An auction will be held in Paris, France on February 2 dedicated to a 40-year-old Ferrari 308 GTSi literally found in a barn. Unlike some of its better preserved cousins (see video), this one is half-decayed and may go for as little as €50,000 or €70,000.
The sports car originally belonged to Roger Baillon, a transport company owner in France. He began collecting cars in the middle of the 20th century, but was forced to sell some of his collection in the 1970s and abandoned the rest for some reason.
This forsaken part of the collection – which comprised around 100 cars – was discovered in a dilapidated barn in 2014 and auctioned off. Marcel Petitjean bought this specific example and put it into a climate-controlled, ventilated storage pod to keep it from degrading further. It is not clear whether Petitjean ever planned to have it restored.
At the end of the day, what we have here is pretty much a mass of rotten bodywork, plus destroyed cabin trim. Back in this glory days, the luxury ride flaunted a Rosso Chario exterior and a beige leather cabin.
Whoever wins the auction will get an alternate 3.2-liter engine that they will be able to use to replace the stock 2.9-liter unit, the seller says.