Barn Find (mid 1950s Dodge)

[ThirdeYe]

We were looking at an abandoned farmhouse for sale today and looked into the barn and found this car that was apparently someone's restoration project that was never finished. It's missing a lot of the trim, but I saw it in a box on the other side of the barn. Judging by the large amount of bird droppings, I bet it's been sitting there for a while. The front plate was from Missouri, but the rear was a Michigan historical plate. Based on my Google searching, it seems to be a 1955-1956 Dodge Royal Lancer? I could be wrong, though. Thought I'd share this.

 

[bvance554]

Looks to be in very nice shape. Did you buy anything?

 

[ThirdeYe]

I'm guessing the car would go with the house when/if it sells. The individual items weren't for sale individually, but the house/property was. There was a ton of stuff still lying around, which was odd considering the home was abandoned and for sale. There were a bunch of lawnmowers, 2 campers, and even an old bottle of Amsoil in one of the out buildings. I really wonder what happened for the owners just to leave all of their stuff in the yard and outbuildings. Perhaps they passed away or something. The house was pretty empty from what we could see through the windows. Everything was just left wide open, even though we didn't have an appointment or anything.

 

[ted s]

parts only because no paper work?

 

[Joe_Power]

Did you look in the trunk???

 

[ThirdeYe]

I did not look in the trunk or under the hood, no. It was starting to get late by the point we actually looked into this barn (I think there were 4-5 other outbuildings). It's possible the title for the vehicle could be around somewhere since they left a lot of things behind. Perhaps maybe even in the box of trim, who knows. The house was a very interesting 100 year old Victorian farm house, but it needed a LOT of work.

 

[ThirdeYe]

 

[donnyj08]

very cool old house, if not a little Eerie.

 

[ThirdeYe]

Originally Posted By: donnyj08
very cool old house, if not a little Eerie.


It was definitely eerie! Some of the windows were left open (since it's abandoned), but I still can't get over how odd it is that so many things were left behind (like the car) and how everything is left open to the elements. One could just drive up and take whatever they want, pretty much. I would've thought that being for sale, they would've had it more secured.

 

[andrewg]

That house is really an old one! Looks like it was built about the late 1800's or so.

 

[Oldmoparguy1]

Car guy went to his reward....

 

[daves87rs]

Not bad on the outside, but that roof...


Too bad, it's a good looking house....

 

[eljefino]

You can run that car through Maine without prior paperwork; it's plenty old enough to not need a title here. Broadway Title and others do it through the mail.

Then your Maine plates transfer to a home state title & reg.

 

[OneEyeJack]

Asking price?

Some of those Dodges of that era came in 3 colors. I guess that idea did not catch on.

 

[zrxkawboy]

The car and house are both cool!

 

[Chris142]

My dad had a 4 door 55 dodge.....hmmmm.his had a small hemi and lost a rod bearing at a pretty low milage.

 

[LoneRanger]

Originally Posted By: daves87rs
Not bad on the outside, but that roof...


Too bad, it's a good looking house....


What's wrong with the roof? Metal. Metal roofs way outlast shingle types.

 

[Benzadmiral]

"Calling Ed Gein . . . white courtesy phone for Mr. Ed Gein . . . call from Mr. Norman Bates . . ."

 

[440Magnum]

Very cool! The color looks like a LaFemme, but IIRC that trim package were only offered as 2-doors.

 

[ThirdeYe]

The pictures make the house look like it was in better condition than it was. Some of the windows were left open (or missing) to the elements, some were boarded up, entire portions of the walls inside the home were missing, etc. I believe they were asking around $45k for the house, property and outbuildings. We love older houses, but this one would take years and lots of $$$ to renovate.