17 January 2011

Barnyard Find: Guy Buys Land Inherits Secret Barn Full of Cars Worth 35M

A New York man retired. He wanted to use his retirement money wisely, and decided to buy a home and a few acres in Portugal. The modest farm house had been vacant for 15 years. The owner and his wife both had died and there were no heirs. The house was sold to pay taxes. There had been several lookers but the large barn had steel doors that were welded shut. Nobody wanted to go to the extra expense to see what was in the barn, and it wasn't complimentary to the property anyway. So nobody had made an offer on the place.

 The New York guy bought it at just half of the property's worth, moved in and set about to tear in to the barn. Curiosity was killing him. So he and his wife bought a generator and a couple of heavy duty grinders and cut through the welds.


Fiat Cabriolet (1200 or 1500), Ford Cortina MKII, Mercedes Benz 180/190. 

Lotus Super Seven Series IV, Lotus Elan FHC, Opel GT, Alfa Bertone. 

Pre-war stuff, 1970's American barges, who knows? 
 
Austin A40 Somerset and endless rows of other cars. 
 
Mini (Cooper?), Datsun Z, Rover P6. 
 
Fiat 508 Balilla Sport, Mini (Cooper?) and MG Magnette. 
 
Lancia Appia.
 
Porsche 356, Austin Healey Sprite MkII, Volvo PV 544, Ford Y? 
 
Giulietta Sprint, Giulia Sprint Speciale (SS), Nash Metropolitan. 
 
Mini Cooper MkI. 
 
Opel GT, Lotus Elan FHC, Lotus Super Seven Series IV, Lotus Elan DHC. 
 
Alfa 1900 Super Sprint. 
 
Fiat Topolino II, Triumph TR4, Peugeot 202. 
 
Porsche 356. 
 
Interior of Alfa Romeo. 
 
Abarth 1300 Scorpione. 
 
This is a true story. The man and wife had a great retirement.
(They had full claim to the lot). It was valued at $35 Million Dollars



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86 comments :

  1. The Avenger15 November 2013 at 09:22

    Best story ever!!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Unknown15 November 2013 at 12:36

    Sorry, but the story isn't true. The collection *does* exist, but its not a "lucky find".

    http://www.snopes.com/photos/automobiles/barnfind.asp

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Unknown17 November 2013 at 08:43

      If its not a lucky find who does it belong to ?

      Delete
    2. Unknown21 June 2014 at 11:23

      He included a link. Read the real story there..

      Delete
  3. Anonymous16 November 2013 at 03:31

    Too bad he couldn't afford some blankets...

    ReplyDelete
  4. Brasilino Ramos30 November 2013 at 03:16

    This story was circling around about 3 years ago.They were 2 different versions of it around then very strange that nobody ,got curious before it was sold right???

    ReplyDelete
  5. Unknown16 June 2014 at 01:17

    The old guy collected cars, he didnt have close family so the state took over, when he died.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Unknown19 June 2014 at 06:59

    Where r the cars keys to all these cars

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Unknown20 June 2014 at 05:52

      Where are the titles as well

      Delete
    2. Unknown4 July 2014 at 06:57

      Even if the story were true, I don't think keys or titles would be a problem. There are often different rules for registering antique / classic vehicles, since it's not all that uncommon for someone to find and purchase a vehicle that has been stored for a long time, perhaps handed down a generation or two, and unregistered for many years. And of course any locksmith can take care of missing keys.

      Delete
  7. Unknown19 June 2014 at 08:34

    Very intelligent question Briana W

    ReplyDelete
  8. Unknown19 June 2014 at 14:09

    As long as those cars have been sitting there...All automatic transmissions will have dry rotted seals and many of the engines will be seized up...Mechanical restoration nightmare. 35 million? Figure the cost...Not quite.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Unknown20 June 2014 at 06:29

      A motor won't seize after sitting for a long time if the weather conditions are right.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous21 June 2014 at 06:58

      An engine will not seize if its ben sitting for 100 years. If you were and auto mechanic you would know this. Not a mechanics nightmare at all! Your just a negative person. If you owned them they would be the finest collection in the world! Your wrong in every thing you said!

      Delete
    3. Unknown21 June 2014 at 09:24

      Very true looks like a dream more then a nightmare

      Delete
    4. Unknown21 June 2014 at 10:53

      I doubt any ones been turning the engines over every now and again or blocked up the intake and exhaust.
      So some of the bores that had valves open or partly open would have rusted. Valves springs that sat compressed would have lost there spring.
      Valves that sat open would have rusted the stems. So most will be seized. And the ones that arnt will damage them selfs when trying to turn over breaking up the rust.

      So be quite a bit of money in restoring each car. But once restored youd make a massive profit off.

      Delete
    5. Chuck U. Farley!23 June 2014 at 02:56

      This comment has been removed by the author.

      Delete
    6. Chuck U. Farley!23 June 2014 at 02:57

      Brendan,you obviously have never brought any barn finds back to life.I have personally bought cars that have been sitting,sometimes OUTSIDE in the weather,fifteen or more years and with just a little work like filing the points and flushing the fuel system,will fire right up.Those cars were stored under much better conditions and should be very easy to make run.

      Delete
  9. Abel Woo20 June 2014 at 00:06

    sell as parts also enuf exotic car parts are rare

    ReplyDelete
  10. Unknown20 June 2014 at 06:35

    swtnlnly (sweet and lonely?? haha!) obviously knows nothing about automobiles. Complete cars that haven't run for even thirty or more years are extremely rare and very valuable, simple restoration as all parts are intact and correct. The estimated worth is correct.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Unknown20 June 2014 at 07:31

    No way. Gotta be stolen cars mobster s#*t. They all have plates on em. Who would buy all those and let them sit there and the welded doors and no keys kinda fishy. Looks like 007 or bat mans collection. What a waste tho

    ReplyDelete
  12. Pole Jypsy20 June 2014 at 08:09

    its not true.... http://www.hoax-slayer.com/barn-cars.shtml
    here is the truth!
    The photographs are genuine but the text in the message explaining their origin is untrue. The cars were not an unexpected windfall discovered in a locked barn by a retired New Yorker who bought a property in Portugal. The owner of the cars was a car dealer who kept the more interesting vehicles he acquired and stored them in a barn. He later hired a photographer to take pictures of the cars. Some of these images, along with a somewhat fanciful cover story, began circulating via email and, later, social media.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Unknown20 June 2014 at 08:10

    Real cars and yes is in a barn in Portugal but fake story. U want know more u see in some pics this link: www.intuh.net/barnfinds/ and theres the real story and original website of does pics lol

    ReplyDelete
  14. Dennis20 June 2014 at 13:56

    How Come theres air in the tires on all the cars?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The man with the plan20 June 2014 at 14:36

      Because nobody let the air out of them. And as far as the license plate question- SOME countries (I'm not personally sure about Portugal...) issue a license plate to the vehicle. Kinda like boat numbers. The plates always go with the car during sales in countries where this is law. This could explain why they all have plates....

      Delete
    2. Unknown20 June 2014 at 16:25

      Tires deflate when sitting for long periods of time.. they should b flat or close to it

      Delete
    3. Unknown21 June 2014 at 01:35

      If you look close the tires are flat on the floor.

      Delete
  15. okaykay_120 June 2014 at 15:04

    ohaa amk

    ReplyDelete
  16. Unknown20 June 2014 at 18:02

    Some of these cars are dustier than others... could be that the "real" owner is just collecting these cars and only keeping them in working order... OR that if these have just been sitting around, its just the environment making some dustier than others. Original owner of all these cars may have gotten elder an unable to care for his beloved collection of automobiles

    ReplyDelete
  17. shawnschallenger20 June 2014 at 22:49

    What ever the story. It's a gr8 collection and I would lov 2 have not only the car's but pole barn as well. Gr8 story ...

    ReplyDelete
  18. calcal668322 June 2014 at 03:12

    Wow. This is sooo cool. And even if they need repairs, they can afford it with 35 million dollars now. You can have an American car in Portugal. Its calked ship it to wherever you want. Im sure a true collector would have done this. My friends aunt and uncle live in Hawaii and every summer they come here to Wisconsin and have their pride and joy car shipped here to drive for the month.

    ReplyDelete
  19. calcal668322 June 2014 at 03:14

    And who said there arent any keys for them. Maybe hanging on a wall somewhere is a library of keys. Ignorance is ugly. So is jealousy. This is super cool.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Unknown26 June 2014 at 06:24

    My grandfather is the gentleman we speak of who which has inherited these. Keys and title in the glove box of each vehicle.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Unknown10 October 2014 at 18:05

      Mac, you won't think of buying cars no more. Till ur grand generation.
      Lucky you

      Delete
  21. Unknown10 October 2014 at 18:01

    How can I get a visa to Portugal?
    Buying lands with locked places on my mind.

    ReplyDelete
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