Finding "Vincent" in the Barn

© Ken Bingenheimer / RumBum.com

A vintage Vincent.

“One fellow told my son that ‘You can marry more money in one minute than you can earn in a lifetime.’ You can also discover a better car in one minute than you can afford in a lifetime. Behind that barn door might be a Bentley. It might be a supercharged Vincent or a Honda Dream. Both are interesting but one's certainly worth more than the other.”

Tom Cotter should know. He is the author of a series of books telling tales of automotive and motorcycling archaeology, the finding of those old machines that someone put away somewhere and which then sat for 30, 40, 50 years or more. Earlier books included The Cobra in the Barn and The Hemi in the Barn. Cotter’s latest, The Vincent in the Barn, is his first book dealing with motorcycles. Vincent was an English motorcycle marque, now out of business, that was renowned for its technological advancement. Surviving bikes are now coveted collector items.

The stories Cotter tells run the gamut from sheer happenstance to dogged detective work to danger and foreign intrigue. The title story began with a neighbor telling a rider’s mother that he saw her son rides old British bikes. “Well, tell him I have an old Vincent stored in my garage across the street.” Even with this hopeful beginning it was 6 years before the bike left that garage.

That was quick compared to some of the other stories. The owners of the old bikes usually have a reason for hanging onto them, so befriending them and staying in touch are common practices. Sometimes it can take more than 20 years before the owner finally decides they’ll never get around to doing the restoration they planned. Other times the sale only occurs once the owner has died and the heirs want to get rid of everything they don’t want for themselves.

Erasing the Years

Once an old bike is found, restoration is usually the next step. According to Cotter, there is only a partial overlap between those who find old bikes and those who restore them.

“Some people make a pretty good living finding and selling them,” he says. “Many finds are presold. I tend to fall in love with cars and have a hard time selling them. Then when I do sell them I often end up buying them back.”

The ultimate example of this tendency is the 1939 Ford Wood Wagon he was crossing the country in with his son when contacted.

“I bought this car when I was 15, and I always dreamed of going to California in this car. I sold it when I was 18, and bought it back when I was 45.”

He described the work done on the old wagon as a “checkbook restoration.” The wood on the exterior had all deteriorated and had to be replaced, and a late-model drive train was installed. “We’re going 80 miles an hour on the interstate right now.” On their way to California, after all these years.

Restorations often cost much more than a vehicle will be worth once restored, so what motivates someone to spend that money?

“It's passion, a love affair.” says Cotter. “They just have to have that vehicle and it's important to them to be the person who brings it back from the dead.”

A new trend in restoration, of which Cotter approves, is to keep the worn look while bringing the machinery back to mechanical perfection.

“Not everything has to be restored to showroom quality. They look pretty darn cool with the patina (faded paint). People are digging the barn find look.”

Finding the stories for the books is not as hard for Cotter as finding the vehicles can be. Since becoming known for what he does, “Most of the stories just come in by themselves.” His books always include an email address and the encouragement to contact him with stories of finds. “I’m lucky in that there is always a stockpile of stories coming in. Cotter’s next book, due out in the Fall, will be The Corvette in the Barn. After that he’s planning another motorcycle book and he is currently collecting stories for that one.