Barn Gems: '61 Impala, '67 Belvedere II 'Hemi,' '65 Shelby Mustang, and 1-in-5 '34 Harley

The 3,000 or so happy souls living in the small, quiet fishing town pretend they know nothing about the piston Alladin's cave lurking in barns. But here they are, on camera, in great condition, and long-time onwed and used.

What would a ’61 bubbletop Impala and a ’67 Belvedere II have in common? Drag racing, impeccable stance, splendid condition, and longtime ownership. Not from the same man, but that’s not the point. Both cars sit comfortably together under the same roof in the excellent care of a car nut who gently offers winter storage for his fellow gearheads’ classics.

The Chevy and the Plymouth need little introduction – the Impala is one of the most iconic nameplates in the postwar history of carmaking America. 1961 introduced the SS badge of performance, but this example featured here is not of the rare 142 examples built that year. It is, however, one of the 177,969 Sport Coupe examples – the famous bubbletop – that rolled off the line that year.

What’s special about it is what lies under the sexy hardtop body: three deuces and, a four-speed and a 348. All right, this comparison is a bit off and not period-correct since the lyrics referred to the ’64 GTO from the sister division Pontiac. However, the Super Turbo-Thrust V8 fitted in this Impala is not the regular 348-cubic-inch motor (5.7-liter) that delivered ‘only’ 280 hp (284 PS), but the gym-going version with 350 hp (355 PS) for ‘special uses.’ That’s how Chevrolet advertised the muscle option for the not-yet-muscle-car Impala.

This car has a four-speed now, but it originally came with a three-speed manual (the standard transmission back then). And yes, it was a drag racer from day one, hence the 25,000 miles on the odometer. The story with the other racer, the ’67 Belvedere II, is a bit different – its original engine is on a stand.

The owner mentions a 360, which wouldn’t be accurate if the V8 is the factory-fitted unit: in 1967, a Belvedere II would come with a choice of either a 318-cubic-inch (5.2-liter) or a 383 (6.3-liter). Even more so, Mopar didn’t have a 360 V8 motor, but a 361-incher (5.9-liter) that was retired at the end of 1966. The other V8 in ’67 would have made this car a unicorn: the 426-cube (7.0-liter) Street HEMI.

But the car actually does have hemispherical heads on top of its current powerplant, and the engine displaces the same 426 cubic inches as the famous second-generation legend of the 60s. Courtesy of Ray Burton Racing Engines, the modern dual-quad hemi puts down around 650 hp (659 PS), and the Plymouth gets monthly sessions of quarter-mile leg stretching.

Another fine-looking Chrysler is a pre-war Special Deluxe woody (vintage 1941) that the owner bought in the eighties and now serves as a wedding limousine for brides and grooms. The barn where all these jewels slumber during Maine winters is also home to two Fords, a 1932 truck, and a 1965 Shelby Mustang GT 350.

The lineup continues with a Rocket 88 Oldsmobile and a ’53 Cadillac with a 331 cubic-inch V8 (5.4-liter) that turned 30,000 miles (48,000 kilometers) when the video below was shot, and the original paint on it. The second-generation Barracuda with the 318 V8 (5.2-liter) is another reason for the curator to play his favorite drag racing tune.

The man is in the good habit of putting classics under cover for the rusty season, keeping them safe for their owners to enjoy during the cruise-friendly days of summer. That’s their Maine reason (pun intended) to put the car in the barn: to enjoy them for as long as possible.

Possibly the most epic find in the small town is drop-dead gorgeous and sublimely rare: a 1934 Harley-Davidson VFD Solo, one in five ever built. The story is equally captivating. During WWII, a Harley owner went to Europe to fight the Germans, leaving his Knucklehead in the care of his teen brother. After returning home, the veteran urged his young brother to get a motorcycle and spare the old Harley.

In 1944, the avid biker – still in his teens – found and bought this gem with its original owner. He kept it until 2016 when his widow sold it to the man smiling next to it in the video. As we can see, the 1,200-CC V-twin cranks up without batting an eyelash. This piece of history is a burgundy-white Harley, but it’s a repaint performed in the 2000s. In 1934, the American brand debuted the two-color liveries, and this crazy-rare example is solid proof.

It wasn’t the only novelty the new models sported: the stylized fuel tank debuted on a production Harley, and the VFD models switched from the traditional rounded fenders to somewhat flattened shapes. Twin headlamps were dropped in favor of the Cycleray curved lens units. The total motor oil loss system also made its final appearance that year.

Amazingly, one of those impossibly rare motorbikes is located in this small coastal town in Maine. Another one has been found in Melbourne, Australia, and auctioned in 2021 for $56,000. It had been sitting for half a century in a house in a suburb of the metropole. One more example is in Finland, apparently – it has lived its entire 90-year life in Scandinavia. At least, that’s what a viewer of the video claims, so take this info with some precaution.

The young man who runs a restoration shop in the town of Boothbay, Maine, also owns a 1981 Rolls-Royce Silver Spirit that he bought for $350. That wasn’t back in ’84, but just a few years ago. The riddle is cracked when Philip Reinhardt, the young owner of the luxury British automobile, tells the whole story of the car.

At one point, it was heavily damaged in a fire that burnt the life out of the engine. The 6.75-liter V8 is mated to a Turbo Hydra-Matic 400 three-speed automatic gearbox (yes, that was the standard transmission in the majestically overpriced English luxury car of the early 80s).

A V8 with a GM tranny can quickly be brought back to life by dropping another GM V8 in it – or so the owner intends. A small-block Chevy would probably not be up to Rolls-Royce’s motoring standards, but then again, neither would be the 350-bucks aluminum-bodied lemon with that Spirit of Ecstasy radiator grille ornament on it.