Lamborghini kit car and unique Pre-war cars hidden in a basement | Barn Find Hunter - Ep. 73

When Tom arrived in St. George, UT, he didn't have a single lead to go off of, but using his basic barn finding techniques he begins to cultivate leads. Before you know it we are on our last day and the leads are still pouring in. In this episode of " Barn Find Hunter," Tom finds some unique barn finds where you least expect it. Hagerty is your definitive source for all things classic: compelling stories about cool cars and the people who love them; the latest on collector car values and market trends; and all the eye candy, roaring engines and nostalgia you can handle. So strap down, settle in and cruise with us a while. We’re glad you’re here.

Video Script::

(upbeat music) - So, we're starting to pick up momentum. We heard about this shop, and here are one, two, at
least three different vehicles, owned by three different owners. And now another guy that's
here, riding a Harley, says, "I got a '37 Ford back home. "Maybe you're interested
in looking at that. "It's kind of an old beater, a hot rod." Yeah, so this is how these days develop. And so, we have two days left here. It's gonna be hard to leave, because we're gonna hear
about the greatest find. And we're not gonna
have time to pursue it. (upbeat music) Reuben, thanks for letting us come-- - Oh, you're welcome. - And kinda crash your pad here. This is quite a neighborhood. So, this is the car you say looked like, when you went to high school,
all the cars looked like this. - [Reuben] Yes. I was born in Southern California, and I went to school in Torrance. Which is a suburb of Los Angeles. And this is what they looked like. - [Host] Like the school parking lot was filled with cars like this? - Well, we had a club
called the North 40s, 'cause I went to North High School, it was five of us had 40 Fords. But this has the 59 AB motor in it. And you know that's the 48 Merc. (hood creaking)
- Yeah. '48 Merc with a four inch stroke. Four inch stroker crank. - Got the '39 Ford
transmission, hydraulic brakes. I think these are about 34, 35. - [Host] Yeah, Kelsey Hayes. - [Reuben] Yeah, Kelsey Hayes. They're the 16 inchers. - So, I mean this is like an original car? - As far as I know it is, yeah. - Wow. - The paint's not the original
color, 'cause it has-- - Oh, it's not the original color. - No, I think it has, I'm sure it's not the original paint. - [Host] So, how long
have you had this one? - [Reuben] I think I've had
it four years, and it just sat in either in this garage or my garage. - So, four years. Where'd you find it? Local? - No, I found it in Las Vegas. - Las Vegas. - Las Vegas, and he'd owned it for four or five years, and he brought it from New York. - You can tell it's the original glass. This was Ford's early attempt, to have safety glass. And they would take a pane
of glass, and a pane of glass and glue a piece of plastic in the middle. And when that glass got old,
it would start separating and this is how you could tell this is all original Ford. In fact, there's the original logo. But it started separating,
and that's one of the issues with Ford safety glass. It might save your life,
but you might go blind trying to look out of it. - [Reuben] Well, this
thing's a year older than me, so it's 81 years old. - [Host] You're 80? Holy mackerel.
- These, the tires have the Ford script on 'em, right here. - Okay, but those are repro for sure. - Yeah. - I've got, yeah, I
think Coker sells those. Yeah. So, this is funny because Kyle had a fastback '37 at his shop. And now, this is, I haven't
seen a fastback in 5 years. And I've seen two--
- I'm gonna do the interior on that one too. I was a firefighter, and
I did interior work too. - Did you really? You did the interior in that car? - No, I'm gonna do it on that one. It's just got replacement
seats in it right now. Like scat seats-- - [Host] Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, do you do it here? Do you have an upholstery? - [Reuben] Next door, where I live. - [Host] So, do your drive this ever? - [Reuben] I've driven it
around the block here twice. - [Host] That's it? - [Reuben] That's it.
- [Host] In four years? - [Reuben] Yep. - Does it run? - Yeah. - Will it start right now? - Probably. - Oh, this is cool. (engine sputtering) (laughing) (engine running) I can smell bad gas. So you got duals on here? - Yeah.
- That sounds sweet. So, what are your plans for this? - [Reuben] You know, I'm not sure. Kyle and I are talking
about building a car for me. - [Host] Ah, out of one of
your cars that you have? - [Reuben] No, probably a new one. I'd probably get rid of
this one and the Pontiac. And keep my Chop '47. - Where do you keep your cars? - Next door. - Oh, I'd like to see those too. But, somebody watching this video may say, "Wow, that '37 Ford, that's
my fantasy right there." What would you ask for
something like this, you think? - [Reuben] Probably 14, 15. - [Host] That's fair. - I'm not sure, you know,
what the market is right now. It's got rust in a couple
of the normal areas. - Yeah, yeah. - I said it's been sitting
like this for a long time. I know the guy in Vegas never drove it. - That's a neat car. (soft guitar music) - Well, as we were leaving
Reuben's house, he said, "Oh, by the way, I got a friend
who lives around the corner, "and he loves original type cars "and he's got a few of 'em." So, and now we have an appointment, to go to on Thursday morning. So, it's Tuesday now, Thursday morning. I've met so many guys like
Reuben, it's really amazing. That's their, like kinda the
California hot rod lifestyle. That I always aspired to as a kid. He taught himself how
to do upholstery work. Welding, chopping tops, you
know, building hot rods. And he was a fireman, so that
was his full-time career. He's been retired for 24 years. He's really been fooling
around with cars ever since. It's really cool to
meet somebody like that, and he's retired here to Utah. I'm glad we bumped into him. He's got some neat cars and neat stories. You know, this is how our
day kinda just happens. It just happens. We were getting depressed. Where's the cars? And now we're making
appointments for the next 2 days. It's getting too filled. (laughs) (soft guitar music) Remember we met Reuben
a couple of days ago, saw his cool cars. Well, Reuben said, "Before
you leave, I'd like to bring "you over my friend Steve's house. "He's got some un-restored
cars, in his garage, "I'd like to show you." So, we're on our way. (energetic rock music) (door slamming) Steve Soule, thank you for having us here. - Well, thank you. - I'm told even though you've got this beautiful garage, with shiny cars, that you've also got rusty, dusty cars. - I do. - So, where might those cars be? - They're in the basement.
- Well, of course. - We had our house built to
accommodate about 12 or 13 cars. And then I have a couple
other garages out back that I've got some in. - Lead on. - Okay, come on in. (upbeat rock music) - Oh, look at this. (laughs)
Oh, geez! Don't even come in here. Oh my God. (laughing) This is a cool place. I bet you have neat parties. - [Steve] We do a few. - So, this is kind of what
we're interested, right here. So, can you explain these to us? - [Steve] Yeah, I've tried to
do some research on this one. This '23 Huckster. I found one other one. It was a mail truck and
that's all I can find. So, the Chevys back
then we're fairly rare. - '23 Chevrolet Huckster. - [Steve] Yeah.
- Okay. So, where'd you find this one? - [Steve] In a barn.
- [Host] So-- - [Steve] I found it, a friend
of mine up in Draper, Utah, up by Salt Lake, had it and he says, "I've got a car that you really need." And he's probably 86 now. He's one of those for the
picker guys, you know, that really like, picker stuff. - [Host] Yeah. - [Steve] He's got so much stuff, but he says, "you oughta have this." - [Host] That's primer on there or? - [Steve] Yeah, that's primer. That's the way I got it from him. I don't think he ever
did anything with it. - [Host] Yep. That's original seat? - [Steve] You know what? That's out of a Model T. He put that in there. He just had an extra seat. He had, most everything
he did was Model T. - [Host] I see.
- He was Mr. Model T. - [Host] Yep, does this run? - No. I do have a rebuilt engine
for it, that came with it. And I just haven't got that far yet. - So, were you into this
stuff before it became hip? Like these kind of cars? (laughs) - I was, I know I was born with it. - Really? Wow. All right, so then here's your Ford. Your Fords start here. - Yeah, and this one's
a '23 Model T Pickup. - [Host] Roadster Pickup. - And I built this one just out of parts. So, it's not all the parts
on it are true to the year. But it started out as a '23. - [Host] So, what did you buy? Like, you bought a chassis, and then-- - [Steve] Well, the
fenders and the chassis. And then the body was on it, and then everything else, I've put on it. - [Host] Hey, where'd you find this stuff? At a flea market? - [Steve] Some and this guy I
bought some of the stuff from, he has a ton of Model T stuff. And it's easy to find, I do swap meets. There's always something at a
swap meet, that's available. - [Host] And is this a runner? - No. It could, it's all built,
the engine's built. It's ready to go, I just
haven't, I get onto, I jump from project to project. So, I don't really ever finish anything. - [Host] Okay, so this is another T. - [Steve] It is, this is a '26, and I've built it out of parts. - [Host] There's a C cab? - [Steve] Yeah, yeah,
I put the body on it. This was, it was different. All it was was fenders and a frame. - They call it a C cab right here, obviously because it
look like a capital C. - [Steve] And this is
one of my projects now, that I've been working on. I built all the back. - [Host] Did you really? Old, old lumber? - [Steve] Yeah, it's
wood, some of it's old, and some of it's new. But I did the brackets and the fenders, and the wheels came out of Kansas. And it has an engine but it
still needs work on the engine. - [Host] Yep. It looks so, the term juxtaposition, on this floor in this environment, to see rust, it's so-- - This is what I got off the
internet so you can see the-- - [Host] Oh yeah, look at-- - [Steve] Pretty much the same. I like pictures, if I can get pictures, I can make 'em work. - So, do you have the cowl and door? - [Steve] You know what? I don't have the door. I'm making, I put a piece on
the other side of the cowl. And I've got this one, that I made, fabricating out there now. They're hard to find for these, C cabs. This is a whole different cowl
because of the windshield. - [Host] Oh yeah. - So, it's been just makeshift. - So, what did you get
initially with this truck? - [Steve] I got the
frame, and the fenders, and the rear end. That was it. - [Host] And you're able to put these together pretty cheaply, I bet. - [Steve] You can, you know, if you look, and just watch enough,
you can find this stuff. A lot of times you go to swap meets, and people don't know what they have and, you can scarf up on things. I had a, this last summer I,
there's one up in Salt Lake. A big swap meet. Most of the people come from like Montana, Wyoming, Idaho that bring stuff in. - Yeah. - So, I found all kinds of
things that I could use. - Cool, that's interesting-- - [Steve] This is a 1932
Chevrolet mail truck. And right behind you, is
what those pictures there-- - That's when you found it? - [Steve] That's where I found it. It sat out, the gentleman that I bought it from was a farmer. And it was out, right
where it was at since 1957. And so it was 60 years, I was 10 years old when he parked it. And so I found it. A friend of mine, a nephew,
told me it was there. It was out by a barn,
and you couldn't see it, so nobody really knew it was there. So I just, purchased it, and for $1200. - Really? In Utah? - [Steve] Yeah, up in the Salt Lake area. - So, do you find like,
even the wood, the metal, because it's dry climate, it
doesn't really deteriorate? - [Steve] Well, it sat out. These originally made out of oak. So, it has sat outside, and you can see that's why it's deteriorated like it is. I replaced some of the wood, and it was pretty well stripped. People have stolen things
off of it because it sat out. I built the door, mirrors, I put mirrors on it and the headlights, and the wheels, the tires-- - So, you built this door just out of old? - [Steve] Yeah, barn wood, yeah. - That's great. - [Steve] Just slide it
back, it slides back. - Oh look at that, yeah. - [Steve] It needs a
little more work, I just, I'm on other projects now. (laughing) - What a great looking vehicle. Did it have lettering on the side here? - [Steve] You know what? There was a, it was a, there's
one on this picture here. It was Uncle Sam, like, "I Want You". And I have the frame that goes on there. I didn't have a picture in
it, but I do have the frame. - So, you could probably get
some patina artist to do that. - [Steve] Yeah, either
that, I could probably get something off the internet,
to put in a poster. And then on the back, those doors were, weren't there. They kinda replaced some of it. And then others I found, since it was sitting out, the doors were off in the, weeds underneath and everything. And I, I purchased a metal detector-- - [Host] Ah! - [Steve] And then started
looking for parts-- - [Host] No kidding. - [Steve] After all that time, I figured there was something. And I found quite a bit. - So, I'm looking at
this locking mechanism. That's pretty cool. - [Steve] I was lucky to have, have the parts for it. - So, you found this stuff in the weeds? - [Steve] I did. - Somewhere kicking around? - Yeah, so I put it on this-- (door creaking) - Oh, isn't that cool? - So, you can see how rotted the wood is. But I love that rotted wood. - Yep, yep. That's a great device right there. I love that lock. (doors clunking) - And then this is a
tailgate, it folds down. It's got chains on it, it weighs so much. - [Host] Does it really? - [Steve] Yeah, it is really heavy. (laughing) And it's a dually, this is also a dually. I don't have the wheels on it. 'Cause it, it comes out too far. (soft blues music) - Man, look at all this stuff. (tools buzzing) A doodlebug? - A doodlebug. I'm making it, just, I
have enough extra parts. - Isn't that cool? So, a doodlebug, for those
of you who don't know, back during the Depression,
farmers needed to farm their property, but they
couldn't afford tractors. So, but you could afford a $5 or a $10 Model T or Model A Ford,
and you just chop it down, and that became your tractor. And some of them had dual wheels. Some of them were built out of trucks, and they were heavy duty, some were just passenger car based. So, this didn't start off as a doodlebug-- - [Steve] No.
- [Host] You're just building it from scratch. - [Steve] Yeah.
- [Host] Neat. - [Steve] I've got an
engine over here for it. Just haven't put it in yet. - [Host] Now, what's the deal
with this Lamborghini here? - [Steve] That is a replica. That's about a '91. Ed said I put a 350 Chevy in it. (soft blues music) - Man, what a back yard. I mean, what a car show
you could have here. So, you have these two other cars here? A Beetle and a T-Bird? - Yeah. I was gonna get rid of it. It's, it doesn't look good, you know. It's all there-- - [Host] What year is that T-Bird? - [Steve] A '70. And then, so we just got into
it, put a little gas in it. The carburetor was open and
nothing on the carburetor. And, put a battery in it, and Reuben put, he was operating the
gas into the carburetor. And it started. It just, it just instantly started. - Isn't that amazing? - [Steve] After all these years, and I'll bet I've had it,
probably, over 30 years. - Over 30 years? - [Steve] Yeah. It's one of those, it's always been a want to do one. The wind blows and blows it off of the, blows the covers off of it. It's always been out back
because it looks so bad. So, it's always been behind
the garage somewhere. - Two door or four door? - [Steve] Two door, and black interior-- - Will this be a custom,
or what will it be? - Oh God, well it's a 429. So, I don't think it was a custom. Somebody had done something with it. When I bought it, it was
silver, black vinyl top. But over the years it's deteriorated. - [Host] And what's the Beetle's future? - [Steve] I'll probably
just get rid of it. - [Host] What kind of shape is this in? - [Steve] Not good. - You gotta title for it? - Yes. - [Host] Got a Hurst shifter
in it, and a little racy wheel. Wow, that's got a good floor pan. Did you put that in? - [Steve] No. - [Host] Oh man, that's a good one. (gravel rustling) - [Steve] And the patina,
it's got good patina. - [Host] Yep. - [Steve] It's got a back window. I purchased a lot of this stuff-- - [Host] Yep, I see. - Later. - It's got an engine transaxle. - Yeah. (metal banging) - Well, what would you ask
for something like this? - Oh God. 900. - Well, you heard it here. 900 bucks for, I mean, if you look at that floor pan, if that's the original that is outrageous. (metal banging) It's 40 horsepower? - [Steve] I don't know. - Yeah, it's 40 horsepower. Single port heads. Well, have we come to
the end of the road here? - [Steve] Yeah. - Well, that's pretty good. Nice way to spend a morning. Well Steve, thanks for
getting up early and-- - You bet, thank you. - This is great stuff, man. - I always appreciate
showing what I've got. - We're leaving St. George now. The Woody is filthy, filthy! Not as filthy as that truck,
but getting close to it. Got into town, not knowing a person. Not knowing if there was
even a single car here. And actually, for about a half a day, we didn't think there was a car here. Well, here we are four days later, going back to Las Vegas, and we found lots and lots of cars. I mean, I don't want to say hundreds, but we found hundreds of cars. Because we got into a huge junkyard, went into private garages, custom shops, it's been pretty darn cool. So, I think it just goes to prove, (mumbles) you go to any city, or town in the United
States and even initially, if you think there's not something there, keep pounding the pavement. Keep talking to auto parts store guys, keep talking to police officers. Go to repair shops, go on
Craigslist, go to Google, look up restoration businesses. And one thing leads to
another, and four days later, you're leaving town with
a bunch of new friends. And a lot of cool cars. Happy hunting. (engine roaring) (upbeat music) (engine sputtering)