Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration.

[gresham flyer]

Further to an item I saw posted in the Ebay or Ads finds section about a Frogeye Sprite unearthed from a domestic garage, it made me think about how many interesting vehicles or items other folk on this forum have found in unlikely places and in towns or cities.

A lot of us drive along country roads looking into farmyards,old orchards,outside derelict buildings,driveways etc, on the lookout for things that fire us up and we want to drag home and restore.

But stop.!!! Have you looked nearer to home.?

As you know people who live in towns or cities just melt into their surroundings,and become unknown to other residents in the area.

The same could be said about old vehicles etc.

Perhaps in that non descript building you pass on your way to work every day there sits a gem waiting to be unearthed.

Working on an industrial property some 30 years ago I was asked to build a large packing crate to house an Austin 7,the owners forklifted it into the corner of an empty warehouse at the rear of the factory where it sat for at least the next twenty years ,until the boss died. Is it still there I ask myself.


What have you found.?

G.F

[gresham flyer]

Just to set the ball rolling.

I found this Austin A30 tucked away in a fenland town,down an ordinary residential street behind a normal residential bungalow in this very ordinary garage.

People must have passed this property millions of times and thought nothing was lurking behind it.

The car had been stored here for over 30 years,the house behind the garage was built after this.
I bet the workmen who built the house knew nothing about what sat in the garage,perhaps one of them was a classic car enthusiast.

G.F

[Rick]

Hmmm let me think, this A35 was found in suburbia, in the garage it had known since new.

Since the wooden garage was built, the house had been extended, hiding it from view. A new garage had been incorporated into the extension, with up and over doors front and back, the only way that the old wood building could now be accessed.

As a result it was completely hidden from view, no-one walking by or driving could have spotted it, unless both new garage doors were raised at the same time, and the wooden doors open too.


(copied from the main site)

RJ
_________________
Rick - Admin
Home:https://www.oldclassiccar.co.uk
Videos:https://www.youtube.com/user/oldclassiccarRJ/videos
OCC & classic car merchandise (Austin, Ford ++):
https://www.redbubble.com/people/OldClassicCar/shop

[Rick]

One that I didn't manage to buy was a 10/4 Austin cabriolet, the same model as the one I used to own, circa 1933 or 4.

Neither rural nor suburban, this one was on a modern industrial estate.

I heard of this other car via word of mouth, and after speaking to the owner went down to view it. He'd had it since the 1960s, and through nostalgia was a bit loathed to sell it but he needed the space. He had it stored in his warehouse, tucked away behind loads of shelving that held equipment used in his business. The Austin was barely visible, buried beneath several heavy rolls of carpet.

Negotiations came to a halt when he told me that he wanted to keep the number off it. I explained that he'd not be able to do that unless he MOTd it, so for that reason I think he backed out of the likely sale. In hindsight this was probably a good thing, the weight of the carpets on top of the car had caused the roof to sink a few mm, enough to make opening either door difficult, both rubbed on the running boards at the bottom, and also the fixed lower edges of the roof, just above the doors. Both door apertures has closed in.

For all I know it's still sat there, slowly sinking beneath the rolls of carpet.

RJ
_________________
Rick - Admin
Home:https://www.oldclassiccar.co.uk
Videos:https://www.youtube.com/user/oldclassiccarRJ/videos
OCC & classic car merchandise (Austin, Ford ++):
https://www.redbubble.com/people/OldClassicCar/shop

[kevin2306]

id love to find that a35!
i must admit to having a peek in any disused/abandoned shed or garage that i come across (unless its obviously next to someones house etc) not discovered anything yet

kev

[gresham flyer]

I had a call one day from a gentleman clearing out his fathers house,he had a bicycle for sale from the 1950`s he thought.

The address he gave was in our town on a busy thoroughfare.

As it was not far away I went that same morning to have a look.

The property was a pair of old Victorian houses built by perhaps wealthy business people in the town at the time,the street would have been pretty quite and in a smart area (oh how things have changed).

The next door neighbour had purchased the house and wanted the old hand built shed cleared of its contents.

When I went down the garden I was met by a shed full of very interesting old bicycles including a genuine policemans double crossbar model which his father rode in the 1940`s and later around our town.
He was one of the old type 6ft 6inch type of coppers,the frame was huge too big for me.!!!.

Another bicycle had a Powerpack motor fitted it was a pre war Sunbeam model.
There was a lovely loop framed ladies cycle. The shed was full of old pre war and post war bicycle spares.

We agreed a price and I filled my pickup truck with all the items.

Some I moved on to fellow vintage enthusiasts some I still have.

A good find in a busy road I would have thought would shed very little of interest.

G.F

[ukdave2002]

I suspect most "barns" have long since been explored, the real treasures are probably sitting in suburban garages....the first house I bought (back in the 80's !!) had an old crock in the garage, the house had not been lived in since the mid 60's, we didn't have the keys to the garage, so I couldn't be sure what the car was, other than it looked 30's/ 40's. Anyway it had been removed by the time we completed, and I had that much on my plate at the time that I never followed it up

Dave

[Richard H]

My black A35 was found in a council lockup behind some shops in a town centre. Personally I think the best finds are to be had in normal domestic garages in urban/suburban areas, the population density means the likelihood of finding something interesting is that much greater.

Something I have noticed, if you see a derelict classic car rotting on someone's driveway, it could just be the tip of the iceberg and there can be other old cars in the garden and garage. Worth a look on Google maps.
_________________
Richard Hughes

[Rick]

Not far away, I once spied several old XJs mouldering away behind a house (I was walking our dog of the time in the fields behind a row of houses). I'm not sure whether the Jaguars are still there or not, but I'd love to have a nosey in the two garages that are there. The owner of the house looks like he never gets rid of anything

RJ
_________________
Rick - Admin
Home:https://www.oldclassiccar.co.uk
Videos:https://www.youtube.com/user/oldclassiccarRJ/videos
OCC & classic car merchandise (Austin, Ford ++):
https://www.redbubble.com/people/OldClassicCar/shop

[Salopian]

I live in a fairly rural area - all the small farmers who kept old things in case they'd be handy are long gone and the land amalgamated with others to make large and tidy holdings while the houses and barns are sold off or converted. Certainly 30 or 40 years ago barns were well worth a nosing into as were yards but now I expect urban areas are the places to look.
_________________
Jonathan Butler
Alvis SD 12/50 1928 MG TD 1950

[RotaryBri]

I remember reading in the Birmingham Mail about a house sale. When the agents had some men to attack the very high brambles in the overgrown back garden they found a large wooden shed. In that shed was a Riley RM model with delivery mileage on it. It had never been used from the day that it had been delivered.

It turned out that the lady that owned the house had bought it as a surprise wedding present for her fiancee but he jilted her so she just left the Riley and never touched it again.
_________________
Keep Torqueing,

RotaryBri

1976 NSU Ro80

[Rusty]

Until 12 months ago I lived on a farm that the family still own and have continually occupied since the turn of last century (1900). Every few months you would see someone sitting up at the main road, sometimes with binoculars checking out our rubbish tip and sometimes they would come in looking for either cars or more likely vintage tractors and stationary engines. I did pass off a few of our less interesting relics to some of them but the rest I still have and intend to keep. The entire country has been so well looked over now that almost everything is known about and the only things left are things still owned by the older generation who value them (you know, I intend to restore that ! ) But they slowly come out as the older people either pass on or move off. You don't see the collectors around so much now and I recon its not worth their while anymore because there is nothing available anymore unless you are into quite modern stuff. (1970s on) I recon the things I know of in some of the local towns and outer metropolitan areas would suggest that there is a lot more in closely settled areas, the trouble is most collectors cant see into the suburban back yards so no one knows what is there. I do know one bloke who has found a couple of things by flying his ultra light aeroplane over the backyards of some of the local towns for a look at what's there.

[Keith D]

I've heard it said by several people in the UK that the reason there are so many Austin Sevens now still on the road, is because they take up so little room and could fit inside a garden shed that was locked up and forgotten, even on a small suburban garden.

Keith

[peter scott]

[BigJohn]

There are enough old drones at some of the car shows I've frequented over the years