Barn finds are still out there.
 

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-manchester-47651741

Re-bodied '36 Bentley found in garage.

Cool car. Would be a kick to know what one of those drives like.

They have a reputation of driving well. I imagine it tracks nice and straight and has a firm but supple suspension. The manual steering probably takes a bit of turning but has a nice feel to it. I further imagine it has a usable clutch and nice precise shiftier. I imagine the torque comes in low and just flows right up to where you want to shift. I also imagine it will probably go 100 mph.

I'd love to drive it.

Got her number? The way you speak I'd like to have go as well !!

So called barn finds are still out there I agree. Today in most cases their proper restoration costs are brutal though. One I know of is an E type Jaguar with a v12 in it. There is a kit to put a Chev engine in them. My friend purchased it new and the engine tanked at 46K miles.

He has passed on and it still sits at his place I believe. Years ago it was developing serious rust problems. I suggested he not keep it parked on concrete in his barn. I have not seen it since. Yet I suspect it still is there.

Another one. A four door dodge from the forties. We were asked to look at to give a value on. The person thought it was worth something. A similar one in really good original condition at the time was perhaps worth 8k. His needed everything.

We just told him that his car restored was worth what the current market is. No point in telling him at best otherwise his was a parts car. A lot of cars of that period have a lot of chrome. That alone to restore is in the thousands of dollars. I again imagine that car might still be sitting there.

I remember when old cars where a hobby. It still is for most but the commercial aspect has also changed that.

Except perhaps for exotics. It normally is better to buy a car that is in sound drivable presentable condition. Or something still pretty good that just needs some mechanical refurbishment. Most barn finds are best left there today. Or if a person wants to do a medium to heavy restoration.

They should talk it over first with those that already have.

One of the dumbest things you can do is to lump and E-Type. It's a good way to drop the value of the car by $50K. Lots of V12 engines out there, lots of rebuilding expertise. It would cost less than $8K to rebuild a short block. If he can't afford to fix it, he should sell the car to someone who cares.


Here's the story of the barn find of the last century:


https://tinyurl.com/yyksxs6u

Barn Finds & Etc.
 

Indeed they're out there ! .

Last year whilst looking for W123 parts in Ventura, Ca. I stumbled across and purchased, a 1975 BM R60/6 Motocycle with 8,000 original miles in amazingly good condition . the paint & chrome are all nearly flawless and it runs and rides as new .

I'm surprised to see that anyone doesn't know that parking over Concrete is the very best a it halts moisture from destroying the vehicle .

Remember : RUST NEVER SLEEPS .

We had a 1937 Bentley St. James Coupe from the late 1950's through the late 1960's, it drove well and easily kept up with the open highway traffic .

I had a 72 BMW R60/5. Loved it for about four years and 20K miles.

When the mrs and I first married in '76 I took income from my first Architectural job and bought it used. We took it up through Michigan to Ontario and Montreal, Quebec, bay of fundy and back down through Maine and Boston, then up to new Hampshire. and home through new York, pa Ohio and Indiana.

Did 4000 miles in two weeks with the two of us and an 80# army duffel. Changed the oil once and wore out a brand new rear tire.

TOPIC DRIFT : MOTOCYCLES
 

Yes, I've been riding forty + years now and my old short wheel base BMW R75/5 remains my favorite, for some reason I sold all five of them on a few years back, I had William Shatner's '73 R75/5 long wheel base, he didn't like it, I discovered it with 800 miles in 1979 iIRC .

Well it will have deteriorated even more by now. I should go and see it if still there. I suspect it is and close to me.


I mentioned he died in the first post. I agree he should have sold it years ago as well. One complaint he had was it was a real pig on gas since it was new. That was the reason I thought a Chev engine would make it a good more usable and practical vehicle. It is the four seater perhaps called the two plus two incidentally. He did not repair it when either the timing chain let go or something else in the timing system. He just parked it in the barn.

2+2's are in demand, it's still an E-Type. But if rust has claimed it, the price of restoration would be beyond it's value, and the engine would be the least of the problems. With these cars, rust is like an iceberg: you can only see 10% of it because they rust from the inside out. The most critical spots are the frame rails, the sills and the box section below the back seat. A reasonably restored matching driver would be worth $70K. A restored car with a V8 maybe $20K, and you'd have to hunt for a buyer. I can help, if you really want to tackle this.

The chev engine is a bolt in kit so the twelve cylinder could go back in later. If I remember he claimed only about 5 miles per gallon. As you mention and my first thought was how much rust by now. He has been gone long enough now.

I will talk to his wife or son at least to get a look at it. If for example a solid example is worth only 20K it would limit the extensive work required to get this one back up. A car that consumes 20 gallons per hundred miles would see little use by me for example.

Cars rust so bad up here in eastern Canada it is serious. I suspect a car in storage passing in and out of the frost point sweats a little moisture in the process. Enhancing the rusting. Real or not some people believe they rust less lf just left outside locally.

I've read a number of times that the V12 E type is not the match made in heaven that you might think at first glance. Not that much more powerful but a lot heavier. Never drove or rode in a V12 Jag, I've heard it's a nice engine when running but that it breaks too easily. Also that it was a better engine in the E type successor, I forget that model name/number.

When I was 14 growing up in Roswell, NM, the two cars that you could see in town now and then that were thought of as the eptiome of cool were the E type and the Studebaker Avanti. The latter with not nearly the value of the former now if I'm not mistaken. My best friend's Dad scored in the stock market and bought a 2+2. We thought the car was to die for, would sit in it in the driveway and go through the gears. Good thing the old man never found out about that. I recall that rich leather smell. I got to tag along on drives a few times, my buddy and I in the back seat with our knees in our throats. Ran very cool for my young ass. Now I think the 2+2 is a weird looking car, just all ungainly and bulbous. I'll bet the guy's wife insisted on a 2+2 or nothing as they had two boys. My friend had an older brother, he had one of the early Mustangs, a 6.

The old man bought an Elva coupe a year later, not a car you see too often. We moved not long after. My buddy was bascially given that car when in high school. Never went back for a visit, I was a long ways off - WA state. Wish I could have ridden in that one.

We still have a E type in our family. A son in law stationed and flying helicopters out of Scotland purchased one there many years ago. Right hand drive and he returned home with it. It has been unused for a couple of decades now.

It was in great shape the last time I saw it. That was years ago now though. It is the convertible with the six cylinder engine. Not a lot of miles on it either.

Many years ago I suggested he sell it back in England. He told me that once exported they would not let it back in.

Parking over concrete indoors is not the best in our region. It most likely is regional dependant.

The best old cars stored outside for decades. I found at Limestone Maine. They all still had their floors intact. So for long term storage perhaps a few bags of lime spread under cars in storage might be beneficial.

Depends on the climate though I suppose. Interesting place. There was a large air force base nearby.

When transferred many service people just left their cars behind. The owner of the place towed them in and never crushed them. I went there a few times over the years. Plus the last time just before the crushing of them all. Opening bid was 100.00 and the majority sold for just about that. The convertibles went for around 300.00. The majority where in the late 1940s and early 1950s.

No ideal of how many cars there but it was extensive. Rusting was minimal. I have made it a habit when leaving a car outside for long periods to roll out some plastic to drive it on. The edges of the plastic will be destroyed by the sun other than if the car is in a pretty shaded location. It does seem to help a lot though.