Ultimate barn find: Ferrari 250 GT and countless classics

9 December, 2014

In this era, where mankind has access to nearly every corner of the globe, it is inevitable that the classic barn find is dying — they’ve almost all been discovered. Well, one farm in western France didn’t follow this trend.

About 100 classic cars were housed on the property in varying states of decay, beneath an assortment of barns and ramshackle shelters. Around 60 of these cars have been deemed salvageable, and are expected to fetch up to £12m. Imagine the surprise of the French classic car specialists Matthieu Lamoure and Pierre Novikoff who were commissioned to help identify the vehicles, which include a 1961 Ferrari 250 GT California SWB, a 1956 Maserati A6G 200 Berlinetta Gran Sport Frua, and a Talbot-Logo T26 Cabriolet owned by King Farouk of Egypt.  

The Ferrari, one of only 37 ever made, was featured in the 1964 film Les Felins and has borne Jane Fonda as a passenger. Said specialist Mr. Lamoure of the Ferrari, “Only 37 examples of this model were built, making it extremely rare. Every example has been carefully documented by historians and this one was thought to be lost — we have found it.” The Ferrari is expected to fetch anywhere from £9.5m to £12m.

The Maserati, with body built by Frua, is one of just three in existence and is thought to be worth around £1m. Equally as impressive is the Talbot-Logo T26 Cabriolet owned by King Farouk, who was renowned for his extraordinarily lavish lifestyle.

The enormous collection was built up between the 1950s and 1970s by entrepreneur Roger Baillon. When his business began a downwards slope in the ’70s, he was forced to sell off some 50-odd cars, and what remains here is what he kept. His grandchildren had no idea of the extent or value of the collection, and enlisted the assistance of Artcurial Motorcars’ specialists. The collection will be sold by Artcurial Motorcars in Paris on February 6, 2015.

Images courtesy of Artcurial Motorcars

1975 Suzuki RE5

Suzuki had high hopes for its RE5 Wankel-engined bike launched in 1975. It had started looking at the Wankel engine in the mid-60s and bought the licence to the concept in 1970.
Apparently all of the big four Japanese makers experimented with the design, Yamaha even showing a rotary-engined bike at a motor show in 1972. But Suzuki was the only one of the big four to go into production. Like many others at the time, Suzuki believed that the light, compact, free-revving Wankel design would consign piston engines — with their complex, multiple, whirring valves and pistons, which (can you believe it?) had to reverse direction all the time — to history.

Westside story

For the young Dave Blyth, the Sandman was always the coolest car and he finally got one when he was 50. “I have always had a rule. When you turn 50, you buy or can afford to buy the car you lusted after when you were 20. I was 20 in 1979 and the HZ Sandman came out in 1978. It was the coolest of the cool — I just wanted one,” he says. “Back then a Sandman cost $4500 new and a house was worth about $20,000. I made about $30 a week so it was an impossible dream then.”
Dave was heavily influenced by the panel van culture of the time. “I started with an Escort panel van and upgraded to a Holden HD panel van with a 186ci six cylinder. I started a van club, Avon City Vans.