The barn find in the vacation home
07/11/2023
Every romantically inclined car enthusiast has probably imagined this at some point: How wonderful it would be to discover an old Bugatti in the old barn adjoining the rural vacation home in Brittany. Or a Chapron DS. Or a Facel-Vega. Some expensive rarity, parked and forgotten decades ago. That would be something. But you don't really believe it.
Until it does happen - not in Brittany, however, but in the Eifel. In a spontaneous alternative accommodation because the usual guesthouse for the six-hour race at the Nürburgring was already fully booked. Consequently, the discovery is not a French luxury product, but a small German two-stroke. Nevertheless, the surprise was great when they entered the barn in search of garden furniture and found a 1956 DKW 3=6 Coupé instead.
It had been there for a good 40 years. And the fist-sized rust hole in the sill in front of the rear wheel, which he had tried to repair several times without success, also gives an idea of why the DKW was once abandoned. Leaves, dirt and cobwebs have since formed a thick crust, but underneath the dirt, the coupé appears surprisingly complete and original, right down to the fuel filler cap. Nevertheless, restoration is likely to be quite costly. Turning the radiator grille back over would still be the easiest repair.
