Barn finds are an exciting prospect for any classic car enthusiast. Right now, there could be an all-original, nicely preserved classic car sitting under a layer of dust in a barn, shed, or garage. And if you're the first one to find it, you might be able to rescue and restore it without spending as much as you would during an auction or typical private-party sale. But what if you found a barn that didn't just contain one or two cars, and instead contained dozens? That's exactly what the team at Hagerty revealed in a recent video of a 90,000 square foot farm they referred to as "barn find heaven."
The owner of this collection is a man named James Harkey who traveled the world as an engineer. This job afforded him the resources to buy a 72-acre farm with approximately 40,000 turkeys in a series of large barns. During the 1990s, the company that was buying these turkeys canceled the contract, so Harkey ended up with a lot of excess barn space. So, he began collecting cars and parking them in the barns.
Harkey says he's mostly a Chevrolet fan, so a majority of his collection consists of classic GM vehicles. These include everything from an early 2000s Pontiac GTO back to a 1928 Buick, and plenty in between, such as the '66 Caprice pictured above and the '68 Firebird at the beginning of this article.
Harkey bought this 1986 Chevrolet square-body dually brand new, and had Banks Power install a turbo to boost the output of its diesel engine.
The collection has many vehicles that are becoming increasingly hard to find in unrestored form, such as this 1950 GMC Suburban. A 1946 Suburban shell was parked right next to it.
Many of the cars looked like they were almost completely intact, like this 1972 Monte Carlo with a 396ci big block V8 under the hood. Aside from flat tires and a thick layer of dust, this car looks like it's still in great shape. Even the interior upholstery is still clean!
This two-tone 1987 Suburban 4x4 also looked to be in good condition. We could certainly see this one back on the road with a new battery, some fluids, and a little TLC.
It's hard to choose a favorite from this collection, since there's so much to look at. Check out the full video from Hagerty below and consider which of these cars would be your first choice as a restoration project! According to Hagerty, the owner can be emailed at harkeyfarm@yahoo.com regarding serious inquiries about these cars.
Whether you're looking to buy a fixer-upper barn find vehicle or you already own a project car, Classic Industries can help you restore it to flawless condition. We offer thousands of original-style reproduction parts as well as aftermarket upgrades from your favorite brands. Click here to browse our parts online or click the button below for a free full-color restoration parts catalog.