Amazing barn find and a journey of discovery
Posted: Fri Feb 17, 2012 8:40 pm
Barn find
Life in our early Porsche world, even yet, is full of surprises.
Here is the bare bones of a recent story which, despite being a 911 lover for over 40 years, surprised even me.
You think you know of all the cars don't you? You think most of the old 911's must have been unearthed by now don't you? There might be the odd one lurking, rusting, rotting away in some old shed probably past saving eh? There cant be any left can there? If there is the odd one it won't be anything special will it? It won't be an RS or an ST or a special factory car will it? All the cars with any kind of pedigree must be accounted for by now? Imagine finding a piece of Porsche history right under your nose. It doesn't ever happen does it?
Here is a little tale for all you die-hard Porsche fans. These are the events as they unfolded for us. Just shows you guys, never stop looking!
Many have told their story of a barn find. Many have wished it would happen to them. I never thought it was possible to find any more. I thought all the truly typical barn finds would have been unearthed by now.
We at DDK have noticed how many recent early barn find 911's have been discovered in Scotland. Weird. Small country not noted for it's early passion for Stuttgart's finest. There have been at least three cars with very interesting histories or special models unearthed in the last three years in Scotland and all RHD. Two were S models, rare in the least. Not all the sellers have been easy to deal with. None have involved me but as I live in Scotland I have had a close interest in their discovery. Thankfully they have all be saved and are under restoration despite difficult sellers and eBay woes.
I was surprised when the first car turned up, amazed at the second and truly astonished when the third rare popped up and all within 50 miles of me! This was the sort of thing that happened in Europe or America where so many more cars were sold originally!
Could another important car be discovered in Scotland? I thought probably not.........
This story begins in June 2011 when my good friend Brendan (BJMullan on DDK) attended a track meet at Knockhill racing circuit in Fife, Scotland. He nearly didn't go. It wasn't a Porsche meet but Brendan loves to watch Motorsport and he will use any excuse on a Sunday to get out and about to a rally stage or a circuit race. So Brendan finds himself leaning over a Ferrari Daytona in the paddock at Knockhill. 'Nice car' he says 'but I am into early 911s' . The owner was a nice friendly chap and in the conversation mentioned that an acquaintance of his had an old Porsche which had not been on the road for many years. In fact, he had a photo of it on his phone. Sure enough it was an early 911 and it was in a..........barn. It looked blue in colour and was surrounded by other non Porsche cars and straw bales. It was a typical phone photo, a bit dark, grainy and out of focus but at least it was a 911.
Brendan sent the photo to me and I said we should go and see it sometime. He said he didn't have any contact details for the owner, just the photo. 'Maybe the Daytona guy has a phone number' I asked. A few weeks passed and we were left looking at the photo trying to work out what the car was. Brendan sent a few texts to our Ferrari friend but no phone details were forthcoming.
Meantime, what do you guys think is in the barn? This is the phone photo we pondered over
Life in our early Porsche world, even yet, is full of surprises.
Here is the bare bones of a recent story which, despite being a 911 lover for over 40 years, surprised even me.
You think you know of all the cars don't you? You think most of the old 911's must have been unearthed by now don't you? There might be the odd one lurking, rusting, rotting away in some old shed probably past saving eh? There cant be any left can there? If there is the odd one it won't be anything special will it? It won't be an RS or an ST or a special factory car will it? All the cars with any kind of pedigree must be accounted for by now? Imagine finding a piece of Porsche history right under your nose. It doesn't ever happen does it?
Here is a little tale for all you die-hard Porsche fans. These are the events as they unfolded for us. Just shows you guys, never stop looking!
Many have told their story of a barn find. Many have wished it would happen to them. I never thought it was possible to find any more. I thought all the truly typical barn finds would have been unearthed by now.
We at DDK have noticed how many recent early barn find 911's have been discovered in Scotland. Weird. Small country not noted for it's early passion for Stuttgart's finest. There have been at least three cars with very interesting histories or special models unearthed in the last three years in Scotland and all RHD. Two were S models, rare in the least. Not all the sellers have been easy to deal with. None have involved me but as I live in Scotland I have had a close interest in their discovery. Thankfully they have all be saved and are under restoration despite difficult sellers and eBay woes.
I was surprised when the first car turned up, amazed at the second and truly astonished when the third rare popped up and all within 50 miles of me! This was the sort of thing that happened in Europe or America where so many more cars were sold originally!
Could another important car be discovered in Scotland? I thought probably not.........
This story begins in June 2011 when my good friend Brendan (BJMullan on DDK) attended a track meet at Knockhill racing circuit in Fife, Scotland. He nearly didn't go. It wasn't a Porsche meet but Brendan loves to watch Motorsport and he will use any excuse on a Sunday to get out and about to a rally stage or a circuit race. So Brendan finds himself leaning over a Ferrari Daytona in the paddock at Knockhill. 'Nice car' he says 'but I am into early 911s' . The owner was a nice friendly chap and in the conversation mentioned that an acquaintance of his had an old Porsche which had not been on the road for many years. In fact, he had a photo of it on his phone. Sure enough it was an early 911 and it was in a..........barn. It looked blue in colour and was surrounded by other non Porsche cars and straw bales. It was a typical phone photo, a bit dark, grainy and out of focus but at least it was a 911.
Brendan sent the photo to me and I said we should go and see it sometime. He said he didn't have any contact details for the owner, just the photo. 'Maybe the Daytona guy has a phone number' I asked. A few weeks passed and we were left looking at the photo trying to work out what the car was. Brendan sent a few texts to our Ferrari friend but no phone details were forthcoming.
Meantime, what do you guys think is in the barn? This is the phone photo we pondered over
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