Incredible treasure trove of vintage Mercedes cars found in rural barn in Essex after collecting dust for 40 YEARS sell for thousands

Two rare classic cars hidden away in a rural barns for 40 years have fetched tens of thousands of pounds at auction. 

The two five-figure cars – a 1921   Talbot Darracq and a 1952 Mercedes Benz 220 Type A convertible – were discovered in Framlingham, Suffolk after their owner died.

The white Mercedes covered in a thin veil of dust sold for £37,000 while the green Talbot bagged for £10,500. 

Both exceeded their estimated sale prices, with the Mercedes and Talbot valued between  £30,000 to £35,000 and £6,000 to £8,000 respectively. 

The classic green car was originally purchased by its late owner in 1967 for £750, whilst he served in the British Army in Germany. 

The man had even preserved the original receipt of his beloved vehicle which had travelled with him through his time in the military. 

He continued to drive both antique cars up until the 1980s, but for the last four decades they remained tucked away in his barn.  

The two valuable vehicles were purchased at Reeman Dansie Auctions in Colchester, Essex, on November 16.

A Reeman Dansie spokesperson said: ‘The left hand drive Mercedes was originally purchased by the late owner, whilst he was serving in the British Army in Germany, with the much loved car travelling with him during his military career.

‘It also saw life in Cyprus and the Middle East, before he undertook an epic journey across the continent to bring the car back to Blighty.

‘The 1921 Talbot – Darracq was purchased from C. J. Bendall Ltd in Hitchin in February 1967 at a cost of £750.00.

‘The original purchase receipt and cheque remains with a photograph of the late owner and his wife standing proudly beside their new purchase.

‘We understand from the late owner’s family that the cars were last running in the 1980s and have remained preserved in his barn for the last four decades.’

The discovery of the hidden jewels comes shortly after a hoard of classic cars were found in a rural warehouse in Wales – worth an estimated £1 million.  

The motor graveyard, which was packed out with iconic yet rusting cars such as Bentleys, Jaguars, a Porsche and even a Rolls-Royce, were found earlier this year.

But the epic treasure trove had seen better days, with many cars drowned in a veil of dust and rust, while others were missing doors and had plants growing through their mechanisms.  

However urban explorer, Daniel Sims, who refused to disclose the location of where he found the cars, believed their historic and sentimental value was upwards of £1million.

The 35-year-old, divulged there must have been more than 100 vehicles hidden away in the building, which he has documented for his YouTube channel Bearded Reality.

He said: ‘I was tipped off about a potential massive car graveyard by another explorer so I decided to check it out for myself.

‘I don’t know anything about the history of the place other than whoever has been collecting these cars for decades and has an impressive collection which they must be proud of.

‘The cars were visible from the roadside so once on a field it was open access as the back of the property fence had fallen down.

‘We were quite nervous as we didn’t know the backstory of this place apart from it containing a car graveyard with classic cars and from what we saw must have been over 100 hidden away here.

‘The place itself is a little overgrown at the back with rust and decay setting into the vehicles. Some were stored away meaning the damage to these amazing vehicles was minimal which is crazy to see.

‘Iconic cars such as Bentleys, Porsche, Peugeot 205 GTI , various Mercedes, MGs and quite a few imports from different countries are hidden here and would be worth a minimum from what I saw over £500,000 to £1,000,000 just off basic calculations.’

Other vehicles found inside include Land Rover Defenders, Jaguars, Morris Minor 1100, a Rolls-Royce, MG MGA 1960, Mercedes-Benz, Triumph, Jaguar MK1, Mini Coopers, MG MG B, Cadillac Eldorado and a Volkswagen caddy.

‘I love taking photos of different things and items and dramatic places such as this and showing how these places and items end up,’ Mr Sims added.

‘For a lot of people, these iconic cars will hold a lot of memories.

‘There were no scary moments but we were interrupted towards the end of the exploration by some locals who were worried we could be burglars as there had been some rural crime taking place in the area recently.

‘We explained how we were photographers and moved on from the area.

‘Just the sheer amount of vehicles collected which is rare to see and was a real treat to see so many iconic cars collected here.’

However it isn’t the first time urban explorers have discovered a treasure trove of vehicles, as two upon this car graveyard that is filled with hundreds of classic motors last year. 

Matt, 43, from Sheffield, and Andy, 56, from Doncaster – both YouTubers – journeyed to the secretive location in Suffolk.

They originally wanted to explore an abandoned house, but ended up stumbling across a huge barn and field full of classic cars.

The pair documented their incredible findings on their YouTube channel, FindersBeepers, where they showcased the goldmine of old classic cars that have been abandoned and reclaimed by the earth.

Matt said: ‘After doing a lot of research on Google Earth, Andy came across the typical signs of an abandoned house only to go on to find a huge barn and field full of classic cars.

‘We were desperate to document them before they were lost to decay.

‘The nostalgia around old cars is huge and our viewers loved that seeing some of the classics brought back strong memories from their childhood. That’s one of the main reasons why we make our videos.

‘I was a massive fan of the Jowett Javelin, however, Andy favoured the Ford Prefect. There are hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of cars in that place even if it was for parts on some of them.

‘There were around 100 cars across the property,’ he added. 

‘It’s hard to know the backstory of all the abandoned places we go. We mostly research as we go but on this occasion, there was very little to find out.’

In 2022, an urban explorer discovered a mystery classic car collection just thirty miles from Edinburgh, Scotland – as sixty year old cars were being left to rust.

Jaguars and Austins accounted for the majority of vehicles at this location which may be concealing some rare, hidden gems.

It’s believed that the classic motors were collected by an unknown Jaguar enthusiast.

Some of those vehicles dating back to the sixties and were in a sorry state. However, back in the day, the motors were highly sought after.

At the time, Jaguars were very fashionable, seen gracing the tracks at the infamous Le Mans race, and cost up to £45,000 in today’s currency value.

In 2016, a mountain of abandoned cars from the 1970s were found 200ft below ground in an abandoned slate mine.

Up to 100 cars in various condition were discovered cascading down the inside of the cave in Ceredigion, Wales.

Urban explorers made a treacherous journey through darkness, in dangerous conditions and were stunned to find a car graveyard at the mine, which closed in 1960.

IT Engineer Gregory Rivolet, 31, spent four hours exploring this unlikely last resting place for abandoned vehicles.

‘It was very dangerous as the mine is really unstable. Pieces of slate were falling from above our heads,’ he said.

‘We had to use rope to climb down to the right level of the mine, the descent was around sixty-five feet deep, it didn’t feel very secure at all.’