolkit, and might even have been the only BMW M1 that was never registered.
1 Shelby Cobra 427
Another Tom Cotter find, this Shelby Cobra 427 is an amazing find in and of itself, but it even came bearing additional gifts for Cotter and his team. Found in a barn after collecting dust for nearly 30 years, this Cobra came with a Ferrari 275 GTB right beside it.
The history behind both of these cars was that they had been entrusted to a mechanic, who had tragically passed away in a motorcycle accident. Resultantly, these cars were left without a caretaker for decades before the Hagerty hunter happened upon them. Both cars sold handsomely at auction, with the Ford fetching just over a million dollars, and the Ferrari 275 GTB going for $2.5 million.