Having spent the last thirty years or so poking around garages and sheds for classic British car finds, I have to say that this stash of 20 British cars, 5 motorcycles, parts, and tools made my heart skip a beat. But having not much more than lint in my wallet, I’m quickly brought back to reality. Maybe one of you can own this collection that is being auctioned on eBay in Oldsmar, Florida where the current bid is $25,100.00 with an unmet reserve. Thank you, Barn Finds reader Brent for the hookup!
The seller states that there are, “2 warehouses of cars, bikes, tools, parts and lots more,” and the photos that are supplied with the auction show a couple of spaces full sports cars with very little room between them. There is no reason given for the sale but a clear out of a closed restoration and repair business might be a possible explanation. As experts in this field retire or die off, we are likely to see more sales like this.
The photos show some specialized sheet metal tools, engine hoists, drill presses along with shelves full of miscellaneous car parts. One of the spaces where cars are kept looks like it was meant for storage only and the other may have been the actual working shop space, with parts bins and tools visible.
The seller has helpfully listed the cars and bikes he is offering and there are a number of very desirable ones on his list. Some of the ones that stand out are the three Austin Healey “Bugeye” Sprites; Three MGAs; Two Triumph TR3s and the MG Magnette. The rest of the collection is made up of more common classics like MGBs, Triumph Spitfires and MG Midgets that do have value but are easier to find. A large number of the cars and motorcycles for sale have titles but a few are to be sold on a bill of sale. Depending on the state to which they are brought, titles may not be an issue.
What would a buyer do with a collection like this? If they are in a similar business, then restoration candidates or cars for parts would be incentive to buy. For flippers, the more rare cars might be sold for a reasonable profit. And for the patient, breaking them up for parts and selling them through Hemmings or at auction on eBay will pay very nice returns, but there is a lot more effort involved in that process. So, Barn Finds reader, what would you do with a stash like this?
Rather than spend one’s lifetime collecting all those cars, intending to restore them “someday”, how much better it would have been to have just 1, or 2, or 3 nice cars and enjoy driving them, but I’ve seen it so many times before.
Yes, I have seen it before as well. I also noted that the owner was very happy with his collection. He would spend evenings sitting amongst his cars, glad to have saved them from the crusher to pass on to someone else. To each his own.
What no mention of the 2 “T” series MGs in the picture?
If finances and time were on my side I would bid on this “Mess/Pile/Collection/Inventory” of Brittish metal.
It would be fun to perform a thorough check out/inventory of each vehicle and related parts. Just to determine what to do next. MGBs and Midgets are a dime a dozen here in the “no rust” zone. With MGBs starting to appreciate a little. So those cars would be the last on the list to restore/rebuild/repair. If the demand did spike a little on those cars. Maybe those would be the ones to attack first to help finance the other more “interesting ” cars like the MG,”Ts”,As and more interesting Triumps.
Just a thought.
Oh well, never enough time or money!
If the price is right and the buyer had enough time on his hands, he could hand pick one or two then sell off the rest to pay the entire bid price and possibly some of the restoration costs on the two that he/she kept…
Pawn shop is the seller…. FWIW
This looked…familiar. And it is!
https://barnfinds.com/jamies-dream-find-2/
Yup! I was wondering if anyone would notice that :-)
Oh wow, auction 1 listed at $250K but it now and the 2nd auction ended at $23K reserve unmet. Whoops. Why don’t sellers like this pull their head out of their a$$ and hire a local auction house to catalog each item then sell it all off separately. I suspect greed and being a cheapskate play a major role.
I went and looked at buying the whole collection a few years ago and also went this year. The whole collection is owned by a few different people. They had planned on starting a restoration business / parts supplier, but it never happened. A few of the guys want it all gone, the others want it gone but for a good penny. Last time I talked to them they want about $150,000 for everything.
Wow, what a great find, but could there really be anything close to $250,000 worth of cars and parts here? (That’s what the seller was asking last time) You’d have to restore and sell most of the cars to recover your money.
It starts off as a little leak and BAM before you know it, your basement is filled with British Cars……..
You’ll spend just as much cleaning up mess after the EPA condemns it from all the fluids leaking out of those things. They are British.
I think the market has spoken, and the eBay bid of $25k is about all the money. So, of course, we shall see this stash appear again and again until all parties determine that deducting a zero from their reserve will get it gone! Just wait another two years…more flat tires, more dust, more rubber deteriorated, more seized engines, more boxes split open, perhaps more vandals. Damn shame!
That green TR, is that a small mouth?
And what about those MGA’s, any twin cams?
I mean, nothing there worth much more than $20k after restoration!
That’s a big AFTER, LOL!
Lazy (or just clueless) people want the money, not the work!
MGA twin cams would have been picked years ago…if spotted by someone here the eBay bidding would be brisk to say the least. If these bickering business partners came across any twin cams they’d be fools to cram them in this storage building to start a British car shop.
ben here in I rember a year or more in clearwater I went to look as well they were at 250,000 then a lot of stuff but not for the money some had paper work some didn’t a few ivesters in volved very confusing to me at the time now there in anouther town looks like the same where house I went to in clearwater
Imagine….imagine now that this was a bevy of early Porsche’s, or split window V dubs. Maybe that’s what the wishful seller’s think the market is?
When I read about huge collections like this for one price (whether it’s outrageously high or reasonably low) and the reserve it not met, I think: only another set of fools would bid on this many at once, given that each hulk and loose part has to now be transported by the new owner. At what expense? They would be wise to calculate the lowest per-car price they are willing to accept and multiply that times the number of cars. As I’ve written before, this hoard will remain for a while longer. Maybe years!