1 of 3 Santee SS with Buick 215 Aluminum V-8 and a Morris Minor Traveler | Barn Find Hunter - Ep. 92 - Hagerty Media

Rare cars are commonplace to Tom Cotter and the Barn Find Hunter crew, but every once in awhile there’s a combination of both rare and odd enough that warrants a real look. How does Tom find these cars? The same way that you could—by chatting up the locals at a cars and coffee event. Just asking who has old cars sitting around leads to a small stash just down the road, and the wild mix is definitely worth the price of a cup of coffee.

The dozen-car collection ranges from a flatbed Diamond-T truck to a scratch-built racer powered by a Hillman Imp four-cylinder mill that makes 90 horsepower. The little racer weighs in at only 800 pounds with all fluids on board, an absurd number achieved by the heavy use of aluminum in the construction process.

The real fun of the collection is beneath a low-slung blue cover. Tom’s favorite game while out on the road is to try and guess what’s underneath a car cover only by feel. This one gives him a headache, but even he would admit he’s faced with an uphill battle. With a rollbar sticking tall over the left-hand seat and a shape that’s similar to a few other cars, Tom narrows it down by asking questions about what powers it and where it was produced. In the end he surrenders and pulls the cover off without taking a guess. The 1-of-3 Santee SS (with Buick 215 Aluminum V-8) that greets him is gorgeous, but Tom admits he would not have guessed that. Finally, he got stumped.

The eclectic collection is just another example of one man’s passion represented in cars, a grouping of cool iron and fiberglass that’s begging to get out on the road or track and be driven. For now, it’s Tom who hits the road and heads on to the next find. To see where he goes, be sure to subscribe to the Hagerty YouTube channel and tune in with each new video. Until the next one, take a tip from Tom and go hunt down a few cars of your own.