Was out driving and stopped at this old abandoned house. I like to just nose around, take some cool pics ect. Out back there was a newer barn and I walked around it trying to see what may be there, Low and behold, a 55 Belair 4dr sedan AND a 57 Belair 2 door hardtop just sitting there sinking. Both very solid cars, 57 missing some pieces and a little bondo. 55 100% complete with a perfect interior, too bad is smelled of mouse piss. Trying to locate the property owner. The house has been vacant a very long time, surprized it has not collapsed.
always a good idea to break in, take pictures, post them on the Internet and THEN try and find out who owns it........
Great find no matter how you went about it. Sometimes you have to really beat the bushes as they say to find things and I have done the same thing you did many times in my life. I hope you find the owners and can make a deal for the cars. The problem sometimes is the owners will have a real emotional attachment to the cars and just won't want to sell them. I am the exact same way I have things from years ago that I just will not sell. Jimbo
To be clear, there was no breaking in, the door was falling off and open enough to drive the car in there. As for owner, I have a name, trying to locate. It's not like I posted the location for everyone.
While you did not break in, it was a tressp***. Two friends of mine did the same thing one sunday afternoon. Stopped to take a leak on a back road, noticed cars behind some trees and buildings. While looking, the property owner went by, called the police. Outcome for them was $500 fine and probation for a while.
good on you for having the urge to take a look,ive done it, still do,as for all that jazz about, breaking in,,tresp***ing and all that kill joy stuff,thats for the Jokers who get hung up on getting caught and then get caught. hope you own them before more kill joys get on board.cheers mate.
If someone contacted me about an old car I had inside a barn, I would want to know how they knew it was there and it might not sit well with me,probably would not sell it to them.
I love spotting old cars, machinery, etc. as well as the next guy, but I am with those who oppose tresp***ing on PRIVATE PROPERTY......Killjoys?? I think not. Respecters of other Rights is a better description.....the term/name for you, Sir, is Anarchist......acting as you wish with total disregard for others Rights and/or the law. Perhaps a load of buckshot would get your attention!
People don't take too kindly to someone poking around on their property, even in Ohio. Dude, I know you had no ill intentions, but still. Cool cars & all, but the outcome could have been REALLY bad, or worse. The s**** thieves are so bad around here people out in the country are on high alert & ready.
Go to the courthouse in that town/county and ask how to find the owner of a piece of property because you want to buy it. Don't mention the cars, "I looked in the building", etc. Or, look online and see if the town/county has that information posted on their GIS site. Contact the owners and simply state "I'd like to buy the property and all the contents of any of the buildings". It might even be the town's/county's property anyway because the owners obviously have moved on, p***ed away, etc. and the property may have been claimed by the town/county because the taxes weren't getting paid. Ask how to buy it from the county. If you can buy the whole lot for a couple grand, go for it! Turn it over and sell it for what you paid for it... If I owned that property and you mentioned seeing the cars to me, I'd clam up too and would probably charge you with tresp***ing myself, and I'm a pretty nice guy usually. When I had my restoration parts store a decade or two ago I had a guy come in and tell me that he was a big fan of a particular brand of cars that I was also a big fan of. He starts asking me if I've ever seen that guy's place that lives out near XYZ and how "he's got all of these cool cars all the time..." Well, since he had the location slightly wrong, it took me a minute to figure out that he was talking about MY house! I let him go on about how he had stopped by and knocked on the door one day and since no one answered, he went into the back yard and he told me about "the 4 speed this" and the car "with the ratty interior but a solid body", and the car with this or that engine... He turned pale when I said "You ought to feel lucky that you didn't get shot or mauled! That's MY house!!!" And "I have a neighbor that's a real a$$hole and he has turned his dog loose on strange people in our yards..." (Of course the part about the neighbor was all BS, but the look on his face was priceless. Hopefully he learned his lesson!
The Jalopy Journal
