On eBay Stories we often talk about rare “barn finds,” cars that have not seen the light of day in years, and are sometimes found in a barn after being discarded and forgotten many years ago. In some cases, someone fixes up the car and then sells it on eBay. In other cases, the person puts the car up for auction “as is.” For example, this Mercedes 190D was one that caught our eye, and our readers’ passionate responses spurred us to find and write about more cool cars (that usually need quite a bit of restoration work).
For the classic car enthusiast, we found what may be the ultimate barn find, actually finds. Take a look at this Rare Vintage Classic Automobile Salvage Yard. Inventory Includes Cars and Parts:
While not an actual barn, this salvage yard looks like it contains numerous classic collector automobiles in various states of disrepair, just the thing for someone who wants to restore these pieces of history back to their former glory. Or even just scavenge the lot of them for the parts! Imagine what you could find in there…
The seller tries to give a sense of what is up for auction. In addition to the VIN numbers for a number of the cars, the seller has included several videos in the listing, showing the full content of the salvage yard. We were especially fond of this one, which provides a panoramic view of some of the vehicles available:
The listing provides some details:
The collection includes over 200 cars and trucks along with hundreds of thousands of parts including new old stock. There are two Cords included in the collection. We have original communication between our grandfather and the Auburn-Cord-Duesenberg Company regarding one of the Cords. There is also an aluminum body Lincoln, a 1924 Rollin and a Maxwell. Grandpa favored Fords, so there is an emphasis on Ford parts, especially 1930′s and 40′s.
Potential buyers should note that not all the items up for sale are shown in the video, the pictures, or on the description.
The seller acknowledges that task of inventorying all the items would be too onerous to undertake, and hopes the buyer will cut them some slack. To be fair, the seller notes that the “buyer will be guaranteed to receive all vintage vehicles, parts, vintage tractors and farm equipment that can be seen in the video,” and also items stored in two large land and sea containers, which are included in the auction. The seller adds that the containers hold “engine blocks and transmission type items … as well as a substantial amount of unsorted small parts.”
There are some caveats associated with the sale that the buyer needs to be aware of, so we encourage you to read the listing carefully. But for the adventurous soul, what a remarkable project this would be! So should you decide to buy the contents of this entire yard, fix up the cars, and sell them.. well, remember to think of eBay! And who knows, we may just want to write about your experience here on eBay Stories.
The funny thing about this is, you’re asked to have about half a million dollars as a minimum bid for a bunch of old rusty parts. The land is not even included
@David: What is that old saying? “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure?” Maybe that applies here.
The market for these cars and parts gets smaller everyday. There are a couple of rare cars but the majority have little real value. If this collection would have been sold in the 70′s or early 80′s it would have been a better idea, people were still messing around with these cars then. The people that loved these cars are almost gone, there is no money in restoring 95% of what is there. A neat find but not a money maker for anyone. I think the family already figured that out or they would have done more to sell the parts and cars before this. Too bad the cars and parts were hoarded and left to waste. Their time has past…
A half million dollars and it would take years to liquidate. Someone needs to save these old cars and parts.
I AM 60 AND HAVE OWNED 109 C ARS AND LIGHT TRUCKS. I HAVE RESTORED ABOUT 30 MOSTLY AMERICAN LUXURY AND MUSCLECARS… I HAVE 4 GM CARS NOW.. AND THE VALUE FOR THE 2 CORVETTES HAS DROPPED 40% AND THE PARTS COST HAS RISEN 200% ON THE AVERAGE… VERY FEW CARS MADE BEFORE THE 50′S ARE CURRENTLY BEING HOARDED OR RESTORED.. I SAY INVENTORY THE LOOSE STUFF— PULL THE CHROME AND SEND IT ALL TO THE SHREDDER.. JUST THE DAMAGE FROM THE ELEMENTS ALONE IS SIGNIFICANT..
Although theres some really cool cars here, it’s just not feasible to attempt to restore a car/cars that has completely gone to rust. Quite unforunate. Hopefully enough parts can be salvaged ……………….
I cant even imagine the nightmare in this! I bought a classic car in Tennessee that was in an estate, and cant even get a title with the proper paperwork they ask for in SC. This is a dying hobby for the younger gens!
Looks like a bunch of yard art to me,, no .5 mill’s worth though
These car are a great find. If you do not have the money to fix them all the way they make a good ratroad.
All you grown men and women stop crying about the amount of work these cars need. You fix a new car and it’s worth nothing in the end. A classic car can and will always be worth more money in time and in the long run. I have had 9 old cars and will only own and drive old classics.
People are lazy today and do not teach kids and others the value of things. They teach this younger generation to waste money, to buy new cars. That’s the reason this country is the way it is today. I will never be like that.
Life is way to short to waste it. I believe that you should own what you want and stop letting other people tell you what to own.
@ mitch
And what you fail to understand is that if some one wants, say, a ’49 Buick Super, they don’t need to buy a rusted out hunk, which most of these cars are.
The seller may have quite a few rare parts in his collection, but like so many others have said, it’s a dying market. I wish him luck in his endevor, but have little doubt that he won’t get his asking price.
People are not ‘lazy today’ they simply have other desires that don’t include spending $90,000 to restore a 90 year old car from the ground up. In case you haven’t noticed, there is a recession going on.
Beyond that, there are better 30+ year old cars that have a higher resale value, better safety features, and aren’t falling apart. Yes, people can by what they want, and buying what they want while using common sense is better.
A little to late for these old cars, something should have been done 10-20 years ago, But may-be the seller was over pricing them then, So sad no one wins.
If you had a sandblasting crew,this is possibly(or not) worth the money.You would have to sandblast or sand for 5 years to see whats actually still intact and what is “junk”.I would resto that Cord 810 and use most of the rest to sell off to finance that resto.Pity they were let go to this point of deterioration.The engine work/mechanicals alone required to get these all running would run you alot of loot.Hard to know what you are buying here.
very cool cars,what a dream to be able to see all running & driving on the road again !!
sad to say the cost to get these/most of these ,phrobits any resale value/profit,meaning your a slave to your love !!
good luck & best wishes to all in this.
Glen
The Koreans say, ‘Buying is the easy part … ‘
Ok, nobody wins here. Best case, cherry pick the very best few cars to resore patially, strip off and clean up all the small trim parts and options (more cash, very little space taken up.) For every 2 door where you have 3 or more, chop the roof off the least bad one and make a starting point for a sunshine state convertible …. then cry a lot.
It’s really sad to see these cars in this state of deterioration. Imagine what could have been had the owner sold them years ago instead of hoarding them. Many might have been restored to their full glory. In this economy who can take this on and sort it out much less make a decent profit?
Regardless of some naysayers here, there is a lot of potential in these cars. Yea theres a lot of rust but remember these cars werent built like the paper thin cars of today. I think with some of these cars, after sandblasting the rust away you are still going to have more body then you might think. Also these cars if nothing else would be good stripped and the usable stuff removed and molds made to make reproduction parts. A lot of the loose stuff would be great as swap meet fodder, hemmings motor news etc. Im not sure what he’s asking is right though. Seems a bit high to me but Im not into this era of cars. My era is 66-81 — 68-74 specifically in that year spread. So these are out of my interest. But I can still respect them for their history and I can see a lot of potential in that boneyard from one extreme to the other. Worst time in the economy to be selling this lot though I have to say.
Is this guy nuts? 500k for what? i did not see 1 car complete or any car with even 1 piece of glass . what you had here was a local car hoarder that bought up all the old cars he could find and if you asked him to sell you even 1 small piece the answer was NO! now he’s more than likely gone and the relatives think grampa had “Had” a gold mine ..maby 30-40yrs ago he had something..but now? all i see was $100 per ton in scrap….Funny thing is they spent more on the newly erected fence around the property then they will ever recoup…
There is enough junk there to start your own junk yard! Steel is selling for 3 cents a pound in Denver today. 100 lbs minimum
@NRR
It is obvious from your statement that you do not know the market for these cars or parts. As you say you are into later cars. People are just not doing restorations on 90% of what is offered in this auction. Yes there are some cool cars and tons of parts but the market is just not there. The asking price is way out of line and a dream that will never come true. The family already knows this is a losing proposition, that is why they want to bail out and give the problem to some fool that will want to dump it when they find out they have bought a pipe dream. There just is no real money here for all the time it would take to do what is needed. Take it from someone that does this for a living, I wish there was a way but the time past many years ago for these cars. The people that loved them have seen the same fate as the cars.