This is one of the more remarkable barn finds I’ve seen in a while: a wrecked but fixable 1969 Chevy Chevelle SS 396 listed on craigslist with only 335 miles on the clock! What a great story: 2 brothers in the farming business start buying rebuilder cars for a second source of income. In addition to the Chevelle, they also grabbed a rebuildable ’67 Camaro RS/SS and ’68 GMC truck. While seemingly a great idea, the brothers ran out of money and the projects stalled, ending up in barn storage since 1969!

The seller claims he has been asking the brothers to sell the cars for 5 years. After enough begging, they finally agreed and he bought all 3 rebuilders. The Chevelle had gone off the road and mashed up the nose, even bending the leading edge of the frame. The brothers then acquired all new parts, from NOS fenders and A/C components to a replacement frame. No wonder they ran out of money!

So, given the propensity for old odometers to be tampered with, it may look like a case of rollover that gives this 396 car its low mileage. However, the seller points out that in addition to substantial documentation from the farm brothers who held onto the cars all these years, there are still traces of engine paint overspray on the exhaust manifolds – which would have burned off within the first few weeks of ownership if the car was a typical used example.

This is the shot that gets me: imagine getting the fluids sorted and turning that engine over for the first time: it’s like being the first “real” owner of the car, since the tenure with the original purchaser was so short-lived (and I’ll bet he or she would love to know what happened to their car, considering they were probably devastated having wrecked it so soon after delivery). This is a great story if it turns out to be true, and I hope we can someday see this “new” Chevelle move under its own power again. Thanks to Barn Finds reader Chad for this great find!