Lost Car Legends & Incredible Barn Finds (2 Book Set)

Lost Car Legends is an entertaining look at over 40 shuttered independent automakers from the past 75 years. From Allstate to Zimmer, noted automotive historian Pat Foster covers an incredible array of makers and their cars… and what variety there was! There were tiny cars, electric cars, retro cars, luxury cars, commuter cars, sports cars. There were well-established companies with thousands of employees to sham companies with nothing but a good story. 

Automakers covered include Allstate, Argonaut, AMC, Autoette, Avanti, Bricklin, Checker Motors, Citicar, Commutacar, Colt, Cord Automobile Company, Crosley Motors, Dale, Davis Motorcar Company, Excalibur, Fascination, Frazer, Freeway, Glassic, Henry J, Hudson, International Harvestor, Kaiser, King Midget, Markette, Mobs, Muntz Jet, Nash Motors, Packard, Playboy, Powell, Quantum, Rambler, Shay, Shelby, Stuart, Studebaker, Trivan, Tucker, Willys, Woodhill Wildfire, and Zimmer.

While some of the stories actually are about cars found in barns or sheds, author Wyss has taken the liberty of expanding the definition of "barn find" to include any collector car found derelict, ignored, in pieces, or generally found in circumstances belying its stature. This could include cars parked in fields, found in cellars, left in parking garages, or even found under a pile of cars in a junkyard. What the cars do have in common is that they are valuable and exotic and have histories chock full of unimaginable twists and turns. Take, for instance, the Two Rotor Corvette, a car that cost GM $2 million to build and then they flat gave it away to the first guy that asked. Same thing for a GT40 roadster, one of four built, and Ford goes and hands the keys to a movie car customizer who kept it for decades and never quite got it up on the big screen. That car today is worth $4 million. So, if you're into collector cars and love the thrill of the hunt, then you'll truly enjoy this book.