A collection of classic vehicles has been unearthed in a US garage that hasn’t been accessed for 27 years – and two of the ’60s supercars located are worth a combined £2.8 million.
A dust covered Ferrari 275 GTB and 427 Shelby Cobra were discovered in a storage unit beneath an abandoned house in North Carolina that was due to be bulldozed last month.
Collectible car finders running the Barn Find Hunter YouTube channel sourced the untouched beauties – though found mice had made themselves at home in the forgotten goldmine of motors.
Barn-find beauties: The discovery of the two expensive classic cars located in North Carolina was documented in the Barn Find Hunter series on YouTube last month
Ben Cotter, a classic car expert who tracks forgotten machinery for a living, found the mice and cricket-infested 1966 Ferrari 275 GBT/2 ‘Long Nose’ and 1967 427 Shelby Cobra alongside two other vehicles – a V8-powered Morgan and a Triumph TR6 with just 9,000 miles on the clock.
It was revealed in the show that the cars had all been sat untouched since 1991 after the owner’s trusted mechanic had passed away and he’d refused to let anyone else service the multi-million pound collection.
The Ferrari is the pick of the two and has covered just 13,000 miles in 52 years.
Finished in silver, it features a 3.3-litre V12 engine and – in exceptional condition – is worth around £2.2 million on today’s market.
The 1966 Ferrari 275 GTB/2 long nose alloy is worth up to £2.2 million in pristine condition
All of the cars found in the abandoned garage were rife with mice and crickets
The classic car experts were notified of the whereabouts of the cars after they were found ahead of the demolition of the deserted property where they were being kept
The red Cobra is equally as rare and has covered short of 20,000 miles in its lifetime.
The two-seat Shelby was also the only one of the four cars that didn’t have seized brakes, making it the easiest to load into a transporter to move to a secured location.
A classic Morgan (left) and Triumph (bonnet up) were also found in the garage
The Ferrari uses a 3.3-litre V12 engine. This example is finished in a desirably silver, though the paintwork will take some reconditioning
The Ferrari has covered just 13,000 miles and, despite some dust and mice droppings, still has a fairly well-kept interior
Hagerty, a classic car insurance provider, said the engine of the Ferrari and Shelby Cobra both turned over
The Ferrari, Morgan and Triumph took a total of 12 hours to remove from the deserted property, it was claimed.
All the vehicles were found to be covered by classic insurance provider Hagerty, which valued the Ferrari and Shelby at almost £3 million.
Since the footage of the find was aired a fortnight ago, the owner has decided to keep the Morgan and Triumph but opted to let the pricier Ferrari and Shelby go to auction on March 9 as part of Gooding & Company’s Amelia Island sale.
The Shelby Cobra is equally as rare as the Ferrari, and is will prove extremely popular when it is sold at auction in the US
The Shelby Cobra has also covered very few miles, though it looks like the mice have made themselves at home in the cabin
The Shelby Cobra was the only one of the 4 cars with brakes that hadn’t seized
The engines in both started up straight away, according to the finders, though the exhaust pipes scattered mouse droppings across the floor as the powerful motors kicked into life.
Both cars will be serviced though it will be up to the new owners to recondition them and bring them back to life entirely – which ultimately will see their values sky rocket further.
Both the Shelby Cobra and Ferrari 275 GTB will be auctioned on March 9 as part of Gooding & Company’s Amelia Island sale
Hagerty estimated that the two cars in current condition – are worth around £2.8 million
Once reconditioned and refurbished, both the collectible vehicles will be worth far more than they are in their current state
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