A "barn find" is commonly described as a classic car that has been rediscovered after being stored for a long time. And more often than not, the vehicle's presence in the barn is known to the owner. Sometimes, however, barns and yards can hide cars that are considered lost.
One such classic was discovered in Canada in April 2023. That's when classic car prospector Dennis Collins unearthed a 1967 Shelby Mustang GT350 that went off the radar in 1977. Another example is the sole surviving left-hand-drive Ford Cortina GT Wagon that popped up in Detroit in June 2023.
Come July, and it's time to look at yet another four-wheeled gem that had been missing for a half-century. This time around, it's a 1930s race car that set a couple of speed records at the Bonneville Salt Flats. It's not the most famous Bonneville racer out there, but this 1938 Chevrolet Master Deluxe hit a record-setting 150 mph (241 kph) in 1954. And it comes with a story worthy of a movie.
The car's racing career began in the early 1950s when it was put together as a tribute to a racer named Kenny Bigelow, who was killed in a wreck in his 1937 Chevy. Lightened and equipped with a bunch of fabricated parts, the 1938 Master Deluxe hit the Bonneville Salt Flats from 1952 to 1956.
The guy who built it sold it in 1957, but the Chevy remained on the racing scene until the early 1960s. That's when it was sold off again and stopped appearing at the Salt Flats. It's unclear when it was retired for good, but it has been sitting in the same yard since at least 1972. Granted, it's not an actual barn find, but this Chevy hasn't been moved for at least 51 years.
Documented by YouTube's "Ben Kahan," the 1930s classic took five decades of storage like a champ. Sure, the interior was gutted, and the front clip is incomplete, but the car is still in one piece. The chassis and the suspension look tremendous after all these years, while the body is rust-free aside from a few spots that need attention.
The race-prepped, 270-cubic-inch (4.4-liter) GMC engine is still with the car, as are many of its fabricated parts, which have been stored in plastic crates. But here's the touching part of the story: the derelict race car was purchased by the grandson of the guy who raced it and set records at Bonneville in the 1950s.
Justin had known about his grandfather's Chevrolet from the numerous pictures he had in his house. He had never seen the car, and much like everyone else, he thought it was long gone, either crashed or dismantled. He bought the car still unsure if it was the real deal, but was able to authenticate it with help from some of his grandfather's friends and fellow racers. He also found the push bumpers and traces of the patched gas cap he noticed in some of the pictures.
Now 100% certain that he found his grandfather's prized race car, Justin is planning to restore it. Not to the original 1938 Master Deluxe specifications but to how the Chevy looked when it hit 150 mph at the Bonneville Salt Flats in the 1950s. Until that happens, find out more about this touching story in the video below. The footage is quite long, but it's definitely worth it.
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. Full profile
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