[ MONTH IN CARS ] Barn finds
One-owner Super 90 version of Sixties Porsche discovered after 45 years
This Porsche last saw the road in 1981
This 1963 Porsche 356B Super 90 was sold new in Switzerland, delivered in July of that year. By the early Seventies it found its long-term owner, a young man who acquired it secondhand when it was still quite lightly used. Nonetheless, an engine rebuild became necessary at the end of 1976, when the car was given a re-paint in its current shade of green – the factory’s slightly brighter green is emerging where the second paint job has peeled off on one door, among other places. The red vinyl interior is thought to be original.
Once the car was ready for action again, the owner used it for his wedding, as shown by photos in the history file, with the car de-bumpered and looking sporty despite the wedding ribbons across the front. A handwritten log survives, showing entries to cover a busy period of usage between 1977 and 1981, including regular maintenance. At the end of 1981, the last entry reveals an odometer reading only 100km less than the 62,520km that the car shows today; it was put away in storage shortly afterwards.
Last owner bought this 356 in the early Seventies
Paint peel reveals factory green
Vinyl interior thought original
There it remained for 45 years, presumably superseded by a younger car, or one with more room for a family. Despite this, no efforts to move it on or sell it came to anything, and it appears never to have left the barn or garage in which it was stored. Following the long-term owner’s death, the car was discovered by his heirs and rolled out of the building for the first time in March 2026. The Super 90 – implying a 90bhp engine – was desirable, even if the 356B lacked the four-wheel disc brakes brought in by the 356C in 1963.
This is a big restoration project, though it appears structurally intact and most of the work seems likely to be cosmetic and mechanical. The CHF30,000-CHF40,000 (£28,000-£37,500) estimate at Oldtimer Gallerie’s sale in Lucerne in late May looked a little shy for a car with such an appealing story, even if the cost of restoration would outstrip the car’s finished value, but it sold for CHF39,200.
Clues to final miles pre-layup
356B Super 90 has 90bhp flat-four
Once was used as wedding transport
Huge classic hoards in one US sale
With a field full, there’s no dodging these Chargers
Large private collections of old cars are far from uncommon in the rural USA, and this case two were disposed of in the same sale. The auctioneer turned entrepreneur and John Clay Wolfe bought both collections outright, taking on the task of moving the cars, listing them and disposing of them with the hope of some profit at the end of the process.
The first collection of some 77 assorted classics was stored both inside and outside on a property near Anniston, Alabama and featured one or two European and Japanese cars – including an MG BGT – but a vast majority of US favourites, especially Corvettes, and most of the indoor cars were too wellpreserved to be called barn finds.
Owner collected around 70 1971-1974 examples
Riveria sailed into GMTV sale
More surprising was the 73-car stash in a couple of fields in Brookshire, near Houston, Texas. Almost all of the vehicles were repeats of the same thirdgeneration Dodge Charger, built from 1971 to 1974. The late owner kept buying them and their associated spares over the years, without ever starting the restoration of his first example.
Chainsaws and forklifts were required to gain access to the leafy resting place, before all 73 cars and eight tractors were eventually moved by a team to a holding lot for assessment and temporary storage until the no-reserve sale by GMTV (‘Give Me The VIN’) Auctions completed on the weekend of 6-7 June. The sale was conducted live from the Roadhouse bar and restaurant in Walnut Springs, Texas, by GMTV proprietor Wolfe himself.
MG BGT among Alabama hoard
Oldmobile Cutlass dates from Eighties
Six-wheeled Hustler needs new home
Harrier Six off the road for almost 20 years
We’ve seen Hustlers in the Barn Finds pages at least twice before, in 2020 and 2012, but for those with shorter memories these were Mini and Metro-based kit cars designed by William Towns, better known for his work on the Aston DBS and Lagonda. The Hustler evolved into a variety of sub-species, most with four wheels but some with six, thanks to the use of two Mini rear subframes in tandem at the back.
The standard Hustler Six featured face-to-face bench seating in the back but this one, a Harrier, has a low-loading rear door and an empty rear compartment that could apparently take a wheelchair. It is tightly confined in a storage unit in Essex, and its owner, Sobur Khan, would like it gone.
Suspected Metro Vanden Plas wheel and dashboard
Six wheels on this wagon
‘I bought it in 2018 when it had already been off the road for more than ten years, from a friend who was selling another car. I spotted it sitting in the back of the garage and asked, “what’s that?” and soon, I was buying that, too.
‘I think it’s complete and it looks to be a late, Metro-based example, registered in 1986. The front seats, steering wheel and maybe even the dashboard seem to be from a Metro Vanden Plas. It also has six nice eight-spoke alloy wheels. I was going to use it as a promotional vehicle for a business, but sadly I’ll never get round to restoring it.’
Interested parties can contact the magazine at classic.cars@bauermedia.co.uk and we’ll pass any details on to Sobur.
Rear compartment believed to take a wheelchair
Seats – and car – in need of restoration
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