The legend of the barn find keeps on giving. It’s a powerful thing for a car enthusiast to find a new project under rags, dust and dirt. Ready for some love and ready for a vision. However, most car people might be overwhelmed by the 230 cars housed in an abandoned Dutch church and warehouse, once owned by an ambitious collector and now for sale at classic car auctions.
Ad Palmen started his collection 40 years ago, buying anything he thought was beautiful or remarkable. His collection, which he had to sell due to failing health at the age of 82, is full of European classics. Everything from a Mercedes 300 S to a Ferrari 365 to an Alfa Romeo Spider is represented in his collection, now up for grabs. The collection is not sold as a whole, so people will have the opportunity to own individual cars.
Palmen sold the collection as a whole to Gary Aaldering, who organized the auction in conjunction with Classic Car Auctions. As presented, it is called The Palmen Barnfind Collection. Not only is the list of cars so deep that it would take up too much space to detail, but the location and conditions in which the cars were stored are also amazing in their own right. What’s more romantic than an abandoned church and warehouse in Europe full of rare classics in weathered decay?
Unfortunately, Palmen can’t answer many questions about how and why he started collecting cars because of his health. In accordance with CNN, he lived in the warehouse where the cars were stored, and “not luxuriously”. Palmen clearly had a true dedication to his collection and a genuine love for cars.
There are hundreds of rough diamonds that can be found in Palmen’s collection. Most of them are in barn find condition with lots of dust and aging which sweetens this restoration dream. If it were my money, I’d take that Citroën SM.
