Barn Find Hunter: A smorgasbord of Swedish classics - Hagerty Media

Barn Find Hunter Tom Cotter’s search for dilapidated delights starts this time in Hagerty’s hometown of Traverse City, Michigan. After hearing about a large field and a few old buildings which might house a Hudson, he drives 20 miles south in search of diamonds in the rough. Despite getting near a field of cars, the trail quickly goes dead when the person Tom meets there warns he had better leave because the cops will be arriving in 10 minutes. So off he goes in search of muscle cars, and once more he’s shut down.

Undeterred, Tom finally hits paydirt in the form of a yard full of Swedish classics. It’s Volvos and Saabs galore, including a Volvo 122 wagon complete with its trusty B-18 engine, a 1950s Volvo 544 that runs and drives (with a roof cutout for hunting, of course), as well as a Volvo 545 that might have made a fine surf-mobile back in the day. On the Saab side, there’s an old 96 wagon full of trim and extra seats, as well as its original Ford V-4. Why Ford, you ask? Because when Saab’s two-strokes became obsolete, it thought Ford’s motor, usually used in industrial applications, would be a perfect fit for the front-driving 95 and 96.

Inside the garage on the same property, Tom stumbles upon a 1950s Austin—a car that, once stripped, was once very popular among British race drivers. They’re rarely found in the U.S., and its condition appears to be the best of the whole bunch.

Stay tuned for the next episode of Barn Find Hunter, as Tom and his Woodie keep the hunt alive.