Cats on a Hot Tin Challenger (not really hot) and a Charger in a Swamp

You never know what the cat dragged in, or your friends. I visited a friend in Wisconsin last year and he showed me some cars he had bought recently, a 1959 Chevrolet Impala and a 1970 Dodge Challenger pulled from a barn. He said when opening the door, “Be careful when you get in here though, they're rambunctious”. I had no idea what he meant... until we opened that door and there at our feet were a bunch of cats! Apparently the Mama was killed, so my friend started to take care of them. So they run the storage building now!

The Impala was the nicest of the recent acquisitions. It had been restored in the not too distant past.  But my friend said he got it at such a good deal he could not pass it up. The cats liked it too. It was a basic in-line 6 cylinder car I believe, white with a red interior.  Eventually his son would like to drop a modern suspension, brakes and engine in the car.

With the Challenger, it had been sitting in a barn for a many years he said. Someone had started to restore it about a decade ago, then lost interest, and it sat. A small block 318 car with a vinyl roof. I could not pop the engine bay to see what was in there now or what the tag said. But it is a fairly solid project for someone eventually.

But at one time he had other cars stashed at the same location and some really interesting parts. The owner restores mostly Model A's and the like. The son is more into the Muscle Car and Hot Rod scene. So there is a combination of everything hanging around. Here is a few of the cars over the years that have been around the shop.

After parting ways with my friends, I made my way over to a large classic car junkyard in the area to see if anything new had come in or if they had anything I needed. At the time the torrential rains, the pond at the back of the yard had overflowed into the yard, causing it to become partially a swamp.

After not finding anything to save at the yard, I headed back to enjoy the rest of the evening. Have a little peace and quiet.

BIG UPDATES WITH THE NEXT BLOG POST. SO STAY TUNED.

Ryan Brutt

The Automotive Archaeologist

TheAutoArchaeologist@yahoo.com

Goat for breakfast and a Camaro for Dinner

This past spring, time off has been fleeting. On weekends that I didn't have to be somewhere I would do day trips out on even the smallest of barn find tips. And almost every time, even if I didn't find the car in the tip, I would still find something that made the trip worth it.

Out west of Chicago, where the suburbs start to melt into the countryside there is still a few hidden gems sitting around. I had seen a 1968 – 1970 Dodge Charger sitting outside a guys garage and followed up on this trip, unfortunately nobody was home, so I didn't go and trespass into the guys driveway and just kept heading west. Hoping to score something else.

Pulling into St. Charles I began hitting up the places where people would know of cars hiding at would be. I try to find the oldest parts place in town and start there. The guys there the longest would know about just about everything in town. And that is what I was hoping for.

That didn't happen, there was one older guy at the counter, and he didn't know of anything. But one of the younger kids said that down the road at a repair shop they had just gotten in a few project cars I might be interested in. So I hightailed it to the other side of town to see what was hanging around.

I made it to the shop and it was not a disappointment. The guys were super nice and talked to me for a while. Told me about the project cars a little bit.

A cool 68 Mustang fastback that they are going to make into a Shelby Clone.

They had a cool 68 GTO that was being freshened up and made running after it had been sitting for a while in the owners garage.

A 66 or 67 Chevelle SS supposedly that was I believe the owners project car that they were completely redoing.

At the end of the shop was a customer car, a 67 Mustang Convertible with a mean engine and dressed up like a Shelby. They were getting it ready for the coming summer.

Talking with the guys bit longer, I parted company with them and headed back home. 

That evening I had dinner with a friend of mine (below in shot from last year) and her boyfriend while she was in town. Somehow the conversation came up about Barn Finds and the boyfriend mentioned that his father had an old Camaro buried in the garage. 

Not to miss an opportunity, when I dropped them off at the house, I was allowed to do a quick once over on the car. A late 1970's Camaro, I believe it had a V8 the kid said. Needed a bit of work, the doors had some rust. But definitely a good project car. He said that his dad plans on fixing it up one day.

The evening had come to an end, and we said out goodbyes. I headed home to rest my head upon my bed and think about what all was to come.

Sad Bees and rusty Es.

A few months ago there was an ad on Craigslist for a bunch of Muscle Cars sitting out in a barn. They were not just standard cars either, there was a 1970 Chrysler 300H (Hurst), 340 Dart, 71 Road Runner and a bunch of other cars. I emailed the owner about the stash and he allowed me to come out and see the hoard for myself. So a blustery Saturday morning, I headed west!

The drive west can be a quick one down I-88 or a more leisurely, scenic drive down Hwy 64. Also there is a good pancake place on 64 just east of St. Charles, IL I highly recommend. But there was no hurry, I planned it perfectly to grab breakfast and meet up with the owner, who was still another hour away.

I met up with the owner, Brent at a neutral location. As he pulled in, I informed him people know where I was at if I go missing. He laughed and told me to follow him. Which I did across the river and through some woods to where the cars were stored at. We drove through some fields and mud til we reached the two barns. The first one was the nicest.

You walk in and are greeted right by the door by the 300H. One of the only vehicles with an engine, also the most complete out of the bunch. It is a rare model, only produced for one year. Has a fiberglass hood and trunk with built in spoiler. 440 Cubic Inch V8 powered with an automatic transmission on the column. It had obviously had a hard life, needed a lot, but was still a good project car.

On the other side of the door was the row of other project cars for sale, including a 69 Dart Swinger right by the door. The poor old girl was in really rough shape, it had been beat up pretty bad. It had been hit across the driver side quarter panel pretty well. Inside the car it looks like it might have been a 4-speed car, but the floor had been cut up. There was a carburetor in a box in the car, and it appears to have been one that came off a 340.

Next to the 69 Dart was a odd 1970 Barracuda. The Barracuda looked awfully familiar. Had fiberglass front fenders, it was originally a sublime green car. I checked the tail panel and it was badly painted blue at one time, but then it clicked... THIS WAS MY OLD BARRACUDA! I had sold it 5 years prior and here it was, in the middle of nowhere. What were the odds? That really threw me for a loop. I could not believe my luck. The only change since I sold it was someone quickly primered the car, and let it sit.

On the other side of the Bakaruda was a 1970 Dodge Dart 340. It was an orange car, automatic on the column with a black interior. At one time this was a pretty sweet car. Even now, it isn't really that bad, there was no engine or transmission but it was not a bad project.

Beyond the orange Dart was the last car for sale in the barn, a 1971 Plymouth Road Runner. A basic 383 car, non-power drum brakes all the way around. Blue interior with blue exterior. Still, I almost had a 71 Road Runner as my first car. I could definitely see myself in this old girl. She wasn't in that bad of shape, definitely something that could be restored.

We moved onto the next barn that was a style I was more accustom too, covered in Raccoon poo and dirt. You open the doors though and you can't help but smile. There front and center is a 69 Super Bee. A 383 big block was once between the inner fenders, and a 4-speed manual transmission behind that. Now both long gone, but it still had the dual scoop hood and 4-speed hump and pedals. But she was very rough, not a straight panel on her. I could see maybe one or two pieces of metal being savable.

In the back left corner was a pretty cool car. A 1969 Dodge Charger, 383 car that had a 4-speed manual transmission but it wasn't a R/T. I guess it was built to go under the radar of the insurance company. But I doubt it would have worked with a big old 4-speed manual transmission in there. This poor car was in really rough shape. Almost everything looked like it needed to be replaced, it had holes in the roof, floors, trunk, etc... The car was raced at one time, from the rather large rear tires on it.

Next to the Charger and behind the Bee was a 1971 Charger R/T. Looked to have been a gunmetal gray color originally. It looked like a good project, the interior was trashed, but all there, the outer body was not terrible. But once I popped the hood the rust was evident. The upper control arm mounts on the inner fenders were completely rotted out. If not fixed the front suspension could collapse. Even though it had a few issues, it was still a desirable car and worth restoring.

The last car of them all was in the other corner, a 1970 Challenger. Originally a 318 small block car, it had lead a rough life. It had no interior, engine or transmission. The car had a dual scoop hood on it, even though it probably did not come with it stock. It needed a complete restoration, or it would be a very good candidate for a new or old Hemi swap. So sad to see it sitting forlorn in the corner of a barn like it is.

With the last car, I talked to the owner for a little bit. The cars had been sitting out there for a few years. The owner who put them there disappeared and stopped paying the storage fee's. After sending certified letters, emails, calling the guy. He never responded. So they got rebuilding titles for them all and were trying to recoup the lost storage fees and much more. I told them I would pass the info on to some people I knew. But unfortunately with a rebuilding title here in Illinois, you can only buy them if you are a licensed re-builder.

I thanked the owner for letting me see the cars, and I headed out. Running through some cool old towns and seeing some crazy stuff. It was a really interesting to find my old Barracuda though, you don't expect something like that to happen. I wonder where it is off to now.