In today’s world of Wikipedia not much is left to the imagination and certainly finding hidden treasure has become a rarity.  So this story is just so darn cool we had to cover it since as auto enthusiasts the barn find is the Holy Grail.

After calling in auctioneer’s to the family farm, the grandchildren of French transport magnate Roger Baillon discovered that the 100 dirt-covered cars that had decayed away undisturbed for decades could now be worth £12 million or more at auction.

Of course these are not your average vintage cars as they range from 1930s-1950s models from all the great European brands, such as Bugatti, Porsche, Maserati and Ferrari. Although most of the vehicles were only covered by a shed roof exposing them to the elements, two very special sports cars were hidden away in a garage. The two cars are a 1961 Ferrari 250 GT SWB California Spider with covered headlights which is one of only 37 ever made. The second one is a 1956 Maserati A6G Gran Sport Frua.

The Collectors’ Car Department at Artcurial, a French auction house, recently discovered the incredible collection.  They will be putting up the entire collection for auction in Paris on February 6th, 2015.

‘We found ourselves overcome with emotion. Probably much like Lord Carrington and Howard Carter, on being the first person for centuries to enter Tutankhamun’s tomb,” stated Matthieu Lamoure, Managing Director of Artcurial Motorcars. “This really is a treasure. No doubt a once-in-a-lifetime discovery.”

Roger Baillon’s collection, beginning around 1950, was nearly twice as big as the number recently discovered.  One Talbot-Lago in the collection had previously been owned by Egyptian King Farouk and a Ferrari had been used in the filming of a movie with Jane Fonda. Along with the rare Maserati in this collection, Baillon had intended to build a museum with his collection. However, when things didn’t go as expected, he was forced to sell 50 of his beloved cars, and the rest of the collection was just parked and literally forgotten about until now.  Hopefully these world-class beauties will be restored to their original greatness and shared in museums around the world.

Check out more images at Bored Panda’s coverage.