"BARN FINDS"

[CaddyDaddy]

When younger, many times when I needed parts or a project, I went "junkin'", picking through junk yards, wrecking yards, scrap yards......whatever you want to call 'em. More times then I care to remember, I'd knock on some farmers door if I saw something interesting sitting out in his field. So........when did the sighting of every old abandon car become a BARN FIND? Is it just me, or do you also find that term haute and presumptuous? They are OLD ABANDON or junk cars.......be it a Hemi Cuda or a Rambler American!

[iamsuperdan]

[JollySipper]

It beats the old cars being called 'barn fine', which I see a lot on Craigslist from people whose dog is 'create' trained........

[89AKurt]

Had to come up a generic term, so there would not be a confusion about what to call an abandoned vehicle.  Not that I'm an authority, but I think 'barn find' would be a complete vehicle that isn't a rust bucket.  Junk yard finds would be parted out, more rusty, qualify for making a Rat Rod.

May I hijack your topic?  What should my pickup be called?  I was thinking 'Survivor Rod'.  It was not found in a barn, must have sat outside its entire life.  I have a new crate engine, disk brakes with power boosted master cylinder, and other mechanical components, but it's not an outright Hot Rod.  It's not a Rat Rod, it's complete.  I saved it from someone who was going to bag it.  I explored an abandoned segment of Route 66 outside of Williams.

[Brian Austin]

I think the term is over well 10 years old at this point, and probably started off as literal.

Here's a blog post from 2014.

https://petrolicious.com/articles/the-problem-with-barn-finds

 

It's fun to see some articles from prior to 2010 as well.  Makes me wonder when exactly the term was coined.

Edited June 12, 2024 by Brian Austin

[ChrisBcritter]

I remember Michael Lamm wrote an article for Motor Trend in the mid-to-late '60s titled "Dusey in that Barn?" about a lot of his old car finds out in the country; not sure if the actual phrase "barn finds" was stated.

Edited June 12, 2024 by ChrisBcritter