UK Barn Finds Brings Latest Finds to Practical Classics Classic Car & Restoration Show

YouTubers UK Barn Finds partners with the Footman James Barn Find display at the year’s Practical Classics Classic Car & Restoration Show, held 21-23 March at Birmingham’s NEC.

Founded in 2013, UK Barn Finds is hosted by Elton and Claire, a couple of 70's kids who are self-confessed ‘automotive hoarders’. They will bring cars from their personal collection including the 1954 Austin A40, which had been languishing in a Norfolk shed since 1971 before being rescued by Elton and Claire in 2023.

The A40 will be joined by a 1982 Vauxhall Cavalier, a 1994 Peugeot 308 Police car, a 1983 Datsun with Nissan badges, and an Austin Allegro in the rustiest shade of brown.

Standing alongside the UK Barn Finds collection will be a Skoda that only has ten miles on the clock. Recently discovered under a tarpaulin by Kevin Jones, the car will get its first public viewing at the show.

Bernard Emm is bringing his barn find collection. – a 1935 Austin 7 Ruby and a 1958 Morris Oxford. He rescued the Austin 35 years ago from a breakers yard where it was in the waiting line to get crushed and brought it home with plans to restore it during retirement.

He then spotted the Morris Oxford in a driveway and spent years then asking the owner if he’d sell. Three years later, the owners called Bernard saying the car was heading to the scrapyard unless he wanted it. “It’s too late for me to restore them now,” explains Bernard. “But I can’t wait for everyone to enjoy them at the show.”

Richard Weaver’s 1974 Ford Escort Mk1 has been in storage since 1991. He purchased the car with a friend, and it finally saw daylight in May 2024. It was a daily driver prior to 1991 and had some modifications made to it at the time including change from the square headlights to round variants and addition of the quarter bumpers.

It needs a full restoration which Richard hopes to start once he’s completely his two latest projects. He has already started to amas spares to aid in the restoration including new old stock Mexico front wing and new passenger door – although he is in search of a good driver’s side door.

These cars join the already announced 1960 Aston Martin DB4 purchased from the team behind Bangers & Cash, that has just 37,000 miles on the clock, which sold for £145,000 much to the shock of the auction house and other bidders.

Visitors can also enjoy Chris Spencer’s 1953 Jowett Jupiter, a rare car as they only built 904 of them and only half these survived, Tom Wilkes’ 1933 SS Jaguar II that has been in storage for over 50 years, and Iain McKenzie’s 1957 Morris Minor that has travelled across six continents before returning to the UK – where it’s been stationary for the past 25 years.

With the UK’s largest indoor spring autojumble, 250 specialist traders, and a Classic Car Auctions sale featuring around 200 remarkable vehicles, this is a must-visit event for any motoring enthusiast.