“Everybody around here says the same thing, ‘Why haven’t you washed the car? I couldn’t stand that.’” Tony Back tells them the truth. “Once I wash that car, it will never be that dirty again.” In other words, the treasure-find appearance will be gone.

Photo:reddit

That was the thought from Tony Back, who was so elated with his Vette Rare Find, a month had passed and he hasn’t cleaned the ’72 T-top coupe.

Tony read about the ’72 through a small local newspaper ad in his area of Menifee County, Kentucky. Buried in an ad for farm equipment were the words “1972 Corvette Stingray.” On a Friday afternoon you could go view the farm equipment and the Corvette from noon to 2. The sale was the next day, Saturday. Back and a friend made the drive to the farm but after an hour of driving, they thought they would never find the place. They kept driving and driving and driving, up and down hills and around curves.

Eventually luck was on their side and they found the farm. “If you drove by this place, you would have never thought a ’72 Corvette would be setting inside. The farm is in the middle of nowhere.”

From the looks of it, the car had been sitting for quite awhile. Turns out it had been parked in the barn since 2008. Before that, the farmer stored the car in his basement for an even longer period of time. Trying to view the car was a trick in itself in the darkness of the barn. “We just kind of walked around and looked to see if it had original paint.” The more Tony looked, the more he liked. The 38-year-old had some sweet memories of riding in his father’s ’72 Vette, when he was 5-6 years old and could not see over the dash.

As they popped the hood, he got a glimpse of  the base 350 engine. Back’s friend read off the numbers on the block and sure enough, they matched the last six digits of the VIN. The paint looked original beneath the layers of dust and bird crap that covered most of the exterior. So far, so good.

Back became elated when the farmer told him that he had bought the car brand new right down the road in Irvine, just 30 miles west, as the crows flies. The farmer even had the original window sticker that went with the car, and even produced the original title. Holy shit. Jackpot.

Photo:reddit

The car wasn’t Tony’s yet. The auction was soon to start.

“Here I am nervous, wanting to buy the car. They start out the bid at $15,000, then 10 then 5, then this guy held his hand up and said ‘$1,000!’ I let them run it up there for a while until I was ready to get in. At about $9,500 a guy gets out and I jump in and throw my hand up. The auctioneer says, ‘Got a new man,’ which was me. I run the car up to eleven-four and thought I had it bought. Another guy bidding earlier jumps back in at eleven-five. I got this figure in my head, I’m gonna go 12,000.”

At the third and final call Back was sweating bullets hoping that his bid was going to be the final one on the car he was now desperately wanting to take home. Clack! The gavel hit and his high bid won at $11,600, which totals $12,760 with a 10 percent commission. “I went up there to pay and the owner told me to hang on a minute. He brings me back a box full of papers. He’s kept every piece of paper, from the original title and window sticker to insurance and license receipts and everything he’s ever done to the car.”

Photo:reddit

Obviously, the owner had to think a lot of his Corvette. He just didn’t show it. Back found out the car had been cared for. “He had the motor rebuilt in 2000! New pistons, rings, cam bearings, timing chain, all that stuff rebuilt, including the transmission.” The old farmer didnt let anyone know that. Had he, it might have fetched more at the auction.

After Tony drained the old gas out of the tank, he poured in some new gas, and then tried to start the engine, not really expecting much. “I’m not lying to you. I hit the key and it fired right up.”

Photo:reddit

Photo:reddit

Back and his father run an auto body shop; Back’s Body Shop in Means, Kentucky. They do insurance work on late-models, but their passion is old American muscle cars and Corvettes. Back has the expertise and the shop to return this car to like-new. However, theres something pretty damn charming about keeping the magic of a barnfind intact.  He might just leave the Vette dusty and dirty for a long time.