(upbeat rock music)
- I'm friends with Bobby Allison,
and I remember him owning this truck.
One town car.
- It's a One Town Car.
It's got the original 454s still in it.
- So a Big Block Convertible.
- [Terry] This is a '70 Chevelle here.
- Man you got Chevy's, jeez.
(bluesy rock music)
Hi this is Tom Cotter.
I've been hunting down cars since I'm 12 years old
and I'm still doing it today.
Follow me in this series, as we hunt down
hidden classics all across America.
(car idling)
Usually you see me driving a 1949 Ford Woody Wagon.
A new car has been added to the Cotter household.
It's a 1967 Ford Country Squire
that we actually saw recently in another episode.
This car is a very rare car.
Not only does it look like a family truckster,
with wood-siding on the sides,
but this is a one of one car.
It's the only car ever made in 1967 with a 428 cubic inch,
the biggest engine you can get in this car,
a four speed transmission, bucket seats and a console,
all in a station wagon with wood siding,
power windows, dual facing rear seats.
Hopefully you'll be seeing this car
on future episodes of Barn Find Hunter,
and also driving the Woody.
(lively rock music)
Well I'm here with Jim.
But we're gonna call Jim by his nickname,
which is Padhammer.
We're in South Carolina, and Jim
is a lifelong car enthusiast and collector,
who has finally decided that maybe he's got
a few too many cars, and some of them may have to go.
He's gonna keep some, his son's gonna keep some,
his daughter's gonna keep some.
But why do you have this many cars?
- That's a question for which I have no answer.
(laughing)
Beyond control.
- Got it.
Well I'm seeing a couple that are poking
their noses out right here.
Let's see what we have over here.
You said this has some kind of NASCAR connection?
- [Jim] Morgan Shepherd was the owner of the truck
on the title, but I purchased it
from Charlotte Motor Speedway.
But it had previously owned to Bobby Allison
and the title, I have a copy of the North Carolina title,
and it was in Morgan Shepherd's name.
- This is interesting, because I'm friends
with Bobby Allison, and I remember him owning this truck
30 years ago, when he lived in Hueytown, Alabama.
- [Jim] It's a totally 100% original '33,
excuse me, '53 Studebaker Pickup.
- '53, what a beautiful style.
I mean so much more contemporary than a Ford or a Chevy.
Man, interesting.
1992 was the last registration, hmm.
Well that's a beauty.
- [Jim] '42 Hudson.
- [Tom] '42 Hudson Convertible.
One of your convertibles, okay.
So this is the way you bought it.
- [Jim] This is the way I bought it.
- [Tom] So somebody started the restoration on this car.
- [Jim] Now it had the engine and transmission in it
when I got it, but I have relieved myself of those items.
- This is another pretty car, a Buick.
And that's got a straight eight in it?
- A straight eight, unaltered car.
- So its a big old overhead valve, straight eight.
It's got updraft carburetor, single-barrel.
Probably had lots of torque,
and it was probably one of the smoothest cars on the road.
Look at the presence of this car.
It wasn't a Duesenberg, but it had that kind of look to it.
Amazing.
That, is that a Plymouth Convertible?
- [Jim] '54 Plymouth Belvedere Convertible
with a spring package.
- This is a spring package.
So if you look at this vinyl, I've never seen this before
and I've been around cars my whole life.
This is almost a basket weave that matches
the basket weave on the seats inside.
No kidding.
There we go.
Now that is interesting here.
Mopar all weather comfort system.
Chrysler Corporation, parts division.
So this is the heater, I guess.
- Yes.
- Hmmm.
So it's got a one barrel carbon split exhaust manifold.
I bet it runs great.
And this is all original paint on here.
- Yes.
- Look at the, is that the windshield washer bottle,
that glass bottle?
- [Jim] Yes.
- [Tom] Man.
The decal's still on there.
Does this have low miles?
- 64,000.
- Man, what a beauty.
Very nice.
So this is a Hudson Convertible with a Hornet engine.
Who knows how long this stuff's been sitting here.
Nice interior.
So here's another Studebaker truck, similar to the red one
we saw over there, the ex Bobby Allison truck.
Two door station wagon.
This was last on the road in 1977.
That's a nice car.
It's got a nice dashboard, the gauges are all proper.
Alright, well we have more rooms here.
(bluesy rock music)
So this is the last of the four cylinder Healey's.
It's a Healey 100.
And it appears to be one of the M's.
So the M is the rare race version
with the hood louvers on it.
But Jim had this louvered himself,
so these louvers didn't come from the factory.
This is a four speed gear box with an electric overdrive.
Four cylinder, very torque-y motor.
And he bought this new.
He and his wife bought this new
and rallied it for what sounds like close to two decades.
So he bought this in North Carolina 61 years ago,
which is just amazing.
And he was one of the founders of a sports car club,
which the decal is still on the window.
Tarheel Area Sports Cars.
That decal's been on there for 60 years as well.
It's got wire wheels, knock off wire wheels,
old English white, red leather interior.
It's been painted once.
The interior is original.
The top is original.
And this is a BN2, it's a two-seater.
Some Healey's, you see the bigger Healey's are 3,000s,
the same size, the same body,
but they have four seats.
They even have little jump seats in the back for the kids.
But this is a proper two-seater sports car.
And they didn't make many of these.
Healey's mostly were the four-seaters.
Wonderful car, wonderful story.
You know, it's so rare to find somebody
that can talk about what it was like
to buy one of these new.
(bluesy rock music)
These are the cars that he didn't have room for inside.
They're the ones in less good condition,
but so many convertibles.
He would go on business trips,
and look for convertibles to bring home.
He at one point had more than a hundred.
As I told you in the beginning of this segment,
some of these cars are for sale and some are not.
Regardless, I want to thank Jim for allowing us
to come here and spend several hours
getting pretty dirty inside and outside his building.
Jim, thank you so much.
- My pleasure, please come again any time.
- Thank you.
(car revving)
Well first of all, your name again is?
- Nathaniel Kennedy.
- Oh, it's right on your jacket.
Well I'm Tom Cotter.
- Yeah.
- We happened to be riding down the road
and saw this cool old muscle car.
Can you tell me about it?
- This is a Plymouth Cuda.
- [Tom] And what do you, do you have a hemi in here?
- [Nathaniel] No, I have a 340.
- A 340, okay.
So it's a three speed on the floor?
- Yeah.
- No kidding.
Did you buy it in Columbia?
- Yeah.
- [Tom] So was this your reward to yourself
for getting out of Vietnam?
- [Nathaniel] Pretty much.
- In my mind, this car is not repairable.
Now I may be wrong.
The car's been parked here for 40 years.
1978, so it was seven years old when it was parked here.
Who knows how long this window's been out of it,
which means all the floors in back here are shot.
This hood is like paper thin.
You can almost feel the hood bend just under touching it.
The Hagerty value for this car.
If this was in concourse condition,
it's rated at $61,700 dollars.
In excellent condition, $51,700 dollars,
in good condition, $37,100 dollars.
And in fair condition, $26,500.
So yeah, could you restore this?
Yeah, I think you could.
But, would it be the best use of those dollars?
Probably not.
But I can understand it being of sentimental value to him.
He bought it new when he got out of Vietnam.
It's a wonderful story.
And well, he's loyal to it.
And I guess for awhile, this car was loyal
to him as well.
(crickets chirping)
(bluesy rock music)
Alright, we're at Terry's Anderson Body Shop right here,
Anderson, South Carolina.
Usually you go to a body shop, it's a business.
I don't like to go to a business.
I like to go to peoples' back yards,
but this is kind of Terry's back yard,
and he's got some cool stuff.
So we're gonna walk around here, looking at the cars
that he's got, some of which are for sale.
Can we start with that Chevelle?
- That'd be fine.
- Yeah, there's a cool Chevelle back here.
So what year is this?
- [Terry] It's a 1970.
It was bought down the street, when they had
the Chevrolet place down here, Jim Connell Chevrolet.
- [Tom] So this is a one town car.
- [Terry] It's a one town car.
I bought it from the original owner.
Got the big ole sheet, the protective plate
that went on the title with it.
Original hood, it's got the original 454 still in it.
- [Tom] The original numbers matching car.
- [Terry] Matching number car.
- [Tom] Cal induction, factory air.
- [Terry] Factory air.
- [Tom] Automatic.
- The trunk, there ain't no rust in the trunk.
Good solid car.
- [Tom] How did the body wind up looking like this
and the trunk looks like that?
- Well I started on it.
(laughing)
I went ahead and painted the hood
and the trunk lid.
- [Tom] Alright,
- [Terry] Gonna put the original green back on it.
- So it needs some fabrication back here.
- Yes sir, it's got to have the two new quarters
that goes on it.
They laying out here in the yard somewhere.
- [Tom] And they're new.
This is one of those special cars.
Now it's got rust in the front.
Tell me how it winded up becoming rusty up here.
- The man told me that they had built the motor
in the car and set the front end off and turned it up,
and left it.
And it rusted the two headlight bezels out.
- [Tom] What a shame.
You can get those though, I guess.
- [Terry] Oh yeah.
I think I've set them painted and left 'em in the car.
- [Tom] Oh you've got a set, okay.
How long have you had it?
- I've had it about nine years.
- Oh okay.
Alright, this is how you remedy that.
Nine years.
You got a title for it?
- I got the one owner title, protective plate,
and the bill sheet.
- So the title's still in the original owner's name?
- Original owner's name.
- [Tom] What would you ask for something like that?
- [Terry] Well I gave 20 for it when I bought it.
- Boy that's a nice car.
And what was the, another car you wanted
to show us over here?
A Mercury?
- [Terry] A '62 Mercury.
- Let's take a look at that.
- [Terry] Let's take a look at that.
Mercury Monterey, '62 model.
- Is that a runner?
(car revving)
You didn't know we were coming, either.
- Had no clue.
(laughing)
- [Tom] Jeez, is that like a 390?
- [Terry] Whatever Mercury came with.
- [Tom] Who knows.
Usually they were that much bigger
than a Ford engine.
It's a little bit bigger.
Look at that thing.
That is amazing.
Man, and drives out nice?
Low mileage?
- It's got 41,000 actual miles on it.
- Man.
- What do you ask for that?
- I'd take $6,500 for it.
- That is a good running car.
Boy, you got Chevelle's don't you?
- [Terry] Yessir.
- [Tom] Is this yours?
- [Terry] Yes sir, I've had it for about 15 years.
- [Tom] Man.
So a Big Block Convertible?
- [Terry] Big Block Convertible.
- So it's a four-speed car.
'66?
- '66, I bought a crank motor from General Motors
and put in it.
Ain't never been cranked up.
- [Tom] Is that a Big Block?
- [Terry] It's a 454.
- [Tom] 454.
- [Terry] Four and a quarter horse.
Got vintage air on it,
- [Tom] Oh yeah.
- [Terry] The bottom of the car,
I took it off the frame.
The bottom's red, as slick as outside.
- That's a rare beast man, wow.
Yeah, so this is a two-door hard top here,
this black fender, blue hood.
- [Terry] Yeah, it's all together.
- So I take it that this and this were off a different car.
- No, it's all off the same car.
That's as much as I got painted.
It's got the crank motor in it.
It ain't never been cranked up.
- [Tom] And what would you ask for that?
And with the new pieces, the new engine.
- The interior.
- Is it automatic or what?
- [Terry] Automatic, it's got 700, it's got disc brakes.
And this is a '70 Chevelle here.
- [Tom] Man you got Chevy's, jeez.
- [Terry] It's a good solid car.
Don't have no rust in it.
- [Tom] Is it a Big BlocK?
- [Terry] Big Block.
I got the motor I'll show you.
The motor's in the shop on the stand.
- [Tom] 454?
- [Terry] 454, it's got the Muncie four speed.
- [Tom] And that's for sale too?
- It is.
I got a new vinyl top for it.
- [Tom] New motor mounts, new bushings.
- [Terry] A-frame bushings, ball joints all
been changed on it.
It's got the new Griffin radiator in it.
Al the original wiring's still good under the hood.
It's got the headlights to order,
just got to paint the fenders.
- Boy, new brakes.
- New brakes.
I just don't get in no hurry too much to finish a car.
- It's easier to start, hard to finish.
- I love to start on one.
(laughing)
- Alright, I'm gonna go look at Dean's Edsel over here.
I don't know if we've had any Edsel's on this show yet,
but we're about to see an unusual one, a station wagon,
called the Bermuda Wagon.
So this is Dean's.
Dean, what year is this?
- [Dean] '58.
- '58, and it's a Bermuda Wagon.
And you said it runs and drives.
- Uh-huh.
- It's got what, what kind of motor?
- I think its a 362, I'm not positive about that.
It's got 400 on the valve covers.
- 400, okay.
Some of the Edsel's are push button transmission.
You'd push this, you know, for park and drive,
reverse, neutral.
But somewhere along the line it was electrically operated,
if you remember, some of the early Dodge's
have this as well, Chrylser's.
(phone rings)
Look at this upholstery.
It's got white pleats on the passenger side,
and none on the driver's side, which is really odd.
I guess that's the way it was.
Is that a two barrel or a four barrel?
- [Dean] Probably a four barrel.
- And this runs and drives?
- [Dean] It does.
- Last on the road in
- '74, it come from Clem Sayer,
It's been in the building for about 25 years.
- What town?
- In Hartwell, Georgia.
- Really, well before that it was here,
it's North Carolina.
So this is a '58.
And it runs and drives.
- [Dean] Yeah.
- [Tom] And what are you asking for that?
- [Dean] 42.
- [Tom] $4,200 dollars.
Well thank you sir.
Hopefully it'll turn into some sales for you.
- I enjoyed ya'll coming.
- In finding old cars you got to be a salesman.
You got to talk to old mechanics,
find out where the old restorers live.
Go to auto parts stores, go to repair shops.
So next time you're on your way to get pizza
or a quart of milk, see how many cars you can find
on the way home.
Happy hunting.
(bluesy rock music)