YouTuber The Bearded Explorer reveals his favorite ever car finds

A British YouTube explorer who explores abandoned properties has revealed which rare car finds have been his favorite.

Colin Smith, known online as The Bearded Explorer, has been checking out derelict properties around the world for years.

In his time, he’s seen everything from abandoned celebrity mansions to spooky deserted hotels – and a whole lot of cars along the way.

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How the Bearded Explorer became a full-time YouTuber

Smith has had an interest in exploring since he was a kid, when he would explore disused buildings.

Speaking to Supercar Blondie, he said: “Over the years, I kind of started appreciating the decay and how nature can reclaim some of these places.

“I’ve always loved cars. I’ve always been a massive petrolhead, and my first barn-finding discovery was probably maybe 20 years ago, a house around the corner from my mum’s house. 

“It was all overgrown, and they had a garage around the back, and there were three cars in there.

“I remember one of them was a little Reliant Robin, a little three-wheel car, and there was a tree growing up through the centre of it.

“It went through the sunroof. 

“I was like, wow, that’s amazing.”

Years later, Smith would started his Bearded Explorer channel in 2016 and begin filming his expeditions.

By the time Covid-19 came around, he realized he was making more from YouTube than from being a plumber and decided to go full-time.

With more than 200,000 subscribers under his belt, he’s been all over the world to check out uninhabited buildings.

On the domestic front, he checked out a Hampshire mansion that was supposedly built for Johnny Depp before being left to rot.

Smith recalled: “That one was local to me. 

“So there was rumours going around for quite a few years that Johnny Depp had this mansion. 

“And somebody actually saw Johnny in the garden while he was walking around one day and photographed him in the house. 

“I don’t know what happened. You could read the tabloids. You could read all the different stories about it. But it just stood still. Nothing ever got finished on it.”

Upon getting a closer look at the cool property, Smith realized how much it had going for it.

He said: “The place even had like an underground bunker with an escape tunnel. 

“I mean, that is like every man’s dream, I think, to have something like that built in a mansion. 

“Even their own cinema as well in there, as well as a pool and a jacuzzi.”

I’m sure Depp isn’t mourning the loss too much, considering he was reportedly eyeing up an Italian castle earlier this year.

The ‘Ghost Palace’ hotel that contained a hairy surprise

As for the most unusual place he’s seen, the 40-year-old gave a nod to a hotel in Bali.

The Bedugul Taman Hotel, also known as the ‘Ghost Palace’, is a haunting location, but it’s not supernatural spirits that visitors have to be wary of.

“It was a massive complex, which was like 90% finished, and it never did get finished,” Smith said.

“Walking around there to see like how much money had gone into this place, the marble floors, the marble desks, everything.

“There were monkeys running around inside. 

‘I remember walking into this room and there was about three monkeys, and they started screaming at me.

“I was like, look. Oh gosh. 

“So that was definitely one of the most interesting places for sure.”

No matter the location, Smith admitted to always feeling nervous before he headed into a new property.

And sometimes there’s places that he doesn’t even get to explore.

He said: “I’ve been to so many properties where you can look through the window, you can see that it’s all abandoned, the ceiling has come down, loads of stuff in there.  

“You can look through a garage door and see cars in there, but you can’t find a way in.

“Obviously you have to stay legal with what I do here.  

“I can’t break in, I can’t steal anything, I just have to be legal. 

“So, if I can’t find a way in, I have to walk away.”

Bearded Explorer’s favorite car finds

As a self described ‘petrolhead’, Smith is always happy to see a car on his travels.

He’s especially happy if any German car happens to cross his path.

“I’ve always loved German cars – BMWs, Mercedes, Porsches,” he said.

One farm proved to be a goldmine in this regard.

He said: “I do remember one probably about three years ago now, a humongous farm.

“I think I counted around about 101 cars when I was there. 

“There was a Porsche 911. There was a Lotus, BMW, Aston Martin.

“A lot of these cars have been there for 15, 20 years plus. 

“There’s a couple of really old Porsches in there as well. Loads of vintage cars. 

“Apparently the guy who owns them, he’s still alive. But he’s quite elderly now. 

“So, he still lives there, but he just doesn’t do anything with them.

“People have tried speaking to him and asking if he wants to sell the cars.

“No, he doesn’t want to sell them – he’d rather just sit there and watch them all rot away. 

“It’s so sad, you know, it really is. 

“But yeah, anything German.I love German cars. So if I ever find a BMW, Mercedes, Porsche, anything like that, I love it.”

When asked about the most unusual cars he’s come across, his answer came to him immediately.

Smith said: “I posted a place where I found 37 cars in this massive, like purposely built barn to home them. 

“So there was two cars in particular.  There was a Fraser Nash and the other one was a Nardi Silveray. 

“They are the only ones ever built.

 “They are bespoke one-off cars. They’re priceless, absolutely priceless. The whole collection’s worth millions.  And it’s just sat there in this barn collecting dust.”

The cars were discovered after he received a tip-off about the house.

“I went to the house. The house was all boarded up. There was no way into it. So I thought, right, that’s it. We have to walk away from this one. 

“I had a look at my map. Then I noticed that there was another large property next to this house,” he said.

“It was just the garage for the house, and then I found all those cars in there. 

“So it was so close to me not finding them. I’m glad I made the effort and sort of went and had a look.

“It just shows that perseverance pays off.”

If you want to see more of the Bearded Explorer’s content, head over to his YouTube channel.