[smokystove]

I can't help noticing that there's an incredible amount of hype at the moment around the concept of the "barn find".

Of course most of us fantasize about bringing home an untouched gem and sympathetically restoring it back to use.

And I'm always glad to see this happen especially with particularly rare examples.

But it seems there is a frenzy at present and the term has come to include everything from cars literally being dragged out of lakes and forests, untouched for years usually with good reason (I remember this being called un-restorable just a few years ago)... to those that have been "found" by dealers in their own lockups where they have been languishing unsold for some time because previously no buyer was brave enough.

Can't help thinking that at the prices being commanded, there's going to be a lot of unfinished restorations in the near future that were overpriced in the first place and became far too daunting to complete.

The trend is also breeding some very liberal use of the term "matching #s".

In short... has everyone gone mad or is it just me!?