Barn Finds and Hidden Gems at the 2019 Muscle Car and Corvette Nationals

Tom Appel

5 years ago

Barn Finds and Hidden Gems at the 2019 Muscle Car and Corvette Nationals — 1970 Plymouth Sport Fury GT

If you’re a diehard fan of vintage American performance cars and race cars, it would behoove you to make it to Rosemont, Illinois the weekend before Thanksgiving. That’s when the Muscle Car and Corvette Nationals takes over the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center, filling the main show floor with a dizzying array of muscle cars, race cars, Corvettes, street machines, and auto-oriented collectibles and memorabilia.

MCACN (say “mah-CACK-an”) is widely considered to be one of the best shows of its type in the world. This year’s event was the eleventh annual, and once again the show producers came through with an amazing selection of historic vehicles—several of which have never been publicly shown before.

One of the MCACN’s perennially popular display areas is the Barn Finds and Hidden Gems section, which features recently unearthed, unrestored cars and other treasures. Most of these cars are destined for full restorations, but it’s still compelling to see them in their rough-and-raw “as-found” form. Here’s a look at what was on display at the 2019 Muscle Car and Corvette Nationals:

Barn Finds and Hidden Gems at the 2018 Muscle Car and Corvette Nationals

Barn Finds and Hidden Gems at the 2019 Muscle Car and Corvette Nationals

Bullitt Mustang

Though it wasn’t located in the official Barn Finds and Hidden Gems section, the original 1968 Ford Mustang from the Steve McQueen movie Bullitt—perhaps the most infamous “barn find” of them all—was on display in a glass case in the Mecum Auctions space. The Bullitt Mustang is scheduled to cross the auction block at Mecum’s Kissimmee event this January.

12 Memorable Machines from the 2017 Muscle Car and Corvette Nationals