Tom Cotter - The Hemi in the Barn: More Great Stories of Automotive Archaeology

More Great Stories of
Automotive Archaeology

TOM COTTER

FOREWORD BY JAY LENO

MOTORBOOKS

DEDICATION

To Dick Bauer, who believed this furniture salesman could become a PR guy and a writer.

First published in 2007 by Motorbooks, an imprint of MBI Publishing Company, 400 First Avenue North, Suite 300, Minneapolis, MN 55401 USA

Copyright 2007, 2010 by Tom Cotter
Hardcover edition published in 2007. Digital edition 2010.

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Digital edition: 978-1-61673-757-3

Hardcover edition: 978-0-7603-2721-0

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Cotter, Tom, 1954

The Hemi in the barn : more great stories of automotive archaeology / by Tom Cotter; foreword by Jay Leno.

p. cm.

ISBN-13: 978-0-7603-2721-0 (hardbound w/ jacket)

1. Antique and classic cars--Anecdotes. I. Title.

TL7.A1C685 2007
629.222--dc22

Editors: Lee Klancher and Leah Noel
Designer: Tom Heffron

Printed in China

On the front cover, main: An unreliable source led to the discovery of this Plymouth Superbird hidden in a hedge in an Alabama backyard. Barry Lee now is the owner of this muscle carone of only 1,920 built. Bill Warner

On the front cover, inset: A dilapidated 1939 Ford convertible that was once a sixteen-year-olds sweet ride. Russ Roberts

On the back cover: A rare Jaguar SSI, once owned by Prince and Princess Pignatelli of Italy, which was found in a Connecticut garage. Mike Covello

Everything has its beauty, but
not everyone sees it. Confucius

Every enthusiast dreams about finding a long-lost car in a garage or a barn. It doesnt happen very often. I think if you just go out looking for cars, and not for any particular car, youre more likely to find something you want.

I think all the Duesenbergs have been discovered; probably all the Cobras have been accounted for; and all the C-Jags and the D-Jags are pretty much known. But there are still a lot of other exciting cars out there.

The fun part of my job is that because Im on The Tonight Show, people think they know me. So they send me notes or letters, and 99 percent of the time they say, I have a very rare 1976 Ford Granadaone of the only ones with the full wire wheel hubcaps. Every now and then, though, theres something thats a little bit more interesting. It usually comes from an older person, and thats my point.

If youre looking for old cars, I recommend that you talk to old guys. They were all young guys once. A lot of them dont have children; they dont have any family left. They just want to see the love of their life, the car they were always going to restore (but never got around to it), go to a good home.

And although price is always a consideration, for a lot of guys, its not the main consideration. So you go around to old folks homes, and you talk to old people. Its like Hey, didja ever have an old car? And they might say: Oh yeah, the people next door to us had an old car. Now what the hell was that?

So you go there, and maybe its something cool, like a 49 Nash Airflyte. Maybe its a long-forgotten Hudson Hornet.

If you enjoy doing the legwork, the detective work, its no different than going antiquing with your wife on a Saturday afternoon. Its just that youre doin it with cars.

One thing Ive found is that a lot of old guys just want somebody to talk to. They might keep you on a string forever. But thats OK. They are fun to talk to, and you might just discover something.

If you like cars, but only D-Jags, Cobras, and muscle cars, then you dont really like cars. But if you like anything that has an interesting story, then youre really an enthusiast.

Consider my 51 Hudson Hornet. I got a letter from an elderly woman in her 90s; shed gotten married in this car. In fact, it was the only car she and her husband ever had. After he died in 1996, it was parked in her garage. I went to look at it. Physically, it was fine. Mechanically, it was worn out. It had gone 260,000 miles. But it was all there. Every receipt was in the glove compartment. So I bought the story more than I bought the car.

The real trick is not to be disappointed if what you find isnt some rare collector piece. Lets say you find a 56 Chevy or a 55 Ford two-door, three-on-the-tree 292-cubic-inch V-8. These cars are fun to drive. They give you a driving experience that cant be duplicated today. You can get cars like this from anywhere from $2,500 to $5,500, and with a little bit of elbow grease, you have a collector car thats a lot of fun.

And, there may be a great story behind it.

Any car can be a collector car, if you collect it. People always say buy the best car you can and do all this kind of nonsense. Thats nice, if youre rich. But a friend of mine has a Bugatti. Its completely rotted out. You couldnt possibly restore it. But he bought it; now hes in the Bugatti Club. This car is literally a burned-out hulk. It would take a gazillion dollars to restore it. But he can say hes got a Bugatti!

If youre an investor, you might not be interested in a lot of barn finds. But you may be missing out. Take a 66 Ford LTDits a fun, unusual car that somebody loved at one time, and maybe they locked it away. You can rescue it.

If youre looking for an old car someones tucked away, the best advice I can give is to find the oldest garage or gas station in your town. Talk to the guy who runs it. Ask him if there are any customers who havent been in for a long time. Do they have an interesting car? Maybe theres a 69 Bonneville or something even older, just waiting to be discovered.

If you like old things, go to old people. Seek them out. Go to the places where old hot rodders used to hang out; join the car clubs. Be polite, but be persistent.

There are people whod like you to have their old car. You just have to find them.

Thats why I liked Tom Cotters first book on barn finds, The Cobra in the Barn. This book really struck a chord with me. There are diet books and self-help books out there, but they have no real effect on me. Toms book, on the other hand, is genuinely fun and interesting to read. And thats rare.

Every car enthusiast dreams about finding an old car in a barn. Ive been lucky to find a few cars that way, and two of those stories are in this book. Sometimes barn finds are valuable; sometimes theyre not. But theyre usually great stories.

Tom Cotter shared those stories in his first book, and hes done it again with this one.