EXCLUSIVE: British Barn Finds In Texas
Over the past few decades, Reader Buckey T has been collecting British Classics, although there are a few American cars in the mix as well. His collection has a little bit of everything, from Daimler sedans to a Triumph based Acron (don’t worry if you don’t know what that is, your probably not alone). Over the years, his barn in Bryan, Texas has slowly filled up with cars and parts. He has decided the time has come to empty it though, so he’s offering the complete collection of British cars as a package deal for $50,000. While he’d prefer to sell the whole thing as a package, he’s open to selling individual cars as well. If you’d like to jump-start a collection or open your own museum, you can contact Buckey via the form at the bottom of this article.
Given the situation and the number of cars in this barn, we won’t go into detail about each car, rather highlight a few of the standouts and let the 130+ photos do the rest of the talking! Buckey has provided a list of a few of the cars and how much he’s asking for each if he sales them individually to give you an idea of what he has. You can find the list below. He also has a Dodge Powerwagon, two Willys Jeepsters, and two firetrucks. Those vehicles are also up for grabs and he will be providing us with more information on them shortly. Before we take a closer look at a few of the cars, here’s the list of what’s in the barn right now.
2 – 1948 Morris 8s $6,500 each
1 – 1956 Morris Minor $5,000
1 – 1958 Daimler Century $8,000
1 – 1964 Morris Minor $6,000
1 – 1968 Triumph Acorn (Custom made NZ, one of two) $7,500
2 – 1970 Austin Mini $5,000 each
1 – 1972(?) Morris Ute $4,000
1 – 1960/1961 Daimler Sedan $7,000
Would take $50,000 if sold to one buyer.
The first car we have to take a look at is the Acron. Buckey sent an old magazine article about this Marcie and the other one that was built by Acron. It’s based on the Triumph Herald with a custom made body. Based on the utter lack of information available, I’m inclined to believe there really is only one other Acorn Marcie out there. Its styling is definitely unique and looks like a mix of a Lotus 7 and Allard K1. Being based on the Herald has its pros and cons, that’s for sure, but it should make finding mechanical parts easier than if it were a true one-off car.
Next on the list of vehicles that caught my attention is the Austin Minis. They are so small you could almost miss them if it wasn’t for their bright paint colors. In my book, the red example is the right color and is at the top of the list for ones to take a closer look at. The Mark III Mini was introduced in 1970 and it appears that’s what both of these cars are. While not quite as desirable as early cars, there were a number of improvements that make them more pleasant to daily drive. Valuing them is a bit difficult without knowing which engines they are fitted with or if there are any rust issues, but if they are solid, and complete they are probably worth Buckey’s asking price.
The last car we will have a close look at is this 1964 Morris Minor, primarily because it has been cleaned off and gives us a good idea just of how dusty these cars are. Buckey has priced it below #4 Fair condition, which seems about right for a car that’s just come out of the barn. After a good detailing and some buffing, it will look nice and be a good little driver. Hopefully, the rest of the cars also clean up this well.
If you are seriously interested in buying Buckey’s collection, be sure to contact him via the form below to ask questions or schedule a time to inspect them. This looks like deal if all of the cars are complete, solid and could be made to run but be sure to take a closer look at the photos below.
Do you have a barn collection that needs to be liquidated? Please consider listing it here on Barn Finds!
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Comments
Nice collection, wrong side of the pond, sadly. Sorry, market fading fast on British classics here. As the older generation, that might have had any connection to these cars, passes, I just don’t see younger generations going for 42 hp. British cars that all need tinkering with.
I agree Howard they are underpowered. But that can be rectified with a transplant of a more powerful 4cyl. engines from either American or Japanese cars. Of course when you up the fun factor you also up the risk factor so better brakes will be needed too. But as you say the interest in doing that has wained a little. I don’t think young guys are maybe less interested in car but more there are less of them building the skills and tool cribs to do the work. Not that I’m a fan of EV cars but I am surprised that more old vintage cars aren’t being converted to EV’s. ( man I can’t believe I just said that. Know I’m going to have to wash my mouth out with soap…! ) myself I’d want to turbo charge the original engine in one of these small Brits. at least until I blew it up then stick in a Toyota engine with an sr5 trans. As for young guys not playing with there cars there is a family across the street with there teenage boys wrenching on there cars all the time. And yes they can be annoying when there doing burn outs in front of there house. I’m trying to remember at this point that I was young once too and was tearing up and down the alley on my dirt bike. Nice collection.
Some knucklehead find Jeff Lane for the parts,
and eye will have the power wagon on the farm..
needer needer
R
I know it’s an effort to get this sale lined up and posted, but if you’re asking $50k+ for the collection, the dark, random close-up, fuzzy and upside down/sideways pictures are not helping the cause. I’m sure there are car people nearby that wouldn’t mind coming over to help with removing covers (all the way off), moving clutter, using ladders for better pics and holding lights for better detail. Who wouldn’t want to go over to someone’s place to help out with a barn find and talk cars? I know I would.
I agree with Howard that younger enthusiasts in North America would not be all that excited about a collection of what is termed ‘British Grey Porridge’.
The seller may want to consider advertising them internationally and concentrating on selling the Jeepster, fire truck, etc, in the local marketplace.
Getting back to Howard’s comments, even in NZ, where a lot of these British cars were popular, our younger petrolheads prefer cars from the 1970s-80s, which is what they relate to. I’m a member of the local Vintage Car Club and have written articles on what the group could do to attract younger membership by focusing on vehicles that this demographic is interested in. VCCNZ management agree with my suggestions and, for the most part, the general membership also agrees.
It’s a changing world. As a woman said about the future on an old Firesign Theater LP (entitled, I think we’re all Bozos on this bus!), “Live it, or live with it…”
Seems a nice price for a collection. Power Wagon seems to be the star of this photo album. But where have we seen the red paint overspray on pedals before? (HINT: Buick Fire Chief’s Wagon)
Yep, the power wagon had been owned by the fire department since 1961. That’s one reason the mechanics are in better shape than the ones coming out of the forest service.
The Power Wagon pedals in vivid red.
Looking at the prices for individual cars, especially the Morris Minors, it sure seems out of line for what they are. The comments seem spot on, English cars don’t bring the money. I have thought a lot lately about the prices of TR-6’s compared to what they were selling for 20 years ago and they are CHEAP. If you don’t know how to tinker on a car, especially a carb, you might get yourself in a lot of trouble. Hey Beatnick, I thought you said “pothead” at first, that might be what is needed here.
do any of you bloggers actually buy any or own classic cars or just 1/18th scale models.
@Ian. Barn Finds is not a Web-log or blog. It is a forum which consolidates classified and unique finds from other sites into one place. So, we are adding to a topic thread which is the whole purpose of Barn Finds. Do some members go a little overboard with negative comments or pump their chest writing that they are the biggest expert on a certain make? sure. Do some know a lot but only have scale models? sure. I personally have being trading in vintage cars since 1976. Have bartered for, sold and still own too many to mention here. My personal preference lately is to wrench on little British cars. Before that, I restored American intermediates like Skylarks and Firebirds. I grew up with V8 Fords. So, IAN, (as we say many times on this site) if the comments disgust you just move along to the next listing or limit the amount of stuff BF sends to your inbox. I agree in principle with your comment though. Cheers!
Well put, Little Cars.
Miniminiminimini!
If you’ve never driven a Mini fast on a twisty road then you’re missing out on some extremely high quality time. Manual box, mind.
Friend Mike, after showing him pictures of the minis says “Towing that home would be like a trail of tears, although more like a trail of parts.”
Nice that there are a decent amount of pics. So many times not the case . Makes things terrible guessing game . Maybe a learning curve
I totally agree with Beatnik Bedouin, the classic car market is exactly the same as what we are seeing on TV regarding “pawn stars” etc…. a lot of the older generation that used to collect jerry lewis/dean martin… roy rogers etc etc… are no longer around….the collectors of today are nostalgic about the era when they grew up…. so cars from the 70’s and 80’s … in the uk, the “hooligan cars’ rs turbo, 2.8 capri..hot hatches… are what are on the radar… on the extremely high dollar cars from previous eras are getting the big bucks!
The low power ratings for old British cars are deceiving because they ran on 70 octane post war petrol. With tuning and 87 octane or better one could expect upwards of 25% more horsepower. Although not world beating, these cars are not about smoking tires or flat out speed. Unless it is a hot rod who drag races their model A or even a 1950’s fin tail American classic?
The Ford F-3 pickup looks like a 1950 and seems to have aged pretty well. Would love to know if that’s for sale. If so, I might get the gumption to learn to drive manual.