Who doesn't love a good internet mystery? A classic car that no one has heard about before, a crash that no one can figure out the mechanics of... they bring together the internet's gear heads to solving it. And the case of the abandoned New England dealership with tonnes of barn find-like cars still inside really lit a fire on the internet.
Updated April 2023: We've updated this article with more information on the abandoned car dealership, and how YouTube comments could unlock the mystery of the world's most mysterious barn find.
This is how it played out. YouTuber John Amesie was driving through a small New Hampshire town on his way to find an abandoned vehicle he had been told about. When he spotted a ramshackle cluster of buildings at the side of the street, with a couple of rusty old classic cars out front, he decided to stop and take a closer look.
This Is How Barn Finds Happen
Inside the building, several very desirable old classic cars were just lying around inside, silently gathering dust. In one of the more stable sections of the buildings, behind a large viewing window, he found a white Ford Mustang convertible. It looks like the muscle car is in pretty good condition too apart from a few inches of dust. And on the glass inside the window, there was a handwritten inventory list of cars.
Some highlights on the list include a 1941 Ford Woodie Wagon, 1964 Ford Galaxie 500 Convertible, 1977 Chevrolet Corvette, and more. It's unclear how old the list is, but it's pretty clear that he's stumbled on an old car dealership. A place that looks like it hasn't seen life for decades.
He wanders around the buildings and looks through some small broken windows. He spots a cool red Thunderbird, and each window reveals a new treasure. Some classic cars inside are partially covered by tarpaulin, so it's hard to make out exactly what make and model they are.
But they're likely on the list above. One easily accessible section of the building looks like a bomb has gone off inside it. It's quite a sad sight. The whole roof has collapsed into an old Buick and an old Seagrave fire truck, and daylight is shining in on them. Parts of the place look so bad he could be filming in an old scrapyard.
What's The South Weare Ford Dealership Story?
When he returns to the same location three months later, John is keen to see what's happened to the cars. His first video has received lots of interest and many of his followers have asked to see them again. This time he's done some research on it, and the place appears to have a slightly sad story behind it.
It was once called the South Weare Ford dealership. And the family that owned it unfortunately hit hard times. Apparently, after a death in the family, they abandoned it. The plot and the cars remain under the family's ownership but for years, possibly decades, they haven't bothered with it.
This time he notices a few changes. One of the Cadillacs is gone. And there are new signs out front promoting everything for sale. But the cars on the sidewalk are still in place and the old fire truck is still there, now covered in snow. In another section of the building, he spots a Chrysler Imperial buried in dust, squashed up next to two other old cars, which he didn't film on his previous visit.
Abandoned Dealership Cars Were Sold... Or Worse
A year after his first visit, he makes a trip back to the old dealership. And this time there are some even more notable changes. The collapsed roof section over the old fire truck has gone. The fire truck is now standing on a patch of open concrete and the Buick is gone too. The remaining buildings appear to be more secure. Some windows are now boarded and the heavily weathered external doors are now shut tightly.
When he looks inside them, a couple of the cars that were there last time are now gone too. The white Mustang convertible is still there, albeit covered in more dust. And the inside of the old showroom housing the extremely desirable Ford is pretty much just as it was on his first visit. John questions what could have happened to the missing cars. Have they gone to new buyers?
Or has someone removed the vehicles without the owners' consent? It's hard to tell. But one clear thing is that with the level of interest that he's stirred up in the place, it's not abandoned anymore. It's a great find and one that has received global attention. And it would be a shame to see John making future annual trips to this place and just finding it in the same old rundown state, lost in time.
A relatively recent comment on one of his videos points to the fact that these buildings have been sold and are no longer in use. So it stands to reason that these cars have likely all been moved already, or sold on to new homes.
The New England Abandoned Car Dealership In 2023
While we are eager to see about the current situation of the abandoned dealership, John has not put up a follow-up video on his visit that took place about six years ago. But as some cars were missing after his first video came up, we suspect the remaining to have also disappeared for better or worse!
Source: Amesie's Corner Via YouTube