FranktoidTM No. 16 - Another Incredible Barn Find!

After my last barn find adventure I never thought I would actually run across another barn find, yet alone one that I would be buying! Although this particular find wouldn't exactly be considered the "Holy Grail" like discovering a Shelby Cobra or split window Corvette, it's more along the Holy Chalice level. Not quite the Holy Grail but pretty darn close. To be honest I still can't believe that car is actually mine. These things always seem to happen when you are least expecting them. It's not like I was actively looking for a new project or even in the market to buy one, but then I heard a rumor...

Well, maybe not an actual rumor but more like someone who overheard someone else's conversation. The story was that one of the guys at work had heard of an "old car" that had been sitting in a garage for over 25 years. The car was owned by the widow of an old hot rodder who had fixed up the car originally and she still had it in her garage. After enough time had passed after her husbands death and finding out that none of her children were interested in it, she felt it was time to sell it. Of course the first question out of everyone's mouth was "what kind of old car?" "An old fifty something Chevy" was the response and that really piqued my interest. My mind instantly conjured up images of 55 Chevys and 57 Belairs, maybe an old straight axle car or even an ex drag racer. I have wanted a tri-five forever but they are just totally out of my price range. The ones that I actually could afford are nothing more then rusty, bare body shells that need literally everything. I really wanted to know more so I asked around work to find out who the person was so I could talk to him. After a bit of back and forth and several weeks in-between, I finally found out and tracked him down to get him to divulge some details. Low and behold he had just purchased the car, which turned out to be a 1956 Chevy 2 door post. It was such a good deal that he decided to buy it. Damn! I missed it!

So, I missed out on an incredible barn find, or did I? Well, the story doesn't end here. The '56 needed work, maybe a bit more work then he was planning on. Heck, any car sitting for 25 plus years is going to need some work, that's just a given. He told me if I was really interested in it to come out and take a look at it and make him an offer. You don't have to ask me that twice! As soon as I saw the '56 I knew that I wanted it, but I didn't want to seem too eager so I said I would think about it. Just knowing he was interested in selling it was driving me crazy because that meant that anyone could potentially buy it at any time. I decided to make an offer before it was too late. All I can say is that he must have picked up this car really cheap because I got an incredible deal! I'll just let the pictures tell the rest of the story...

The car right after we pushed it out of the garage.

Getting it loaded on the trailer.

The interior complete with 20 plus years of dust!

Washing off 20 plus years of dust.

Getting ready to start working on it.

It's still hard to believe that I now own a tri-five! I have a lot of things planned for it but the budget will determine what gets done, with safety being the priority, as I want to get it on the road as soon as possible. Stay tuned as I discover what mysteries have been hidden for over 25 years!