1969 Barn Find Survivor Project Car Part 1
There are all kinds of barn finds and project cars. Some are just old and neglected while others have sat in the woods for years and have rusted significantly, others have continued to be driven but become worn to the point of not being able to move under their own power. Occasionally, you can find one that is in good condition, only needing a modest refresh to be road worthy. The most important question to ask yourself before starting to bring a project car back to life is what do you plan to do with the car?
Before starting your project it is critical to make up your mind if it is going to be a daily classic car driver or a trailer queen or something in between. Is it going to be returned to absolute original condition or a highly modified restomod?
We are currently facing this decision with our barn find. We have known about the car for years. A friend of ours wanted to sell one of his cars. We had seen it previously and it was what seemed like a great project car that could easily be turned into a rare high-quality driver. Unfortunately, after getting the car home and beginning the inspection and cleanup process we learned that not all was quite what it appeared. Let’s start at the beginning.
A friend of ours who lives out of the Country but has cars stored in America asked if we would be interested in his 1969 Mercury Cyclone Dan Gurney Spoiler. We do the Registry for these cars and have owned some in the past and still have a couple in our collection. We are very familiar with them and the Dan Gurney versions are extremely rare and desirable but remain reasonably priced. This particular car had a very unusual history. The car had a modest restoration 2018/19 which included a rebuild of the matching number 390 engine, replacement C6 automatic, new bucket seat interior, and fresh paint. Sounds good, right? Not so fast, there is one more thing, it is a survivor! But wait, how can it be a survivor if it has a rebuilt engine, new paint, and a new interior?
This is what the car looked like the last time I saw it before it went into the barn and suffered damage from its long term storage and tornado strike.
For those of us who own a survivor car know this description does not fit this car’s description. Now, let me ask you when is a survivor, not a survivor? I would offer that regardless of its restoration or originality, whether the car has been restored or modified if it has survived some major potentially devastating occurrence it could be a survivor. The barn find project car shown here is exactly that. So why is it a survivor? Because it survived a tornado when other cars in the same structure did not!
At first glance, the car appears to be very much like it was when I first saw it 4 years previously. Unfortunately, when it got back to our shop and under closer inspection, things were not as good.
Four years ago after a driver quality restoration was completed, this Dan Gurney Spoiler was parked in an Alabama barn with the expectations of it again being on the road in a few months when its owner returned for another visit to the USA. Unfortunately, Covid 19 happened and the owner could not return too so it sat far longer than expected. Then, the disaster hit, a very destructive Alabama tornado completely destroyed the barn it was stored in. Although other cars in the barn were crushed by the collapsed structure, the Gurney survived with only a couple of minor superficial scratches. The remaining structure around the car was so precarious that entering the barn was not recommended. In fact, the day before these pictures were taken and the car removed, portions of the barn were still falling in! For insurance purposes, we could not enter the structure without signing a waiver. We chose to not enter the crumbling structure and requested the owner have the car extracted before we would visually inspect it and take it home for a more complete inspection.
This is what greeted us as we approached the barn. At this point, we had no idea where in the barn the car had been in residence for the past four years. As we walked around the remains of the barn I was very skeptical that anything could be worth taking home.
This was the first vehicle we spotted as we continued our search for the “survivor” Dan Gurney.
This Cadilac stretched limousine did not do too well either. I am not sure this car will ever be saved. Any movement of it or the structures around it could result in a complete collapse.
We were told this is where the car was stored. It had been removed by this time but I have no idea how.
If you look carefully down the aisle you can spot the remains of the Cadilac. The Gurney was stored down this aisle but parked 90 degrees to it in a narrow barn stall. By the time we arrived on site, the Gurney had been carefully extracted and power washed to remove mold, dust, and debris.
This is the interior 4 years previously.
This is what I found when I picked up the car.
This is the engine I remember from 4 years ago.
This is what I found when I picked it up.
The Spoiler was certainly a 20-footer at this point. There was no visible damage of any significance but mold, dirt, and dust were found throughout the car including the interior and engine compartment. Our first impression was that the car was well worth saving. It is an “S” code 390 with a C6 transmission, factory air, and Black Bucket Seat interior. PS and PB are also present. It appeared to be very solid and nearly rust-free. If you want to know about these cars, visit our sister site at TalladegaSpoilerRegistry.com.
This photo of the inside of the gas door gives you an idea of the mold that covered the car before it was power washed and before we arrived.
There are no bad feelings between me and our friend. He lives on the other side of the World and had not seen the car since his last visit 4 years ago. At that time the car sat in a barn in a very humid climate, and a tornado stuck the car’s resting place. The Spoiler is certainly a 20-footer at this point. There is no visible damage of any significance but mold, dirt, and dust were found throughout the car including the interior and engine compartment. Our first impression was that the car was well worth saving. It is an “S” code 390 with a C6 transmission, factory air, and Black Bucket Seat interior. PS and PB are also present. It appeared to be very solid and nearly rust-free. If you want to know about these cars, visit our sister site at TalladegaSpoilerRegistry.com.
The car now rests in our garage. We began some of the inspection process and managed to get the car running but….there is more to the story and a lot more questions to be answered. We will get into all that next time. More on this in the future.
