Never Stop Driving #143: King Tut’s Car Tomb 

Door 25 is just one of dozens, all identical and with faded blue paint, lining both sides of an alleyway in a storage facility near Charlotte, North Carolina. But when Tom Cotter lifted that overhead door, he saw the treasure he’d been chasing for more than 20 years.

Cotter, as regular readers of this newsletter will recall, hosts the Hagerty YouTube series Barn Find Hunter, in which he takes viewers to sheds, barns, garages, and fields across North America to find forgotten cars. The amiable Cotter is part sleuth, part automotive historian, and full-time charmer—the man puts the people who have the keys to these sheds and barns at ease. This isn’t surprising, since Cotter built a successful public relations firm before embarking on his second career chasing cars.

Twenty years ago, Cotter published The Cobra in the Barn: Great Stories in Automotive Archaeology, his first book on the subject. On the book’s jacket, Cotter wrote that the Holy Grail of car hunting is to discover a dust-covered Ferrari, Jaguar, or Corvette in a barn. In this fantasy, Cotter will good-naturedly ask the owner, a clueless farmer, if the long-forgotten car is for sale. The farmer responds, “Would fifty dollars be too much?” Those days of clueless farmers, of course, are over and probably never existed. That said, Cotter’s found amazing treasures over the years, and we’ve chronicled many of them on our YouTube show.

At Door 25, Cotter was practically giddy with anticipation and revealed that he’d been chasing the car for more than 20 years. That meant he heard about the car and the owner—the car world can be incredibly small—but for whatever reason, he could not gain access. Then finally, on a fine spring day with the cameras rolling, the door was lifted, revealing a 1965 Shelby Cobra 289.

That’s as close to the barn-find fantasy as any of us are going to get.

According to the Hagerty Price Guide, a perfect 289 Cobra is worth about $1.3 million. Interestingly, the spread between perfect and rough is only about $500K, which shows you just how special these cars are. Cotter proceeds to verify the car’s authenticity, right there in the storage unit and in the alleyway, after he pulls the car into the light of day. This process is particularly important, as there are far more fake Cobras than real ones. Cotter checks the chassis number and explains how it corresponds to numbers on several body parts, including the door hinges and the center tunnel. “This is like Christmas for old guys,” Cotter quips. Give it a watch.

Last weekend was the first U.S. Formula One race of the year. It was a tight battle between the two McLaren drivers, Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Max Verstappen, driving for Red Bull. The race solidified whispers that the talented Norris has been overshadowed by his teammate, the clinical Piastri, who won. He’s called the new Iceman because there’s rarely a spark of emotion in his voice, and he makes few mistakes. McLaren has the fastest car this year, and only Verstappen’s supreme talent is keeping this season interesting.

Though Cadillac doesn’t join the F1 grid till 2026, it had a big presence in Miami, hosting a party to debut the team’s logo. Steven Cole Smith points out here that the clock is ticking for the American team to get all its merlettes in a row for next year’s season.

Miami is known for its party culture, and the shenanigans around the event did not disappoint. My favorite was a yacht mishap. A Lamborghini boat—yes, Lamborghini partnered with a yacht company—carrying what the New York Post called “influencers,” floundered in shallow waters and nearly sank. All on board were safely rescued, and there is plenty of delicious footage.

Before I wish you a fine weekend, here’s the latest from Hagerty Media:

• Cadillac’s moonshot $350,000 EV luxury car, the Celestiq, is here. We drove it and visited the design studio.  

• Tell us about your favorite driving road! 

• A vintage Camaro modernized just right.  

• Evel Knievel’s Aston Martin Lagonda Was Just as Wild as the Rest of His Life. 

• Bid for your chance to dine with Wayne Carini over at Hagerty Marketplace.  

Have a great weekend!

Larry

P.S.: Your feedback and comments are welcome.

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