I used to have the occasional loan (and to take the elderly owner down the pub) of a '30s 3 litre Lagonda (upgraded to 4.5L spec).
It had an interesting history. It was shipped to the Far East as new as a saloon. When the Japanese started invading the owner was told by the military to lose it, and given a large tub of grease. He liberally coated everything, dug a hole in his garden and buried it.
After the war he went back and dug it up, to discover that termites had eaten everything edible (it would have been an ash-framed body) but that the mechanicals had been preserved in perfect condition. He had a photo of a Le Mans team car, so he went to a local boatbuilder and asked him to make him a similar style body.
It was later shipped back to the UK where my mate installed the bigger engine and went racing. It might not have lasted 70 years, but it definately lasted the duration of the war and a couple of years more. Eventually it got sold on - I haven't seen it for years but the new owner was muttering about throwing the body away and putting a "correct" body on it. I hope he didn't - the body wasn't quite right in every respect, but it was part of the history of the car and made it unique. At the time I wasn't sufficiently interested, but with hindsight I wish I'd bought it.