Barn find

T

t42

Senior Member
Just curious. How do I tell if I have a "barn find" as opposed to a "garage find"? Does it have to be in a barn? Does it have to be listed on "Ford Barn" buy/sell? Can a run down garage whose doors have not been opened in years be classified as a barn? Is it a "hasn't moved in 40 years" thing? Every time I see an ad listed as "barn find", I think found locally, dragged to a remote barn and covered with dirt, straw and whatever else is found on a farm. Does it really add to the value, or does it just make for a good story? I probably opened a can of worms, what do you think? Any rules?
Just venting, but what an overused description.
 
I dont know who started the words, "barn find", but i hope he is long dead and gone by now. Seems like everyone wants to use this slang. And yes, every so often there probably are true "barn finds", but i think the term is just over blown. Sorry, just venting also. And my 2 cents.
 
If the car has been stored long enough for the spiders and mice to move on, then you might have a barn find!
I think that any car that has been stored for more then 40 or 50 years in a barn, shed or garage could be called a barn find. Preferably one that has been untouched original or freshened up back in the 50's or maybe early 60's and parked.
 
I believe the term "barn find" conjures up the imagination a bit more then garage find.
It may also add a few dollars into the mix as well.....
 
It's a sign of total ignorance. A barn is a farm building used to house animals and store hay and other animal feed. A shed is a general storage building, which if it has large enough doors, may hold tractors, farm mchinery or cars. A garage is a building that was designed to store cars or other vehicles.
Anybody that finds an old car in an unused or neglected garage and calls it a 'barn find' is an idiot!
 
You've probably read the term "barn fresh" in some ads & postings. There's an oxymoron for you. How something that's stored in a shed and in the condition their
usually in possibly be fresh.
 
I was thinking of lining my garage with some old barn wood just to get in the right frame of mind when I go to sell the T's and A this spring. Should be worth a few dollars more, right. Probably would add more value to the garage than the cars.
 
I found this in a big metal shed but I call it a "barn find". Or should I call it a "shed find"?

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I've always considered a barn find, any vehicle that was put away and forgotten about, not tinkered with while 'away', and not 'found' by the owner of the vehicle in his own building...And yes, they are still out there, but like others the term has been way over-used, and NO, it DOES NOT add any value to the vehicle....my2cents
 
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Remember the 80s when small farms went under. I do. Also a lot of barns have been abandoned due to expensive up keep. It'd be more cost effective to throw up a pole shed then re-shake shingle a massive barn. So they became storage for the stuff you were not going to throw away. What farmer throws something away? :]

Here's my pole shed find stored for 35yrs. Find isn't really true either, I always knew where it was.

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really, i believe the term originated about 40 years ago when people were finding original cars that for the most part had been parked during the war when you couldnt get tires or gas. after the war many people bought new cars and these others were "forgotten ?" untill some one interested found it. now, especially on ebay if its been parked for a week and some one talks em it selling its a barn find
 
when i think of a barn find car i think of surface rust and originality...for instance a gent was selling his dads 58 chevy impala which his father stored in the barn for ump-teen years...he advertized on craigslist for $14,500. anyone know who bought that car? thats a barn find!!
 
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