Barn Find Daytona... Couldn't Disagree More!

[Bruzilla]

Hmm,
I certainly do not know what to say on this one Bru!
I can not seem to come to a decision.
On one "side of the coin" it is his and he can do what he wants with it....
The "other side of the coin" to me is: Such a waste, it would have a much greater impact on the American/World car market to fully restore this magnificent piece of Automobile History than to leave it as a Barn find....

Like I said, I'm all for people doing what they want with their property. No disagreement there! Where I do disagree is this mindset this guy has that people were admiring his car because it's "original" and they like that it's all screwed up. That's not why they were walking past the restored cars to look at his. They went to look at his because it's a frigging train wreck the likes of which they rarely see. They weren't admiring the fact that the car had been wrecked, decaying, and not touched, they were thinking "Who the Hell would let a car like this sit in a garage barn for 40 years and not at least get it running if not restore it? If that were my car, I would be out driving the crap out of it." If he were correct in his assumptions, there would have been a fury of bidding. There wasn't, and the car sold for way under the estimate. Why? Because the other bidders, aside from the doctor and the one or two guys bidding against him, looked at that wreck and decided it was gonna cost more to restore than it would be worth, and none of them were ever going to drop that kind of money to keep a POS a POS.

I also disagree that these barn find cars are part of our automotive culture. As I said before, I don't know of any member of our culture who says "I'm going to buy this here car, mess it up, then abandon it for 40 years. Yep, that's my plan." You know of anyone who says that? I know guys who will buy an investment car and carefully store it in hopes the value will go up, but they smash a car and abandon it. That's an aberration to the culture, not a part of it, and the result of what we in the military call being Overcome By Events (OBE). A car was wrecked, the owner couldn't afford to get it fixed, one thing led to another, and the car was forgotten or ignored. Again... not a cultural thing, just an OBE thing.

If he finds value in letting that car sit and continue falling apart, God bless him, but the motivations he's trying to assign to everyone else in the collector car community are just out to lunch.

 

[747mopar]

Yeap, it's a disgrace to me. If I bought a car like that I'd hide it out of sight until it was worthy to show. It's a shame but to each his own.

 

[moparnation74]

Like I said, I'm all for people doing what they want with their property. No disagreement there! Where I do disagree is this mindset this guy has that people were admiring his car because it's "original" and they like that it's all screwed up. That's not why they were walking past the restored cars to look at his. They went to look at his because it's a frigging train wreck the likes of which they rarely see. They weren't admiring the fact that the car had been wrecked, decaying, and not touched, they were thinking "Who the Hell would let a car like this sit in a garage barn for 40 years and not at least get it running if not restore it? If that were my car, I would be out driving the crap out of it." If he were correct in his assumptions, there would have been a fury of bidding. There wasn't, and the car sold for way under the estimate. Why? Because the other bidders, aside from the doctor and the one or two guys bidding against him, looked at that wreck and decided it was gonna cost more to restore than it would be worth, and none of them were ever going to drop that kind of money to keep a POS a POS.

I also disagree that these barn find cars are part of our automotive culture. As I said before, I don't know of any member of our culture who says "I'm going to buy this here car, mess it up, then abandon it for 40 years. Yep, that's my plan." You know of anyone who says that? I know guys who will buy an investment car and carefully store it in hopes the value will go up, but they smash a car and abandon it. That's an aberration to the culture, not a part of it, and the result of what we in the military call being Overcome By Events (OBE). A car was wrecked, the owner couldn't afford to get it fixed, one thing led to another, and the car was forgotten or ignored. Again... not a cultural thing, just an OBE thing.

If he finds value in letting that car sit and continue falling apart, God bless him, but the motivations he's trying to assign to everyone else in the collector car community are just out to lunch.

Completely Agree....We are not talking about some plain Jane Mopar here...These cars are iconic and should be treated as such based on their Aero history.

Obviously, he can do whatever he wants to his car but don't pawn it off as something it really is not. This guy is NO Tim Wellborne and will never be. It is not sitting at a Mopar museum for all to enjoy. It is a rare Daytona found in a barn that is in very rough shape.

All that I hope is that the guy maintains the car in a climate controlled setting and rethinks the "barn find" idea....That car would look beautiful restored!

 

[BeeKool]

Like I said, I'm all for people doing what they want with their property. No disagreement there! Where I do disagree is this mindset this guy has that people were admiring his car because it's "original" and they like that it's all screwed up. That's not why they were walking past the restored cars to look at his. They went to look at his because it's a frigging train wreck the likes of which they rarely see. They weren't admiring the fact that the car had been wrecked, decaying, and not touched, they were thinking "Who the Hell would let a car like this sit in a garage barn for 40 years and not at least get it running if not restore it? If that were my car, I would be out driving the crap out of it." If he were correct in his assumptions, there would have been a fury of bidding. There wasn't, and the car sold for way under the estimate. Why? Because the other bidders, aside from the doctor and the one or two guys bidding against him, looked at that wreck and decided it was gonna cost more to restore than it would be worth, and none of them were ever going to drop that kind of money to keep a POS a POS.

I also disagree that these barn find cars are part of our automotive culture. As I said before, I don't know of any member of our culture who says "I'm going to buy this here car, mess it up, then abandon it for 40 years. Yep, that's my plan." You know of anyone who says that? I know guys who will buy an investment car and carefully store it in hopes the value will go up, but they smash a car and abandon it. That's an aberration to the culture, not a part of it, and the result of what we in the military call being Overcome By Events (OBE). A car was wrecked, the owner couldn't afford to get it fixed, one thing led to another, and the car was forgotten or ignored. Again... not a cultural thing, just an OBE thing.

If he finds value in letting that car sit and continue falling apart, God bless him, but the motivations he's trying to assign to everyone else in the collector car community are just out to lunch.

The term "Barnfind" has become cliche.
That car looks more like a "grovefind".

None of my "treasured barnfinds" are in anywhere near that state of disrepair.

 

[Bruzilla]

The term "Barnfind" has become cliche.
That car looks more like a "grovefind".

None of my "treasured barnfinds" are in anywhere near that state of disrepair.

This actually was a "barn" find, actually a shed find. http://www.hotrod.com/articles/barn...bama/#1969-dodge-daytona-barn-find-alabama-26

The car's story is it was bought new in 69, traded in in 1974, bought in 1974 and held by second owner until 2015. Car was running but not driven until 2011 or so when another car backed into it. Then it sat without moving until it was bought by third owner who sold it at Mecum. I would classify this as a barn find as it's one of those cars that sit around until serendipity steps in and it's found.

What I don't classify as barn finds are cars that are stashed away waiting for values to go up and then they owner drags them out of wherever they were stashed as sells them. This car wasn't forgotten by its second owner, and he had no intention of selling until a persistent buyer lobbied him to sell.

 

[drobertson]

Who cares what a guy does with his car? It's inevitable that one day that car will be restored. It's just too rare. Whether he has it restored, or sells it to somebody else who has the resto done... it doesn't matter. Personally, if I had a really good yearly income, and that car was mine, I'd make it mechanically sound and drive the piss out of it. Then when I get tired of it, start the resto or hire a professional shop for the task. That's what I did with my 73... It wasn't pretty by any means, but I fixed it up and drove it for 4 months. Now it's getting it's turn to become new again.

 

[super-bee_ski]

Yeah, great points Bruzilla!
I'm at a loss on the guys plans....

 

[threewood]

The barn find is part of car culture lore. Everybody has dreamed of stumbling across a rare car in a shed or garage and picking it up and everyone has heard stories of guys finding them. It is akin to treasure hunting or metal detecting, the hunt is addicting whether you find something of value or not. This doctor didn't even find it, he bid on it at auction so there is no connection to finding anything!

He is speculating that an untouched, close to original car is going to go up in value as more cars are restored. Maybe he is right, but a restored car will damn near always be worth more and appreciate in value (exceptions apply). I don't know if I could appreciate a car i could not drive or tinker with. It is neat to look at but the excitement wears off fast.

He can still make a decision to get it restored as nothing is ever truly set in stone.

 

[Photon440]

He is speculating that an untouched, close to original car is going to go up in value as more cars are restored.

He should probably speculate with a car that doesn't have bondo, hacked up door panels for speakers, custom flame paint job over a bad respray and those lovely carpets.

 

[Ironbuilt]

He should just give it to me.

 

[threewood]

He should probably speculate with a car that doesn't have bondo, hacked up door panels for speakers, custom flame paint job over a bad respray and those lovely carpets.

I guess he took what he could get. Not my style to keep as is, but it wasn't my money that bought it either. I have no probelm with what he wants to do with it.