martinm Posted January 5, 2008 Report Share Posted January 5, 2008 THE BARN A New York man retired. He wanted to use his retirement money wisely, so it would last, and decided to buy a home and a few acres in Portugal. The modest farmhouse had been vacant for 15 yrs.; the owner and 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, and they had been 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 made an offer on the place. The NY guy bought it at just over 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 grinders - and cut thru the welds. What was in the barn? Click here Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
big john Posted January 5, 2008 Report Share Posted January 5, 2008 That's some barn find! No Jaguars though! Big John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ishy Posted January 5, 2008 Report Share Posted January 5, 2008 Now you know where all them nicked cars go Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
big john Posted January 5, 2008 Report Share Posted January 5, 2008 Now you know where all them nicked cars go Big John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hop blip and a jump Posted January 5, 2008 Report Share Posted January 5, 2008 i wondered where my garage had been moved to!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fozza321 Posted January 5, 2008 Report Share Posted January 5, 2008 WOW, does anyone know hows much they was all worth?? what did he do with them?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andy.t Posted January 5, 2008 Report Share Posted January 5, 2008 Very nice story,you often hear about things like this but I dont believe it,or am I just being stupid and was never supposed to believe it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nigel dabster Posted January 5, 2008 Report Share Posted January 5, 2008 Very nice story,you often hear about things like this but I dont believe it,or am I just being stupid and was never supposed to believe it. Welded shut but no one looked through the window, and none of the locals saw any of the cars go in, and to buy all those cost how much? I'm with you Andy t Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
highland lassie Posted January 5, 2008 Report Share Posted January 5, 2008 The Index tells it like it is... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
big john Posted January 5, 2008 Report Share Posted January 5, 2008 OK Guys, nice story, myth as they say, pity there were no old Jaguars languishing in the "barn". True story now... Anyone who goes to the SSDT will have heard of a place called Achallader, near Bridge of Orchy... The tenant farmer there for many years was a chap called Duncan Smith, a trials rider who had a particular love of Triumph twin trials bikes. He also liked Jaguars..in 1978 when I was riding the Scottish Experts & National trial (yes I was an expert in Scotland for a couple of seasons in my youth!) the trial took us up the back of the steading of the farm and I counted at least ten old Jaguars ranging from Mark 9 to 3.4 Mk2 variants lying in the field behing the steading! Just rotting away. I never found out what happened to them. Duncan was killed when a motorbike (road machine) ploughed into his car (a Rover 3.5 SD1) near Perth in about 1983/84. Duncan was killed instantly as was the rider of the bike. His name lives on at the Pre65 Scottish Trial (Duncan Smith Trophy). Second true story... The bike in the photo was left behind the Kings House Hotel for a couple of years, nobody wanted it...except perhaps my Old Man who had bought it from the works in 1957 and stupidly let it go in 1963! It was in a bit of a sorry state in 1973 when he bought it back from a chap in Ballachulish called Skiggs... the rest as they say is history... Big John (I'm the fetching character in the orange boiler suit - the other guy with the suit is Bill Lomas, former World Road Race Champion!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
martinm Posted January 5, 2008 Author Report Share Posted January 5, 2008 I think you will find the "New York Man" story is a bit of an urban myth amoungst the Classic Car world, here is a more credible version of the legend, The other side of the story! Cheers Martin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
big john Posted January 5, 2008 Report Share Posted January 5, 2008 Yes Martin, much more realistic and credible. I know a very "well known" former competitor up here in Scotland who was a motorbike dealer and motor trader who regularly creamed off unusual and rare bikes from his shops for his own private collection. I'm not really sure how many bikes he accumulated over the years, but it was a lot. SC1980 if you are reading this thread you will know exactly who I'm talking about!!! This "dealer" knew his motorcycles and he had some nice rare pieces of kit at one time. He has disposed of most of them now, but still has a few gems, like a NOS Husqvarna CR400 that has never been started since it left the factory. Big John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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