Californian discovers that car in garage is worth $1 million
- A Californian man had no idea what he had sat in his garage
- Barn-find expert, Tom Cotter, paid him a visit to check it out
- The car was worth big bucks and had an interesting history
Published on Aug 01, 2024 at 11:11 PM (UTC+4)
by Ben Thompson
Last updated on Aug 02, 2024 at 6:36 PM (UTC+4)
Edited by
Kate Bain
A man in California contacted an expert about a car he had sitting in his garage, and it turned out he was sitting on a goldmine of $1,000,000.
What a stroke of luck to find that in a garage, makes me wish I had one.
Although, if any of us are wishing for stuff, we’d probably ask for the cash.
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The garage find that defied expectations
The expert in question was Tom Cotter, a man well-versed in hunting down barn finds.
He’s got enough books to his name to prove it, Secrets of the Barn Find Hunter being just one.
His show Barn Find Hunter sees him put his knowledge to good effect, as he travels the country checking out rare finds.
One episode saw him head over to the Golden State, where a man had a query about a car sitting in his garage.
The car in question was a 1952 Pegaso Z-102, a car made in Spain but wearing a French body.
It’s not the complete car, but it’s also not a wreck.
Only 85 Pegasos were made, which is why they aren’t a household name.
The one in this man’s possession is number 35.
Initially, it appears as if all the parts have been lost to time, but they are just among the junk surrounding the car.
That’s where the Hemi V8 is found, which appears to be a factory original.
To think that this man had $1,000,000 sitting in his garage like it was a box of Christmas lights.
A closer look at the Pegaso Z-102
The Pegaso was produced between 1951 and 1958, being the world’s fastest car at the time of production as it reached a top speed of 243 km/h (151 mph).
It would compete in the 1952 Monaco Grand Prix, the 1953 24 Hours of Le Mans, and the 1954 Carrera Panamericana.
One car even ended up being bought by the Dominican dictator, Rafael Trujillo.
And another to an ordinary guy in California, apparently.
To put things into perspective, this one race car could fetch $1 million, just a thrd of the amount this barn find is going for. Impressive.
