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Abandoned House Has a Big Barn Full of Rare Classic Cars

Have you seen one too many 1950s American classics sitting in barns in recent years? Well, how about a big barn packed with British-made vehicles? The kind most of us had no idea existed, or we just simply forgot about them over the decades. If you're into that, then you'll love this barn exploration.
British classic cars 10 photos
Photo: FINDERS BEEPERS HISTORY SEEKERS/YouTube
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We don't have the full coordinates of this abandoned property, but it's located somewhere in the United Kingdom. And it's loaded with classic cars that I haven't seen on public roads in a very long time. Heck, they're just as hard to spot at classic car events too because only a few of them are still running and driving in 2023.

Now mind you, I'm not talking about expensive Rolls-Royces and Bentleys from almost 100 years ago. You won't see any Jensen Interceptors or Jaguar E-Types either. But whoever owned this place amassed an impressive collection of old Fords and Talbot Sunbeams. Highlights include a Ford Prefect, a somewhat forgotten nameplate that Ford UK produced from 1938 to 1961.

Developed as a more upmarket version of the Popular, it was based on the 7W, the first Ford automobile designed outside of Detroit, Michigan. The car parked here appears to be a second-generation (E493A) version, which was offered with a 1.2-liter "Sidevalve" four-cylinder and a three-speed manual gearbox. It wasn't particularly fast with a top speed of only 61 mph (98 kph), but it was the most affordable four-door at the time, and Ford sold more than 190,000 units over four years.

And here's a cool piece of trivia for you: Ford UK also made V8-powered cars back in the day. The Pilot, produced from 1947 to 1951, is one of them. Replaced by the Zephyr, it looked somewhat similar to the Prefect, but it was larger and faster thanks to a 3.6-liter V8 good for 81 horsepower.

The barn also houses a Morris Eight, a rather cute small family car offered from 1935 to 1948. This one appears to be a Series I version built before WWII. It was quite popular back in the day, but it's a rare gem (albeit not very valuable) nowadays when you need a ton of luck to see one in the metal. Sadly, this car has been in a fire and it's in very poor condition.

Moving on to yet another cool British car, there are a couple of Sunbeam-Talbot 90s resting their "bones" in the barn. A short-lived model built from 1948 to 1954, the 90 was available on both four-door and two-door drophead coupe body styles. It was quite a fancy-looking compact and it came with an upscale interior compared to other compact cars from the era. An early 1950s car was driven by Stirling Moss to second place in the 1952 Monte Carlo Rally.

But the Sunbeam-Talbot 90 is quite famous compared to other marques spotted in this barn. One of them is a Wolseley. Although Wolseley Motors was founded in 1901 and lasted until 1975, its cars are largely forgotten. And the fact that most of them were rebadged Morris started in the 1930s didn't help either. The same goes for Riley, yet another British manufacturer that became part of the British Motor Corporation (BMC).

If you want to see more familiar cars, wait until our hosts leave the barn and take a tour of the backyard. That's where they discover a few MG B GTs, a Mercedes-Benz, and even a Bentley. The latter appears to be an S series model, which is quite rare. Based on the Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud, the S1 and S2 were built in fewer than 6,000 units from 1955 to 1962.

Finally, they stumble upon a Jowett Javelin, an executive car made by Jowett Cars Ltd from 1947 to 1953. Don't worry if you haven't heard about it, Jowett was a rather small carmaker that disappeared in 1955. But while it's pretty much anonymous outside the U.K., the Javelin won a few rallies and even scored a class win at the 24 Hours of Spa in 1949. Check out this amazing barn find in the video below.

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About the author: Ciprian Florea
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Ask Ciprian about cars and he'll reveal an obsession with classics and an annoyance with modern design cues. Read his articles and you'll understand why his ideal SUV is the 1969 Chevrolet K5 Blazer.
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