whats in your barn??
08-22-2007, 09:37 PM
#1
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2000 S430
whats in your barn??
A New York man retired. He wanted to use his retirement money wisely,
so it would last, and decided to buy a home and a few acres in
Portugal. The modest farmhouse had been vacant for 15 years; the owner
and wife both had died, and there were no heirs.
The house was sold to pay taxes. There had been several lookers, but
the large barn had steel doors, and they had been welded shut. Nobody
wanted to go to the extra expense to see what was in the barn, and it
wasn't complimentary to the property anyway.. so, nobody made an offer
on the place. The NY guy bought it at just over half of the
property's worth; moved in, and set about to tear in to the barn.
curiosity was killing him. So, he and his wife bought a generator and
a couple of grinders... and cut thru the welds. What was in the
barn? Go to; HYPERLINK
http://www.intuh.net/barnfinds/afa70.htm
so it would last, and decided to buy a home and a few acres in
Portugal. The modest farmhouse had been vacant for 15 years; the owner
and wife both had died, and there were no heirs.
The house was sold to pay taxes. There had been several lookers, but
the large barn had steel doors, and they had been welded shut. Nobody
wanted to go to the extra expense to see what was in the barn, and it
wasn't complimentary to the property anyway.. so, nobody made an offer
on the place. The NY guy bought it at just over half of the
property's worth; moved in, and set about to tear in to the barn.
curiosity was killing him. So, he and his wife bought a generator and
a couple of grinders... and cut thru the welds. What was in the
barn? Go to; HYPERLINK
http://www.intuh.net/barnfinds/afa70.htm
too bad thats not actually how it went down. I would of loved it if it did tho.
10-12-2007, 06:40 AM
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1959 220S / 1979 230 G / 2002 A210 AMG / 2003 C320 SC / 2004.5 C320 SS / 2005 ML350 SE / 2008 smart
Through a Cobra buddy, Don Silawski of Washington, DC, I contracted with a Portuguese translator, Clara Dixon. Clara would be my tour guide and try to unearth some of the naked truth regarding this huge stash. Clara also checked the Internet for news stories that may have been written in Portuguese newspapers about the cars. I was beginning to feel like a CIA sleuth…
I must admit that for me, a lifelong barn-finder, a collection this large would be the discovery of a lifetime. My 15-year-old son, Brian, even tried to convince me to hop a flight to Portugal to see if I could actually find the collection myself.
I was eventually able to contact the photographer who was contracted by the cars’ owner to shoot the photographs that would ultimately appear on millions of car-guy computer monitors beginning on January 20.
THE STORY BEHIND THE STORY
Manuel Menezes Morais shot the photos, but he was sworn to secrecy about the cars’ location and the owner’s name. However, he was able to obtain permission from the elusive owner to give me the following information:
The owner of the cars was a car dealer in the 1970s and 1980s, and decided to save the more interesting cars that came through his doors. When the barn was full, he padlocked and “soldered” the doors shut. (Perhaps welding was too permanent.)
Web sites varied on the number of cars: 58, 100, and 180 were speculated. According to Morais, there are 180 cars in the barn.
And, aw shucks, none of the cars is for sale.
Clara was able to determine that the cars are located somewhere in the area of Sintra, near Lisbon. I asked Morais if he could ask the owner if he had a favorite car. “He has lots of good cars in very good condition,” he says, “but he loves the Lancia Aurelia B24. He has two.”
TOM COTTER is a contributing editor to Road & Track.
I must admit that for me, a lifelong barn-finder, a collection this large would be the discovery of a lifetime. My 15-year-old son, Brian, even tried to convince me to hop a flight to Portugal to see if I could actually find the collection myself.
I was eventually able to contact the photographer who was contracted by the cars’ owner to shoot the photographs that would ultimately appear on millions of car-guy computer monitors beginning on January 20.
THE STORY BEHIND THE STORY
Manuel Menezes Morais shot the photos, but he was sworn to secrecy about the cars’ location and the owner’s name. However, he was able to obtain permission from the elusive owner to give me the following information:
The owner of the cars was a car dealer in the 1970s and 1980s, and decided to save the more interesting cars that came through his doors. When the barn was full, he padlocked and “soldered” the doors shut. (Perhaps welding was too permanent.)
Web sites varied on the number of cars: 58, 100, and 180 were speculated. According to Morais, there are 180 cars in the barn.
And, aw shucks, none of the cars is for sale.
Clara was able to determine that the cars are located somewhere in the area of Sintra, near Lisbon. I asked Morais if he could ask the owner if he had a favorite car. “He has lots of good cars in very good condition,” he says, “but he loves the Lancia Aurelia B24. He has two.”
TOM COTTER is a contributing editor to Road & Track.
