Show us your tired, your poor, your huddled massive wagons!

That Ambassador at the end of Page 6 looks like it's in great shape even in that photo.

Duly noted. Though as for the photos you're referring to I'm surprised how many cars there have tires that aren't sunk into the ground.

Hey, Maybe keep a record of the stock too?

 

Many people didn't start out with the intentions of having a junk yard....okay salvage destination. But if they lived in the country sometimes one junky car led to another parked out in the woods. And with friends and others giving or selling even more clunkers, a junk yard was created.
Some of those guys actually turned them into a living and the yards grew. Still others had the cars out in the north 40 where they were just forgotten and neglected. Junk yards in Illinois and other places we wandered did not have lanes or drive ways. Cars were just drug out to be parked next to and sometimes on older cars.
Dollie's older sister had a husband that had a hilly raven covered 40 acre farm. For some reason locals were giving him 46-48 Fords. Most looking decent and runable. But this was when they were worth nothing and it cost to have them hauled off. He drove old 46-48 Fords so those 25+ Fords became their parts cars. Somehow he drug them down into one of those deep gulleys. I wished I had a few of them now. Most were lowly 4-doors, a few 2-door. When the farm was sold to Cat I have no idea what happened to that bunch of old flathead powered Fords. Rumor was they were buried in that gulley. But I'm not sure that was legal so don't know.
The part about junk yards I could never figure out was why leave doors, hoods, and trunks open. And why leave windows down on cars with nice interiors? Just seemed like such a waste. Still they were just junky old scrap metal at the time.
The other memory that bothered me was when a coworker told about his pond full of Model A and Model T Fords. Most driven over the steep bank into the water by the local Ford dealership during the war.

 

It is a shame to see the cars left in the state they are in my photos but the yard they are in has been in business since the early sixties.
When they went in there they were considered junk and worth next to nothing.
Most of the old time scrap yards were like that around here and most are now gone what with high scrap prices and increasing regulation by municipalities.

The Caprice in the photos belonged to the yard owner and yes, rust was the cause of its demise.

I did salvage this 57 Cadillac Superior hearse from this yard...and it does run.

 

A sisters ex hubby was a tree pruner doing work on large farms on the Prairies. A lot of farms have huge areas with trees that have never been properly trimmed and have become hazzards and this fellow goes out and trims them, or removes them if they want to farm the land. In one case the farmer had sold the farm to his son but still had his own place on the farm and out quite a ways a large treed area that needed work. In among the trees were trucks and cars and farm equipment from the late teens to just after the war. The old guy would go out often, move from vehicle to vehicle, top up the fuel, boost the battery and run them so they would not seize up. He was quite particular about several early IHC trucks in particular, but also most of the cars he had pulled off the highway that had been abandoned in early times. The highway patrol would call him and he'd go load them up and haul them home. He did have a few 50's cars and very few 60's but mostly early. He had well over 200 vehicles socked away. I do not know what he did to deal with critters. The ex bro in law was given a 1950 Chrysler 4 dr sedan, a real beauty, ran very well, he had to put a battery and tires and otherwise it safetied no issue and he ended up using it as his daily driver for many years. He said you would be surprised at just how many places like this there are on the prairies, out of sight of most anyone who doesn't fly a small plane, and he was always finding unique stuff like WWII planes farmers bought for salvage after the war - usually the motors for irrigation pumpers IIRC,but also for the metal, and a ton of old military vehicles.

 

I've written this before. My good friend had a couple aireoplanes that we used to fly on weekends. One a 150 Cesna and the other a cool looking tail dragger Aronica. Okay mybe I spelled it wrong. I'd sit up front and he mostly was the pilot.
We'd go around the local country side locating old cars in ditches and behind barns. I'd make a crude map and with luck we'd drive back and he'd buy them to scrap. Things look different from the ground!
I remember a 30's Studebaker made of aluminum in great shape. Danged my friend scrapped it!

 

Some of these stories, Man. Wow. I wonder what's just within 30 miles of where I sit as I type this?

 

Makes us wonder huh? I do know that within 25 miles sits two more of those rare UltraVan RV's. One a very rare low production SBC V-8. Both almost too far gone to save.
I knew of another 55 Chevy handyman only a few miles away, a 57 handyman in decent shape across town, a Model A roadster pickup, a working Checker cab, and a decent looking Edsel last we rode around within 25-35 miles.
I'm sure there are many others hidden in the woods places we can't get to. Even in a small airplane many wouldn't be spotted in the woods.
But I'm sure if I'd talk to the owners "I'm gonna restore them someday." Or on TV "one just like it sold for $100,000."

 

This is the first time I've seen this thread and am loving it. It is a shame some of these classics have passed the point of no return, but it's still fun looking at the pics. That red '73 Squire cracked me up; what could possibly be up with that tube coming out of the grille and running along the fender. Anybody's guess I suppose.

 

Why yes it was from the windshield washer bottle which was filled with whiskey and the hose runs inside and up the steering column where the driver can uncap it to take a swig after pushing the window washer button..
Early on drivers tried using the radiator overflow bottle but got too much antifreeze in the alcohol.

 

What a great idea. I might install one on my CP, but at least I'll bring it thru the firewall.
Manufacturers might want to give this option a thought. Instead of cruise control, they could call it booze control

 

That is awesome news! Glad it was saved!!

Wow, a lot of sunken in wagons there! What also has me amazed is how "clean" they all look despite setting for so long. I mean around here I can let my cars set for a couple of weeks and they start to get moss growing on then, lol. I mean, even the windows are clean on these cars! It looks like most of these were "washed" for the pics. lol.

 

I know my next-door neighbor has a few cars stored away; One's a 1940s or 1950s Dodge that his son-in-law has which hasn't been inspected for nearly 30 years, the other is a 1970s car that I think is a Chrysler Newport which has some low-mile figure on it like 2,000 miles. And here I am keeping the 1984 Chevy in the garage most of the time, plus the car shows I've been to have shown a 1950s Ford Pickup...

But those are all cars which aren't out in the field. As far as cars in a field go, there's one 1960s or 1970s car in a field within six miles of home and I can see it very easily from a main road. I've seen pickup trucks near the woods and a school-bus behind some trees. And on subject of junk-yards there's one within two miles of home that has (or had) a Oldsmobile Toronado in it which is probably from the 1980s. It's also where a car that my Dad used to own went to (which was a minivan.)

 

I agree on some of those last junk yard vehicles. My red late model pick up has not been under the car port lately and already has a greenish yellow tint. The windows also appear to be tinted darker with a green slime. Yet those junk yard cars have windows that appear to have been washed for the pictures.
Just shows how location can help or hurt a car that sits out for years. It also amazes me of all the decent looking and running cars that end up in salvage yards. When some people get a few dings or miles on their cars they think they are scrap.

 

There was a guy on the forum the other day who was looking for a, (dare I say it), derby car. He should check out this thread.

 

And to think that regular maintenance would have saved millyunz and millyunz of autos! Do I make myself clear?



Hah, I'm just having a friendly moment here. But really, how many people go and buy cars and then never change anything on them unless they see quite clearly it won't go? Then WHOOP! To the junkyard, because of an air filter?

Many people who had a car for half a million miles or more are often going to tell you they are very meticulous about regular maintenance with cars and that they don't skip out on anything listed in the service manual. See this 1977 Mercury?



At the time this photo (and there's a video of it filmed in 2012; you can find it on Youtube) was shot, the car had 312,000 miles on it. Sure, there were some cosmetic things that could have been worked on but overall it was running fine.