The Romance of a Barn Find

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The Romance of a Barn Find

How many cool old cars have been locked in a barn and forgotten about? Probably not many I’d guess. But some people just don’t sell things, even expensive things. Take this 1961 E-Type Jaguar found in a French barn. It’s now dead owner bought it in 1969 and parked it up in 1974 under a dust sheet and just left it there. Interestingly 1974 was also the year the E-Type went out of production.

What makes this discovery even cooler is that it appears to be only the 40th E-Type off the assembly line out of a total of over 70,000 made. It was discovered by the man’s family when they were about to demolish the old barn which had taken on an alarming lean. It always pays to check on the contents of an old barn before you flatten it.

The car is in good shape despite being tucked away in a falling down old out-building for nearly 40 years.  It is expected to sell the car for as high as $200,000 when it’s auctioned this weekend in England.

You’d imagine that most cars left to rot in a barn would be run of the mill clunkers like the Morris Marina or the Datsun 120Y. So finding a car once described by Enzo Ferrari as “the most beautiful car ever made” is always exciting and sort of romantic in a way.  It’s the sort of romance you’re not likely to experience if you discover a rat infested Austin Allegro cluttering up Grandad’s barn.