Barn Finds Mystery Car Parked 100 Years Over Old Tunnel from Mexico to USA
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- Опубліковано 5 вер 2024
- This 1914 Mitchell has been parked 100 years over an opening to a tunnel built in 1911 in Juarez, Mexico during the Mexican Revolution of 1910-1920. Locals hid money and jewelry in this tunnel. Why was this giant touring car parked over the entrance to this tunnel? Seeking documentation this car was owned or used by Pancho Villa - governor of Chihuahua 1913-1914.
Thanks to Lewis Miller - see his collection at mitchellcarcollection.com
The rest of us are so very fortunate to have folks like Jerry out there willing to be
automotive archaeologists - and to be willing to share what they find to boot!
Further, the more that word gets out about Jerry's discoveries, the more leads he's
going to get about even more cars.
Thanks for sharing, Jerry.
You keep makin' 'em, we'll keep watchin' 'em.
-Ed on the Ridge
Cesar was just having a great time. So proud to be showing you that beautiful old jewel.
The car was put there to hide the tunnel thats why the engine was removed. You used to open the hood and climb in and out. The army and police never knew that it hid a secret.
I agree with you makes a lot of sense. Thats exactly what came to mind when i first saw it. El chapo style. Follow the tunnel
That's what i was thinking too!
Makes sense great observation 😎👍👍👍
Excellent discovery, thank you for posting this.
This car had its engine removed, and was parked in the garage as a dummy to cover the entrance to the tunnel?? How cool is that.? Open up the big hood side and climb in, and down to the tunnels. There is an electric light switch mounted on the firewall to turn the tunnel lights on. I bet it would be very easy to close the hood behind you, as you went down the ladder. That is not just a barn find my friend, that is a interesting history for that car.
OMG, you may be right. we need to go back. you get credit for this - we will check this out.
@@thewriter2549 Yes, please keep us updated. Was it to hide valuables? Was it used for smuggling? How long was it a secret that the car was hiding the tunnel? There may be some very interesting history.
In the movie, the local historian, Jose Luis Hernandez, told us about how people hid valuables in the tunnel.
@@thewriter2549 and there was mention of smuggling liqueur?
The electric light switch mounted on the firewall lends much credence to the "hiding entrance to tunnel" theory.
My favorite "barn find" story by far Thanks a million for posting this up!
Thanks to you - and to everybody in the video - very good people in Juarez!!
Just love how Cesar is like a little kid.
I love the Mexican guide's enthusiasm in showing the old things to be found in that hidden place.
You can hear Cesar's amazing story at the end of the video on this channel - ua-cam.com/users/edit?o=U&video_id=RgDlMJI9uCw
Poncho Villa robbed a bar in southern AZ and my grandfather noticed a lady holding the cash register so he went and put his arms around her and the register. That's how my grandpa met my grandma. Kinda cool.
Did anyone notice the car was used to cover a tunnel opening? At one time I'm sure the hoods were on the car,and we're used to smuggle people or goods, guns booze fighters. Hence the engine and transmission removed to make passage or moving the very heavy car a bit easier
You can tell that dude leading them is in his glory,like i kid,lol he would be fun to explore Mexico with.
13:17
1914 Mitchell Big Six (60hp)
, 7-Passenger Touring
Wheelbase: 144 inches
1914 Mitchell Little Six (50hp
), 5-Passenger Touring
Wheelbase: 132 inches
So basically its a suburban lol
It was probably looted for parts 50-60 years ago and the drivetrain is probably powering some small town generator or irrigation pump somewhere. The rubber tires look like they disintegrated over the years and interior was probably chewed up by rats. Even though it's incomplete, the car is still very rare and worth saving.
Wow what a find! I really enjoyed the video and thanks for sharing!!!
No matter how hard you hide a car theres always some thieving bastard that will come along and strip it
I got music lessons from Marshall Stanfield who was a 30s 40s 50s and 60s musician and trumpet was his game. He told me many times of Juarez and the Tijuana and az crossing towns. The big shots in town would pay big for original jazz bands. And he told me if the car of Pancho Villa hidden in the back of a hidden party plaza as he was really liked and appreciated by the owner and after years of his repeat visits finally broke down and showed him . There were many stories like a Tijuana jail and how nasty it was and how scared they were they'd never git out. So here I am finally looking at the old story Marshall told me in 1967-8. He had an old Victorian multi story house on Mt Vernon in Prescott. And the best music studio in the state. He kept a case of champagne glasses to crack with his reel to reel tape of Aretha Franklin ....is it real or is it Memorex. So he taught me how to break things...with my voice. Soon we moved to levitation and the famous geometric shapes that form with sound on a sheet on a speaker...pretty smart guy. We moved his house like that to the rich district and got triple.
Pretty clever way of disguising the tunnel entrance. No one watching, you could just slip inside the hood. There was even a light switch. Curious what the tunnel looks like.
In Southern California , my Grandfather was one of the first auto dismantlers . He must have had a Mitchell or two .
I have his radiator emblem collection with a Mitchell emblem as well as a "Merry" Olds among others !
email me - jerryheasley@gmail.com
Urban archeology! Love this
Mitchell-Lewis Motor Company was founded in 1900 in Racine, Wisconsin as a motorcycle maker spin-off from the wagon maker Mitchell & Lewis Company Ltd. The company began manufacturing automobiles in 1903. ... The Mitchell car brand produced automobiles from 1903 to 1923
Your channel never seems to disappoint. I can always find an amazing story watching your videos. Keep up the great work.
Pancho Villa's famous car was a 1915 Dodge Bros. The one he got murdered in. That happened in 1923. You can visit his home in Chihuahua City which is a museum and see the Dodge.
Why is this relevant?
Why would Pancho Villa dump a nicer and newer car when he was driving an average Dodge Bros...
As to the car in question: 603 original miles?
No doubt at all that this car was left behind by a fleeing gringo... See we get a fair share of American fellons down here. Or the poor gringo got stuck in the crossfires of the Revolution.
I highly doubt Pancho Villa had anything to do with this car.
Pancho Villa lived freely and openly from 1914 onwards. Why hide a car?
Jerry, you are seriously the best storyteller on UA-cam.
Thank you - if you only knew how good that is to read.
.... part two please!!
Thats a very rare old car it should be restored!
I like the pinball machine to, pretey cool,I wish it was mine.
Very cool Jerry. Thank you for taking the risk. showing us this awesome history.
I hope somebody gets to save that puppy it is very interesting should be saved and maybe restored, good luck to whoever does something with it.
Shhhhhhhh, don't tell Wayne Carini. 😆
Just finding the car, the history, and contacting a Mitchell ancestor is fascinating. Thank you for bringing it up. So what is the next step in this endeavour? I would like to know more if you do more videos on the car! I am an automotive enthusiast too!
Thank you for your encouraging comments. Next step is saving the car when the buildings come down. We have made locals aware. This car should remain in the area.
@@thewriter2549 HI JERRY has there been any updates on this story please ?
Would be cool to restore that.
That place is incredible. And that was an incredible amount of dust.
Excellent video... I was on the edge of my recliner and hoping I wasn't going to fall in...
Early 20th Century automobiles are fascinating, beautiful and in some cases very rare!
Very cool Jerry. Would love to see that cleaned up a little.
They really need to revise the building codes in Jaurez. 😁 It’s crazy that the car was at street level when parked. Great video!
A lot of cities were raised up due to flooding or other reasons. Have you been to the Atlanta Underground?
Tony P I have not.
This car needs to be saved. Even if it has to be dismantled to do so.
A Mitchell! All the way from Racine Wisconsin!
Shocking to me, not what I expected at all. Truth is stranger than fiction.
Any chances of them getting it out before the rest of that comes down on it? or maybe they will build a shield over it before they take the rest of it down over it and then use a crane?
given all the graffiti, drywall and modern electrical hardware in the video I would say that more than 11 people have seen this hulk, despite the local guides declarations.
John, I believe Cesar referred to more recent times. The 'casino' was next to the car and tunnel, as we showed, so I am sure many people knew, including the historian in the video.
@@thewriter2549 Were there any slot machines or tables in the casino?
This hunt was fun to watch.
The gentleman with the crutches has a special jacket given to those that entered a car in a prestigious Race Car display that I organized at the Grand National Roadster Show. @Jerry Heasley, do you know him?
Of course, since 1989. We have worked together on barn finds since 1990 - first to write up barn finds, back when editors thought I was crazy.
Oh god that looks like a cool as adventure of a lifetime!
wow that insane Jerry
Awesome story...I love finding old cars wherever they may be. Looking at any old car evokes the thoughts of its history. You know the old saying, "if only it could talk". I have a 1954 Pontiac hearse and would love to know its history, but alas...not to be.
my son lives in a home built by General Zapata for his mother. the year was 1919
Very interesting!! Zapata is in the famous photo with Pancho Villa seated on the presidential throne in Mexico City on January 12, 1915. I have read that Zapata deferred to sit on the throne to Villa. Zapata led the revolution in the south anad his followers were Zapatistas.. Villa was in the north.
When having the roof re shingled they took down the unused brick chimney. the roofer reached in the attic and pulled out 2 framed pictures of General Emiliano Zapata Salazar III. one is a portrait of him alone the other of him and his men in the town where he was in charge. That one really shows some weapons on his men. swords, daggers, pistols, rifles and lots of cartridge belts. they wore the big hats and looked like don't mess with us.
email me and maybe we can do a follow up video on this rare find, which is very exciting. my email is jerryheasley@gmail.com
It would be great to do a full restoration of the Mitchell.
WOW just WOW. Fabulously historic 👍
Love to get my hands on those old pinball machines and restore them!
Wow!! What a find. I live in tijuana Mexico. Been here for over a decade. I have seen so many interesting, even one of a kind treasures. They don't know what it is most of the time. People end up scrapping these treasures out of necessity. I would like to start an expedition here in tijuana. There is lots to explore. I just picked up a bug eye that I plan on restoring. It was inside of a house! I get so excited when I see something that has value of sort. I have the time. I just need the backing.
email me and maybe we can do something with you - jerryheasley@gmail.com
Oscar can, what is a big eye? Do you mean a bug eye ( Austin Healy Sprite).
@@salsalero1277 yeah i would guess a bug eye as that is what said no one said big eye
@@mrbrownstone1979 his comment was edited. He originally wrote big eye.
So glad to have found your channel man, keep it up! This was a very difficult place to get to and film but you made it man! Nice work! Just please be careful next time you do something like this. Would have been hell for paramedics to try and get you out of there if you fell or something.
I fell out of the passenger door a Shelby Cobra while filming car to car on a race track in March of 2012. I have a video of that. I have been an athlete all my life, still play basketball extensively, but I no longer feel invincible. Thanks and glad you are here. Where are you from? Do you collect cars?
Oh wow that is a pretty crazy experience! Glad you are ok.
I am from Texas, no don't have the space to collect cars. I do love car culture and try to play games like Forza Horizon 4 to let me get my car nerd on.
Seeing an old 1910's car hidden away like that is very awesome to see. It was only protected from everything for so long due to being so difficult to get to. But you did mention the Casino would have had pretty easy access to it, so surely somebody there must have known about it when it was still in operation.
Google shows the Mitchell-Lewis Motor Company was founded in 1900 in Racine, Wisconsin as a motorcycle maker spin-off from the wagon maker Mitchell & Lewis Company Ltd. the company began manufacturing automobiles in 1903. The wagon business and auto companies were combined into Mitchell-Lewis Motor Co. in 1910.
This is awesome Jerry!! Take me over there I'll climb in that tunnel! Ha ha awesome footage
I Think that will buff out just fine.
General Blackjack Pershing drove a 1915 Dodge Brothers while chasing Pancho Villa. The Dodge has been in Mountain View Arkansas for many years. A guy named Jack Thomas had it,I dont know who has it now that Jack died.
WoW how many things down there that would be gold to some, and garbage to others...
hey bubba, how's it going - what did you think of this adventure?
Hey Jerry, these days this type of story is great on a few levels. The old car, which if there was any way to prove it belonged to Pancho Villa would be great enough on its own, add the interesting common courtyard and the adjoining labyrinth that bridges the past to the present, and the illegal passage that may very well still be passable and could contain forgotten family treasures stashed along its length from long ago... all these add up to be an excellent adventure story. Thankyou for thinking to bring it to us !
World record (for being parked in the one spot)?
I think I saw a No Standing sign next to the car. A ticket is in order LOL.
OMG how cool is that...
I bet the tires were shredded that’s why they parked it ! Cool find ! You guys are becoming archeologists that being so old!
Pretty cool that car was built in my home town of owosso Michigan!!!
Wait I thought all Mitchell's were made in Wisconsin??
Beautiful
Thank you for the video that is so cool good job guys
Thank you for the video you guys I'd really like to go on an adventure like that with you
Some viewers have contacted us asking to go along. I am considering this. Whoever goes along would be in the movie. I am considering putting together a video with details.
It is definitely history and should be checked into there are pictures of Pancho Villa in a Mitchell car historians have those pictures
Hey by the way if you see a white 1972 Monte Carlo coupe with a black top and a crate engine that looks more than a wee bit freshly built, make sure you contact mike musto, as the things been stolen for more than a few months now, and its probably IN mexico somewhere with either the engine stripped, or new plates and a crappy paintjob on it.
Finnegan said the Hot Rod Mazdarati yellow pickup with Olds Toronado 455" drivetrain in bed also stolen... should be easy to spot...
Neat find, but without some facts, it is just a wild tale. Look at deed records for the property to see who owned it, there have been many colorful characters over the years in Juarez. How many of those cars were sold into Mexico/Texas, that alone would narrow the list.
Well said can trace owners from then on hopefully good luck to the boys looking
Interesting that they allowed the remnants of a building to remain like that. I wonder if the Mitchell Museum has records of who bought each Mitchell car new? Rolls Royce used to .If it were the State of Chihuahua it would have to have been Villas official car. I also spotted a Midway battle game. Those fetch big money today and i used to own a pair of them .easy to maintain and easy to make money with.
My guess is due to the presence of the tunnel entrance, but why the car remains there i hope someone can tell us.
Suggest that you contact/visit the Columbus New Mexico historical society.
(And/or museums there now.)
They will have a fair bit of knowledge and documentation concerning the life and times of general Villa.
(A place where the war well and truly spilled over the border)
Ps; USA gen "blackjack" Pershing, used some of the first military motorized trucks ,(from WW1), in attempts at chasing down rebels and raiders.
Quite an interesting era/area.
PPS; Goo-Goyle sux.
Now the insurance company can finally recover their loss!
Fascinating adventure, Jerry!
Have there been any updates to this story?
We might go back if we have to, if it means saving the old car. They are tearing down those old buildings, but that is a slow process. My hope is the old Mitchell remain in Juarez and its rich heritage be further chronicled for the enjoyment of the Mexican people. Note how interested the local historian is in the video.
@@thewriter2549 Thank you, I'll be excited to see anything more on this car.
Also, I'd like to know about the interior space where the interview with the historian takes place. It looks like it could be the lobby of an old hotel. It's a beautiful space.
@@TimothyArcher That space is inside an old restaurant that was being restored, and not restored. I believe the Plaza.
@@thewriter2549 It's really sweet in there. Classic period architecture and workmanship.
WOW...VERY COOL ADVENTURE
Is this the same Jerry Heasley who wrote for car exchange magazine in the early eighties? I collected those magazines! Did car exchange fold?
yes, that's me. car exchange bought out by dobbs puublishing and then renamed popular and performance car review and then muscle car review, which i helped name.
I thought that name was familiar. I still have some old muscle car reviews
Great channel!
KNOWN tunnels. Graffiti everywhere. What a fabrication.
Oh malarkey!!! How is everyone convinced that this is even remotely accurate? You really think anyone in the U.S. would park a vehicle for good in that era when a vehicle was so expensive?.........let alone in Mexico!!! The entire structure surrounding it is at least 4 decades newer than the vehicle itself. Cinder block, steel framed windows, and modern rebar (older rebar was made from square stock that was twisted). Also the ornamental iron railing near the car is definitely not that old.....I build iron railings for a living. I'm well versed in the old ways of hand fabrication. That one has scrollwork that is machine made, not hand forged like they did-AT LEAST 75 years ago.
It is a very cool find, but why the bullsh!t?
There is no evidence to suggest it wasn't a vehicle Pancho Villa had rode in, but there isn't any to proof of it either. That could be true, but there is definitely evidence that the damn thing hasn't been there 100 years. I personally have purchased well over 200 vehicles in my day, and the closest scenario to this one being a 1930 REO Speedwagon that sat for approximately 50 years in a warehouse. And this one has the same type of setting. Sorry this is so long of a rant, but really????
Still an awesome find, but in the words of Arnold- 'Come on, don't bullshit me.'
El Barto...
People who use the word "malarkey" are to be ignored if not condemned for being total arseholes.
HOLY CRAP! GET ON WITH IT!!!
I want to buy some of that barn dust on that car . . I could put some on my truck park it in a barn and get top dollar as a barn find 🤣🤣 jk . Cool video .
What's unusual about bullet holes in a building in Mexico?
That they happened BEFORE I arrived?
I’d love to own this gem
Pancho Villa had balls of steel.
Its not parked, its missing all the running gear, it was just abandoned there.
thanks for sharing, I hope the car finds a good home.
may be too important for a home. it has a home now.
Cool place. But I would like to take a look down that tunnel.
"They had a shootout here in 1910" They have had a shootout here 100's of times..
I'm surprised that Mitchell doesn't have records and VINs that could be traced to a frame stamp or something.
Yes indeed
Unless records are lost through a fire or something, things happen. I had an all aluminum 2 stroke engine from the 40's or something. Milwaukee or something, fire burned all of the records to that manufacturing plant decades ago. But maybe with the Mitchell company everything is available to find out all the details.
The History of this would be really great to find out about. Thank you god bless
Pancho villa was kill in 1924 in parral chihuahua,not in juarez.
Actually, 1923, not 1924. This video is about a different time, 10 years earlier when VIlla was governor of Chihauhau and all over the place, including Juarez. I have a photo of him at the train station in Juarez in 1914 getting into a big touring car.
@@thewriter2549 Chihuahua, sorry.
I bet the engine is in that town somewhere...look for the old garage in that town andbI bet you find it👍🇺🇸
Great piece of history! Thank you for sharing.
Excellent video really cool car😎 it should be restored and have poncho villa painted on it
Very cool good sir!!!!👍👍👍👍
@ 6:40 skips the life stories. Note: it's more like 1/2 a car or less.
Thanks! Lol
I highly doubt that is Pancho's car since there's no way to prove it. But if it is, why didn't someone put it in a museum a long time ago? The only car linked to him so far is the one he was riding when he got killed, and if I remember right, that was a 1919 Dodge.
It's my car i use to drive my wives in!
@@user-is9ff4zh6p you can only wish lol
Mitchell 1903-1923 815 eighth st Racine Wi
👋👋👋 muy interesante video Jerry cómo el video pasado felicidades ....y el cesar no se aguanta jejejeje
The concrete frame at the top level seems to have fallen apart faster than the wood framing and brick vaulting in the lower levels, even in what looks like a desert town. Modern concrete with steel rebar is one of the most short-lived building materials still in use.
Maybe it was parked because IT HAD NO DAMN MOTOR !
Southern Born it wouldn’t take long to put one in tho
Cool, but it also pisses me off. That car should be in a museum not a trash heep. 100 years, with modern shit around it and a modern light switch permanently bolted to the firewall? Where’s the engine and the doors? Hood and grill shell? Probably scrapped for cervesas. Someone should disassemble it and carry it out of there piece by piece.
Fake story anyone who really knows how the revolucion went down knows this has nothing to do with my Doroteo Arango aka pancho villa
@@tukamote6185 Tukwila mote these nuts mutt
I hope you gave those men a big fat tip for their hard work !!!
How did they plan on getting the car out? Even if they dismantled it, many of the parts would not go through the tight passages.
My recommendation is to leave the car where it is, and continue to build the new structures around the car, leaving it as an attraction, but we must find out the history to appreciate the car and tunnel.
@@thewriter2549 Thanks
If they really wanted the car out. Set up a boom crane and raise it out.
That would cost 15K-25K. Probably a year's pay for the people of Juarez
@@ttech694 maybe the Mitchell descendent would buy it and restore it for the museum.
That is the sketchiest place I have ever seen.
This car needs some serious restoration and respect.