All good barn finds begin with a trip to Home Depot for some personal protection equipment, as Ed Bolian and Matt Ivanhoe, the Cultivated Collector, recently discovered. Years of neglect can spawn all kinds of murderous particles and diseases, which from what I hear tend to be fairly unhealthy for us human folk. What set this barn find apart from the others we’re used to seeing on YouTube though is the car in question.

The stereotypical barn find car is one from around the 1980s and before; a car that became outdated in the eyes of its owner and was replaced by something that better served their needs. Rather than be sold to be appreciated by someone else, they are instead doomed to spend their decades in a barn, garage, or a similar four-walled building where the elements and surrounding wild creatures may play their part in its slow deterioration. Much like counting the rings on a chopped down tree, you can ascertain how long a car has been sitting by the layers of Authentic Barn Dust™ covering the once glimmering coat of paint.

In Ed’s case though, none of the circumstances I listed above played a role as the barn find car was a little more exciting than a 1976 Dodge Aspen. It was, in fact, a 2006 Ford GT. Yes, Ford’s groundbreaking American V8 supercar that now regularly sells for nearly half a million dollars, lay abandoned and moldy among discarded cans and bottles for well over a decade. How, and more importantly why, does such a motoring legend disappear from the road for so long?!

“Cars get parked for a lot of reasons. In this case, there were some title complications and what seems like some water egress shortly after the car came to Atlanta,” Ed told me. “Then it seems like it just got parked and life got in the way. The owner passed and the family didn’t even know the car existed. Matt Ivanhoe, the Cultivated Collector, found the estate offering and made the deal. I was happy to help unearth it and bring the car back to life!”

And back to life it came! Despite the Obama administration gas in the tank and zero pre-start maintenance, the GT fired right up but ran like a misfiring Yugo. Unable to make it up the steep driveway under its own power due to its many ailments, the team had KO Transport tow the ailing supercar to DC MotorWerks so its lingering stench could invade their shop as well. Once their mechanical wizardry is complete, GlossIt will take over the harrowing cleanup process and allow the future owner of this icon to enjoy it without permanent lung damage. I can say with utmost confidence that I do not envy them this time.

Stay tuned and be wowed by the transformation!