Hop Into Vintage

It’s a classic car bonanza at the Barn, Miami’s buzziest dealership.

- Brett Berk & Chris Rovzar

Gaston Rossato sold his first car, a 1981 Toyota Corolla he’d purchased from one of his South Florida neighbors, when he was just 9 years old. “He was asking $200 for the car. I offered him $100,” Rossato says. “He laughed at me.”

But Gaston returned to the neighbor’s house with his father, Lucas, who ran a local used-car dealership. Lucas lent his son the money for the transaction and later let him use his lot to resell it. “We made 100% profit. And I bought the bike I always wanted, a GT Performer,” Rossato says. He was hooked.

Rossato started his collector car dealership, the Barn Miami, in 2013, buying and selling underappreciated specialty vehicles out of a rented one-car garage. Although his father still works with him as an adviser, Rossato, now 37, has seriously upgraded. His shop occupies a 10,000-square-foot standalone warehouse building in Doral, with acid-stained, polished concrete floors. In a lofted, clubby lounge perched above the showroom, a picture window overlooks more than $6 million in inventory, including Ferraris, Alfa Romeos, Porsches, Mercedes-Benzes, and Volkswagens.

The dealership’s name came as a surprise Valentine’s Day domain registry from Rossato’s wife, Nicole, to evoke the idea of “barn finds” in vintage car collecting. The business has developed a dedicated customer base, many of whom return to buy or sell multiple vehicles. These automotive aficionados— including Gen Xers and millennials, people of color, and women—flock to on-site events celebrating car culture, such as lectures and discussions, and regional unveilings of new models from exotic automakers.