We all love the idea of a "barn find" and we are willing to travel far to unearth one. Our Mercedes-Benz 540K which we sold to a German customer in 2007 was just such a car--purchased just after WW II, driven into the '50's (still with its 1952 Harvard sticker in the rear window) and then put away in a barn on a New York State estate.
During the 1980's, we heard stories of a completely original Ferrari 246GT in a garage on a local estate. The car reportedly had fewer than 4,000 miles and was as new. One day about 15 years later, a local resident came into the showroom and mentioned that he had a Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow and a Ferrari 246GT which he literally never used and wished to sell. The 246GT story switched from the "local legend" category to reality and we immediately found a new and still local home for the Ferrari, and another for the Rolls-Royce.
Just a few years ago, a girl came into the showroom and mentioned that she had inherited a Mercedes-Benz 230 SL which her uncle--an renowned Detroit automotive designer--had purchased new and left to her mother upon his passing. Unusual in original "Moss Green" with tan leather, and unused for many years, the car was then sent to be fully serviced (then with @48,000 miles) at the local Mercedes-Benz dealer and it then disappeared back into the garage. Years later, her mother gave the car to her daughter who also found that she literally never drove the car. We were able to purchase the car from its original family and have kept it in "private stock." Mileage is still just over 50,000, but at least the car is driven with some regularity.
The latest find came from one of our good customers who had heard of a 1964 Dodge Polara 2-door hardtop in the Long Island garage of its original owner--a nuclear engineer who had recently passed away. His widow explained that the car had been her husband's pride and joy since driving it off of his local Dodge dealer's showroom floor in 1964 and that it had never seen any damage or paintwork. The car had evidence of an engineer's mind at work--every service receipt since new, original manuals and showroom brochures, a special metal touring box of tools and supplies in the trunk and a body and interior which could almost pass as new. We arrived at the house, the car started on the "first pull", we snapped a few photos of the car in its garage of 45 years and in front of the owner's home, and then drove the car to The Stable without the car ever missing a beat.
From a 45 year-old Polara to a 73 year-old 540K so far; we are anxiously waiting to identify our next "find."