What would be the most fun job for me ? Combine travel with the hunt for ‘Barn Finds’, of course in the most beautiful places and for the most special cars. Oh well, any classic car will do the trick just the same.
It is a controversial subject, these Barn Finds. It seems that there are more cars found in barns than likely. What’s the impact for the value of the car when found in a barn ? It all depends on the story behind it, the condition of the car and how exclusive the car is.
Classiccarstories set of for a Barn Find hunt last Saturday, less than half a mile from our workshop. A few days earlier someone came in and invited us to come and inspect his barn, we could find not one but even 2 Triumph Stag’s.
Excited because the Triumph Stag is one of my favorite cars and I really want one in our workshop, one for sale or just own one myself. Great expectations…
At the scene the lady of the house warned us that we could not get through because of a completely overgrown garden. She was right, as you can see on these foto’s.
Twenty years ago this dark blue Triumph Stag was put into storage in ‘driving condition’. Sadly it will have to come out in another way, the car looks beyond rescue.
The second Stag was kept outside for a long time, since some time it is stored in a garage. On the surface it looks better but again, sadly rust got to it. In the case of this car the rust got to the chassis so beyond rescue as well.
We believe that Barn Finds do exist, even in a huge number, as we experienced (again). But even when you store your car in a Barn, it should be put away in good conditions.
At least rust must be avoided and we do know that the cars of the era were vulnerable for this monster. Start the engine regularly and take the car for a drive from time to time. Mechanically there is some attention to give before starting a car after years of storage.
It looks like the story ends for these 2 cars, but if we can help you with parts for your Triumph Stag, do not hesitate to contact us. In this way the 2 Stag’s can live on in other car’s that have been left on our roads.
