'Barn find' toy car sells for thousands at auction
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Few things stir collectors into a frenzy more than a “barn find” car. Even if it has pedals, apparently.
An Austin Junior A40 toy car from the 1950s that was recently found in a shed in the U.K. was sold at an auction in Diss last week for more than four times the pre-auction estimate, SWNS reported.
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The rusty red single-seat car was expected to go for 600 to 800 pounds ($750 to $1000), but things got heated in a hurry and the hammer came down on a 3,400-pound ($4,300) bid.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}To put that into perspective, it’s the equivalent $75,000 classic car selling for $430,000.
CAR COLLECTORS "DIRTY LITTLE SECRET" DISCOVERED AFTER DEATH
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"We had one phone bidder who said he has been restoring them for about 40 years and he had never seen one in the state of this one do anywhere near this kind of price,” toy expert Rupert Willows said.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The car does has an unusual background. It was built at a factory in South Wales that used scrap metal from actual Austin car production and employed disabled coal miners to produce them.
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The winning bidder reportedly bought it as a gift for his grandchildren.