Kansas banker Paul Adair’s family knew that he collected vintage cars, but never suspected the extent of this hobby. Only after his death in November 2019 did the widow discover that her husband owned several garages and even former salt mines, writes ClassicCars.
Throughout the United States, former mines are used as storage facilities, as they are easy to maintain the required temperature and humidity. In a word, an ideal place to hide a few dozen rare cars from the world.
Adair’s widow and his children were amazed: the old man, secretly from them, had assembled a whole museum for several decades. In garages, relatives found dozens of rare models, such as a 1979 Glen Pray Auburn Boattail Speedster replica, a 1970 Samco Cord replica, a 1970 Mercedes-Benz 280 SE sedan, and a closed 1984 Chevrolet.
The highlight of the collection was 14 1932 Chrysler Plymouths. Apparently, Mr. Adair, born in 1945, from childhood had a special love for the stylish gangster model, which in those days was associated with prosperity.
Workers at an auction house that specializes in retro cars were surprised when they found themselves in a garage filled with legendary Plymouths. For some reason, their passionate fan obviously wasn’t interested in keeping them in great shape.
Despite this, in each of the garages were found complete sets of original parts for almost every rarity.
Even rare models were in terrible condition. For example, a four-door Plymouth Phaeton convertible. A total of 259 of these models were produced – and only six of them with right-hand drive. One of them ended up in the “barn” of Paul Adair.
The good news for fans of vintage cars is that this collection is about to hit the Van der Brink auction house. The bad news is that in the decades that rare cars have spent away from human eyes, most of them have failed.
