Finding rare cars in a barn might not sound like a great prize for many people, but for car enthusiasts, you might be surprised what gets found abandoned in old barns and garages. Barn find cars can range from boring, beaten down cars to rare and exciting cars, and for one YouTuber, that meant finding a hoard of rare Hummers and even a few H1 Hummers worth buying.

Tyler Hoover’s barn find H1 Hummer collection

Tyler Hoover of Hoovies Garage is popular for his starring role in the CarTrek series, as well as his own channel showcasing his private collection of cool and weird cars. This barn find is owned by a private H1 Hummer enthusiast and collector who has been working to collect these cars, as well as their parts, in order to repair them and keep these collectible machines running and on the road. Among the vehicles for sale, the cheapest one came from Hawaii and was being sold for an impressive $30,000 in running, driving condition with some TLC required for the aesthetic aspects of the car. Several of the cars in the collection, however, were not for sale.

Striking gold with these barn find Hummers

While most barn finds are typically in rough shape, Tyler made his way to the buyer’s collection to discoverer that the barn find was a bit more of a well-kept garage find. When asking the collector how he came to accumulate so many of these rare cars, he said simply that it was just “Dedication…about 20 years of a passion.” The H1s came in several variations, from colors to packages to conditions. The cars have become even rarer since Hummer stopped producing cars altogether several years ago.

The perils of buying barn-find cars

Barns aren’t typically kept to the same standard that collector car garages are. There is no air condition it humidity control, and sometimes there is actually very little shelter from harsh climates and bad weather. If the car isn’t covered, it can be sitting under decades of dust and debris that can etch into the paint, and that is only a minor problem if the car has been left in the moisture to rust. Besides that, if you’re buying a barn-find car, there is a high chance that the vehicle hasn’t been started or moved in a great while, meaning that the vehicle will need a complete service and fluid change before you can turn it over — and, when the time comes, hopefully, the engine will turn over.

Barn finds cars are usually worth buying to collectors if they are rare, and in some cases, they can be incredibly rare. Hummers may not seem like a vehicle that is considered all too rare or collectible, but the first generation Hummer, the H1, is surprisingly expensive even for the age.