Barn Find Road Trip Read online

  En route to Roanoke, we stopped for fuel in Salem, Virginia, and the Woody took 10.4 gallons of 93 octane. We had driven 239 miles on Day 1, and the 75-year-old car with the late model drivetrain got almost 24 miles per gallon!

  The night before at the cruise-in, we were told of a car show that would be held this morning in the parking lot of the nearby Tanglewood Shopping Mall. We figured that would be great place to start, so we headed there first thing.

  The show was smaller than I had hoped, mostly populated by Pontiacs. We saw some beautiful GTOs, Firebirds, and the like, but there were no barn finds to be found. I walked over to registration table and asked some of the gentlemen in charge if they knew of any old cars around.

  I got pretty much the same answers as the night before; they talked about the TV shows they had seen, but nobody seemed to know of any barn finds in the area. It’s as if finding barn-find cars is a Hollywood phenomenon, and that these opportunities don’t exist in real life. I felt like shouting, “They are all around you, folks,” but held my tongue.

  Then Kenny Dancy, one of the men at the registration table, mentioned that he had recently purchased an old car near his home near Wytheville, Virginia: a 1948 Chevrolet sedan delivery.

  “I bought it from my next-door neighbor, who has lots of old cars hidden in the bamboo,” he said.

  On the morning of Day 2, we attended a shopping mall car show sponsored by the Pontiac Club. We got blank stares when we asked where we could locate some barn finds. Again.

  Even though we had washed the Woody the day before, we couldn’t say no to this charity car wash in the mall parking lot to benefit juvenile diabetes research.

  “What do you mean bamboo?” I asked.

  “Yes, the cars have been parked there so long, a bamboo forest has grown around them,” he said. “I need to go in there with a machete and cut my car out.”

  I said we were heading north, but that perhaps we would stop by his house near the end of our two-week trip. We shook hands and said goodbye. Interestingly, this would not be the last time we would experience cars hidden in a bamboo forest during this trip. More on that later.

  Anyway, we weren’t getting anywhere at the car show, so we decided to follow up on the lead we received the night before about the Plymouth Superbird south of Roanoke.

  It was already 1:00 p.m. on Saturday afternoon as we drove toward the supposed Superbird, and we had not yet found a single barn find. This was depressing, because just 24 hours earlier, we had discovered Snowball’s collection of old Fords just 90 minutes into our trip, and today we had already spent 4 hours looking and talking with car people and still hadn’t turned up a single lead. Perhaps we had been spoiled on our first day and would never experience that type of discovery again.

  Little did we know that our luck was about to turn around.

  We were told the Plymouth was near an interstate exit with a heavy equipment dealer on the corner. We drove to that exit, and son-of-a-gun, there was the equipment dealer.

  Following vague directions to a Superbird, we found Charles Grant’s 1970 Dodge Super Bee in his driveway, where it has sat for about 20 years.

  So far, so good.

  We turned right, as instructed, and drove about a half-mile to the end of the road. And there, in a front yard, was not actually a Plymouth Superbird, but a Dodge Super Bee! No wings and pointy noses, but still a pretty cool discovery.

  The tip turned out to be a good one.

  I knocked on the door, and a woman answered. I told her I was writing a book about old cars and would like to discuss the Dodge in her driveway.

  “I’ll call my husband,” she said. Her name was Gloria. “He’s working on the roof around back.”

  Within a few minutes, we were talking with the Super Bee’s owner, Charles Grant, who had bought the car new!

  “I bought it right here in Salem in 1970,” said Charles. “I traded in a 1964 Ford Galaxie XL500 with a 390-cubic-inch plus about $4,000 for the car.”

  Charles’ Super Bee has a 383-cubic-inch engine with a four-barrel carb and automatic transmission. Sitting there in his yard, the odometer registers 142,000 miles. It was last registered in 1996. So it’s been sitting idle for 18 years.

  “I saw that car at three o’clock in the morning on the dealer lot, so about a week later I went back and bought it,” he said.

  Charles’ Super Bee is powered by a potent 383-cubic-inch with a four-barrel with 142,000 miles on it. The car was last registered in 1996.

  When the car was new, it was red with a white vinyl roof and a reflective C-stripe along the side. Over the years, Charles had it repainted orange after it was involved in a minor collision. Charles told me that even though the car has the original rally wheels on it, at one time he ran chrome rims with 10-inch slicks on the back. I asked Charles if he had ever drag raced the car? No. Had he ever street raced it? No.

  “How fast have you had the car up to,” I asked.

  “I’ve had it up to 120 miles-per-hour,” he said. “But it gets light in the front end when you go that fast. And the drum brakes are not the best.”

  Charles bought this car new off the local Dodge dealership in Salem, Virginia. He admits to driving the car to 120 miles per hour “before the front end got light.”

  I asked if he was going to restore the Super Bee.

  “At 68 years old, I’m not sure I’m going to do anything with it, but my son is chomping at the bit for it,” he said. “I just haven’t decided to give it to him yet.”

  Charles said he had a couple of other old vehicles, like a 1956 Dodge 3/4-ton truck his father bought from the original owner. The truck now belongs to Charles Grant Jr., Charles’ son. Interestingly, Charles was driving this very truck the night he saw and fell in love with his Super Bee in 1970. The truck reminded me of what Timmy’s father drove on the Lassie TV program.

  He also showed us a couple of cars his younger brother owns, one he thinks is a 1967 Dodge Coronet R/T with a 400-cubic-inch, last driven in 1985, the other a Chevelle two-door hidden in the woods.

  This is the 1956 Dodge 3/4-ton pickup that Charles was driving the night he saw his Super Bee parked on the dealer’s lot in 1970. Today the truck sits in a field near his house.

  After leaving Charles and his Super Bee, we decided to head south on less-traveled roads, specifically Highway 11, which was once a main north-south thoroughfare before the interstate was installed. We soon passed an old commercial garage that didn’t appear to be in business. We stopped because we noticed several old pickup trucks behind the building. Brian and I peeked into one of the garage doors, and there was a partially disassembled 1937 Ford two-door sedan. But nobody was around, and there was no phone number on the building, so we kept driving.

  Charles’ younger brother owns this 1967 Dodge Coronet R/T, last registered in 1985. The car has a 400-cubic-inch and a floor-mounted automatic shifter.

  A little further down the road, we came across a used-car dealer that specialized in muscle cars. We figured they might know if there were any old cars in the area, but when we walked inside the showroom, nobody was there. We walked back into the shop, but there was nobody there, either.

  Hmmm. A dozen pristine old cars sat in the showroom. The lights and radio were on, but nobody was around. We figured that whoever was there that Saturday afternoon was probably out test-driving a car that he had been working on.

  As we were leaving, a woman drove up and asked if we worked at the dealership. We said no. Then she said, “Well, I’d like to sell my 19631/2 Ford Falcon convertible I have at home, and wanted to see if this dealership would like to buy it.”

  I asked what condition the Falcon was in, and she said perfect.

  “My husband just had it restored last year.”

  I told her we were on the road to discover barn finds, not perfectly restored cars, so we said goodbye and continued on our way.

  Charles’ brother also had this 1966 Malibu sitting behind the house.

  —
NOBODY HOME —

  It’s so frustrating to come across a potential gold mine of old cars but find nobody around. Such was the case with B&M Motors in Christiansburg, Virginia. It had obviously been a repair shop or a junkyard, but certainly had been out of business for many years.

  There were a number of cars littered about, including a 1951 or ’52 Chrysler two-door, but nobody was there, and the place was plastered with Private Property and No Trespassing signs. We decided to stay on the right side of the law and continue driving down the road rather than climb over the fence.

  Another side-of-the-road discovery was a decent 1957 Chevy sedan that was stored under a carport. It appeared that a restoration had been started, then stopped, possibly due to the loss of a job, a baby being born, or simply a lack of interest. Anyway, I knocked on the door, and nobody was home, so we’ll never know. Nice car, though.

  Driving the Woody east across a quaint bridge on a beautiful autumn day was one of many pleasures of the Barn Find Road Trip.

  It was Saturday afternoon, and most businesses were closed for the weekend. So, wouldn’t you know, we stumbled across a small used car lot and repair shop that had a number of interesting cars scattered about.

  And, of course, they were closed.

  We were driving down the road and a 1948 or ‘49 Ford tow truck that was parked perpendicular to the road attracted our attention. Wait, behind the building was a chopped-top 1951 Ford pickup truck. By the time we turned into the lot we saw a 1957 Buick Special, 1946 Hudson, an early Ford cab-over truck, and a nice Datsun 510 (I have a sweet spot in my heart for Datsun 510s, BTW). And inside the building was another old car of unknown origin. We tramped around for 30 minutes or so, looking at the vehicles, and Michael shot some photos, then we were back on the road.

  The original Howell’s Auto Sales tow truck that Bo Howell’s father built decades earlier. Bo found the truck in a scrap yard and bought it as “yard art.”

  A 1947 Ford pickup sitting at the closed Howell’s Auto Sales used car lot. The dealership had a number of special-interest cars that were for sale.

  After our trip, I called Howell’s and spoke to Bo Howell.

  “My father got his dealer’s license in 1966, and we’ve been here ever since,” said Bo. “My father built that tow truck in the 1960s and sold it in the ’70s or ’80s. I found it in a salvage yard and bought it back to use as yard art, because my dad built it. It’s not for sale.”

  This 1946 Hudson sedan is powered by a Chevy engine and is used by Bo Howell to run errands around town.

  But most of the other old cars on his lot were, in fact, for sale.

  “The 1957 Buick did run when we first got it, but it needs a total restoration,” he said. “I’m asking $1,000 for it. It has a Nailhead V-8 engine.

  “The 1951 chopped Ford truck was built by a guy who now works for Richard Childress Racing down in the Carolinas, so I know the work was done well. It has a Camaro subframe installed with a small-block Chevy and a Turbo transmission. It still needs some glass and wiring work, and it needs an interior. I’m asking $7,500 for that truck, but I’m a little flexible.”

  This slammed ’51 Ford pickup has a late-model drivetrain and was built by a NASCAR fabricator. All the heavy work has been performed, and a hobbyist could easily complete the project.

  The old car we saw in the garage was a 1935 Studebaker sedan, which had been Frankensteined with a Mustang II front suspension and late model rear.

  Sitting near the entrance to Howell’s is this 1957 Buick Special. The car is complete, though rough, and can be purchased for $1,000.

  Bo explained that the Hudson sedan was a 1946. It also has a small-block Chevy engine with a two-speed Powerglide transmission. It ran well, and he used to drive it to the post office and to pick up parts.

  Inside the building, the other car we couldn’t identify was a 1935 Studebaker four-door, possibly a Commander model. It has no drivetrain, but is otherwise complete. Someone had started to hot rod the car with a Mustang II front suspension and GM rear.

  “There is still an enormous amount of old cars out there,” Bo said when I told him of our quest.

  Unfortunately, the Datsun 510, a 1971 one-owner car that Bo had tried to buy for 30 years before securing it the past spring, is not for sale. He said he used to race Datsun 510s up and down the East Coast, and he knows them inside and out. This one was a keeper.

  The day was beginning to look up!

  After leaving Howell’s, we drove a little further down the road toward Woolwine, Virginia, and parked the Woody next to a bunch of motorcycle riders who were making a pit stop during their ride on that beautiful Saturday afternoon. In the parking lot next door was a cute little 1949 Plymouth coupe with a For Sale sign on it. So, while Brian and Michael chatted with the bikers, I checked out the coupe.

  It was a solid car, either original or an older restoration. It was parked in front of an antique shop, which was closed for the day, so we couldn’t discuss the car with anyone. There was a gentleman in the parking lot, however, who said he lived upstairs from the antique store.

  This 1949 Plymouth sat outside of an antique store near Woolwine, Virginia, with a For Sale sign in the window. The best thing about stopping here was that a parking lot full of motorcyclists told us about a field of rusty Chevys nearby.

  “The owners of that coupe are my landlords,” he said. “They have a few other cars as well, including a 1966 Hemi Charger, I think.”

  As we were saying our goodbyes to the bikers and began to leave, one of them mentioned, “We just passed a whole bunch of rusty old cars from the 1930s and ’40s up the road in a guy’s yard. Just go straight up this road about 10 miles toward Stuart, and you’ll see them.”

  Well, this was a lead too tempting to pass up, so we continued up the old Woolwine Highway until we saw the rusty cars.

  The first thing I noticed was that the cars were not actually from the 1930s and ’40s, as we had been told, but were all Chevys from the 1950s and ’60s. And they were rusty, but very cool.

  After making a U-turn up the road and doubling back to the yard, we drove up the driveway near the row of rusty Chevys. There was a man using a weed-eater and a woman riding a lawn tractor. I figured they were the homeowners, so we sat in the car and waited for them to acknowledge us. And waited. They either didn’t care to talk with us, or they already knew we were going to inquire about the old cars and decided to finish their yard work first.

  This 1957 Chevy sedan delivery has certainly seen better days. This one is certainly a rare body style, though, and could be refurbished by a talented restorer.

  Finally the man stopped and gave us permission to look at his cars. I asked if I could drive my Woody over for photography purposes, and he said yes, but that we should watch out for snakes. Then he resumed his yard work.

  Yikes! Snakes. This car hunting could be hazardous.

  The field of purported “1930s and 1940s” Chevys were actually 20 years newer than that. I parked the Woody in the middle of the cars, but worried when the owner told me to watch for the snakes…

  Mr. Chevrolet

  Wow, here was a row of 11 old Chevys, and not just any old Chevys, but unique body styles. I’ll start from the oldest to the newest:

  1956 Chevy four-door

  1956 Chevy sedan delivery

  1957 Chevy four-door

  1957 Chevy station wagon (two dr.)

  1957 Chevy sedan delivery

  1960 Chevy sedan delivery

  1960 Chevy El Camino

  1961 Chevy station wagon (four dr.)

  1962 Chevy two-door sedan

  1966 Chevy BelAir (two dr.)

  1967 Chevy Nova

  Another sedan delivery, this one a 1960. Owner Gary Vaughn said he would like to restore it if he can finish his other projects.

  When the man finished mowing, he came over and introduced himself as Gary Vaughn. He is a longtime collector, restorer, and hot rodder of Chevys.

  “I sold a
bunch of them here lately,” said the 64-year-old. “Once I had them all the way across the field. I sold four to a man who came out of Jacksonville, Florida, recently. I sold him three 1956 Chevy Nomads, and he also bought a ’56 four-door, because it still had the original drivetrain. And I sold four more to a boy down in Danville [Virginia], a ’55 delivery, two ’55 210 two-door wagons, and a 210 car.

  “I’ve been collecting these things forever.

  “These cars are for sale. About the only one I might keep is the 1960 sedan delivery. If I live long enough to finish my projects in the garage, I might just get on that delivery. It’s the rarest car down there. Chevy only made 2,108 of those, and 800 of those went to Canada.”

  Gary had worked at a Chevy dealership for more than 30 years, starting after he got out of the service, so he does all the mechanical work himself.

  “I worked in my garage every night. I’ve always fooled with Chevrolets.”

  He explained that he has been dragging cars home since the 1970s from all over the South.

  “That ’61 down there still has the 348-cubic-inch installed,” he said. “And the ’62, the reason I bought it is because it has a 327/300 horsepower, three-speed with overdrive, and a Posi rear.”

  Inside Gary’s garage, he showed us a couple of the cars he was currently restoring, a 1966 Chevelle SS with a small-block 300-horsepower engine. He also has a 1957 Chevy into which he recently installed front disc brakes.