Barn Finds recently came across the story of this massive collection of 1934 Fords and parts, which is one of the most epic ’34 finds we have ever known of! “Barns Finds”- plural- as they were housed in more than one barn and purchased by Iron Trap Garage in New Berlinville, PA. The story goes that they received an email from an older gentleman in upstate Southeast Michigan who had been collecting these cars and parts for decades and was ready to sell, so they traveled up there to check it out and made a deal. Iron Trap Garage documented the extraction of this 1934 collection on a video that can be seen here on YouTube. It’s nearly an hour long and pretty amazing to watch all of this stuff coming out of hiding.
In addition to all of the parts, there were five 1934 Fords in varying conditions, and the gentleman who had collected them talks about each one in the video. They are all special in their own right but of particular interest is this 5 Window Coupe that he bought from the previous original owner in 1964. It was bought new by a lady named Clara C. Spencer who drove it until she was 89 years old, and she had named the car “Beautiful”. She lived in the Los Angeles area and the car was brought from California to Michigan, where it has been barned ever since. The car rolls and is nearly complete and even has a title.
The second car is a 1934 Ford Phaeton, which the Vice President of Ford brought back to the United States from Argentina when he was over there looking for cars. This car is also rolling and almost complete.
Next is a Roadster which was owned by a doctor and was also in Argentina. It was found on Hemmings in Argentina and brought to the United States from there. This one is rolling but not complete.
Car number 4 is mostly a shell, with no chassis, interior, or drivetrain. This ’34 is a 4-door body and was purchased in Idaho. This one didn’t come out of the barn quite as easily as the first three!
The last car is a 3 Window Coupe that was bought in Lewistown, Montana. This one has been stripped but is still rolling. It was purchased in 1968 and has been in this barn ever since.
In addition to the 5 cars, there was a pretty overwhelming amount of other parts including doors, hoods, fenders, a couple of truck cabs plus much more. There were even some old oval-shaped Ford signs which were found in the magazine “Old Cars Weekly” not long after the publication first came out. These were located in Austin, Minnesota, and brought to Michigan on a Greyhound bus.
Lots of care was taken in the removal and transport of these cars and parts by the Iron Trap Garage team. Four of the cars were loaded onto one long trailer, while the 5 Window coupe and one of the truck cabs were put onto a smaller separate trailer.
Everything made it back safely to Pennsylvania, and I can imagine that the Iron Trap Garage guys are happy as can be with their endeavor! It’s great to see that the seller had the foresight to make sure his collection got into good hands before it was too late. Barn Finds hopes that you have enjoyed checking out these thirty-fours!
Wow! What an awesome collection of ’34 Fords! I’m looking forward to watching the video.
Great story! Owned a restored ’34 V8 pickup that I wish I still had. The ’32s through ’34s weren’t just cars and trucks, they were art.
Iron Trap Garage is a great you-tube channel. Matt puts our three videos a week and I’m always anticipating the next one.
There are many pre war Ford collections (hoards?) In southern California and I’m sure other places. The owners, at least many have refused to share the parts and projects while bragging up their golden stash! Now, 20-30 years too late the market will be inundated with parts from dead guys with heirs that have no idea what they are lookin at.
What a find !! Wonder what happened to the engines and transmissions.
This is the second or third time that Iron Trap Garage has been involved in a situation like this. Wander what he had to shell out for these cars? If you follow his You Tube Channel you know what I’m talking about.
love that 5 window
As a native Michigander, I don’t know how you came up with the expression:
“upstate Southeast Michigan”. If nothing else it would be “downstate”. Keep in mind the length of the lower peninsula, and the fact there is an upper peninsula. I think just writing “Southeast Michigan” would cover the location where these were found.