A Woman Looked Inside Her Grandma’s Old Garage – And Discovered An Incredible Supercar Surprise

Compulsive hoarding isn’t just a phrase people use to describe certain collecting habits that have gotten a little out of control; it’s actually a real disorder in its own right. If you’re unfamiliar with the term, compulsive hoarding involves amassing so much stuff that you basically can’t move freely in your own home anymore.

But while the items collected by hoarders are often worthless, it’s not impossible to make some absolutely incredible finds among the junk. Those moments of discovery don’t have to happen while collectors are accumulating their items, either; indeed, they may come years later, when everything’s been left untouched and forgotten. And that’s exactly what happened to one Reddit user.

Going by the name of eriegin, the female student, who’s based in the U.S., shared the astonishing contents of her grandmother’s garage to the r/carporn subreddit in August 2018. And the reason she chose that particular subreddit? Well, the title of her post was “Despite the dust and rust, grandma’s 1981 Lamborghini Countach is the coolest.”

Unsurprisingly, the post was a huge hit with her fellow Redditors, gaining thousands of upvotes and hundreds of comments. And clicking through the link she provided revealed why; there was indeed a classic white Lamborghini Countach photographed in her grandmother’s garage. No doubt the picture evoked some sweet nostalgia for many who grew up in the ’80s.

The car admittedly looks a little worse for wear, which is unsurprising given how long it had been there. Yes, the gorgeous but dusty Countach had actually been sitting inside the garage for more than a decade when eriegin took her pictures.

Yet the Lamborghini wasn’t the only classic supercar sitting inside the garage. You see, just creeping into view in eriegin’s original image was a red vehicle. And after a few Redditors inquired about the scarlet-colored item, she posted a few more pictures – which revealed the car to be a Ferrari 308.

In the pictures, eriegin’s boyfriend can also be seen sitting in the Lamborghini. According to the Redditor, she brought him along to assess the condition of the cars. And in the background of the photos, there’s yet another vehicle – an MG T-type, which she dated from around the late 1930s to the early 1940s. Clearly, this was a garage full of some seriously cool rides.

According to GTspirit, the Countach is a 500S model – one of just 321 cars produced of that type. The car is also said to pack a 4.8-liter V12 engine and at its peak could have fetched somewhere in the region of $400,000 to $500,000. But even in their current condition, the Daily Mirror has estimated that both the Lamborghini and Ferrari could still be worth around that amount together.

Still, you don’t need to be a petrol-head to recognize just how awesome these vehicles are. And if you’re a pop culture fan, the cars may be familiar to you already. After all, Leonardo DiCaprio drives something much like the Countach in The Wolf of Wall Street; meanwhile, the Ferrari 308 bears more than a passing resemblance to Tom Selleck’s iconic ride in Magnum, P.I.

But exactly how the cars had wound up there remained a mystery – until eriegin revealed all, that is. She wrote on Reddit, “My late grandpa bought [the Lamborghini] for his exotic car rental business in 1989, but after insurance costs became too high for him to operate the company, he kept the car (and many others, including the Ferrari 308 in front of the Lambo) outside/in leaky garages for 20+ years instead of selling them.”

And, unsurprisingly, several of eriegin’s fellow Redditors were quick to express their interest in the awesome ’80s supercars. “There should be a Child Protective Services you can call for cars,” wrote one. “I’d adopt that baby and put some blood, sweat and tears into making it a new good life.”

“I totally agree. This kind of car abuse hurts my soul,” eriegin replied. “But it’s also kind of incredible and rare to see something so beautiful (and valuable) in this condition.” And she revealed that if she had the chance, she would love to be able to work on the Countach and restore it back to its original condition – inside, at least.

“If it were up to me, I’d get it running again and clean up the interior but keep the exterior close to as is,” eriegin explained. “It has character and tells the story of the car which sets it apart from any other Countach around. I can honestly appreciate that more than a perfect paint job.”

Unfortunately, eriegin acknowledged that her chances of being able to do up the Countach so are slim. That’s because her grandmother has five kids and eight other grandchildren. However, she hopes that if the car does stay in the family, someone will eventually be able to restore it – no matter how long the process takes.

And, apparently, the Lamborghini and the Ferrari weren’t the only cars that eriegin’s grandfather had bought for his rental business. She revealed that he’d also once owned a 1955 Mercedes-Benz Gullwing – a model that’s now worth somewhere in the region of $5 million. Alas, though, that specific supercar wasn’t waiting in the garage to be discovered.

Furthermore, while eriegin stated that there are currently no plans to sell the cars, her grandmother is nevertheless apparently looking to “get rid of them sometime soon.” Of course, this meant that the post was instantly flooded with offers from hopeful buyers.

So, while the vehicles may not be able to make a classic car collector’s dreams come true in the short term, the pictures were worth uploading regardless. Indeed, in a follow-up post, eriegin wrote of one of the shots, “I’m glad this picture has elicited so much amazement and joy from the people of the internet, and that was my sole objective in sharing it.”

And supercar enthusiasts will know that eriegin’s find isn’t the first of its kind. In fact, there have been countless tales of long-lost or forgotten cars being dug up over the years. Just take the Ferrari Dino 246 GT that was found buried in a Californian garden in 1978, for example. Meanwhile, in 1967 a 42-year-old Bugatti Type 22 Brescia was found at the bottom of Lake Maggiore, which traverses both Italy and Switzerland.

Whatever happens to the Lamborghini Countach and the Ferrari 308 that were found sitting in eriegin’s grandmother’s garage, then, there’s no denying that the family is sitting on a goldmine – not just financially but also in terms of pure nostalgia. Yes, for better or worse, these cars are an absolutely awesome throwback to the design staples of the ’80s. Now, who else is off to check out their relatives’ garages?