This farmer raises chickens in a field... and also parks his Ferrari, Lamborghini and McLaren, which he restores himself.

At first glance, the setting looks more like an ordinary American farm than the lair of a supercar collector. There are chickens, eggs, a dog watching over the land, farm buildings, a tractor... and then, in the middle of it all, some Ferrariand Lamborghini, McLarens, Audi R8s and a reborn Ferrari 599.

This blend of rural life and extreme motoring passion is precisely what makes his story so singular. For behind the amusing image of a farmer surrounded by chickens lies a real enthusiast, capable of buying wrecked supercars, taking them apart, rebuilding them and giving them a second life. And over the years, this strange farmland has become a veritable Ali Baba's cave for enthusiasts of exceptional motorcars.

A farm, chickens... and a field full of supercars

Perhaps the most astonishing thing about Sam is the constant discrepancy between the setting and the cars. On the one hand, he talks naturally about his chickens, explaining how many eggs they lay each week and how the dog protects the land from predators. On the other, a few metres further on, we come across a set of Ferrari 360 A Ferrari engine waiting on its stand, scattered parts from old projects, and several prestigious cars parked as if everything were perfectly normal.

Here, supercars aren't lined up in an aseptic showroom under spotless neon lights. They live outside, sometimes dismantled, sometimes still dented, waiting to be repaired.

Sam hasn't built his collection like a classic collector. He's not simply looking to accumulate rare models or buy perfect cars. What interests him is the challenge. He likes damaged cars, those that many would consider too complicated, too risky or too expensive to save. For him, a damaged supercar is not the end of the road, but the beginning of a project.

This is also what had already made an impression with his green Ferrari 360 Spider, a particularly rare example that he refused to sell. At Sam's, some cars count for their rarity, others for their potential, and many for the story they tell.

The Lamborghini Gallardo Spyder, the perfect example of his method

Among the cars that best sum up his approach is this 2010 Lamborghini Gallardo Spyder. When he bought it, the car was far from presentable. Wrecked at the front, hit on one quarter of the rear, it had all the makings of a car that many would have given up on. Yet Sam saw an opportunity.

The purchase price already gives an idea of the gamble: around $45,000 for a Gallardo with only 12,000 miles on it. Today, such an amount seems almost unreal for this type of Lamborghini, even with its heavy history. But there's more to a project like this than just the price. You have to find the right parts, make the right choices, agree to spend months on a car, and above all entrust certain stages to specialists capable of achieving a result worthy of the model.

In his case, the restoration went very far. He preferred to repair certain elements rather than replace them, in particular a part of the bodywork that others would have replaced without hesitation. Some parts were bought second-hand, like Superleggera's carbon mirrors, while others, like a particularly expensive headlight, were bought new when there was no alternative. All in all, he quotes around $15,000 worth of parts for the exterior, followed by a much heavier bill for the bodywork and paintwork. The car, initially black, was repainted in a spectacular purple. The paint and finishing work alone would have cost around $30,000.

Supercars that aren't always perfect

And that's the philosophy behind his entire automobime fleet. At his place, cars exist in a permanent in-between state: some run, others run “more or less”, others are waiting for a part, a diagnosis, a final reassembly or simply time. An AMG GTS is there with a strange mechanical problem. A McLaren 12C may be the “clean” car in the collection, but it too has its quirks. A Ferrari 599 slowly continues its reconstruction. Several Audi R8s await their turn. An Aston Martin DBS resists diagnosis. A Ferrari 430, which has already passed through his hands, is nearing completion. Nothing is really finished, but everything is alive.

Where many collectors want static, impeccable, almost untouchable cars, Sam builds a collection of projects, of rescued cars that have already lived and continue to write their history.

A modified Ferrari 599

If there's one car that immediately attracts attention in the field, it's the Ferrari 599. It's not perfect yet, far from it. The new wheels already suit it very well, the Armytrix exhaust gives it a spectacular voice, and despite the parts still to be replaced, it's easy to see what this GT could become once fully completed.

The interior, with its carbon seats and carbon dashboard, further reinforces this impression of a project that will become spectacular.

Chickens on one side, Ferraris on the other

Sam doesn't collect cars to impress. He collects because he likes to understand, to take apart, to repair, to look for solutions, to revive cars that others consider doomed. The field with the chickens is not a marketing ploy. It's almost the perfect symbol of his world: an unpretentious place.

The image alone sums up the character: on one side, a field, chickens and a farm atmosphere; on the other, Ferraris, Lamborghinis, McLarens and a whole series of improbable projects. And that's probably why his world is so appealing. Automotive passion isn't always clean, smooth and tidy; it can also smell of dust, grease, fresh paint... and sometimes even the henhouse.