When you look at some barn finds, you can almost tell just how many years a particular car has been hidden away from the light of day. It’s not to say you know the exact number but rather you feel pretty confident it’s more than five years. When I look at this 1962 Triumph TR3, there’s little doubt in my mind that this British roadster has been sitting for a decade or more. The seller claims it’s more or less complete with an engine and transmission present and “…all parts,” whatever that includes. Find the TR3 here on craigslist with a title and an asking price of $5,300.
It’s funny how some sellers view the phrase “all there” or “complete car” as meaning it simply exists. The body has mass, or weight. The fact that every panel remains attached to the body somehow counts for something significant. That’s the only way I can figure they look at a project car like this and determine that all parts are “present.” Now, I could be wrong and there’s a photo that didn’t get published showing a wall of boxes in the basement with words like “TR3 headlight trim rings” scrawled on the side, and if that’s the case, I’ll happily eat crow. But somehow, I don’t think such a photo exists.
It could also be a case, sadly, of memories clouding judgment. Knowing the TR3 went into the barn as a complete car and is coming out as a barely recognizable carcass that’s sinking into the ground may be too much to reconcile, so it’s just easier to describe it as it was. I’m not sure, but hopefully, there is a stash of parts somewhere that will make this forgotten TR3 a more plausible restoration project than it currently appears to be. Have you ever bought a project car based off of the seller’s belief that it was better than it appeared to be?
Three pictures, minimal information, and an over the moon price tells me I’d take my money and buy a perfectly good car somewhere else. The “not worth it” flag is up on this one.
That’s not even close to a barn. Any self respecting farmer would not consider that place an area for storage. Shame someone put that Triumph there
I may be alone in this thought, but when I see this ad, it reaffirms what this site was supposed to be all about. Not Lambos in controlled environments, structures that were once a barn, long deteriorated, farms forgotten, and some old vehicle, with a story all its own, tucked away when the building was still sound. Well, life proceeded, with the vehicle the absolute last thing on their minds, only to be forgotten and found years later as a,, “BARNFIND”! While finding something like this years ago was regarded as a BIG plus, today, I just don’t know. I think there are still enough vintage Triumph owners that will go for this, waning rapidly, and the cars that haven’t been restored already, probably never will be and just continue to deteriorate. Again, with a “cost no issue”, why would someone waste their time and money on this? If someone wants a 2 seat British roadster today, they want it NOW, not dealing with the heartaches of a major restoration and will pay accordingly to have one.
Ads like this give every 30 something grandkid out there, hope that they too, can sell Grandad’s rust bucket that’s been out behind the shed since 1969, for big money.
This British roadster has been sitting for a decade or more, at the bottom of a lake and then in a garage.
Depends what the chassis – and more importantly, the body – is like. They’re nice cars, but what’s there isn’t worth the ask.
dirt floor not good
At $.04 a pound, this car is worth about $84, minus the cost to haul it to the scrap yard.
There are just too many of these kinds of adds which represent something which you would pick up in a junk yard for 500 dollars. It is disturbing to see this kind of unusable remnants of a car and have some one with a straight face asking $5,000.00 for, Really!?
You can ask any amount of money for a car,getting it is a whole new story! Good luck with this one,you’ll need it
It once belonged to Alfred E. Neumann .. ha ha ..