,
One trick that might work is approaching the shops in your area and just mentioning that you’re in the market for an old Datsun/Chevy/whatever. I found my last project car by simply posting on a message board that I was looking for an air-cooled Porsche project. I left it pretty wide open as I wasn’t really sure what I was interested in—and I wanted to see what I would find. It turns out that someone had an early 911 that they weren’t quite sure what to do with. Hello, the check is in the mail.
I found my last 911 project with a simple “WTB” on a roadracing messageboard. Put out feelers—you never know what you'll catch. Join your marque club and go to local events. You will meet people that know what you’re looking for and may have a project of their own that they want to unload. Like job searches, networking is a great way to find something that might not be for sale yet, not advertised or just forgotten.
I know where there’s a couple of Porsche 911s and a Maserati Quattoporte (there seems to be one of those turds in a vacant lot in every major metropolitan area.) on the way to and from work, but with a 45-mile commute, I am probably missing dozens more.
If someone asks you what you do, after you answer what you do for work, throw in that you also work on classic XYZ on the side. If nothing else, you can get some interesting stories out of it. My lawnmower repairman—an older guy—used to have a Bugatti, but had to sell it when he started having kids. Sure, this was probably decades ago, but it never hurts to ask, “So, what became of that old car?” and see where that takes you.
This old Porsche sat in a barn for another 40 years after my dad owned it for a brief time. When I was growing up, my dad told my brother and I the story about how he owned a real Porsche 356 Carrera GS, the one with the aluminum doors and lids. He bought it from Jacque Dupont (of the giant chemical company fortune) in 1964. After Jacques couldn’t come up with the title, my dad returned the car and got his money back. The Carrera went back in the Dupont family barn.
All original and worth a small fortune. If only…We often wondered what happened to the car, but we never asked beyond my dad. “It was probably sold off later and is long gone” was the reasoned reply. It turns out that the Carrera stayed in that barn for another 40 years until it was purchased by a 356 enthusiast from California. The new owner is carefully preserving its patina and has a car worth hundreds of thousands of dollars for his effort.
Next Up: Evaluating a specific car for your next project.
