We love a good barn find. They provide incredible glimpses into the past and often reveal vehicles that have been sitting around for decades, possibly in all original condition. Muscle cars are some of the most popular barn finds, and there have been some real gems over the years.
This list contains ten of the best of those muscle car barn finds, revealing the stories behind them and how they came to be in their hidden locations. Some barn finds can also sell for very high prices at auctions, with a handful going for over $1 million in some instances.
Bullitt Ford Mustang Stunt Car
The movie Bullitt is widely considered one of the best of all time. The chase through the streets of San Francisco is one of the most incredible cinematic scenes ever. Two Mustangs, a hero and a stunt car, were used in the film, with the latter long thought to have been scrapped.
Remarkably, this Mustang was found rusting away in a Mexican junkyard. It had no engine or transmission and was damaged by the sun and salty air. After some digging, restorer Ralph Garcia and a Ford specialist identified it as the Bullit stunt car, and it’s now being thoroughly restored.
Alabama Barn Dodge Charger Daytona
Vintage car restorer Charlie Lyons visited Glenwood, Alabama, with the intention of purchasing a 1970 Chevrolet Chevelle. Yet in the end, he came across a 1969 Dodge Charger Daytona, sitting in a barn covered in muck, where it had stood for several decades.
The car had belonged to its owner since 1974, and it had spent most of that time in this one spot in the barn. The Daytona proved to be an all-original, numbers-matching example, and the owner eventually sold it on. The Dodge then went for auction again with Mecum in 2016, selling for $90,000.
California Storage Unti Shelby Daytona Cobra
One of the most bizarre barn find stories comes from this gorgeous Shelby Daytona Cobra coupe. Belonging to Donna O’Hara, this was the very first Daytona Cobra sold, and she kept it hidden away in a storage unit for decades, refusing multiple offers to sell it. She even denied Carroll Shelby himself a chance to see the car.
Tragically, O’Hara killed herself in 2000, with the car handed down to her mother, who sold it for $3 million, and the car sold to another buyer for $4 million. Various disputes as to who actually owned the car followed, which were thankfully resolved with the Cobra now in the Simeone Museum.
North Carolina Shelby Cobra
Imagine finding one of only 100 Shelby Cobras equipped with a 428 ci V8 engine. Now imagine that you find that Cobra alongside a 1966 Ferrari 275 GTB. That is exactly what happened when automotive author and historian Tom Cotter found the two cars for an episode of the ‘Hagerty’s Barn Find Hunter’ series on YouTube.
Both cars had been in a garage since 1991. The haul also included a 1976 Triumph TR6, a 1978 Morgan Plus 8, and a mid-1980s BMW 325iX. The cars eventually sold at a Gooding auction in 2018, the Cobra fetching $1 million and the Ferrari $2.53 million.
Bullitt Hero Ford Mustang
The other Ford Mustang used in the film, Bullitt, is the hero Mustang, and it also has a tale to tell. It was first sold to a Hollywood studio executive and then to a New York detective before Mustang fan Robert Kiernan got his hands on it. Actor Steve McQueen apparently tried to buy the car twice in the 1970s, but both times, he was turned away.
The car had been garaged since 1980 following a breakdown, and then Kiernan’s son inherited it to restore it. Ford themselves got wind of the car and were able to verify it as the original hero car from the film. The Mustang went on display alongside the new Mustang Bullitt at the 2018 Detroit Auto Show.
Genuine Barn Find Shelby Cobra
Some barn finds don’t technically emerge from barns. However, one famous 1963 example of the Shelby Cobra did. Chassis CSX 2149, the 149th Cobra, was bought in 1969 by Dr. Bryan Molly, a Scottish-born chemist living in Indianapolis.
The doctor used the car for a few years before he placed it in a shed in his barn, where it sat for 24 years with cows for company. In 1993, the car was found, and Molloy’s wife was persuaded to sell iticle. This was perfect timing, as just 30 days later, the barn was burnt to the ground. After passing through various hands, the Cobra went up for auction with RM Sotheby’s in 2018.
300 Muscle Car Texas Barn Find Haul
One of the most remarkable barn finds of all time cropped up very recently, thanks to a video on the Southern Bush Motorsports YouTube channel. Having received a call regarding a salvage yard with a collection of cars hiding in a Texas barn, he went to do some digging and found that there were 302 muscle cars crammed into the barn.
The owner initially kept many of these cars as their owners refused to pay towing fees. Every single vehicle in the collection, including a 1968 Plymouth Road Runner and 1970 Plymouth ‘Cuda, was all-original, with many remaining untouched for decades.
The Alan Rietz Collection
A remarkable collection belonging to Alan Rietz was unearthed in the last decade and sold by the VanDerBrink auction house in 2018. Across the 1,100-acre farm in Mansfield, South Dakota, more than 100 Mopar and Chevrolet muscle cars, including all sorts of spare parts and engines, were amassed.
Rietz passed away in 2017, which led his wife to contact the auction house to sell the cars. A highlight of the collection was the 1970 440 ci Dodge Super Bee, while plenty of unrestored cars sold would have made excellent project cars.
Alabama 1970 Boss 429 Mustang
Charlie Lyons, the man who found the 1969 Dodge Charger Daytona, also saw a remarkable one of 499 1970 Ford Mustang Boss 429. This muscle car was hiding in a barn in Mobile, Alabama. Unlike the Dodge, it was preserved in almost perfect condition, with only light modifications made by its previous owner.
The gorgeous 429 Mustang had actually been used in the 1980s Super Ford magazine, and it wasn’t long after that that it was placed in its barn and stored. With the 429 Mustang being one of the rarest ever made, it’s little wonder this barn find garnered so much attention.
1969 Yenko Camaro
This remarkable barn find was one of the centerpiece exhibits at the 2021 Muscle Car and Corvette Nationals exhibition, and it represents one of the “holy grails” of the muscle car world. The Chevrolet Yeno Camaros are incredibly rare, produced only in minimal numbers from 1967 to 1969. Their power comes from a 427 ci 7.0-liter Chevrolet V8.
The Yenko Camaro on display at the show was first spotted in the 1990s, sinking into the mud of its owner’s front yard. Thankfully, it was eventually sold and rescued from the barn, saving one of the most desirable muscle cars in existence.
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