Barn finds, vintage and retro items for sale....

I have a great issue with the above terms and how they are very often used these days.

In the correct settings these are interesting words and need looking into when used but they as most terms are so often used completley without grounding.

I have just seen a local advert for some old machinery described as a "barn find" We all know what that means right, some really old stuff built to last and kept dry but in need of carfull patient and happy restoration. Makes you think of 30's cars, old Lister stationary engines classic bikes ect.

The item I was was an old lawnmower, maybe about 30 years old which makes it at best mid 80's. I can tell from the location that it was not found in a barn but wil have been in a leaky shed or left outside. instead of barn find they should have said "has been in the back garden for years and I am strapped for cash, piece of # when it was new now it is not worth scrap value and will never work again.


I saw a "vintage cd storage tower" the other day, How the hell can a cd tower be called vintage already? It was made of melamine coated chipboard in the 80's.....

Retro is a word people use to describe something too new to be vintage yet to old to be worth anything.

Boils my blood it does.

a reply to: nonspecific

This was a barn find. 1970 Power king tractor.
Dusty, dirty but ran when I bought it. I had to replace fluids, some seals and do some welding. But this was indeed kept indoors, dry and not eaten by piss smelling mice.

You are 100% correct with the adjectives describing older equipment. It used to be eye catching-but not so much any more.

Pic of rebuild 10 years ago.


.

a reply to: nonspecific

Caveat emptor

Vintage is supposed to mean less than fifty years old (but somewhat collectible), antique: has to be at least a hundred. Thats what terms used to mean.

Everything else is a 'cmon, buy it.

originally posted by: intrptr
a reply to: nonspecific

Caveat emptor

Vintage is supposed to mean less than fifty years old (but somewhat collectible), antique: has to be at least a hundred. Thats what terms used to mean.

Everything else is a 'cmon, buy it.

Yeah the vintage term is used for anything a bit oldish though, makes you wonder what people are thinking lol.

originally posted by: nonspecific

originally posted by: intrptr
a reply to: nonspecific

Caveat emptor

Vintage is supposed to mean less than fifty years old (but somewhat collectible), antique: has to be at least a hundred. Thats what terms used to mean.

Everything else is a 'cmon, buy it.

Yeah the vintage term is used for anything a bit oldish though, makes you wonder what people are thinking lol.

Generally it applies to not that old with a collectable component. People misuse terminology to add value. Vintage is the least understood.

urban dictionary

double the value

What would mt 53 Golden Jubilee be? Classic?

a reply to: nonspecific
I tried to look up the definition of "vintage car", and discovered that i was really thinking of "veteran". A "veteran car" qualifies for the London to Brighton rally if it was built before 1905.

originally posted by: ttropia
What would mt 53 Golden Jubilee be? Classic?

If it had been stuck in an outhouse, barn or garage and forgotten about by some old boy and discovered, bought cheap and lovingly restored risking divorce then it would definatley be worthy of calling a barn find in my book.

originally posted by: DISRAELI
a reply to: nonspecific
I tried to look up the definition of "vintage car", and discovered that i was really thinking of "veteran". A "veteran car" qualifies for the London to Brighton rally if it was built before 1905.

I think I remember hearing that a while ago.

My soon to be father in law has about a dozen barns and they are full of old cars, everything from rotten shells of 30's cars right up to stuff like Audi quattro's it is great fun to mooch about.

His latest purchase was a motorbike from about 1915 that cost more than a new family car but you would value it at about 60 quid looking at it.

a reply to: nonspecific


I have some artisinal vintage collectibles I can sell you.

originally posted by: AugustusMasonicus
a reply to: nonspecific


I have some artisinal vintage collectibles I can sell you.

Of the type that tend to be liquid and kept out of sunlight in glass bottles maybe?

a reply to: AugustusMasonicus
Restraints? Do they have stains on them? Like I have to ask lol.

a reply to: nonspecific

The average person does not know the correct terminology. Such stuff isn't going on the block at Christies'. Buyer or seller need not be textbook correct about the era of the item because the terms are not set in stone somewhere. The average person only needs a general age of the item to get an idea of its era. Somebody here said that to be an antique an item must be over a hundred years old. That is hogwash. even if it comes from some expert's book. Good lord, 99 per cent of "antique" shops would have to close if that term was even an unofficial but respected law.

Both the experienced and inexperienced buyer or seller need not know the proper declaration of the item. Vintage may sell for more than an antique these days, for example. All they need is the price the item is worth TO THEM as the buyer or seller. My gal and I get to a lot of estate sales for our personal pleasure. If an older item from another era strikes our fancy, we buy it.

a reply to: nonspecific

Trips to the flea-market have become very disappointing, for the reasons you mentioned on OP.
Used to be cool old stuff, available cheap.
Now it's crappy old stuff, and way overpriced.

Hey: Maybe we did all get shifted due to that funky Mandellla Effect.