Everyone has heard of at least one pub story in their lifetime of an old car discovered sitting in a barn. ‘Barn find’ is a popular American term that we all use to describe a car found in a barn, a shed or a garage collecting cobwebs and gathering dust. An old car that has been long forgotten by its owner who may have bought it new and, just parked it, or the son who went to war but never returned, so it was kept to honour his memory. 

Or as the legend goes, a Falcon GT-HO or a Bathurst Monaro which was discovered in a locked garage, left there long ago by a grieving widow who couldn’t bare to look at it nor part company with it. Then one day came a knock on the door and a young man tells how he came to hear the story of the old car parked in the shed, asking if it was for sale? She’s much older now and doesn’t understand the young man’s passion for old cars but decides it’s time to sell anyway. But she’s no fool. The widow knows exactly what the car is worth. She remembers reading in the newspapers back in 1982 that prices for this model had sky rocketed. So, she figures that’s a good starting point as to what its worth... 

For the vast majority of car enthusiasts, these are just stories. Tales which remain largely unverified, but that most believe true because it was a mate of a mate who bought the car from the widow. Not so for a young man who lives for adventure, one who has the knack of tracking down old cars, one with the nous to document his find with detailed photographs. And so this tale begins. The story of how Dave, or Indiana Dave as we’ve nicknamed him, unearthed one of these mythical creatures, the legendary and elusive ‘Barn find’. An old car that turned out to be a low mile one-owner 1974 Valiant Ranger covered in dust that had been tucked away in a weathered old farm shed for more than 15 years. 

Indiana Dave lives on a property near the township of Boorowa, NSW which is some 300km south-west of Sydney. A couple of years ago, his neighbour told him about an old car in a shed. That was enough to get his blood up and in no time he drove out to the farm for a closer look. When Dave pulled up and saw a rotting old shed, his heart began to beat faster. He was still unsure if the shed was hiding a sleeping beauty or just a pile of rotting junk, as was often the case. When he reached the door he could see part of a car through the missing door planks. As he slowly pulled open the shed door, a huge smile broke across Dave’s face. His sources had come up trumps! In the shed lay a lone Valiant Ranger covered in an inch of dust and dirt.

Even though Dave had come across a cracker of a barn find, the deal was far from done. He still had to track down the owner of the property who no longer lived there. When he finally did find a member of the family and asked what the price was, Dave was soon disheartened. It’s a great car but not for that sort of money he thought and decided to walk away. Sometime later, he heard that the property with the old Ranger was now for sale. Potential buyers inspected the property and some spotted the Ranger but luckily for Dave nobody enquired about it. Still, Dave was worried that someone else would buy it or worse still, would pull bits off it. As the months passed, he often wondered if the Ranger was still in its shed. 

Then, one day whilst Indiana Dave was working on his truck, a ute pulled up. The driver introduced himself as Greg Edgerton, and said he was one of the owners of the property called ‘Red Hill’. This could be interesting Dave thought, as Red Hill was the same property that housed the lone Ranger. Greg had come to ask Dave to transport some farm machinery to his new property. Dave couldn’t believe his luck and casually asked if the Valiant Ranger was still in the shed. Greg told him it was still there and asked if he might be interested in it. 

Indiana Dave already had quite a collection of cars, but decided he couldn’t let the Ranger go again. They negotiated a deal that both parties were happy with, Greg was to get his machinery moved and Dave was to get the Ranger. They shook hands and the deal was done. Dave rounded up his family and raced off to collect his treasure. 

In the late 60s, Chrysler Australia realised that they required a new more powerful six cylinder engine to take on Holden and Ford. Fortunately Chrysler US had been working on a prototype engine which it sent to Australia so their engineers could further develop it. They came up with the powerful Hemi six which soon became a major selling point for Chrysler. Holden and Ford’s conventional six-cylinder engines were based on an already decade old design and consequently could not match the Hemi’s power. The VJ Ranger’s competition was the Holden HJ Kingswood and Ford’s XB Falcon 500 but the Ranger sedan had a slightly longer wheel base, larger interior and more boot space. These features made the VJ model the biggest selling Valiant with 90,865 cars being sold in total, of which 49,198 were sedans. 

Chrysler had a reputation for quality built base model Valiant cars which were considered strong, reliable and good value. Because of this, they were a favourite of many newly arrived European migrants. They were commonly referred to as ‘The Greek or Italian Mercedes’ and other colourful names that we can’t mention here. Today, many car enthusiasts realise the value in these Chryslers and the interest in this brand is stronger than ever. 

Dave’s VJ Ranger is certainly one well preserved time capsule. To find out how this Ranger survived we need to begin with Mr Lyndon Clive Albert Edgerton, Greg Edgerton’s uncle. Lyndon was one of five children and like so many at that time, he was born in the backroom of the family home in 1913 on the Red Hill property, with the nearest town being Rye Park. Lyndon ended up running the family property and married his sweetheart, Joyce Maria Noakes in 1948. Lyndon and Joyce lived and worked on this property right up until they passed away and this is where the Ranger was found sitting in a shed.

Lyndon and Joyce drove around in an old work ute but the plan was to purchase a sedan for Joyce. It is rumoured that 1975 was a good year for wool prices so the Edgertons decided to splurge and buy themselves a new one. On Friday the 4th of April the couple travelled from their Red Hill property to the Goulburn Wool store for the wool sales, and then drove to Kingsway Motors Chrysler in Goulburn. There they spotted a VJ Ranger sedan with just 30 kilometres on the odometer. As the VJ was a demonstrator, the ownership document was labelled ‘CAL Fleet’ which stands for Chrysler Australia Limited. When Lyndon and Joyce handed over payment, ‘CAL fleet’ was crossed out from the owner’s services books and replaced with the Lyndon’s name. Joyce had a brand new comfortable car to drive.

With the ute carrying out the bulk of the driving duties, the Ranger didn’t clock up many kilometres. Joyce was a very short lady and could only see through a gap between the steering wheel and dashboard. She also sat on a pillow to give her an extra couple of inches of height. This pillow was still in the car when it was pulled out of the shed. Locals recall fond memories of Joyce’s Ranger appearing as if it was driving itself! 

The car was usually driven to Rye Park which is approximately 2.5 kilometres from their property. The Edgertons’ were very religious and attended regular church services. In fact, Rye Park was a very pious place and an alcohol free zone back then and was nick named ‘Holy City’. Joyce would usually drive the car to church and locals recall that she would have to do a ‘lap of the block’ in order to come down the main street and park on the roadway in front of the church. You see the Ranger (considered to be the size of a tank by today’s standards) didn’t have power steering and Joyce had trouble manoeuvring it around the church car park. It was easier to drive it around the block first. Lyndon and Joyce also attended many balls and functions at the Rye Park memorial hall. Apart from the car travelling locally, it also travelled to the town of Boorowa occasionally which is approximately 19 kilometres from their property and where Indiana Dave lives.

Lyndon passed away in 1997, aged 84 years old and Joyce passed away the following year at the age of 79. She kept driving the Ranger right up until 6 months before she died. The couple had no children, so the property (and the Ranger) were passed onto the Edgerton’s remaining family. This is how Greg Edgerton ended up with the job of clearing the property of the farm machinery and of course the Ranger!

Dave tells us how amazed he was at the condition of the car when he first discovered it. The shed had kept the rain and hot sun out but there was a mountain of dust and dirt on, and throughout the car. When he first opened the door of the Valiant he swears he got a whiff of that new car smell! The condition of the interior struck him immediately, he describes it as simply superb. No rips, or tears were to be seen anywhere. The dash pad was in perfect condition and the carpets still looked new. When Dave wiped the dust off the instrument lens his eyes were instantly drawn to the odometer. Impossible he thought. The odometer showed a mere 40,290 kilometres! Doing the maths, he worked out the old Ranger had travelled about 1,000 kilometres per year. That’s super-low mileage for a 38 year old car. It’s no wonder the vehicle is in such good condition. 

Dave brought his family with him to the shed where the lone Ranger lay entombed. He armed himself with two cameras so he could capture plenty of photographs in order to document his find. His team (partner Bec, Brock 13 and Tamsyn 5) helped him with the mission. Dave brought a jerry can of fresh fuel, a charged battery, a set of jumper leads (just in case), a tow strap, and an air compressor to pump up the flat tyres. He checked the oil and water levels and fitted the freshly charged battery. Dave was about to top up the fuel tank when he noticed that the petrol gauge was still showing it was half full. He decided to try and run the car on the fuel that was in the tank, figuring it might still be the higher octane leaded variety, or ‘Super’ as it was known then, which was phased in Australia by 2002. 

Dave crossed his fingers and turned the key. Instantly the engine cranked over but protested at being disturbed from its long sleep. It gave a few coughs but wouldn’t start. He gave it another go, and this time it started and ran for a few seconds before cutting out. Dave decided to pour some fresh petrol into the carburettor and try one more time. He turned the key again, whispered the bush mechanics prayer, ‘come on… start ya bastard’, and then she fired up and kept running. He revved it ever so slightly and took in the unmistakeable sound of the Hemi 265cid humming away. She was alive and Indiana Dave’s smile stretched from ear to ear!

Surprisingly after all the years there was still a brake pedal. After a brief safety check, the old Ranger was then driven back to his home, a few kilometres away. During the drive Dave noticed how smoothly the car ran, but could the feel the ‘flat spots’ on the tyres where they had squared off from sitting around for so long. Unfortunately, he also noticed the temperature gauge beginning to creep up past halfway. He made it home just as the needle had edged its way into the red. That was close he thought. A mental note was made to recheck the cooling system. Dave tells us that getting the Ranger home on a trailer would’ve been a better way to go but as he had only 4 kilometres to cover he couldn’t resist the itch to drive his Survivor home.

It took Dave three full days to clean up the Ranger. He pressure washed the duco and degreased the engine. This was followed up by more high pressure washing and then a hand sponge wash. Finally he buffed it to within an inch of its life. Dave then set about cleaning the interior. Whilst scrubbing away, he was transfixed for a moment when he noticed Joyce’s finger marks on the sun visor where she would have pulled it down to shield her eyes from the piercing sun. 

The overheating problem was next on the list. Inspecting the thermostat housing, he found that it was blocked solid. The thermostat had completely disintegrated. He thoroughly flushed out the cooling system, checked the carburettor, spark plugs, and changed the oil, and the oil filter. He noticed that it still had its original windscreen as the stock number sticker was still there. This is quite incredible for a car that spent 23 years in rural NSW where almost all the roads it travelled on were dirt and gravel!

Dave found the owner’s manual and service books in the glove box along with a box of Butter-Menthols and Irish Moss throat lozenges, and of course the pillow that Joyce sat on when she drove. In the boot sat a beautifully preserved original factory spare tyre, obviously never used. Sitting on top of the spare he found a brand new spare fanbelt still in its original packaging. A curious item was a multi coloured foam drink container with its green cup. Many would remember these containers as they were very popular in the 1970s. He also discovered a rat’s nest in the passenger side front wheel arch. Thankfully they hadn’t chewed through the brake lines or gotten into the interior! 

After much cleaning and polishing, Dave’s once diamond in the rough now shone as bright as the day it was sold new. This Ranger was certainly well maintained during its life and is an exceptional example of a Survivor. 

The compliance identification plate shows that this Ranger was built in October 1974 and is painted Harvest Yellow (Code YP4725), which is an apt colour shade for its rural life. The interior (C1) is saddle trim and the engine (E33) is a 265 Hemi 2 barrel with a (D10) 3-speed column shift manual. The Ranger was optioned with a protection package (A74), which included body side mouldings and bumper bar over riders. Other options included an eleven channel transistor type push button radio (R73). Strangely, this Ranger was factory optioned with a set of the (W23) 6.5 x 14-inch ‘styled steel wheels’ with the red edging, which were normally reserved for Chrysler sports models. Dealer fitted options included Chrysler branded mudflaps, plastic headlight protectors, driver side weather shield, rear air shock absorbers and a windscreen sun visor. 

Although windscreen sun visors are considered quite daggy by today’s standards, they were a very common item on Australian cars built from the 1960s to the 1980s. It is very cool to see this Valiant Survivor still wearing its windscreen sun visor, and perhaps the protection it offered is what saved the dash from fading or cracking.

The simplicity in engine design of that era is evident. The original and unmodified blue 265cid Hemi sits proudly in the engine bay. Its two-barrel carburettor is covered by a silver coloured air cleaner with the words ‘HEMI 265’ written in prominent red lettering. Indiana Dave tells us the Ranger still drives magnificently. The column manual changes gears smoothly and the Hemi still has plenty of pull. Steering is heavy at slow speeds, and Dave adds “I can’t believe Joyce drove this car right up until her late 70s!”

This Valiant Ranger base model is an extraordinary Survivor. Even though it has had a rural existence, it has survived when so many cars from that region had a very hard life. They were driven into the ground, thrashed on dirt and gravel roads, flogged in the paddocks and finally left to rust away. Any that are still going today are usually badly beaten and bruised, and almost certainly running on LP gas. This one is in excellent order.

Lyndon and Joyce deserve full credit for looking after their beloved Ranger. Dave has also done this car a great service by digging it out, cleaning it up and getting it back on the road. He truly understands the real value of a Survivor like this. 

So next time you’re down at your local pub or café listening to stories of old cars, perhaps mention our old mate Indiana Dave and the lone Ranger ‘Barn find’. If they don’t believe you, you can always pull out a copy of Survivor Car Australia and show them the incredible pictures that back up this true story. 

We hope this story has inspired you to never give up believing that there are still ‘Barn finds’ out there waiting to be discovered. If you’ve ever wondered what lies in that rundown shed or garage that you see every day on your way to or from work, maybe it’s time you stopped, and made some enquiries. After all, why shouldn’t you be the next person to uncover a real barn find? When you do, remember to capture the moment on your trusty camera and be sure to contact Survivor Car Australia to tell us your story. What are you waiting for? Start looking!

Indiana Dave would like to thank his neighbour’s Dave and Tan who put him onto the Ranger. He also wants to extend a big thank you to the friends and family of Lyndon and Joyce Edgerton who took the time to speak to him and provide a lot of valuable information. Anyone looking for a VJ Ranger sedan in original unrestored and excellent condition need look no further than this example. The car is now for sale and anyone interested should contact Indiana Dave, his details are listed in our ‘Around the block’ section.