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It’s not often that the humble state of Alabama is the source of cool car news. A barn find vintage car collection just came to light after years in Birmingham, Alabama. Now that the collection is heading to market, we get to see a fine collection of nearly brand-new Corvettes, low-mileage vintage pickup trucks, muscle cars, and more. 

Birmingham, Alabama barn find

The footage we get to enjoy here was provided by the seller, a car sales group called Give Me the VIN. This vintage car collection contains 23 cars that couldn’t be more varied if it tried. The collection was built by the late Earl Trammel, a local automotive businessman. After his passing, the collection was inherited by his ex-wife, who sold it to the folks at Give Me the VIN, who are selling the collection now. 

What cars are in this vintage car collection?

A line of beautiful '70s Corvettes in pristine condition.
1970s Corvettes | Give Me the VIN

This collection is varied in all the best ways. There are a handful of not overly rare or overly old cars that have nearly zero miles in the collection that will make collectors weak. One such car in the collection is a 1990 Chevy 1500 454 SS with 19 original miles. There’s also an equally clean, original 1990 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 with only 25 miles clocked. More cars like this are sprinkled through the collection, cars Trammel clearly bought to hold.

Other cars in the collection include a 1987 Buick Grand National, a 1996 Porsche C4S, a 1973 Lincoln Continental Mark IV,  and a 1956 Chevrolet 210 sedan. 

The entire collection will be on display in the Spring of 2024, giving everyone enough time to get their money right. 

Why do people hoard low-mileage cars in a barn? 

The interior of a brand-new vintage Corvette with all the plastic still covering the interior.
1976 Chevy Corvette | Give Me the VIN

There is a very southern tradition of choosing more personal or less conventional ways to store one’s wealth than in the market or the bank. According to GMTV, given his distrust of “Wall Street and the banking system,” he chose to keep his wealth in his barn. While it is easy to see his patience and belief as wise, cars aren’t always safe investments. They inherently require a lot of upkeep, but sometimes, it can work out. 

“These cars started accumulating through Earl Trammel’s love for cars,” said John Hollander, Trammel’s brother-in-law, noting his long career as a car and body man in Alabama. “He was in business in two separate shops in Birmingham and started collecting cars at an early age. These cars need to be out where people can see them, so I finally talked my sister into selling the entire inventory.”

Understanding that being from Birmingham, Alabama, makes me a bit biased; everything about this collection and the man who built it resonates. It’s easy to see ourselves in folks like Mr. Trammel. He took his hard-earned money and put it back into a marketplace he understood and felt relatively comfortable with. As a result of his hard work and wisdom, we all get to enjoy seeing these beautiful, low-mileage vintage cars, and his family gets paid. It’s hard to be upset about that.