Finding cars

[Restorer32]

Where is the strangest place you have found an old car?  I will start.  Friend of ours found a 1919 International on the 4th floor of a toilet paper factory in Philadelphia.  The building was being demolished.  He hired a crane to bring down the International and eventually restored it.

[md murray]

When I was a kid they wheeled an 8 cylinder Detroiter out of the second story of a Barn on planks. A gentleman had purchased it new for his wife and when she passed away unexpectedly he immediately stashed it up in the hay mound. I guess there is a lot to be said of good old post and beam construction. The next owner then followed suit and basically tucked it away again. He just passed away a few years and last I knew it was semi-available but for an unrealistic sum (reminds me of another thread on here )

[Steve_Mack_CT]

I can't say whole car but a single pal who owns his own house had a mopar v8 block in his kitchen for a couple months.  Same guy once cut up an entire school bus to keep the engine, and I suspect some form of personal enjoyment.

[1937hd45]

I found a 1965 NHRA US Nationals Class Winner in a former under garment factory. Ninth fastest car at the event. Blown 392 HEMI powered 1950 MG, should have kept it, but I needed the money. Photo is from back in the day. Bob 

Edited February 18, 2020 by 1937hd45 (see edit history)

[auburnseeker]

I bought two Vehicles a 31 Model A tudor sedan and an early 50's Willys Pickup from Camps down the lake with no road to them.  Of course not really all that strange as they were most likely brought down on the ice.  

I once looked at a 30? Federal 1 and 1/2 ton truck that was hanging between the first and second floors of a storage building (old barn) as it was falling through the floor.  Same place had a 48 Packard Woody wagon sitting almost in the middle of town with the remains of the barn collapsed around it and rotting away so much that you didn't have to climb over much to get to the car.  I rescued the taillight which I saved for years as a Souvenier  until a forum member needed it so I sold it to him to help finish his car. 

Still not real strange. 

[Restorer32]

We bought a 1928 Model AA Ford truck that was stored inside the screen of our local drive in theatre.

[8E45E]

4 hours ago, Restorer32 said:

Where is the strangest place you have found an old car?  I will start.  Friend of ours found a 1919 International on the 4th floor of a toilet paper factory in Philadelphia.  The building was being demolished.  He hired a crane to bring down the International and eventually restored it.

Here's how they got an Intersmashable that was on the 4th floor of the Packard factory in Detroit ten years ago:  https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB125745924791631907

 

I don't think it got restored though!!

 

Craig

[jackofalltrades70]

Looks like at least two vehicles were on the 4th floor. 

[Steve Moskowitz]

The strangest place I found some cars was in my garage...it has been awhile since I have been able to go in there and I almost forgot I had them! 🙂   That should never happen but.....

[8E45E]

11 minutes ago, Steve Moskowitz said:

The strangest place I found some cars was in my garage...it has been awhile since I have been able to go in there and I almost forgot I had them! 🙂   That should never happen but.....

That happens more than one thinks.

 

Some have collected more vehicles than they'll ever get restored, and have left them in friend's or relative's garages and yards who have no idea what it is.  In one case, an individual passed away, and the wife had no idea he had all these cars 'laying around' everywhere except on his own property when the ones storing the cars for him came forward to inform her about them, and asked what she wanted to do with them.  Sad reality, but true.

 

Craig

[JamesR]

I found an abandoned old mid '60's Lincoln Continental at an abandoned old chicken hatchery located at the edge of town. That was about ten years ago.

I didn't acquire the Lincoln. Too neglected and too much work needed.

[Rusty_OToole]

Back around 1970 they replaced the leaking gas tank at a local service station. When they dug up the old tank they found a 1922 Stutz that had been shoved in for fill. The gas station sold it to someone, don't know where it went or what happened to it.

 

Friend of mine had half a dozen cars stored in an old factory building in the eighties. They ranged from a Cadillac to a Renault Dauphine. He moved away and left them, for all I know they are still there. The factory is still there and still not being used for anything.

[John Byrd]

My wife was wandering around a really old messy junkyard near Murfreesboro, TN. one day as I was getting parts for another car and found an early 50's Sunbeam Talbot roadster under a huge camper shell and some plywood...yes, she bought it.   Guess my odd finds were a 47 Standard Flying 8 Tourer behind some shelves and sheets of paneling at a guys house...yes, I bought it after MUCH pleading and return visits, or the two 39 Ford sedans we found behind an old bread delivery truck in tall bushes and weeds in North AL.  ...Yep, you guessed it, bought them and several others along with a load of Ford flat-head engines for 150 bucks and "cleaning up the pasture" with my tractor and bush-hog.   Fun days, gone forever now I guess, although I do know where an Anglia and a 33 Willys are here on the island behind a guys house covered up with tarps....hmmmmmmmmmm  OH, I nearly forgot, we bought our 63 Mini out from behind a pile of firewood, but will admit he advertised it, ha !

[Robert G. Smits]

In the early 80's I was invited to inspect a vintage 1953 Piper Cub on a farm in central Iowa.  Upon entering the farmers Quonset hanger I noticed two cars covered in dust.  One was a 58 Eldorado Barritz which I purchased on the spot.  He had traded a Lincoln for it 19 years earlier and never gotten around to driving it.  The second one was an early Avante which I wasn't smart enough to purchase for $3500.  The only barn (Hanger) find of my collection. 

[Shipping reccomendations]

Quite a few years ago, I’m quessing  35 years ago, I was chasing down some Buick skylark wire wheels up in Ma., and the guy had an In ground swimming pool behind his house. In the pool was a 851 or 851 Auburn convertible in the pool. Luckily the pool was not filled with water.

[Shipping reccomendations]

1. over the years, I’ve owned quite a few Cords. Pictured here are 2 cord bodies I purchased that were on top of the roof of a old garage that was close to collapsing. The picture is pretty faded but you might be able to still see the 2 cords.

[nick8086]

They found us.. no one wanted a kaiser Frazer.in the 80's. They would call dad . sold..

[Restorer32]

Found a pair of late '30s Cadillac V16s boarded up in a chicken coupe. A Sedan and an open front Town car.  Unfortunately they were way out of my financial league at the time.

[Mark Wetherbee]

Two different eras, both in a greenhouse... 

 

The first time it was a 1923 Bay State in absolutely deplorable shape came out of a greenhouse in central Massachusetts. That car was bought by a collector in Oconomowoc Wisconsin and after reassembled wound up back where it was made in Framingham Mass. The person who has it now hunted me down for the pictures, which he now has. 
 

My Pierce came from eBay, but look at the pictures... Another greenhouse find.

 

[Jeff Perkins / Mn]

I found this 1904 Locomobile in the porch of a farmhouse out in the country about 10 years ago.

[keiser31]

Not really an odd place to find a vehicle, but my 1928 Ford truck WAS very hard to spot. They couldn't quite hide it from me....maybe you can spot part of it in the first photo....

[auburnseeker]

My old boss who's son was my friend in High school showed me his Dad's 68 Lotus Europa, we were 17 at the time,  that was stored in the basement of a Furniture store. I can't believe he never mentioned it before as he knew I was a car nut and he was into them some as well.  Later I went to work for him and it got moved to the second floor of the marina barn where we stored boats.  He mentioned wanting to sell it and I ran into a guy in FL at a cruise in with a sign proudly proclaiming how he had one of 8  68 Lotus's in the US.  I asked him if he wanted to buy # 9.  Needless to say he bought it and i never got anything out of the deal.  That's fine though. It's fun hooking people up with cars. 

 

There was also a guy with a bunch of cars for sale in the paper.  When I went to look at them,  the best of the bunch was a partially restored Jeepster that was in one of the 2 rooms of his 2 room house. We had to go through his house to get to the Jeepster.  The other cars were stored out in a barn building.  I guess it made a good heated workshop. 

[auburnseeker]

I've heard stories of an Auburn speedster that was restored in a guys basement but no way to get it out as he brought all the pieces in and then built it with no way to get the finished car out.  Could just be urban legend as well.  It was in upstate NY. 

[60FlatTop]

1 hour ago, auburnseeker said:

restored in a guys basement but no way to get it out as he brought all the pieces in and then built it with no way to get the finished car out.

 

Upstate New Yorkers, what a breed. See the Bilko door open in the last picture? Once you switch from coal to natural gas the cellar gets bigger.

Surprised the hell out of the meter man.

 

 

[1937hd45]

3 hours ago, Jeff Perkins / Mn said:

I found this 1904 Locomobile in the porch of a farmhouse out in the country about 10 years ago.

 

 

WOW! That is the Winner so far, Bermuda bell and all. Bob 

[Jeff Perkins / Mn]

4 hours ago, auburnseeker said:

I've heard stories of an Auburn speedster that was restored in a guys basement but no way to get it out as he brought all the pieces in and then built it with no way to get the finished car out.  Could just be urban legend as well.  It was in upstate NY. 

That is kind of an old legend with various twists that has circulated about over the years. In my years as a rural mail carrier I kept hearing about someone who had an old Corvette in his basement. Eventually I did get to the bottom of the mystery. This fellow had a 1955 Corvette in a little shed in his back yard. The story goes that years ago he disassembled it and brought parts down his basement to refurbish. He was very reclusive and would neither talk about or allow one to see what was going on. I did gain his confidence enough that he told me about it. Can’t see it though, until it’s done. Well.....he eventually passed on. Yes, it was a 1955 Corvette. I  was allowed to view the project by a relative taking care of the estate. The unrestored body shell was sitting on a mostly restored chassis. Engine still down the basement in pieces. The rest scattered about the house. Later that week  I helped a relative push the car on a trailer and I watched it all go down the road. Never found anything else out about it.

[60FlatTop]

2 hours ago, Jeff Perkins / Mn said:

The unrestored body shell was sitting on a mostly restored chassis.

 

Imagine going into a garage and finding an unrestored chassis and a restored body. Now, that would be a rare find indeed!

 

By the way, I sold the King Midget pictured above. Honest, some clown came along and had to have it. A real one.

Edited February 19, 2020 by 60FlatTop (see edit history)

[jan arnett (2)]

About forty years ago I bought a load of square bale hay and straw at auction.  It was stored in a barn and the house on the property.  As we were removing the bales from the house my son found that he was standing on a 1923 T touring.  We drove home and got a trailer.  As we were leaving the property the local cop pulled us over and wanted to know where it came from.  He had grown up on the farm and the T was grandpa's.  A deal was struck and we delivered it to has home.

[58L-Y8]

Not so much a find by me as plenty of ACD collectors knew about the two Auburns in the Fort Plain, New York area by old-time garage owner and former Kaiser-Frazer sub-dealer Everett Pye had stored.  One was a '34 850Y convertible sedan in the garage.  The other was a '33 12-161A speedster stored inside a school bus!  It was in need of an extensive restoration and has since been restored and shown at major concours.  His yard was a collection of various makes he had kept from trades and just interest in old cars, included many Kaisers and Frazers, a sharknose Graham, a '38-'39 Hupmobile Six, various postwar Packard, Studebakers and even a '32 Ford V8 Victoria.  It was a fascinating place to visit and he was an interesting and knowledgeable fellow.   The environment was particularly hard on the cars, in a narrow valley near a creek, very damp.  Some few of the cars were saved including the Auburns but most of the others are only a memory for those of us that saw them.   Ironically, when we left traveling south we came to the corners of Sprout Brook, New York.  Its claim to fame?  Its the birth place of Henry J. Kaiser.  

[keiser31]

A story told to me years ago by a neighbor was too good to be true. He mentioned three brand new 1931 Plymouths in a railroad car that he found on an abandoned railroad in the woods of northern Michigan. He ended up keeping one, giving one to the Chrysler Corporation folks and selling the third one. I have no idea if it was true or not, although he DID have photos of his '31 Plymouth to show me.

[jrbartlett]

A 1953 Buick Skylark convertible, yellow, sitting on concrete blocks and missing the wire wheels. A guy bought the property and found the car abandoned in an old shed in the back. He traded it to my father for an adding machine in about 1975. When we went to look at the car, we found it had less than 60,000 miles and the body was completely straight and rust-free. My Dad offered to give it to me, but my then-wife looked at it and said, "Oh, that's ugly." I was young, freshly married and too easily influenced back then. We just left it there, darn it. Never knew what happened to it.