A group of curious teenagers found an old building in the Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil too tempting to leave alone, so they broke in to see what was there. To their amazement, they found dozens of old cars that had once been part of a private museum that had closed. They couldn’t just take a self-guided tour and leave, so they videotaped what they saw and posted it online. Now the police are involved. A benefit to all this attention is that the heirs of the owner may begin selling off this collection so the cars can see the light of day again. Located here on Motor1, this is the story.
We’ve all done things we wish we hadn’t, and we certainly don’t condone what these kids did, but they uncovered for the world to see a group of vehicles that have been tucked away for a very long time. Each of these vehicles has inches of dust and dirt on them, pointing out the extent of their captivity. The cars weren’t the only thing the collector had hidden away. In addition to the autos, there was a technical library, various parts for the cars, a collection of gas pumps, and a reconstructed old coffee shop!
The vehicles in the two-story building look to cover a broad period, from the 1920s to the 1970s. It appears they’re all complete and those registrations expired long ago. Some of the treasures that have been locked away include:
Austin A90 Atlantic – coupe and
Chevrolet – Corvair and Styleline (1952)
Citroën DS
Fiat – 1100, 124, 128
Ford – Consul, Coupes (1938 & 1940), Model T, Taunus, and a van (1951)
Goliath 3-wheel pickup truck
Morris Oxford
Renault – Dauphine & Gordini
Simca 8
Standard Vanguard
As a result of the stash being compromised, the owners have moved some of the cars to another location. They bathed the Fiat 124 and put it up for sale for about USD 12,372. So, it looks like these lost machines are about to get a second chance. Here’s a link to the video that the teen mischiefs took to document their escapade.
In the first photo, the black car looks like a 1968 Dodge Dart with a Charger grille.
Brazilian Dodge charger…..I love them…
The video is more vertical than usual and will give you motion sickness from all the waving around. Yuck
If the little bastards had at least known how to handle a camera, we could let them off the hook.
They need to serve about 6 months of community service under the direction of the owners.
Posting the video put the owners in a position of having to deal with their personal property being exposed…..could you imagine waking up tomorrow and finding a video on the net of your assests which you had locked up on your private property?
As Mark below notes, there are sometimes reasons for not wanting publicity and just possibly maybe the greater crimes were involved in getting together the money to create such a mausoleum and undeclaring income.
“If it hadn´t been for them pesky kids….”
I know of a few very large collections here in Spain where you´ll never get an invite because the taxman mustn´t know..
At least in this case, cars were well-stored, even if the sum total amounts to nothing exceptional…
Brazilian Charger sitting up high in the front, engine gone perhaps?
It shows waning interest is not “USA specific”, it’s happening all over the world. The staff seems to stay with decrepit USA collections, but I bet there’s a bunch of these coming up. Okay, Brazil may be a bit far fetched for most, but this is a worldwide website, and I hope these go to good homes. Don’t bash the teens, I think many may have forgotten the shenanigans WE pulled when we were teens,,,I say, nice find, kids!!
You would be right about not being to harsh on the kids if all they did was look at the cars, that changed when the posted the video online.
Steve R
Gold Fiat is a 124 Coupe, about 1968ish. Next picture is the front view. I could be wrong on the year. I had a 1970 model. Really fun car.
My best version of this little adventure would be to track down these future felons and make them wash and detail each car. They might develop a new appreciation for the art of the automobile.
Yeh that wall would’ve solved everything.
yeah that would have solved everything
Pity they weren’t as adept at videoing these cars as they were by breaking and entering! The rarest car amoungst all that iI could make out was the Austin A90 Atlantic.
and not one Maserati, Ferrari, Pantera or Lambo? I think they are in CUBA!
In the mid 1980s I had 3 indoor booths at the big spring & Fall Carlisle events. Every spring and fall I would get visited by 3 men from Brazil. They claimed to have been creating what was to become the Brazil National Auto Museum, about 500 miles south of Sao Paulo, almost to the southern border. They usually bought large amounts of automobilia and accessories for vehicles each time, never bothering to negotiate prices.
These 3 “businessmen” were very gregarious & outspoken, and were proud to show me plenty of photos of cars & trucks, sitting in similar location backgrounds as seen here. Most of the photos also featured sexy naked young ladies posing in/on the cars, and the guys kept inviting me to come visit them and see the collection. They even went so far as to promise these beautiful girls “They all would take great care of me”, in the hopes I would eventually bring 1 or more to America!
At the time my brother was VP of Discovery Communications and recently had visited Sao Paulo and French Guiana for the launch of an Arianne rocket with a communication satellite. When I joked about the offers, he sternly advised me to NEVER go there, saying that he was advised to wait for a specific driver at the airport, and the driver literally never stopped for red lights in the city, because people would run up and smash windows & grab your arm for the watch & rings! He said he never felt as vulnerable as he did there, and vowed not to go back.
And then the “boys from Brazil” (!) suddenly stopped coming to the Carlisle events. That was 30+ years ago.
The green car looks like a Hudson to me! Would have liked a video of it. Will never hire these kids for pictures!