Some of the best classic car barn finds - ever!

For those people that love classic cars, there’s nothing more exciting than the thought of stumbling upon a long-forgotten treasure - and the rarer, the better! Barn finds - those exciting vehicles abandoned in garages, barns and even underground bunkers - are more than just dusty old relics. Essentially, their existence offers a chance to recover models that might not have been seen in decades. It’s not just about their potential value, either - there’s the excitement of finding a hidden treasure, and maybe even the opportunity for restoring something wonderful back to its former glory.

From expensive Ferraris to mysterious hidden war-time Mercedes, here are some of the greatest barn finds ever discovered from across the world…

1. The Baillon collection in rural France

In 2014, the world was stunned when a vast collection of around one hundred rare classic cars was found gathering dust in a dilapidated barn at Château Gaillard in Échiré, France. The collection, amassed by French businessman Roger Baillon in the 1950s-1960s, was meant to be displayed in a museum, but when his finances took a hit, the dream collapsed, and the cars were left to decay. They were inherited by his son, Jacques, in 1996 and then later found by his children in 2014 after they had been sworn to secrecy in childhood about their grandfather’s collection! The various sales in 2015 by auction house Artcurial subsequently set the classic car world alight.

Only 59 cars were salvageable, but included in the find were the following:

A 1961 Ferrari 250 GT SWB California Spider  

Found under a pile of old magazines, this car alone sold for a staggering 16.3 million euros.

A 1956 Maserati A6G 2000 Gran Sport Berlinetta Frua

A rare Italian beauty, which sold at the auction for 2 million euros.

A 1937 Bugatti Type 57 Ventoux

One of the most elegant Bugattis ever made, this was advertised with an estimate of 120,000 -160,000 euros and when sold went to a museum in New Zealand.

Despite rust and decay, many of the vehicles retained their original components, making this one of the most valuable barn finds in history to date.

(Photos from Artcurial.com)

2. Bugatti Type 57S Atalante found hidden in Newcastle

One of the most astonishing British barn finds occurred in 2008, when a long-lost 1937 Bugatti Type 57S Atalante was discovered in a damp garage in Newcastle upon Tyne. The car had originally belonged to Earl Howe, a British aristocrat and racing enthusiast, before being bought in 1955 by a local doctor named Harold Carr.

One of only 43 made, the car had been sitting untouched for nearly 50 years in a locked garage, after its last tax disc had expired. At the time of discovery by Carr’s nephew when clearing out the garage, it had only 26,000 miles on the clock. It still retained its original chassis, engine, and bodywork - quite a rarity for cars of this age.

Because of its exceptional originality and historical significance, this Bugatti sold for just under £3 million at auction, making it one of the most valuable barn finds in Britain.

(Photo from Bonhams.com)

3. The 1938 Mercedes-Benz 540K Offener Tourenwagen (Sport Tourer)

One of the most interesting barn finds ever discovered was a 1938 Mercedes-Benz Sport Tourer, one of only two ever built - and the only one known to survive. After being showcased at the Berlin Auto Show and sold to a mining company, the car vanished during World War II. Six decades later, it was astonishingly found hidden behind a brick wall in the basement of a home in Dresden, Germany, concealed beneath a rose garden. Tucked away through the entirety of the war, its survival is an extraordinary tale of preservation with a tantalising bit of fascinating mystery thrown in.

(Photo: source unknown)

4. The Shelby Cobra Daytona – A lost American racing legend in California

A woman in California, Donna O’Hara, appears to have inherited this wonderful car, the CSX2287, from her father, keeping it in a storage unit for over 30 years and often refusing to acknowledge its existence and its location when asked…

The car was a Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe, one of only six ever built, and thought by many to have been lost forever until 2001. Designed to beat Ferrari in endurance racing, when it was found, the car was almost entirely intact, making it a priceless vehicle.

Upon O’Hara’s death, a legal battle ensued to try to work out who the legal owner was. The car sold for nearly $4 million, securing its place as one of the most significant individual barn finds in racing history and it remains part of the permanent collection at the Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum in Philadelphia in the USA.

(Photo: source unknown)

5. A hidden Ferrari 166MM Barchetta in the USA

One of the most extraordinary Ferrari purchases happened in 2007. An ultra-rare 1949 Ferrari 166MM Barchetta had been shipped from a used car showroom in Switzerland to California, where it was then driven until it broke down, and subsequently left in a yard in Arizona, covered in rugs and open to the elements, until the owner died decades later. Ferrari lovers across the world became aware of this fact, and a new owner snatched it up in 2007 for around $1 million, sight unseen.

This car had a spectacular racing pedigree, having competed in both the Mille Miglia and Le Mans 24 Hours in the late 1940s. Arguably one of the best Ferraris ever built, the car was found in remarkably original condition, despite decades of neglect. The discovery of the 166MM Barchetta was a dream come true for Ferrari historians, and proved that some of the most legendary race cars could still be found hiding in some of the most unexpected places.

(A very lovely Ferrari 166MM Barchetta, but not the actual car! Photo: Shutterstock)

Are there more barn finds still out there?

The answer to that must surely be yes! These five discoveries are proof that there are classic car treasures still out there, just waiting to be found. Whether hidden due to the war, abandoned due to misfortune, or simply forgotten in an old shed, a rare find could still happen to those that look!

Could the next multimillion-pound barn find be sitting unnoticed somewhere near you? Let’s hope so. One thing is for certain - there’s still a lot of classic car history left to uncover, somewhere out there…