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And 49 other Highly Entertaining Tales from the World of Rare and Exotic Car Collecting

By Wallace Wyss

Join author Wyss as he takes you behind-the-scenes on missions with barn finders the world over. Author Wyss, well known for books on Cobras, Ferraris, Corvettes, etc. focuses on selecting only the most eye-opening, jaw-dropping, eyebrow-raising stories regardless of marque because, as he says: "I'm here to tell the story of The Hunt."

Here are just a few of the "can-you-believe-it?" stories:

• a genuine big block Cobra stolen and dumped in the Erie Canal after a fatal accident

• a mailman in France buys a Ferrari that he can’t afford. He reluctantly sells it and today it’s worth over $38 million dollars!

• a purebred F1 Ferrari single-seater is rebodied by some New Zealanders into a wanna-be 250GTO.

• a Porsche factory 356 four cam race car--one of only two built--is being piloted through Paris when the engine blows. The owner sells it in exchange for a $200 plane ticket back to Portugal!

Movie stars and celebrities get their share of ink, too, with stories on Diana Dors' delicious Delahaye, Elvis Presley’s BMW 507 and Steve McQueen’s Ferrari NART Spyder. Plus, there are stories of cars Wyss says could still be out there... million dollar cars such as the pair of lightweight 1957 Mercedes 300SLS roadsters raced by Paul O’Shea; James Dean’s white pre-A Porsche 356 Speedster or the Corvette XP700 “dream car”.

Wallace Wyss is a native of Detroit who recalls first seeing Porsche 356 cars racing on the frozen ice of Lake Orion, Michigan. Little did he know that a half century later, he would be chronicling their history. After stints as a soldier, public relations man, and Montana cowboy (really!), he enjoyed a career as an ad copywriter, writing Corvette and Camaro ads during the original Muscle Car era. His foray into journalism began with a staff job at Motor Trend, before he set up shop as an independent author and publisher. He has published 15 automotive histories, including the Incredible Barn Finds series (Enthusiast Books), and one novel. In 2009 he picked up a paint brush for the first time, and you can occasionally find his fine art in galleries on the West Coast. Along the way, he barn-found and restored such cars as two Mercedes gulllwings, a Ferrari 365GTC/4, and a Porsche 356 Convertible D.

Softbound, 272 pages