I've started reading a Christmas present. It's The Cobra In The Barn by Tom Cotter ISBN 13: 978-0-7603-1992-5 or ISBN 10:0-7603-1992-8
It's a book filled with dreams, some realized and some not, of "Great Stories of Automotive Archaeology." I can tell this one's going to occupy a lot of my free time in the next few days.
My 1953 XK-120MC OTC Jaguar was one of these back in 1973 when I bought it. $900 for the car as is (and I overpaid!). I had to hand wire the ignition to bypass where the mice had eaten at the insulation. It cranked! It fired. And I drove it home! What a wreck!
I sold it after 29 years of ownership with nearly 15 of those years racing it in vintage competition. It took me to two Rolex championships, one for the season class sprint winner in 1997 and one for season class enduro winner in 1995. A wonderful old cat!
So, any of you Auto Archaeologists out there who think of Indiana Jones with socket wrenches any time you're passing an old barn, you might want to see if you can pick up a copy.