Amazing find!

[chicot60]

Barn Cars

A New York man retired. He wanted to use his retirement money wisely, and decided to buy a home and a few acres in Portugal. The modest farm house had been vacant for 15 years. The owner and his 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 that were 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 had made an offer on the place.
http://www.dalesdesigns.net/barn-cars/01.jpg
The New York guy bought it at just 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 heavy duty grinders and cut through the welds.
http://www.dalesdesigns.net/barn-cars/02.jpg
What was in the barn?

Classic cars, specialty cars, Mercedes, Lotus, Astin Martin, Porsche, Volvo, Austin Healy,
Alfa Giulietta, BMW, Formula Racers, Chryslers, Mercedes, Austin A30, Alfa Romeo
http://www.dalesdesigns.net/barn-cars/03.jpg
Fiat Cabriolet (1200 or 1500), Ford Cortina MKII, Mercedes Benz 180/190
http://www.dalesdesigns.net/barn-cars/04.jpg
Astin Martin?
http://www.dalesdesigns.net/barn-cars/05.jpg
Opel GT, Lotus Elan FHC, Lotus Super Seven Series IV, Lotus Elan DHC
http://www.dalesdesigns.net/barn-cars/06.jpg
Porsche 356, Austin Healy Sprite MKII, Volvo PV 544, Ford Y ?
http://www.dalesdesigns.net/barn-cars/07.jpg
Giulietta Sprint, Giulia Sprint Speciale (SS), Nash Metropolitan

[chicot60]

http://www.dalesdesigns.net/barn-cars/08.jpg
Alfa Giulietta, Lotus Europa, another Lotus Elan FHC, Matra Djet?
http://www.dalesdesigns.net/barn-cars/09.jpg
Lancia Flaminia Coupé
http://www.dalesdesigns.net/barn-cars/10.jpg
Abarth 1300 Scorpione
http://www.dalesdesigns.net/barn-cars/13.jpg
Lancia Flaminia Coupé, Peugeot 504 and 404 Cabriolet
http://www.dalesdesigns.net/barn-cars/14.jpg
Mini, Alfa 1900 Super Sprint, Balilla
http://www.dalesdesigns.net/barn-cars/15.jpg
Fiat Topolino II Triumph TR4, Peugeot 202
http://www.dalesdesigns.net/barn-cars/16.jpg
BMW V8, Formula Racers, Chryslers, Mercedes, Austin A30

[stman]

It makes for a nice story, but it's an urban myth. The 180 cars were indeed photographed in a barn in Portugal in 2007, but the rest is pure fiction. The cars are owned by a retired car dealer who collected them and they aren't for sale. Or at least they weren't as of 2007. :D


http://www.sportscarmarket.com/columns-blogs/news/2709-portuguese-barn-find-fact-or-fiction

[chicot60]

http://www.dalesdesigns.net/barn-cars/16.jpg
BMW V8, Formula Racers, Chryslers, Mercedes, Austin A30
http://www.dalesdesigns.net/barn-cars/11.jpg
American (inspired) Design
http://www.dalesdesigns.net/barn-cars/12.jpg
Interior of Alfa Romeo

[chicot60]

It makes for a nice story, but it's an urban myth. The 180 cars were indeed photographed in a barn in Portugal in 2007, but the rest is pure fiction. The cars are owned by a retired car dealer who collected them and they aren't for sale. Or at least they weren't as of 2007. :D


http://www.sportscarmarket.com/columns-blogs/news/2709-portuguese-barn-find-fact-or-fiction



Commentary:
The photographs that travel with this email forward show an extensive collection of beautiful but dusty and neglected old vehicles parked almost bumper to bumper in a large building. Some bandwidth munching versions of the message include a dozen or more photographs. Others, such as the one included above, show only one or two photographs but include a link to a website that displays the entire photo series.

While the photographs are genuine, the text in the email explaining their origin is untrue. There was no retired New Yorker who came across an incredible, and totally unexpected, windfall when he broke open the welded doors of an old barn on his newly acquired Portuguese property. Instead, there is a more mundane, but much more believable explanation.

Journalist Tom Cotter researched the story and finally identified the photographer as Manuel Menezes Morais. Morais was contracted to take photographs of the cars by their owner. Due to the wishes of the owner, Morais was unable to reveal exact details of the barn's location or the owner's name, but he did give Tom Cotter some general information about the origin of the vehicle collection. In an article about the cars for Sports Car Market Magazine, Tom Cotter notes:
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.
Cotter's research indicates that the cars are probably located in an area near Lisbon, in Portugal.

Thus, it seems that the "retired New Yorker" cover story is no more than a fictional embellishment. The story may have evolved out of an earlier description of the photographs that simply asked recipients to imagine what it would be like to acquire a piece of land and then subsequently discover a treasure trove of old cars hidden in a barn on the property:
ok, so imagine you live in portugal and your moving house. you find a lovely farm house set in a decent plot of land. the place has been empty for 15 years!

whilst exploring your new property you find a large barn in the trees. the door is padlocked shut and its all rusted solid. so you grind the padlock open.........
It is quite common for pranksters to invent a fanciful tale to go with a particularly compelling set of photographs. In many cases, including this one, such foolish and fictional embellishments seem redundant. Photographs like these speak for themselves and need no tall stories to enhance their impact.

Should have checked before posting. Oh well, nice cars.