Barn Find!

Right, exactly, just call it the old car to begin with until you see what they know about it. A lot of people just have an old car around from a passed family member or whatever, and don't have any idea. Or, they know what it is, but aren't in the hobby so don't know what is desirable and what isn't. Just be cool and ask them about it, see what they say. You'll know right away if they know what they have (or, worse, if it's nothing special, but they think it is... that's the worst situation).

Half the fun is just hearing about the history of the car, what they know about it, checking it out, and such. Even if you don't get it, just hearing any old stories is awesome, probably the best part of the hobby to me.