What might one find in an old barn? A few old tools, some hay, maybe some bones of an old nag and lots of dust. These days there is a strong interest in what might be hidden away for years and years in those old barns (check out www.barnfinds.com). A strong interest by car folks, who dream of finding some gem, that was parked long ago by an eccentric farmer, a grieving spouse or just someone who lost interest. Well, as they say, here is one for the history books.
The pic above is of a 1962 Facel Vega. A what, you might ask? Back in the late '50's and early '60's (specifically from 1958 to 1963), a French company built a gorgeous and rare luxury car called the Facel Vega. Gorgeous is in personal taste, luxury is in the quality of the fittings and rare is in the total of about 2900 cars. All of this means Facel Vega met the definition of a rare exotic. Powered by a big Chrysler motor (funny, but most of these hybrid type cars seemed to use Chrysler power), back in the day, the Facel Vega was little Barry's ultimate dream machine. But dam, I couldn't even buy a Dinky Toy of one.
They came in a two or four door, but my favorite was the Excellance hardtop, shown in this old pic. Now, I've been to a lot of car shows over the years, but never ever have come across one of these (keep looking, Barry).
Big and expensive. Well, not so big for the times, but about that price. How about $12,800? Let's adjust for inflation and that would be the equivalent of what a Rolls would sell for today, but, hey, the FV was much more exclusive.
Now back to that barn find story. The coupe at the beginning of this blog was bought new in New York in 1962, sold eventually to a chap in Minnesota (seeing this parked in Fargo, must have blown their minds) and for some unknown reason put in his barn in 1973. Are folks like that nuts? Anyway, this beauty sat hidden away and forgotten about until recently. Dusty and a little rusty, but see how it did look and I'm sure will eventually look like again.......
So next time you are driving thru Minnesota or past any old barn, why not stop and look thru the cracks (make sure that there are no "Beware of Owner" signs). What might rise up from the barn floor and present itself to you? At the very least, you may have a story for my blog.
Until next time........
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