A Barnfind For This olelongrooffan

"This book is for anyone who has ever owned, driven, or yearned for a sublime automobile. It is for the brotherhood of those who are stirred by the beauty of a Grand Marque, by the excellence of an honest design made real in metal, or by the exasperating, exciting individuality of a thoroughbred performer."*

As anyone Counting Along With Me knows this olelongrooffan is Car Crazy.

As I have mentioned numerous times in past blogs, I am confident my brothers and I inherited this passion from my Dad, TheGentlemanFarmer.

I mean with 9 kids, and another on the way, he was able to procure this 1932 Ford Model A while living in a huge *ss house in Shrewsbury, Mo, working at a printing company and driving two VW microbuses.

Later, after a move to the Ozarks, he was able to acquire this super cool longroof along with an Optimist pram sailboat. This 1967 Ford Country Squire, by and away, is the foremost reason my moniker is 'longrooffan'.
And I can remember taking a cross diocese trip, one in which TheGentleManFarmer did not let my schoolwork get in the way of my education, and we spotted this wrecked Chevy Nova on the hook. We were traveling, for whatever reason, in my maternal grandmother's 62 Chevy Bel Air and when this future longrooffan spotted it across from Miller Motors in Mountain View, TheGentlemanFarmer turned around so I could check it out further. By the way, he did, too. I am sure you observant Counters Out There will recognize the long sleeve, button down collar oxford shirt this olelongrooffan is sporting in this photograph as the type of fashion statement I still make.

Of course, a few years later this happened: and the GentlemanFarmer, in his unimitatable way bestowed this wonder of delights
to this olelongrooffan for my participation in the adventures of that Sweptline Series Dodge pickup.

Well, one of the photographs that brings me the fondest photographic memories of my youth is the one shown below. Yeah, me reading The Treasury of the Automobile on the floor of his den at 1822 S. National, Springfield, Missouri.

I even included a reference to it on my first blog over at Hooniverse, 'How This Hoon Became A Hoon'.

By the way Counters, it is 8:15 pm EDT and if you have been following along with me, a huge double prop military helicopter just flew north along my beach.

So, anyway, much speculation has been put forth toward the location of this copywritten in 1961 coffee table sized book, but to no final avail.

Now if any of you Counters have clicked on any of the blogs on the blog list just to the right, you will notice that the vast majority are automobile related (you should see my favorites on my home page).

One of them is one I call "More Car Stuff", although his title is "Tamerlane's Thoughts". It is an excellent, insightful blog, not just obscure cars but food and geopolitics to boot! Anyway, Kashgar216 did a blog a couple weeks ago about Powell's Books up in Portland, Oregon. He mentioned he found a great automotive related book he found there from his youth. He also threw down the gauntlet in that he was headed back up there from Northern Californey and if his followers wanted anything, we had better get there before he did. Turns out Powells.com was having a huge sale and it was liquidation time!

So, this olelongrooffan accepted that challenge and headed over to that site and I am so grateful to Kashgar for directing me that way but especially for a heretofore unknown Steve for doing this in 1967:Seems Steve had bequested his father a copy of 'The Treasury of the Automobile' for his Dad's birthday and now, some 43 years later, Powells wants to sell that copy to me.
Well, Counters, the sale price of that highly desirable book was a belief defying
$5.20 plus a whole $6.98 shipping and handling.
You got it....a total of $12.18 for one of the most formative books of my youth!

Yeah Counters, this olelongrooffan finally got my barn find, even though it is of the print variety.

So, this olelongrooffan ponyed up that $12.18 and today a driver of a Big Brown Truck delivered that book to the Taj Mahal.
And even though a buck or two is nearly impossible to come by these days,
this olelongrooffan is going to have a great time reading the sans-sarif 1961 generated font on this ole book as I continue to

Celebrate Life.

Be back in a couple weeks!

*from the forward of The Treasury of The Automobile.

Barnfinds At The Turkey Run

A couple weeks ago I did this blog about the ragtops this olelongrooffan saw out at the Daytona International Speedway over the Turkey Rod Run weekend, that would be Thanksgiving to all you Counters out there without the Carcaine habit I have.

Well, in that blog I posted an image of some chicken wire, no not that chicken wire, and promised a blog about it later.

Here it is.

To the uninitiated, a Barnfind is an old vehicle of any type that was stored away years ago and has not been driven or molested in that time. Usually, some hoon has a desire to restore it someday but never got around to it. Time passes, the hoon passes and the vehicle is brought out to the light of day once again.

Often times Mother Nature has been nice to the old vehicle but other times this is not the case.

A Barnfind is not the same as Ran When Parked. Ran When Parked usually means driven to a field and parked and seldom are driven again.

Every automotive swap meet this olelongrooffan has attended has had at least a couple of these vehicles. This time I decided to get some images of them to share with you Counters.

First up is a mid 60's Dodge Coronet, I believe. Corroding front bumper, rust at the front fender, tattered interior, but, if you believe the scrawling on the passenger's window, "It Runs Good!" I think those shiny wheels disqualify this as an actual Barnfind. One of my older sister's used to date a guy who drove one of these back in the day. Maybe I should forward this to her so she can pick it up. Only $6,000!

Next up is this old farm truck. I wish I could remember what it is, I think possibly a late 30's Chevrolet but don't blame this forgetful oleman if I am wrong. This is a pretty classic example for its age. Rusty all around the fringes, especially the hood, missing the passenger's side headlight, and a handcrafted bed. But check out that shiny and straight front bumper!

I then stumbled upon a SAAB Sonnet sharing a trailer with a ton of other stuff. That is a wicker motorcycle on its roof, oars standing upright at the front of the trailer, a marine gas tank is sharing that trailer with a stainless steel lidded bucket, along with a bin of parts and a set of air horns. The true Barnfind of this booth. The tilt up hood is a different color than the rest of the body.

Next up was the most preserved Barnfind this olelongrooffan saw that day. I am pretty certain it is a 1939 Plymouth, but again, my memory is not the best. I gotta start writting this stuff down for all you Counters. Anyway, straight rust free body, good glass, nearly pristine interior and only $2,950.00!!

Next up was this Porsche 356 "bathtub" ragtop. Compared to the Plymouth, this one was pretty rough. Interior was shot, missing hubcaps, the motor was in pieces and body dings all over. I did see it being loaded on a different trailer as I was leaving that day though. Some hoon has his work cut out for themselves. Hopefully got it for a good price.

The final Barnfind I saw that day was this 1931 Dodge Brothers Sedan. The dude selling it told me he found it in a barn on a farm up near Marietta, Georgia. Documentation of this is the condition of this ole beast.

The interior was in true tatters,

the spare tire was on the front seat,

rust permeated the entire old car but

at least it has a sunroof, albeit chicken wire covered!!
Only $1,850.00!!

And sharing these old Barnfinds with you Counters out there lets me

Celebrate Life.