Always check the barn

19Jun2008 Filed under: cars, just attu, wtf Author: Yaikz!

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 New York 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……………?

The doors were welded shut, but an angle grinder took care of that.

Interior of Alfa Romeo.

Lancia Flaminia Coupé, Peugeot 504 cabriolet & 404 cabriolet.

Mini, Alfa 1900 Super Sprint, Balilla.

Fiat Topolino II, Triumph TR4, Peugeot 202.

BMW V8, Formula racers, Chryslers, Mercedes, Austin A30.

Fiat Cabriolet (1200 or 1500), Ford Cortina MKII, Mercedes Benz 180/190

Aston Martin anyone?

Opel GT, Lotus Elan FHC, Lotus Super Seven Series IV, Lotus Elan DHC

Porsche 356, Austin Healey Sprite MkII, Volvo PV 544, Ford Y?

Giulietta Sprint, Giulia Sprint Speciale (SS), Nash Metropolitan.

Alfa Giulietta, Lotus Europa, another Lotus Elan FHC, Matra Djet?

BMW V8, Formula racers, Chryslers, Mercedes, Austin A30.

Lancia Flaminia Coupé.

Abarth 1300 Scorpione.

American (inspired) design.

Bloody WICKED!!!!
ALL UP VALUED AT $35 MILLION NZ DOLLARS.
THIS IS A TRUE STORY THE MAN AND HIS WIFE HAD FULL CLAIM TO THE LOT
THEY HAD A GREAT RETIREMENT

21 Responses to “Always check the barn”

Dave
June 19th, 2008 at 14:58

Not true. See Snopes.com. This is a hoax gaining credence through repetition.
Ken
June 19th, 2008 at 16:24

This’ll make you cry…..
ikke
June 19th, 2008 at 18:14

See the following website for more information on this barn-thing http://www.snopes.com/photos/automobiles/barnfind.asp
hermen
June 19th, 2008 at 23:07

Thats a real spoiler, I think it is a great spoof!
JagEsquire
June 20th, 2008 at 06:45

Take down the post, it’s a hoax
atablarasa
June 20th, 2008 at 06:53

Snopes says that the pictures aren’t a hoax and they’re wicked cool.
Joe
June 20th, 2008 at 13:23

The whole thing, barn and cars was done in photoshop.
Anonymous
June 20th, 2008 at 14:23

I’m from portugal and I don’t find it hard to believe… there are a lot of business men in the north of portugal who like to collect “old” cars.

There are palaces and such there are now in ruins but still have true reliquaries .

sometimes the heirs don’t have the money do rehabilitate the place, or have lots of other places to care. Some of this houses are in the interior who is being deserted… no one wants to live there…

I personally know a house that is in this conditions but the villagers do what they can for a classic that’s in the house, and it’s pretty well cared. The owner didn’t had any heirs so they don’t really know who the car belongs to
Anonymous
June 20th, 2008 at 18:22

aww but the made up story is so much better than the truth!
TRUTH
June 20th, 2008 at 20:25

IT’S TRUE DON’T BELIEVE SNOPES.
Anonymous
June 20th, 2008 at 22:18

The cars, and barn are real. The story is false. These pictures are from a photographer hired to document the collection. Sorry to ruin it for anyone.
Attu
June 20th, 2008 at 22:19

No it’s not. No it’s not. No it’s not. No it’s not. No it’s not. No it’s not. No it’s not. No it’s not. No it’s not. No it’s not. No it’s not. No it’s not. No it’s not. No it’s not. No it’s not. No it’s not. No it’s not.
akgrrl2001
June 21st, 2008 at 04:32

what makes you people believe snopes is real?
SNOPES IS FAKE
June 21st, 2008 at 07:30

SNOPES BLOWS. SNOPES IS FAKE AND ANYONE WHO THINKS THEY’RE COOL BY POSTING A LINK TO SNOPES IS A DOUCHE.
jhgfdfghj
June 22nd, 2008 at 16:51

http://www.dikketitten.de.vu
Wim
June 23rd, 2008 at 14:16

http://mirror.geenstijl.nl/pritt-mazda/www.mazda-ogn.org/forum/viewtopicef13.html
Dumblahnd
June 25th, 2008 at 22:36

This is a hoax, I know because that’s my barn. I’m a modest collector of cute little cars.
World On Wheels 4 New Bentley Audi A7 | What's The 401?!?!
June 26th, 2008 at 02:27

[...] did he find? A collection of rare classic cars valued at $35 million NZ dollars! WOW! Pictures of the rest of the lot can be found over at Attuworld. This is truly an incredible [...]
Arnoud op de Weegh
August 25th, 2008 at 19:06

Dear all,

If you are interested in barnfinds like these the following site is maybe also interesting:

http://www.extraordinarycarcollections.com

It goes about the famous Dovaz collection and Arlette Schlumpf reserve collection.

I hope I can interest you!

Best regards!
eli
July 14th, 2009 at 01:27

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.”

I would ask that a European-based SCM subscriber pick this story up and help fill in the blanks. And let me know what you find (tomgcotter@roadrunner.com). I’d like to include the true story in a future In the Barn book, as well as in SCM.
Paul
October 28th, 2009 at 08:58

Ok, so if this is a fake: Why would they not clean the vehicles before they took the photos?? They obviously wanted to take the pics for a reason…why would they leave them direty? And also the door shows a weld, not a solder, which proves the “real” story is in fact the fake