Vintage Ferrari discovered in leaking old barn sells at auction for staggering sums

A classic Italian car found in a derelict barn has been auctioned for £109,000.

Although in an extremely sorry state, the 1962 Ferrari 250 GTE sparked a bidding frenzy before finally going to a buyer in Kent.

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The classic Italian model requires a full restoration and a big budget to bring it back to its former glory.

Matthew Parkin, who represents auction house Brightwells, was made aware of the Ferrari’s location by a friend.

It had been languishing in a damp Welsh barn for 40 years when Matthew heard about it, reports gloucestershirelive.co.uk

“The barn has been cleared out,” he said.

“When the Ferrari was unveiled, it was a very exciting feeling.”

Matthew auctioning classic cars for brightwellIt was immediately clear to him that the car could be a very special model.

“It was covered in moss and very very rusty and partially disassembled. One of its doors even came loose when I tried to open it.”

The owner first saw the Ferrari in a repair shop in 1971, when the car was less than ten years old, and wrote his name next to it in the vain hope that one day it would be for sale.

Two years later, the garage had a legal claim to it and called him.

He bought it in 1973 for £800 and had ten good years driving it before storing it in the barn with the best of intentions to finish work on it.

But it remained untouched for the next four decades.

“I was very fortunate to be made aware of this,” Matthew said.

“It doesn’t happen often enough, but there are many more car treasures to be discovered.