Hagerty Barn Find Hunter - Tom Cotter

[STEVE POLLARD]

 

Edited November 28, 2023 by STEVE POLLARD (see edit history)

[edinmass]

Another fake barn find story………bunch of used cars in a pole barn. Fun and interesting, yes. Barn find……..nope.

[Ed Luddy]

Why do so many car guys fall for this made for views/ TV/ You Tube video stuff? Yes the cars are out there but the filmed episodes are just not real. I spend many, many hours chasing and finding cars for people. Truth is 85 % of the cars advertised are just B.S. stories. 

 Hagerty's show with Tom is great entertainment for car guys like us. But it's primary focus is NOT any more than that. Less than 10% of cars I hear about or look at turn out to be what is advertised.

 Enjoy it for what it is. No more.

[Reicholzheimer]

 Driver Participation Class!  Great entry level cars.

[JamesR]

Well, the phrase "barn find" might be used loosely in this situation, but it's a pretty great collection for a guy who ran a landscaping business (or anyone, really.) If that '67 Caddy convertible is original paint as stated, it would be a dream car for many of us. The cars don't look like they were used much, but they don't look very neglected. Hopefully they were started now and then to keep the engine internals good. Thanks for posting!

[Leif in Calif]

I think only about 20% of the cars that interest us are visible at any time. The other 80% are sitting somewhere and only appear when that person passes. I posted my elderly neighbor's box covered '33 Imperial some months ago, I also know of a barn full of Fiats from the 50's and 60's, just collecting dust. Years ago, I read that Groucho Marx's '31 Mercedes was discovered in the area. I think what ever you dream of, it's probably in someone's garage or storage shed within 100 miles of you. 

[Porsche 68]

My 34 Dodge coupe has been sitting in the garage since 1967 when I was younger I towed for the town and state police where the car sat o must have passed the house where the car sat a hundred times never knew it was there This was in the early 80s 

[Paul Dobbin]

Nice car!   As a 1934 Ford guy,  i have to admire the all steel body and hydraulic brakes on your 1934 Dodge.   Chrysler was

way ahead there and with the Airflow that I spent 50,000 miles in in Great Races 1988 thru 1995 & again in 2001.

[Porsche 68]

Thank you Paul. First pre war car I drove was a 1927 Whippet model 97 fun car to drive Then I bought a 1925 Dodge Brothers Depot Hack that sat for 30 years fun but crude then I got the 34 coupe a little over a year ago rebuilt it mechanically and it is my favorite everyday driver in the summer I love it !  John

[Paul Dobbin]

John,

Your user name has always suggested you were a old Porsche guy with a 68 911 or 912,

In 1966, my first Sargent in my Air Force squadron ordered a ne 912 to be picked up at the factory in Stuttgart.

i drove him down there from Air Force Headquarters in Wiesbaden, in my 1957 Porsche Speedster.   We got a

full factory tour as well as a few offers to buy my Speedster.

I took a full production set of slides, start to finish plus all the new race cars stored in the roof.   I'm trying to get

them organized to post on the Porsche Forum.   One of many great memories with that car, along with driving on

the Nurburgring and other famous germen tracks and Autobahns.

[Porsche 68]

Paul when I was younger 1980 I worked at a Porsche Mercedes shop I used to buy customer’s Porsche and Mercedes that didn’t want to fix them In the summer it was 911s winter Benzes back then they were just old used cars My first car when I got my license was a 68 912 I’m still on the lookout for a 1976 912E silver with blue interior John Blue one 79 euro 3.0 Carerra  Tirbo look French car I bought for $3000 wish I kept it now!

[60FlatTop]

Yeah,

 

They said amazing. I did not feel disoriented as in a maze.

 

They said incredible. I found no lack of credibility.

 

The said awesome. I was not in awe.

 

They said absolutely. I thought there could be more.

 

They said found. This was not lost.

 

"I will not swim the warm waters of the depth of the barn".

[TAKerry]

On 11/30/2023 at 9:41 AM, Reicholzheimer said:

 Driver Participation Class!  Great entry level cars.

🤔not sure of the inference but there was a Duesenberg in the DPC at Hershey this past fall.

[TAKerry]

There is a local access channel that runs a 'car show'. Mostly the guy goes to cruises and shows and highlights the auto's there. He has stated he at least owns and has owned antique cars but at times he is not very knowledgeable, (I guess kinda like if I were the host, LOL). The other night they were at a 'barn find' collection which truly was. Many dozens of cars, most 60's and early 70's era. Almost all were convertibles. The owners rep made light about the racoon traps scattered throughout. Every car had the top and interior completely destroyed. The host kept saying what beautiful cars and all they needed 'was some good cleaning'. I still scratch my head when I see a collection like this, a person goes through the effort to round them up, stores them in horrible conditions, lets animals destroy them and in most cases wont sell anything. They may as well go into the crusher to make a new Toyota.

[60FlatTop]

11 minutes ago, TAKerry said:

. I still scratch my head when I see a collection like this, a person goes through the effort to round them up, stores them in horrible conditions, lets animals destroy them and in most cases wont sell anything.

I have seen some of those that were old dealership collections of trade-ins. Zero investment other than the floor space.

 

 

My wife bought a vacuum cleaner with a plastic cup that replaces the bags. Looks like my plans for a barnfind collection are gone.

[Reicholzheimer]

5 hours ago, TAKerry said:

🤔not sure of the inference but there was a Duesenberg in the DPC at Hershey this past fall.

They seem nice enough to clean up and just show them with little work. 

[Sunchaser]

Several years ago we were in KY visiting a state park and a man and his wife ran the concession at a railroad crossing in the park and also lived there.  We talked about an old truck that was parked on the entrance to the park and he told me that he and his father would go pickup abandoned vehicles in the

area.  He asked if I would like to see some them and of course I said sure!  He had a warehouse next to his house and it was packed with trucks and cars that he and his father had gathered up.  I asked about a 1926 GMC that he had if was interested in selling it and his answer was "no, I am going to restore all these myself".  Of course that was never going to happen, these were all memories that he had of his father.  They were all unique though and some maybe one of kind left.

[60FlatTop]

On 12/11/2023 at 7:26 AM, Sunchaser said:

he told me that he and his father would go pickup abandoned vehicles in the

area.  He asked if I would like to see some them and of course I said sure! 

That story may lack a little accuracy in the telling. I have been looking behind buildings, in fields, through open doors, and the like since 1960. Those cars do not represent "picked up abandoned vehicles". When you are in a tourist area those locals like to tease.News reporters/journalists get it pretty good. A reporter from the city paper did a write up on our cruise night back in its hay day. One of our regulars was a cop. He told the reporter that he saved a lot of money building his car by picking up parts from accident scenes. Right into the paper. That clipping hung at the entrance for years and I always got a laugh. The truth was, he painted his car white because that was the cheapest color.

 

That collection pictured in the previous post reminds me a lot of a person out west of us on RT 104, the Honeymoon Trail to Niagara Falls, who wanted to open a car museum. Once underway he found code restrictions against the building. Then he tried to create a 501 nonprofit museum not knowing the regulations. The pictures sure look a lot like his place ended up. At least the one pictured has a roof. Watch out old cars and tall tail tellers have a way of gravitating together.

 

On that reporter thing, I once heard a story about an Indiana reporter quoting a local farmer as saying "True, the corn crop didn't meet our expectations this season, but we didn't think it would". I haven't trusted those old guys since I turned 30, may even a little before.