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We are always trying to make little improvements to Barn Finds as we go, but we often hear that we need to take it to the “next level”. Well, we aren’t quite sure what that means, so we want to hear from all of you. What do you think we can do to make this site more enjoyable? Please leave your suggestions in the comments section below.
Here are some questions to get the conversation started:
- More/less cars for sale?
- More/less reader stories?
- More/less how-tos/projects?
- Areas needing improvement?
- New site features?
- Any other ideas?
Everyone’s feedback is greatly appreciated so please don’t hold back!
Since you have truck Thursday and wagon Wednesday, how about muscle car Monday?
Or Foreign car Friday?
Great idea Mitchell!
Definitely Luxury European on Sundays for the mellow, classy day of rest.
.
European Sports-cars on Mondays to get a Flying start to the week…..
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.wow, look !! Edit is back ^^^^
How about more long stories of how cars are found. It gives me something to do at work.
Find a way to separate foreign from domestic. I am not into foreign & I am sure there are those not into domestic.
We will look into a way to divide stuff up better. This seems like a common request.
more images of cars. I like the mix of foreign and domestic.
More cars for sale and less rust buckets. More images of cars per email. Like two or three different cars.
If I may ?
You see the fancy cars in all the shows, and the not quite as fancy in the for sale sections.
I would say project cars are o.k. ??
Jesse, I like your site pretty much the way it is. Behind the scenes stories are always interesting, as are the classifieds (sometimes I check them out first). Maybe an occasional article featuring the finished car and a pic showing how a barnfind was found originally.
Barry Thomas’ “Wheel to Wheel” blog
(as an aside, I do a twice weekly car blog, which is closing in on 500,000 hits, and I find it a challenge sometimes to be different or find a topic, so I appreciate what you do everyday)
I second that:
not too many changes , That’s why I keep coming back here..
At least a car if not 2 per day would be nice, you may have to get help.
;^}
Don’t fall as the ‘other’ site that changed their whole appearance for the much worse……
One of my interests in Barn Finds is to learn what various cars sell for in today’s marketplace. It would be nice if there as a posting, after a sale is final, or the e-baby auction is complete, that tells what the final price was of the sale. I am often surprised at the price of the cars featured on Barn Finds, both in how much some cars bring and how some go for.
That is my suggestion.
Thank you,
Good suggestion Wayne. We will add this to the list!
Wayne’s got the right idea! Many of us, myself included, are remiss for not including in our suggestions that you guys are doing a heck of a good job on this, just as it is, and I know that many more people than those of us that post comments regularly get alot of pleasure from reading these articles. I can imagine that keeping everything on here up and running is a huge chunk of your free time, coupled with burnout, or a strong case of ‘I wanna do something else today’, I applaud you for working to keep things fresh. In the end, even if you decided not to change a thing, I know you’ll continue to receive tons of support. Thank you for your hard work – it is enjoyed by many!
I agree with the “Muscle Car Monday” notion, and do enjoy the stories behind the car finds… as well as updates on the cars (maybe like a “one year later” retrospective?)
It might be nice to talk more about the restoration process (and financial investments!) of some of the restored cars (what was done, how long it took, who they used for certain things, etc.)
Another option to consider would be a way to “request” info/stories on a certain car- For example, my first car was an old Toyota, and now i think it would be great to find one and restore it, so maybe a way to add a “Request” section?
Otherwise, great site- Keep it up!
Perhaps we need to bring back the finder service?
I agree with all my likes, but John’s Idea of before and after is the one idea I was going to post, but he beat me to it. Don’t forget the story of how and why and money spent from purchase to finish.
Really like what you do – great work. What about a follow-up once the cars have been bought: owners plans for the vehicle, pictures once work completed. There have been some really cool cars and trucks and it would be nice to find out what happened to them.
It would also be fun if those who buy the project cars were to submit progress photos, with explanations of what they are doing to the cars. In the old days of Hot Rod and Rod & Custom Magazines, I used to really enjoy seeing the progress of the rods from rough starts to fabulous finishes.
Any chance of a feature section of that kind (realizing that you do some of that already with your own cars)? Perhaps a contest to keep the builders motivated to contribute to the photo files.
Thanks,
We have talked about doing this before but it has been hard to get people motivated. It is hard enough to get out in the garage without having to document the process. I am going to push for more reader progress updates though because it really is a great way to learn new things and get motivated to work on your own project.
Minimum of one car a day. More backstories.
Great as is, would like more follow up, price sold, restored, flipped, new location, etc. Ask new owners for feedback,
I would try to send something everyday, even when it is just a link to something else that is relevant, or a reader email, etc. It may be my spam filter, but often I do not see anything for several days. More regular communication would gain interest and strengthen your brand loyalty.
Yep, we slack off on occasion. Truth is, Josh and I get burnt out every once in a while. Perhaps we need to see if more of our readers would be interested in submitting articles? That would give a break once in a while and add more variety to the site.
More “how to” articles, or even “how to store your car for winter” articles.
How about a seperate thread of free ads for cars and parts for sale, trade, and wanted. Twenty-five years old or older limit, of course! If you wanted to make it interesting, you could set a price limit of $1500 or some rather low number, sort of like a Barn Find version of Kenny’s Clunkers?
We have tried the classifieds thing a few times without much success, but I really like your idea of setting a price cap. That might make it unique enough to garner a few return visits!
I was wondering if we ran across some cars, is there a way to upload to your site? I live in a rural part of Virginia in Page County and I have seen so many old abandoned vehicles that were GREAT in their day. I actually knew of a Tucker that was in a field with weeds and brush growing through it.
We normally just have everyone email their submissions to us, but perhaps an area where you could actually upload them yourself isn’t a bad idea. We will have to brainstorm more on this one.
Just feature cars, whether actual barn finds from readers or unusual and/or interesting cars found on c/l, ebay etc. The personal stories about your own cars and adventures (like the NW rally) are fun to read, but I think you should put them on their own dedicated site, And have your Wagon Wednesday and weekly features every week faithfully.
It’s pretty much a fun experience every time I click. Keep doing what you’re doing. Someone suggested followup stories on what cars actually sell for but that might be more work than it’s worth. I do have one suggestion though and that’s get a good copy editor. I do notice quite a few spelling errors! Oh and another vote for Muscle Car Monday.
I’m not sure you need to take it to the next level.
However, I’m not a fan of wagon Wednesday nor of rusted out cars that will likely never be restored. I’d love more before and after. Your Mustang story was fun as are most personal stories.
Also, I have no problem with you adding more advertising to make a buck, I just don’t ever want you to share reader information with third parties.
Tell us where these sweet finds are))
I like to see more cars from 1920-30 vintage.
Sounds good. Any other votes for more pre-war stuff?
I’m a big fan of prewar stuff. I do realize that a lot of those cars and trucks are disappearing but there are still lots of cars waiting to be found. I sure won’t hesitate to send you anything I find.
I like the mix of things as it is. Theme days are fun, but every day doesn’t have to be a theme day, and not every post on a theme day has to follow the theme, either.
I’m a fan of keeping just like it is. Taking it to the so-called ”next level” whatever that might involve, might take away from the down and easy feel the site now has plus more work on your part and a loss of the fun factor.
I understand where you are coming from Andamo. We don’t want to take away what has made this site great. Thanks for the reminder.
I am a big fan of BarnFinds.com
I love seeing all of these featured barn finds, the stories behind them, as well as the history.
If I were to suggest one (major) thing to add (more of);
>CATEGORIES!<
Add more of the 'Race Cars' (I love the history behind them)
Add more 'Oddballs' (I love seeing rare cars that I may have never seen before!)
Add more 'Mystery/What's that Car'!!!!! (same reason as above)
Add more antiques ('00s-'30s)
Thanks,
M
Great site! More cars for sale. I don’t really care about someone’s story about the car and why it supposedly wound up there . . . most of those are bs, anyway . .. And no book excerpts . . . Thanks!
I see that the gravatars no longer appear on this site. I, for one, like to put a face to a name; it just makes it more like I’m communicating with a real person. I participate in a couple of other blogspots (including several special interest sites on Facebook) in addition to my own and see similar problems. I encourage everyone who blogs to put up their mugshot, or at least a picture of some sort so we aren’t discussing cars with a computer screen. Other than that, you guys are doing one heck of a good job!
I wondered if anyone noticed when we took the gravatars down! I am working on a new system that will allow everyone to upload their image right here on the site because many of us are not tech savvy enough to know how to use gravatars. It would require that everyone logs in though before commenting and I’m not liking that idea…
Post war Cars bore me. Specialize in Pre war (WW2) cars and their discovery.
Like my Grandfather always told me..”if it ain’t broke don’t fix it”!
P.S. And stop with the “and more after the break” It drives me bonkers!
Good point John. We just want to keep improving so everyone wants to keep coming back. Your suggestion about the ” after the break”statement has been noted too. Thanks.
Love the site. Similar comments as others….
– An area for users to post cars/parts for sale would be great.
– Would luv to see more features on projects/how to’s etc.
Keep up the good work!
Stop writing in third person passive voice and write in first person active voice and ditch the “we”. You’re not a ‘we’ you are you. Write like it.
Josh and I have always done that because we thought it instilled a sense of community into our writing. It does seem that people expect blogging to be more personal though so we might give your suggestion a try. Thanks.
Hi jesse, i think barn finds is great. I know you have a hectic schedule. I think if your readers can help with more info so you don’t have to dig so much for info would free ip more time for you. This way i think it would help to broaden the interest alot more. It is hard to give more when you are working with less timevto give more. If anyone out there knows if stories on a car that the owner forgot about, could add to stories that we read. Have a great day!
Jesse I like the page as it is. I may be English but I like reading about American iron.
Most things Euro send me reaching for the delete button – not because you don’t do a good job but Euro tin is commonplace – to me! Different strokes for different folks, I guess.
Just keep up the good work!
Andrew,
Twickenham, nr London, England
More cars for sale!
More how-tos/projects!
thanks
Tim
Please stop sending comments to my previous post!
Rich, in every comment notification there is a link to unsubscribe. Please let us know if that doesn’t fix it. Thanks.
I love the site, but I haven’t been checking in like I once did due to the lack of volume or regularity of features. Maybe bring in some others as contributors. I also think this is an excellent time to bring barnfinds up to the next level. The ‘trailer’ site has done some unpopular upgrades and may have jumped the shark with their new auction feature. So now would be a great time to go after some of that traffic. I enjoy the stories of your trials and tribulations on your own cars greatly, along with most everything else. Don’t take my suggestions the wrong way, I love what you guys do and you can’t be commended enough for your contributions to this hobby!
Great suggestions Alex! No offense taken. I asked for feedback because I want some constructive criticism that can be used to keep the site interesting for all of you.
Also, we wish BaT success with their new auction system. Very cool idea!
I love reading the stories and live vicariously through those lucky few that get to uncover a rare find. Keep it coming!
Thanks Marc! We will keep at it.
I don’t know what to suggest. I read near all of your postings with zeal and enthusiasm. You’re doing a hella fine job already. I like street rods and muscle cars or anything of interest…
Pick a car out that is really not a run of the mill car that has been submitted ,buy it and then run a cheap raffle(tickets maybe 2-3 bucks) on it and give the proceeds minus your cost to a worthy group like disabled vets.Leave the car set where it is and include the shipping costs that’s incurred to the winner’s home.What’s going to happen is word spreads on projects like this and you (I guarantee)will have more people from around the country subscribe to your site.For simplification,have a vet’s group use their non-profit status to sponsor it.
Funny you should mention this Clay. I have thought about doing something similar with my own project cars. We will have to think more about this one!
i could care less about any thing that not american made ………….
Hi friends
More/less reader stories.
history of cars is great for me.
Thanks.
c
Jesse – you do a great job here – bottom line is it’s a very enjoyable site. Your two main competitors, Bring a Trailer and Curbside Classic, each have their own “personalities” – with BAT, fake Britishisms and an overabundance of Euro-specific vehicle coverage; with CC, just plain “found” oddballs and so on.
So what’s your identity? You have a tremendous brand name – arguably, the best of all three – yet I went what felt like months without getting a single update email from you. Now, I know the update emails are costly to send – consider migrating to Feedburner / Google as those are free.
And I hear you about burning out – to do this as essentially a hobby – are you even generating revenue from this? – is something that takes its toll.
So back to identity – clearly, the vibe I get from this site is (a) family; and (b) enthusiasm on a budget. Those are key. look at your commenters – all similar in makeup and likes/dislikes. We’re a community.
Keep building it. Don’t focus on any one thing too much (e.g. BAT’s Bataan death march of BMWs is killing my interest in it, and they’re genuinely nice guys, but god damn…).
Involve your readers. Have others contribute. Mix it up. Create “channels” of content – one for you and your family, one for others, and so on.
Thanks for listening, and for what you do. Find a way to make some money with this before you burn out completely.
Great suggestions Jim! We do need to define our identify better so Josh and I will work on that. As far as the email, we use a third party (aweber) to manage all that so I will look into why some people are not receiving updates. We have not been the best at writing every single day though so hopefully that was the reason and not something wrong with their service. We would like to involve everyone more as you suggested because this site has always had an element of collaboration (submission, comments, etc.). I think we need to find a way to include more of you in the actual writing. We are also hopeful that things will become profitable as the site grows. It sure would give us more options.
(e.g. BAT’s Bataan death march of BMWs is killing my interest in it, and they’re genuinely nice guys, but god damn…).
Bring a Trailer…sponsored by Car & (BMW)Driver……..
Just a great site for the hobbyist, car nut etc. Been following you right along since day 1. Please send me my book you said I won last fall/winter in an Email (I was excited), I picked the Shelby book. Have emailed you several times, no reply. I do realize you have been busy and I do wish for a continued success, thank you.
Sorry you never received your book Jeff! That promotion was through Motorbooks and they were responsible for fulfilling all the giveaways. I will get in touch with them and see what happened.
Forget about the weekly review emails.. I’ve already seen the daily updates, so i just delete the review.
You are probably right there Brett. We might just transition everyone to the daily list and do away with the instant updates too. Once a day seems to be the sweet spot for most of us.
First, thanks for asking for our opinion. Not many websites do that and sometimes they make ill-advised changes. (The last NY TImes website redesign ruined the reader comments section by making it a side bar that does not work with old iPads.)
I love the site. There are interesting finds, very informative articles and often good posts from the readers. I don’t see any glaring problems though I’d like to see more domestic cars. But that’s just my preference.
Thanks for sharing Don. We like to keep a healthy mixture of everything, but I think a lot of our readers would prefer more domestic stuff. We may have to adjust the formula a little…
I personaly prefer foreign,but I also collect domestics,anything rare or handmade,or Military,also Im not keen on the real old cars. I like 1930’s-1985 ish
Jesse,
I love your site, long time reader, contributor and lover, err something. This is something a little more long term, but with the right investors and moves I think is very possible. Video segments. I am a video marketing specialist who films and writes videos for all different things and I would love a barn find show, and especially to be part of it… hint, hint.
Even video slideshows with voice over for some of the updates would be great. And when possible interviewing people about their barn find stories and hey, maybe even going on hunts.
Sure we are limited by geography, but with your enormous following, I’ve got to believe we can one up CCC, if you know what I mean. Who doesn’t love watching rusty metal get pulled out of barns. I’d love to chat about this. I live in neighboring Washington and just want to follow my dreams and the smell of dirty motor oil.
Thanks for the great site –
Brian and his
1949 Plymouth
1970 Opel GT
(soon to be) 1974 VW Ghia
Videos sounds like a great idea! Josh and I have attempted a few, but obviously we didn’t know what we were doing. We will have to discuss this one further Brian!
Now boys………you know I like you…..but……don’t put a car on one day then walk away for three days with no new postings. It causes folk to look elsewhere.
I do like the mix of cars. Funny….Andrew mentions he is not into furrin’ cars, I reckon cuz he grew up with them (U.K). I on the other hand I like furrin’ cars and don’t pay much attention to American Iron, and I live in the U.S…
go figure.
We definitely need to work on the consistency. It is ironic that we sometimes like what we don’t have. I have also noticed that the geography can really affect car preference. The straight flat roads in the midwest favor the big engine muscle car because that is the only way to get a thrill out there. Whereas the guys on the coast need something agile to carve through all those curves!
Dat be me……….a carver. I guess that is why SoCal is the Porsche capital of the world
I too enjoy your site to the point that I’m bummed when there is nothing posted for days. I like the idea of readers/contributors helping you guys out. I also like that you pretty much stick to cars that are older than 1970. I’ve really enjoyed your own car stories–Saab, 65 Mustang, Toyota Starlet, GTI, etc.
Maybe each day can have one special post:
Muscle car Monday
Tuesday temptations-cheap cars that we are tempted to buy
Wagon Wednesday
Truck Thursday
Funky Friday-weird cars
Keep up the great work!
I am new to the site I am enjoying the finds and would like to see more info on the cars if possible ..
I like it the way it is, I also miss when a few days go by & nothing is added. I use this site as break time when I’ve gone far enough in the garage or I’m pissed off like today at something that doesn’t fit well, I spent the day putting my newly rebuilt turbo & Carter YH side draft carb, that was a struggle, put it on, take it off, put it on, take it off, kind of day. I will get up some new pictures & update info soon. This car aint no 65 Mustang, everything is a struggle.
Please keep the updates coming Paul!
I enjoy the emails I get from you. And thanks for asking the question.
I think you should consider opening up the writing to guest contributors. The benefits are obvious. Even pastors have others who provide “pulpit supply.” The downside is letting go of control of your message and content. That means either trusting a few select contributors or finding time to edit lots of content.
Try a “call for articles” on specific subjects according to where you want to take the blog during different seasons. Not all have to be published right away; keep a file and post as appropriate. Don’t pay for the articles. Being published in your emails is enough compensation. Doing this will create more content, free up your time, be reader- generated, and you still get to decide what goes into your blog.
Just some thoughts.
Bill
We will give it a shot Bill and see how it goes. Truth is, I feel sort of bad asking people to write without paying them. I know other sites do it though so maybe it’s an okay thing to do. I would love to create some jobs, but unfortunately the site is not profitable enough to pay anyone else besides Josh.
more British cars please. I know Americans like Rolls Royces more than Cadillacs!
I would like to see more photos from more angles.
first you need to make sure it is fun for you, josh and your families. and it needs to make a profit or break even, if you are lossing money it will not work. i like the mix but am open to more/different. i really like the BF project cars, but they take a lot of time/money. i like daily drivers the best but love reading about all the postings. this site fits me the best by a long shot. still having fun and hope everyone else is too. thanks
The project cars are a lot of fun Jim! I would much rather be dinking around with a car than typing, but yes, unfortunately that doesn’t pay the bills. Hopefully some of our readers will start sending in updates on their own projects so we can create a nice little flow of how-tos between our cars and theirs.
First of all, “Thanks for asking!” You guys do a great job of making us feel welcome and a part of what’s going on… Second, I like the suggestion above of followups to final sales prices, but that does seem really labor intensive. My main suggestion is a sidebar or bottom section where the “almost made it to the list” cars are listed… maybe even without explanation. I hate to reference another web site, but “that other one” has this feature, and I find it really helps, cuz sometimes ya just need to see more cars! It’s good for us all…
Good idea Doug. We will add this to the list of possible features! Thanks.
I think you guys have a good thing going here. My only suggestion is to tread a bit lighter on your personal negative opinions of a vehicle. It sometimes comes off as arrogant and insulting to the reader….as well as the owner.
Yeah, we don’t want to come across like that John. Sometimes it is hard to straddle that line between staying neutral and sharing an opinion. If you see anything that is especially rude, please feel free to call us out on it. Thanks!
Perhaps you can develop a strategic relationship with Bring A Trailer . You can co-list vehicles that are barn finds, but then your sight actually does articles on how to evaluate a Barn Find for further Useage . You could attract advertisers who offer restoration parts & services, shippers, suppliers ect. True Barn Funds are a rare & wonderful thing but sometimes we tend to jump in and our emotions take over decision making process. If we were trained to take a breath, set an objective for what we’d like to accomplish with the vehicle and calculate the cost of doing so, some instances of buyers remorse might be avoided after we’re 50% into a project that’s worth 10% of what we have invested. Just a thought.
Great idea Tony. We are friendly with Randy, but I highly doubt he would consider a partnership. I will give it some thought though and see if there might be anyway we could work together that would benefit both sides.
Don’t mess with it leave it as it is, great story’s and even greater cars. Thank you
Really need more cars and TRUCKS for sale. The barn finds are nice to look at but finding some for sale with more details would be great!!
Jesse I like the others enjoy reading what you put together, and appreciate the call for input on your site. The first question I ask is what is your vision for this site? It needs to reflect your interests and values as you built it and now manage it. Being a follower of BaT I have watched as they have grown and the one thing that sticks out most in my mind is that they list multiple cars daily which can be time-consuming. But the variety tickles interest and interest tickles following following generates greater revenues if you’re doing that and it snowballs. BaT being based in Silicon Valley seems to be diving headlong into the technology and were better or worse and using this as an income stream. Is that something you are interested in if so it might mean finding individuals who can write and do other legwork for barn finds that can propel you to the “next level” if that is what you desire. BaT solicited recently as you may now an invitation to individuals to send samples of their writing in order to get more coverage on their site, you might think about that. What I love about barn finds is it is not big and flashy, but fairly down-home simple. Barn finds can be had around the world but are not your everyday occurrence without a lot of legwork and though your graphics are wonderful I do think that you should expand on what you’re doing in order to attract a broader audience, which I think you have to some degree all ready attempted. Judging from the outside it appears to me that your biggest obstacle is simply time to devote to this project. I wish you luck and if you need help don’t hesitate to ask.
Thanks for the feedback Jeffry! We are going to keep plugging away and although BaT has provided plenty of inspiration we also hope to blaze our trail and find those attributes that make us unique. I think we are getting there, but we couldn’t have made it this far without the support from all of you guys. Thanks!
All Borgwards and Borgward products only………………OK……………I would like to see a car everyday.365 cars a year, and I would be open to more classified ads,so you could make a buck and would add to the value of the site itself. And I want my Barnfind stickers
Posts everyday… Check!
Classifieds… Check!
Stickers… Coming soon!
and I would like to be able to edit my comments
I just turned on the edit function back on which gives you five minutes to go back and fix things. The only other way to do it is to make everyone create an account and login. I know that is a hassle for everyone, but it would add a lot of functionality.
Jesse..great site but wondered if you can follow a re build in various steps through another builders shop …its nice to see before and after pics..thanks
Thats a great idea Derek! Josh has been talking to a museum that works on their own cars so perhaps they would be interested in feeding us some updates.
My single biggest problem is I can’t get enough of your site. I am so disappointed when I come and there is nothing new to read or look at. I forget sometimes that old posts have new comments, and I enjoy reading what visitors to the site have to say, there is a lot of good information presented in the comments section of each post. Maybe highlighting what is new when I come back to the site (like online bulletin boards do)- – threaded discussions, ongoing discussions of new projects, cars for sale, cars that sold, I find the interaction among web site visitors to be fascinating and informative, and would love to see it expanded.
I think having something new to post, multiple times a day, would be the single most effective way to broaden your audience and to keep people engaged with your site. Having people being able to contribute articles to the site would go a long way to taking the work load off of you, and allow different perspectives and different sets of voices to be heard.
I would love to see a simple redo, I love the site as is, but more categories in the header would be a small addition, but really widen the user experience.
Instead of
Home
About Us
Submissions
Subscribe
in the header, you could move the last three to the footer, and open up more real estate for categories like
BARN FINDS (Yes, cars pulled out of their dusty hiding places, the impetus for the site being built. I can’t get enough of this.
PROJECTS (your projects, and the ongoing automotive projects of visitors to the site. Would love to see how you and others are doing things in their own garage. And the advice I’ve seen given to folks undergoing their restorations is invaluable. More of that!
FEATURED (would love to see historical cars featured, movie cars, race cars, reader submitted cars (their first car they tracked down, their dads hot rod, etc)great photos and a great write up, things that don’t fall into barn finds or projects, but may at one time have been both a barn find AND a project. I love the history of a car, how it was lost and found, restored and loved.
FOR SALE (I think it just fits with the site, and I would love to browse what is being sold, even if I wasn’t looking to buy, the information alone and the discussion would be intriguing.)
WANTED (Everyone has a dream car they are looking for, and the collective eyes of the site would work wonders I think in helping people find it)
Apparently I write too much, somewhat like I talk too much. Love the site, love the RELATED FINDS at the bottom of each article, love the comments section, love the work you put into this site. I really do enjoy it!
George
Dear Jess and all Barn-finders:
I’ve only done a cursory reads of the comments. George makes some good points; my interest is very general – no particular bias, so have and continue to enjoy the features, the comments/commentators. Even though I “hide” behind a non d’plume, I feel I’m on a first name basis with many.
As a side bar, I just enjoyed twenty plus minutes reading Denis Jenkinson’s recap of Stirling Moss’ (and his) victory in the 1955 Mille Miglia. This is about the motorsports so many of our Barn Find readers grew-up on. I hope this link get you all the the story:
info@motorsportmagazine.com
By the way, I do have name – “Don Bell” and I, amongst other vehicles, own a Mark II Sunbeam Tiger
sunbeamdon – you seemed to have entered an email address instead of a link. We would love to see the Tiger by the way!
I love reading everything about the site. the only improvement I would ask is for a app for apple and the android store. Just to make it easier to read on the go as sometimes the formatting does not really work with the images on a mobile.
Thanks Jesse – I had backed-out of the site to my email notice; this one should get our Barn-Finders there:
http://archive.motorsportmagazine.com/article/june-1955/14/moss-mille-miglia
Don
My two pennies:
Nothing from within the last 25 years. When I hear 25 year old car, I think 1970’s and older, not a 1990 Ford Probe. I am not sure if your website tracks where people are checking in from, but keep the featured cars areas domestic to the USA and Canada. Nothing that doesn’t have a photo of the featured car in a barn or other forgotten location. I personally don’t like the dealership featured cars. They are too prepped and “clean.” The term barn find is thrown around way too much IMHO. A 50 year old car with 10K miles to me is a time capsule. It can be a barn find, but a too pretty car is not a barn find.
But keep up the good work.
Funny how time seems to stand still with cars. Most people still only consider pre-75 cars classic even though the clock has kept ticking! The Mazda Miata is 25 years old this year and could be considered a classic, but I have a feeling that you would have a hard time accepting it as such and you are not alone! We are going to continue to stick to the old stuff as we have done so far. Thanks Andrew!
Thanks for the reply. I have a 84 svo mustang. It is 30 years old. When I think 30 years old I think 57 bel air. My neighbor just told me how old I made her feel when she saw antique plates on my 86 convertible mustang.
Be careful on making changes that change the “feel” and “content” of your site. I, for one, get used to the vibe that any one site gives off, and I read you daily, even though I comment infrequently. As BaT and Curbsides Classics were referenced earlier, note that CC evolves slightly all the time, but not in a way that disrupts the vibe. BaT, on the other hand, just went through a major re-do, and IMO, has lost it’s “mojo”. The cars are more consistently nicely presented for sale, very Hemmings. But the commenting seems way down, and the “barn find” side of BaT seems to have fallen away, for the most part. I understand their evolution, they are upgrading and more fully monetizing their product, but they went too far, too quickly, IMO. They have left the door wide open for Barn Finds to fill that gap. I would gently suggest that you examine the old BaT mix of cars and presentation, and move slowly in that direction over time. Don’t try to go from where you are now to there in one giant overnight step. Do it slowly to bring your current audience with you. I don’t mean to sound like I am bashing BaT, I just think I value some aspects of their former way of doing things more than they did. I wish them the best of luck and good fortune. But to the extent you could work slightly in the direction of where they used to be, you will fill a gap that exists in my car site surfing since their do-over.
Why was the vehicle parked in a barn or garage in the first place? Why was the pickup with a huge tree growing out of it abandoned? Maybe there is no history to be had. I enjoy looking at some of your pictures and trying to make up some kind of story as to how it got there. The idea of what finally happened to the find would be great. I really enjoy you site – thank you for great stuff.
My friend sent in a great “barnfind” right in your back yard, an awesome 33 Dodge 3 window coupe with dual sidemounts and all factory options..did you publish it..NO! I have told you all about awesome crusher finds that I have managed to save such as a 69 Rolls Royce, 60 Electra and a friggin 66 Mustang! Did they get published..NO! Cars that are listed on ebay or Craigslist are published so we gave up! I recently saved a 53 Chevrolet, 89 Chrysler TC and a awesome 73 Eldorado Convertible..send them in?..why bother? They are not for sale on either venue so why waste the time!!!
Sorry about that Wayne. I went back and looked up your emails and they didn’t contain much more than a few photos. Without a good backstory it is hard for us to write up something interesting. I will reply back to you and give you a chance to add more information so we can see if there is something we want to run on the site. Thanks!
All day I have read the comments to this subject. A day for muscle cars could get really interesting. Building a street machine or bracket racer on a low budget would get my motor running. An example might be a 400hp bracket racer build for between $1,800 to $2,500 dollars. We all like to burn a little rubber and get lots of chirpies on the shift points. Low cost, high tech articles on how to add power for pennies such as cylinder head and port matching/polishing for the beginner as well as basic instruction for axle gear changes and transmission swaps..
A way for us to exchange pictures would be great. I’d like to send pictures with some of my comments to show for example and to share reader’s current projects. It’s all about the pictures so let’s exchange as many as we possibly can along with our comments.. A section on reader’s rides would be excellent..
You are doing a great job on the finds, both foreign and domestic so everyone can get a bite of there taste, I know my taste buds, we all have a flavor in cars of the past that’s hard to find, keep up the good work
Josh and Jesse:
late to the party but I for one like everything just the way it is. You guys do an yeomans job getting this thing put together most days…lol
The vibe you have created is one of folks hunting cars and chewing the fat over over cars. rusty barnfinds or not. Much like the way we all do when we’re together in the same place with other old car nuts.
I agree it would be nice to add the capability of adding photos to our posts. Signing in is a pita but maybe thats the price we’d have to pay to be able to deluge you with pix of our junk. Or maybe just have a readers page for people to post THEIR vehicles.
In any event a sterling site and I enjoy the heck out of it.
I don’t mind the mix of domestic & imports ( in the American sense, here in Aus they’re all imports!)
Only qubible of is that of late the site has been really, really slow to load. Not sure where the problem lies, but all my other favourites are OK.
And I too would like to be able to add pics to posts. I’d put size limits on any pics though.
Keep it up, I enjoy your work.
I have to quit going to your site. The number of ads has gotten so great that loading them all over heats my laptop. 140 degrees I have to turn it off.