Barn Find Hunter

Tom is driving through rural Maine, looking for cars left out in the open, hoping they might lead to something hidden inside a barn. To his surprise, he spots several rare Volkswagen Buses parked outside a warehouse, hinting at something much bigger. As it turns out, you don’t need to own a VW Bus to get the full experience. Meet Joe. Joe runs two businesses out of his storage warehouse, and if you’re a VW enthusiast, you’re going to love both.

At a high-end car show filled with polished paint, million-dollar builds, and perfect restorations, the cars drawing the biggest crowds weren’t the most expensive. They weren’t the shiniest. They weren’t even “finished.” In this episode of Barn Find Hunter, a handful of well-curated cars quietly stole the spotlight, not because of how they looked, but because of the stories they carried: decades of ownership, long-lost history, family memories, and the kind of authenticity you can’t replicate with a checkbook.

Located in Cartersville, Georgia, Savoy Automobile Museum isn’t a converted warehouse or a private collection tucked into a corner. It’s a purpose built automotive museum designed from the ground up to honor the art, engineering, and stories of the automobile. Join us as Tom goes behind the scenes for exclusive access to the Savoy Museum’s private reserve, a carefully assembled collection they’ve been building over time.

Tom Cotter visits Old Car City USA in White, Georgia, a 34-acre automotive time capsule home to more than 4,400 cars collected over the past 95 years. Just a few miles away sits the Savoy Automobile Museum, and together they make this stretch of North Georgia home to two of Tom’s favorite automotive places to visit. Between the raw, rust-covered history of Old Car City and the curated legacy of Savoy, it’s a perfect comparison of the opposite sides of the automotive world.

Tom visits a friend who’s well known in the Lotus community, “Famous Frank Lotus,” who buys and sells NOS parts and even produces a slew of hard-to-find reproduction pieces, including center consoles. We tour his Lotus collection and a few project cars, take a ride in an Elan, and see his crown jewel—a 1-of-100 Lotus 26R buried in his basement.

In this episode of Barn Find Hunter, Tom reconnects with an old racing friend, Toby Bergon, whose vintage imports shop feels frozen in 1970. Between stories of VW’s, Aston Martins, and historic race cars, Tom uncovers the real gem: a one of one MG race car with history tied to Ken Miles’ legendary “Flying Shingle.” A forgotten piece of racing history hidden in plain sight.

Meet Joe Harmon, a former NC State graduate student who decided one day that he was going to build a supercar entirely out of wood. With help from his friends, fellow students, and his wife (who was his girlfriend at the time), it took a grueling seven years and an incredible amount of engineering to create the masterpiece now known as "Splinter." Tom and Joe walk through the build process, the highs and lows, and the standout components that required Joe to specially engineer tools just to manufacture the parts he envisioned.

Tom visits his longtime friend and former President of Penske Racing, Don Miller. Don has a shop in North Carolina that he shares with his close friend Ray, better known as "Razor." Here, they build drag cars, maintain their classics, and swap stories. Tom takes a deep dive into Don's history at Penske, while also exploring a lesser-known side of him—his obsession with drag racing and the accomplishments that came with it.

Most fans know Ryan Newman as a NASCAR star. In this episode of Barn Find Hunter, Tom Cotter gets a look at the man beneath the helmet as Ryan opens the doors to his private shop and working farm. From wrenching on cars and dirt racing with his daughter to running a ranch and sharing stories about the father who first got him behind the wheel, Ryan reveals the passions that have shaped his life both on and off the track. Along the way, he reflects on his longtime friendship with Don Miller and the people who helped guide his career.