In the Barn
Tom Cotter's Column
Last Cunningham C3 Discovered!
How can this be? How can all 25 Cunningham C3 coupes still exist nearly 60 years after being manufactured in West Palm Beach? But it’s true, thanks to the detective skills of one Chuck Schoendorf of Connecticut, US. Chuck is also the proud owner of a C3 coupe, #5214, which makes it the ninth Vignale-bodied C3 built. Chuck has done an incredible job restoring his car, which is equipped with Halibrand knock-off wheels and 40-gallon fuel tank. Chuck’s car was originally sold to a customer in Lima, Peru, who apparently took it racing.
Restoring his car sparked his interest in researching all Cunningham automobiles. Over the course of the past year, another Cunningham enthusiast – Larry Berman or Boston – began to identify C3s, one after the other. You see, Larry operates a terrific website – www.briggscunningham.com – so through his painstaking research, he slowly discovered the whereabouts of nearly every C3 built.
Except for one, serial number 5209, the fourth Vignale bodied coupe. The trail went cold somewhere in Connecticut. So Chuck began calling relatives of the two known owners. Dead-end after dead-end, then gold! Chuck heard that the daughter of the second owner may still own the car. A few more phone calls and he was speaking to her.Turns out the car was still stored in the backyard of her deceased father’s weekend house near the Long Island Sound. Chuck jumped in his car and drove two hours to the residence. What he saw was both good news and sad. The car was actually still intact and complete. But it had been sitting outside for close to a quarter century. It was very deteriorated. Still, the 25th and last C3 had been discovered. Chuck has negotiated with the owner, who hopes to have the car restored in memory of her father, Harry. But this weekend (September 17 & 18) the car will be displayed in the Barn-Find class at the Fairfield County Concours near Westport, Connecticut. If you have the chance, stop by and take a look at a piece of history.
Submit Your Barn Find To Be Entered To Win An Autographed Copy of a Best-Selling Barn Find Book!
What do gearheads fantasize about? The ultimate automotive treasure hunt! There are many urban myths involving significant and valuable cars
being discovered in the most unlikely of places. There truly exists, however, a significant amount of long lost automotive treasures hiding
behind sheds, camouflaged in barns and abandoned in fields. Tom Cotter's best-selling "In The Barn" book series, published by Motorbooks
(www.motorbooks.com) takes readers inside these amazing, inspiring and true barn finds.
collectorscarworld.com wants to hear your barn find story and you can win an autographed copy of one of Tom Cotter's books simply by
submitting your barnfind story to info@collectorscarworld.com. Every month, collectorscarworld will choose 1 winner (at random) from that
month's submissions. That person will have the chance to choose 1 book from Tom Cotter's books listed below. The book will arrive at the
winner's doorstep personally autographed by Tom Cotter.
Automotive Books in the "In The Barn" series include: The Hemi in the Barn, The Cobra in the Barn and The Corvette in the Barn
Barnfind-Stories
1922 Studebaker EK
Studebaker was one of the earliest American automobile manufacturers, opening its doors in 1852. They started off as a wagon manufacturer and went on to produce their first automobile in 1902. Most people remember Studebaker for the cars they built during the 1940s and 1950s, but sadly few know that many of their prewar cars set the bar for style, performance, and quality.
Read more:
www.collectorscarworld.com/Newsletter/Detail2.aspx?d=2012-02-08&c=inthebarn
Discovered In South Central, LA Salvage Yard
Being agriculturally inclined to build barns in the country, we don't expect barn finds to turn up in the middle of a high-turnover metropolis. Yet that's been happening more regularly of late, and writer Michael Mraz has found another example in South Central, Los Angeles: a one-of-one Mercedes-Benz 1935 Caracciola 500K built especially for Silver Arrows race driver Rudolph Caraccioloa. It is pictured above in better days, after having been restored and displayed on the lawn at the Pebble Beach concours in the late 1970s.
Read more:
www.collectorscarworld.com/Newsletter/Detail2.aspx?d=2012-01-25&c=inthebarn
Here's a rare 1963 1/2 Galaxie R Code car. It has 33,000 original miles, and was purchased new in California by the Phillip Morris tobacco company and campaigned as a drag car for 2 years. It has been sitting in this same spot for almost 30 years. It has the original dual-quad 427 engine and factory 4-speed. Of course, it is not for sale.
From K.N. in Florida
www.collectorscarworld.com/Newsletter/Detail2.aspx?d=2011-11-23&c=inthebarn
It generated buzz, controversy and even threats on a Shelby forum. $230,000 for a barnfind Shelby ! We're referring to the 1968 Shelby Cobra Mustang GT500-KR.Curiosity prompted a six-hour road trip to the Indianapolis suburb of Plainfield, Indiana -not to bid, just watch.A few hundred others seemed to have the same idea.
Read more:
www.collectorscarworld.com/Newsletter/Detail2.aspx?d=2011-11-16&c=inthebarn
Laferriere Classic Cars is the result of Tom Laferriere's passion and excitement for Vintage and Antique Automobiles. Starting as a hobby 25 years ago, its now a growing business, which buys, sells, services and consigns Classic Cars Internationally and its owned and operated by Tom Laferriere of Rhode Island.
Read more:
www.collectorscarworld.com/Newsletter/Detail2.aspx?d=2011-11-02&c=inthebarn
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