Remembering What You Saw At The Autowreckers Over The Years.

[Joe in Canada]

I spotted this in a yard in New Mexico about 15 years ago. I did not have the week to dig it out.  A few things I did find back then when I was into trucks and all gone now. The last picture is a 1966 Biscayne I pulled out of a yard in Balin New Mexico that surprisingly had the original 396 engine that we got running at home. Had it for a few years but a fellow in Nova Scotia wanted it real bad so it went. 

The gas pump in third picture I bought at the Pate swap meet is in pieces in my barn now for about 15 years waiting to be noticed some day.   

Edited January 7, 2022 by Joe in Canada (see edit history)

[Joe in Canada]

Stuff I did not buy and I have a real catalog of cars from back then from New Mexico, Texas and Arizona in yards.  The frames are all 63/ 64 Chevy B body.

Tried for a few years to buy the Chrysler with a Hemi but he wanted it for parts and I wanted it as a tow vehicle. He has since passed and I lost track of it in Olney Texas. Had real nice interior for the age. 

Edited January 6, 2022 by Joe in Canada (see edit history)

[M1842]

Sadly, I didn't take pictures of cars in the junkyards back in about 1981-82 when I was out looking for parts for a 69 Nova.   I saw a 1969 Corvair convertible, Ford Anglia of unknown date, 1959 Jaguar Mark IX Saloon in yards in Northern VA.  Saw a 1968 Olds Toronado in a yard in Southern Md, front clip was gone but the drive train was intact.  There was a yard in Sykesville, MD that had a section of 30s and 40s cars, most no longer had drive trains and were sitting in the ground up to their axles, the sheet metal was egg shell thin and floors were completely gone.  For a quick moment I thought about trying to buy some complete dashboards but didn't have the cash to do it.

[intimeold]

This is very old, in comparison to the sightings of some others; but I recall it as being striking at the time.  It was definitely, 1969, as I was in College then; and in a salvage yard, somewhere in North-Central PA. 

 

I was needing a clutch, linkage pivot shaft for a 1962 Chevrolet. It had a 327 engine and standard transmission.  Well anyhow!

 

We got permission to tour the yard; and try to find the part we needed.  Up on a grassy knoll, there sat a 1965 Shelby Mustang, white with blue stripe. It was hit hard in the right front; and the engine was out.  But the car was surely fixable. Really not bad at all. The Shelby Data plate, was still on the car.  That alone would be enough to build a Shelby around it.

 

When we got back down to the yard office; I did ask about that car; and they said the engine was, over in the corner of that room.  No wreck damage on it either.

 

I only had enough money for the Chevy clutch part. Oh Well

 

intimeold

Edited January 7, 2022 by intimeold (see edit history)

[8E45E]

4 minutes ago, intimeold said:

Up on a grassy knoll, there sat a 1965 Shelby Mustang, white with blue stripe. It was hit hard in the right front; and the engine was out.  But the car was surely fixable. Really not bad at all. The Shelby Data plate, was still on the car.  That alone would be enough to build a Shelby around it.

 

When we got back down to the yard office; I did ask about that car; and they said the engine was, over in the corner of that room.  No wreck damage on it either.

That makes me wonder if the Shelby actually did get saved.  And had someone been astute enough to have recorded the serial number when it was in the yard, it can be proven if it really was saved with all the information that is now available on surviving Shelbys.

 

Craig

[intimeold]

3 hours ago, 8E45E said:

That makes me wonder if the Shelby actually did get saved.  And had someone been astute enough to have recorded the serial number when it was in the yard, it can be proven if it really was saved with all the information that is now available on surviving Shelbys.

 

Craig

Craig,

 

I always wondered that.  I wasn't from that area; and never went back. That was in 1969.

 

Yea, the Shelby data plate, was still there. And the engine in the shop, didn't look like it had any wreck damage, air cleaner to oil pan.

 

Later on I was involved in several automotive and motorcycle businesses; and saw vehicles built just from the serial number.  But back then, really times were different.

 

intimeold 

 

 

[Harold]

16 hours ago, intimeold said:

Later on I was involved in several automotive and motorcycle businesses; and saw vehicles built just from the serial number.  But back then, really times were different.

 

 

 

 

In the 1970's there was a shop near where I lived that specialized in rebuilding totaled Granadas, Monarchs, and the occasional Versailles.  One day, they had the cowl, front floor, and front suspension of a Granada sitting in their shop.  The owner told me to come back in a couple of days and it would be a whole car.  He was right!

 

This shop later discovered it was a lot easier to steal a car matching the paperwork they had and then swap VINs.  The police came by one day and arrested the shop owner.  That was the end of that!

[28 Chrysler]

I first saw some of the cars I had in the same junk yard that I last saw them a year or two later. I hope that made sense.

[Ed Luddy]

Back in 1976 I was in a local yard in Oxford County Ontario looking for tail light lens for my 1961 Meteor when I noticed a tall spoiler. It was a Dodge Charger Daytona, turbine bronze with white tail stripe. Hit very hard at the left front, even the dashboard metal was bent. In London Ontario around the same time there was a 1967 Mustang Shelby GT 500 at Chant's wrecking yard hit in the front. At Corey's in London about 11 years ago a decent, solid 71 Porsche 911 coupe that was dragged out of a barn caught my eye. It needed rust repair, but not too bad. I asked about it, they were taking bids so I offered mine, never heard back and it was gone 2 days later.

[Bleach]

The most interesting car I saw in a self service wrecking yard was in the early 80's. There was a '58 Packard Hawk there. It was in bad shape. All the badges and letters were gone but it was very recognizable. There was a 55 or 56 T-bird in that same yard back in those days as well as lots of 50's & 60's cars. There was a near mint 56 Plymouth Belvedere that ended up there too. It apparently had been used in some rallies because there were all kinds of papers and documents strewn throughout the inside the car. I saved the owners manual from it which I still have. I couldn't figure why it was junked.

There was also a pink '58 Cadillac there one time it was also in great shape. I figured it was junked becuase of a bad transmission becuause it was in the trunk.

[Fargoguy]

I took these pictures at a wrecking yard in 2005 in Kalispell, MT. I often wonder what happened to this truck...

[72caddy]

Just drove by last year and everything is probably still there

 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 10, 2022 by 72caddy
wrong yard pics (see edit history)

[72caddy]

A few more:

[arcticbuicks]

That black 3 window is beautiful ! 

[pmhowe]

In the very early 1960s, I visited a junkyard just outside of Providence, RI several times. It was probably the junkyard that JV Puleo mentioned, although I remember it a Brown's junkyard. It had a half dozen 1929 -1931 Pierce Arrows, that I was interested in for parts I needed. At that time, I couldn't easily differentiate between the model years, but found it fascinating to see differences in quality between the various cars. For example, all the water jacket bolts on one car were polished stainless steel, while on another car they were chrome plated (it was obvious, as the plating was peeling off). Were the differences model year changes due to the advancing depression or were they variations between the top of the line cars and the less expensive models?

 

There were lots of quality cars from the late 'twenties and early 'thirties there. Two that caught my attention were a McFarlan sedan and a Cunningham. The Cunningham was a hearse, and not too interesting, but the McFarlan was very impressive.

 

Phil

[Harold]

One junkyard I haven't mentioned was off Route 57 near Phillipsburg, NJ.  I don't recall the name but it was there in the late 1980's when I went with a friend who needed a hood for his '66 Fury.  They had plenty of everything, but one thing stands out vividly in my memory.

 

My favorite car is the '51-'52 Plymouth and this yard had about 50 of them, neatly parked in rows.  A breathtaking sight for fans of forgotten Plymouths! I wanted to take them all home with me but obviously I couldn't.  I'm sure the yard is long gone but the memory survives!

[Angelfish]

So you're the reason there's no decent truck beds for sale at the wrecking yard.

 

 

On 1/5/2022 at 11:19 PM, Joe in Canada said:

 

 

 

 

Edited February 1, 2022 by Angelfish (see edit history)

[JV Puleo]

3 hours ago, pmhowe said:

In the very early 1960s, I visited a junkyard just outside of Providence, RI several times. It was probably the junkyard that JV Puleo mentioned, although I remember it a Brown's junkyard. It had a half dozen 1929 -1931 Pierce Arrows, that I was interested in for parts I needed. At that time, I couldn't easily differentiate between the model years, but found it fascinating to see differences in quality between the various cars. For example, all the water jacket bolts on one car were polished stainless steel, while on another car they were chrome plated (it was obvious, as the plating was peeling off). Were the differences model year changes due to the advancing depression or were they variations between the top of the line cars and the less expensive models?

 

There were lots of quality cars from the late 'twenties and early 'thirties there. Two that caught my attention were a McFarlan sedan and a Cunningham. The Cunningham was a hearse, and not too interesting, but the McFarlan was very impressive.

 

Phil

That would have been Bill's. There was no equivalent wrecking yard in the area. Bill had a huge part of the yard filled with pre-war cars that he refused to scrap. I don't remember the McFarlan, although I may not have recognized it. I do remember several Pierce Arrows, including a hearse. There was a late 30s Packard convertible sedan up near the front of the yard...unfortunately with the body rusted away to practically nothing although it appeared mostly complete. The first time I went there (it must have been around 1970) there was a very nice Hudson coupe, c.1925 beside the end of his building. The paint on it was still bright, the interior intact and even the tool kit was under the seat. I liked it but my father would have had a kitten if I'd brought something like that home. Sadly, the roof deteriorated and, by the late 80s it was just another wreck. Bill also had a Franklin converted into a snow plow that they used in the yard. I once took Dave Domidian there to look as his fire engines — there were about a dozen of them.

[Joe in Canada]

On 2/1/2022 at 5:03 PM, Angelfish said:

So you're the reason there's no decent truck beds for sale at the wrecking yard.

I know people mainly in Olney and Cumby Texas plus Balin New Mexico that had vehicles sitting out back. I was mandated to take 6 weeks holidays per year so this is what I did and had a great time doing it taking 2 week 3 X for 8 years. Seen the Grand Canyon, Corpus Christi and Elvis's house and everything between. I can tell stories all night long about good and bad dealings on the side of the road and then there is customs in the end. Yes I bought a pile of boxes 87 and older home from down south and between the boxes full of sheet metal over the 24 trips I took. 

[Angelfish]

I had the flatbed Ford for while but my wife didn't drive it very often.

[cheezestaak2000]

i was a mechanic at a small repair shop in the early 1970's and made a lot of trips to a local junkyard for parts. they kinda got to know me, so i was allowed to go in and get parts myself. i had heard some rumors that the owner had some connection to a chop shop. one day while in there getting some parts, i passed a pile of 50's dodges, chevies and fords. under that pile i noticed something shiney. on closer inspection, i saw it was a very late  model corvette, missing just about everything that could be unbolted from it.

 

[Steve9]

My first car was a 68 Fairlane lightly hit in the front end. This was in 1975 and after searching a few wrecking yards for parts I hit on the idea of finding the newest totaled car. The record went to a new Pinto wagon that was t-boned with just 1500 miles on the clock. The car hadn’t even gotten dirty yet.

Edited February 6, 2022 by Steve9 (see edit history)

[5219]

Back when I used to frequent junkyards, my buddy and I used to like to look for strange items in the cars.  We once found a Cadillac hearse with a letter from the funeral director to his employees telling them that there had been complaints and that stealing from the dead would not be tolerated.