Just about any building that houses cars contains more than you expect. By looking underneath, above, or through an area you didn’t notice the first time you walked through the building, you will more than likely stumble upon something interesting. Tom Cotter knows this better than anyone. On a recent trip to Mississippi, he sneaks into the back of a warehouse and enters a new era of barn find hunting.
The collection of cars is assembled and owned by JD Pass. Tom is only there because JD had some storage space where Tom could park his woody wagon between road trip adventures. While picking up his woody, Tom chats with JD and gets a little tour of his storage facility, including the back rooms, which contain a stash of modern exotics. A barn-find Lamborghini Gallardo … on jack stands, with no rear clip or wheels? You saw it here first.
According to JD, many of the derelict exotics came from one “collector” who managed to disassemble all of them to some degree before encountering health trouble. The projects stalled. After years of watching the cars sit, JD purchased the cars. He could see the opportunity in them: Because most are no longer worth restoring, many are ripe for modification.
Others could become parts cars, donating the best of their remaining parts and pieces to other cars that are in more restorable condition—for example, the manual transmission–equipped Aston Martin and Maserati convertibles. Each has significant problems, like a missing engine or near-biohazard interior. Both were project cars that were neglected shortly after being disassembled.
Did we think the day of a barn-find Gallardo was upon us? No, but we know that Tom always surprises us. He might call himself the barn find hunter, but he’s proved yet again that cool cars and stories are hiding just about everywhere.
Facebook Conversations