Barn Finds

Tag: Car Show

  • Disneyland for Car Fans: Techno-Classica Essen

    Disneyland for Car Fans: Techno-Classica Essen

    Those of us in the US can choose from a handful of top-shelf classic car events, including Monterey Classic Car Week, Scottsdale, and Amelia Island, among others. Venturing overseas can expand the opportunity set significantly. I recently attended Techno-Classica in Essen, Germany. Techno-Classica gathers automobilia purveyors, parts vendors, restoration experts, marque clubs, and of course, dozens of collector cars for sale under one roof. Participation is overwhelmingly saturated by Europeans, but we heard a few American voices. The overseas location guarantees you will see cars you’ve never heard of. While most of the merchandise was immaculately presented and quite exotic, a few “barn finds” were extant. The BMW above is a 1940 BMW 335 two-door cabriolet, one of perhaps five in existence. Its pedigree and substantially original paint coat, interior, and mechanicals can qualify this car for any survivor class on the planet. This was BMW’s most powerful pre-war car. With a 3.5 liter in-line six-cylinder, the big car could reach 90 mph. This car arrived on consignment from a long-time owner, and it is eligible for rallies and shows worldwide. The selling dealer’s website lists the price at €275,000. If you want to hoof on over to pick it up, you’ll be flying to Stuttgart.

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  • By Request: Cabin Fever Car Show Part Three

    By Request: Cabin Fever Car Show Part Three

    Here we go again!  At the request of a few of our dedicated readers, this is the third and final (I swear!) post on the Cabin Fever Car Show in Knoxville, Tennessee.  While the two previous reports (1, 2) gave you a good idea of what the show was like, hopefully this one will tie up any loose ends.  Given that it is difficult to whittle down the number of interesting cars that are at a show to a manageable amount for a Barn Finds post, more than a few deserving cars didn’t get covered in the previous installments.  With this final lap,  you will see some of my favorites and a few I think you may like.  So, one last time, grab a hot beverage and head to your favorite chair for a final look at a fantastic show featuring the most interesting cars and trucks in East Tennessee.

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  • Knoxville’s Cabin Fever Car Show Part Two: The Customs

    Knoxville’s Cabin Fever Car Show Part Two: The Customs

    If you have read the previous post on the Cabin Fever Car Show in Knoxville, Tennessee, then you will really love this one.  In this installment, we will focus on some of the custom cars in the show.  A good friend of mine tipped me off to this event, and I am glad I made the drive to see it.  The collectible car community in east Tennessee is both close nit and competitive.  All of these folks would give you the shirt off their backs to help you in any way they could.  However, competition both on the track and at car shows is fierce in this neck of the woods.  This competitive nature shows in the amount of work they put into these cars.  If you are in this part of the world next January, I’d highly suggest you see this show.  Well, enough talk.  Take a gander at the cars in this post and, as always, if you have any questions or suggestions to improve my limited photographic skills, please let me know in the comments.

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  • Staying Warm At Knoxville’s Cabin Fever Car Show

    Staying Warm At Knoxville’s Cabin Fever Car Show

    With temperatures in the teens, and snow on their trailers, over 200 brave car lovers brought their prized vehicles to the 34th annual Cabin Fever Car Show at the Knoxville Expo Center this past weekend.  Long a tradition in the northeast part of Tennessee, this show brings out everything: unfinished projects, restored classics, hot rods, muscle cars, and whatever else falls between those terms.  This year, rough winter weather played havoc on getting the cars to and into the venue, but everyone endeavored to persevere, and the show went off without a hitch.  What follows is a pictorial of a few of the many interesting cars in the show and a few comments about them.  The first post will focus on restored vehicles, and the second will show the customs.  I hope you readers enjoy this break from the ordinary, and please let us know if you would like to see more features like this in the future.

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  • World of Wheels Part Two: Muscle Cars, Hot Rods, and Mary Ann Too!

    World of Wheels Part Two: Muscle Cars, Hot Rods, and Mary Ann Too!

    Once again, as temperatures start to dive past freezing, gear heads need something to do to help them cope with their affliction.  In the eastern section of Tennessee, that was accomplished by taking a trip to the beautiful convention center in downtown Chattanooga, Tennessee for the 50th Anniversary World of Wheels car show.  Thanks to the miracle of indoor heating, thousands were able to partake in this unique event comfortably while the rest of the East Coast was shivering through a brutal blast of cold weather.  Our last installment focused on some of the amazing full customs that were displayed at the show, and this one will focus on some of the gorgeous hot rods and muscle cars that impressed the crowds.  There was even a surprise celebrity guest at the show that many of you will recognize from a disaster show made before disaster TV was a thing.  So, grab a cup of hot chocolate or coffee, plop down in your favorite chair by the fireplace, and enjoy this virtual tour of one of the neatest touring car shows left in America.

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  • Avoiding Snow At The 50th Annual World Of Wheels Car Show

    Avoiding Snow At The 50th Annual World Of Wheels Car Show

    With winter bearing down on the East Coast, and weathermen trying to out do each other in both colorful vernacular and terrifying forecasts, it is hard for car guys to stay entertained.  Thankfully, indoor car shows have begun to give us something fun to do on the weekends here in East Tennessee.  This weekend, the 50th annual World of Wheels has landed at the convention center in frigid Chattanooga, Tennessee.  While not quite the same as a major car show and cruise in, a World of Wheels show keeps your interest by providing a variety of restored, modified, and full custom vehicles, and even a celebrity or two.  In this post and the next are some examples of the interesting vehicles that showed up this year.  This post will concentrate on the more radical customs, and the following post will lean more towards the restored and lightly modified vehicles.  It is amazing to see the creativity and craftsmanship exhibited by people in our hobby, and I hope you enjoy the virtual walk through the show.   If you have any questions, please place them in the comments and I will try to answer them.

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  • Christmas-N-Paradise Part Two: Car Show and Vintage Drag Racing

    Christmas-N-Paradise Part Two: Car Show and Vintage Drag Racing

    As promised, here is the second installment covering the Christmas-N-Paradise festivities at the Paradise Dragstrip in currently snow covered Calhoun, Georgia.  This post is just a glimpse of the car show and the vintage drag races that made up the bulk of the event.  The weather was pretty gloomy at the start, and a fairly long period of warm up passes were allowed.  Car after car blasted down the 1/8 mile strip, with none making full passes, but all displaying bursts of speed that were neat to hear and see.  Once the sun creeped out from behind the clouds, the passes began in earnest and it was the late 1960s all over again!  Below are a few more pictures taken at the event with a bit of commentary.  I hope all of you enjoy this little diversion from our usual format, and, if you have a chance, please consider donating to the United States Marine Corps Toys for Tots program so that all the little gearheads out there can wake up to something from Santa.

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  • Old School Kicks At Christmas-N-Paradise Holiday Toy Drive

    Old School Kicks At Christmas-N-Paradise Holiday Toy Drive

    This past weekend, the Paradise Dragstrip, located just north of Calhoun, Georgia sponsored an event that I thought our readers might like a report on.  The plan was for a swap meet first, then a patriotic opening ceremony, and, finally, the rest of the day would feature an unlimited amount of back in the day racing down the picturesque 1/8 mile dragstrip nestled in the foothills of North Georgia.  While the rain from the previous night had stopped, the cold and overcast conditions may have put a damper on the number of participants.  However, at least fifty cars showed up for either the vintage drag racing or the car show that followed the swap meet.  The miserable conditions moved out by late morning, warming the track and spurring the participants to put on an amazing display of old school horsepower and speed.  It ended up to be a great day for motor heads, with the sights and sounds of speed freaks blasting down the strip, and local kids benefitted from the money raised and toys collected.

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