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Sometimes, you watch a YouTube video that leaves you scratching your head. I found myself in just that scenario after being served this clip from Exploring With Josh—a creator with an affinity for abandoned places. In this video, he’s checking out a neglected American property that is currently home to an incredibly diverse “collection” of automobiles of varying ages. Is this an eccentric’s abandoned collection or simply a dumping ground for local fraudsters? I’ve watched the video through twice and I still can’t decide.
Josh dedicates quite a bit of the video to telling the story of the home’s last reported occupant, but the details are vague and given his penchant for exaggeration (virtually none of the cars in his video thumbnail even exist on this property, for example), I’d suggest taking the narrative with a grain of salt. The actual exploratory bits are where we find all the good stuff.
And by good stuff, I mean weird stuff. Even if the locals have been using the property as an impromptu junkyard, I’d find it hard to believe that a random assortment of locals are looking to offload such high concentrations of quirky European cars. There are at least two vintage Alfas on the property (and potentially a third lurking beneath a car cover), along with an old Nissan Stanza and the garage-kept Lotus Esprit. Also in storage is a rather clean-looking Honda CB750.
Exploring With Josh via YouTube
If it stopped there, I could reasonably write this off as the former collection of a fellow car geek, but it doesn’t, and I won’t. Why? Well, while both the Volvo V50 and a Buick Regal TourX technically count as European wagons (the latter was an Opel, don’t forget), they don’t exactly fit in with the rest of the “collection.” And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Next to that TourX, there’s a 981 Boxster on bald tires under a car cover, and out behind the still-covered mystery vehicle lurks an ND Mazda Miata that looks conspicuously spotless.
Exploring With Josh via YouTube
The host notes the Miata’s presence as somewhat anachronistic, but elsewhere in the video he suggests that the property has sat in this state for about eight years. If he’s correct, that would technically put the ND in play; its first year on the market was 2015 (as a 2016 model). The Regal and 981 would likewise just fall within that window. Plausible? Sure. Likely? Hmm.
Josh claims the previous owner of the property was born independently wealthy, which makes it plausible that all of the cars we see here belonged to him. Either way, I see a beautiful Pennsylvania Tudor Revival in desperate need of some TLC. If the cars come with it, so much the better.
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Byron is a contributing writer and auto reviewer with a keen eye for infrastructure, sales and regulatory stories.
