A classic Jaguar E-Type that was found in a barn just sold for almost $100,000

Barn finds are the best thing about the classic-car collecting world.

An absolutely beautiful piece of automotive design, with a brilliant pedigree and glorious physical lines, is purchased, enjoyed and then ... completely forgotten.

Somebody parks it in an actual barn - not a garage, mind you, where cars belong, but a place where the cows and sheep lay down at night - and there it rots for a few decades before a savvy barn finder throws open the rickety wooden doors, shoos the chickens out of the way, and discovers a red 1964 Jaguar E-Type 3.8 Coupe.

Yes, these things really do happen. The E-Type, of course, is considered by many to be the most beautiful car ever created by human hands. If you disagree, you can take it up with the spirit of Enzo Ferrari, because that's what he thought.

This E-Type was recently auctioned by H&H Classics at the Imperial War Museum near London. It sold for £80,800, or about $98,800. The restoration will probably cost more than the car.

And it wasn't the only E-Type that went under the hammer. A 1966 E-Type 4.2 Roadster sold for £68,640 ($84,000).

It's story wasn't as romantic as the 3.8 Coupe: the 4.2 Roadster was a more forlorn "bush find." That's right, according to H&H, it was located in the "lee of a hollybush, gathering moss."