This is how the insanity started…
Back in 2007 for the May edition of Car Craft magazine this 1970 Chevrolet Chevelle SS 454 LS6 graced the cover. The publication called the Chevy the “Godfather of the Barn Find Era” and for good reason. While there’s no telling if it for sure was the barn find car which originally got everyone excited to go poking around for hidden treasures in their hometown, it was the most dramatic early example of a barn find. Now we live in an era of barn find saturation with plenty of suspicious examples which look like someone sprinkled some magical “barn dust” over the otherwise perfect paint to get people’s hearts racing.
Check out dramatic barn find stories here.
In the included video, YouTube channel Patrick Glenn Nichols Musclecar Barn Finds visits the Tennessee shop where this ultra-famous Chevelle and another 1970 are both in the process of being fully restored. It’s interesting to see the progress made on these cars, but it also brings up a hotly-contested topic in some gearhead circles these days: should barn finds be restored?
That might sound like a silly question to you, but there are plenty of enthusiasts who feel strongly the answer should be no. They prioritize preserving barn finds since they’re typically all-original, arguing that not destroying the details which tell the history of the vehicle accurately is more important than having something which looks and runs great. Jerry Seinfeld is a famous example of a gearhead who thinks this way, but there are others out there. So what do you think?
As an aside, Car Craft is no longer published, in case you’re wondering. Back on December 9, 2019 TEN Publishing announced it was discontinuing 19 of the 22 automotive magazines it owned by the end of the year. It was shocking news to many enthusiasts who had fond memories of reading the magazines avidly from a young age, reminding us all that the publishing industry continues to transform dramatically.
Check out the video to learn more about this Godfather of the Barn Find Era Chevelle.
