Anyone with a keen eye on YouTube will be aware of the growing trend in the last few years for vloggers that are known as ‘urban explorers’, where they go investigating abandoned or derelict locations and showing the results in videos that become viral sensations.
Such has been the case this week with one of said explorers, Colin Smith, best known by his vlogger name ‘The Bearded Explorer’. He and his friend Aaron have made the news following the upload of a video they made back in August, where they entered an abandoned underground car park previously owned by the now defunct Bristol Car Company.
Their discoveries were startling, to say the least. Amongst the prestigious supercars found gathering dust on their travels were a rare and one of a kind Bristol Fighter Prototype, with its original ‘gull wing’ doors, which is believed to be worth around £350,000.
Smith and his compatriot also found a Bristol 409 Bullet Speedster, worth around £175,000, a 2008 Bentley and an original 1950s Mercedes-Benz 300 Adenauer. All of these, together with original wooden car moulds, a motorbike, an electric eight wheeled drive vehicle, and an old taxi cab, are believed to be awaiting auction, of a predicted collective value of an eye-popping £30 million.
Speaking about his find, Smith said that he is a petrolhead at heart, so couldn’t believe his luck, but he has also said that he is unlikely to come across any similar haul like this ever again in his lifetime, particularly when you consider that the manufacturer, Bristol Cars, are no longer operational.
As you can see from his above video, it is quite a remarkable watch to say the least, almost as if these hidden supercars have been cryogenically frozen in time. It’ll be interesting to see where this lost treasure ends up next after auction, and at Driving Experience we’ll be watching closely to see just what they end up going under the hammer for!
