The Hunt - The Art of the Barn Find
There is something almost mythical about the barn find. In car culture, it is the story everyone knows: the forgotten Porsche in a shed, the Mustang hidden under a tarp, the Mercedes sealed away in a garage for decades. These stories are passed around like legends because the idea of uncovering something rare and untouched feels like chasing buried treasure.
My dream car came to me in exactly that way. A 1967 Ford Mustang Fastback GT390, the car I wanted since I was a kid. One afternoon, the son of the original owner came into my shop after his father had passed away. He asked if I would be interested. We set up a time to meet so I could see the car, and it changed everything. Sitting in a Long Beach garage was a GT390 that had never been in an accident, had no rust, and carried the kind of history you cannot fake. I had to buy it. That moment, standing there and realizing I was looking at my dream car, was unforgettable. It felt like being dealt a pair of aces. The win wasn’t certain, but the hand gave me every reason to believe success was within reach.
The thrill is real, but romance can be dangerous. A barn find should feel exciting, but you cannot let emotion cloud judgment. At Crosby, I focus on the bones. Rust can be fixed, but less of it makes the process smoother. Everything else, interiors, paint, suspension, and mechanicals, can be replaced or rebuilt. Low miles usually mean fewer, if any, accidents in the car’s past, which gives you a stronger foundation to build from. And when original paperwork or plates come with the car, that is the cherry on top, details that enrich its story.
Every barn find carries a story. With a car like the GT390, you cannot help but imagine the life it lived. Maybe it carved its way down PCH with the ocean breeze rolling through the windows. Maybe it crossed the desert under the California sun, or cruised through Los Angeles in the 1960s when the city itself felt like a movie set. Crosby can make any car look beautiful, but it is the story that gives it soul and ultimately makes it desirable. Buyers connect with where the car has been just as much as how it looks today. But not every find is worth the chase. The art is in the balance, finding a blank canvas that excites without demanding a lifetime to restore.
At Crosby, that is where we step in. We curate the hunt, helping clients avoid the headaches of buying the wrong car while letting them feel the same rush of discovery that I felt when I first laid eyes on that GT390. In the end, the hunt is not just about finding a car. It is about beginning a story and giving it the chance to become timeless.
