Classic cars in a wrecking yard

I work for the family business and my Father-in-law has recently purchased a few classics as investments. I have had the pleasure of helping him out in this endeavor and it has had made me utter the phrase "I love my job!"

On Friday I headed up to "Almost Canada" to pick up a 59 FORD Fairlane Galaxie 500 convertible he has purchased. My best buddy is working four ten's, so he was available to go for the ride. Half way there we got a phone call that the seller was in the hospital, so we had to call off the trip.

We were bummed to be certain, but we happened to stop in a little town in Northern central Washington. It's a town that I have passed through many towns for sporting events when I was in High School. Right as you enter town there is a wrecking yard. While riding in the bus I could see over the fence and there was a plethora of old cars. I have always wanted to check this yard out, and since our original mission was called off, we decided to check the yard out.

We went in and the owner was manning the counter. At first he was hesitant to let us into the yard, but after talking with him a bit, he let us go out to check it out. We were thrilled!

It was freezing cold, but there was a ton of vintage iron to check out.

Lark Wagon:



Second Gen Ranchero. I like it since we have a 63 Ranchero:



60 Ford:



57 Bel Air wagon. This thing was solid aside from the missing rear quarter that someone hacked off with a sawzall:



55 Chevy wagon:

 

There was a ton of Tri-Five Chevy's Most of them wagons, but there were a number of 2 door post cars. There were also a couple of Pontiacs, even a 2 door post that my buddy was really digging, until he stepped in a hole that was full of water that smelled like raw sewage! But he was a trooper, and we kept on going.

There were at least three Square birds



There were two Kaiser Manhattans, which is amazing, since I've only ever seen one other in person. (It was my Father-in-law's father's car and is safe and sound in his shop)

Split windshield:



One piece windshield:



AMC



Another 57 Chevy wagon:

 

Ever hear of a Hillman? I hadn't, but there were two of them in this yard.









57 FORD Ranchero

 

Country Sedan:



Complete Pontiac wagon, still has a motor.



A Borg Ward?







There is more to share, but it's getting late. I'll post more from our adventure later.

 

neat stuff there..........

 

The Borgward was a German import that never sold well in the USA.
The Hllman was a British car, which was part of the Rootes group (Sunbeam, etc). It was a little more "luxurious" and a little sportier than a Ford Anglia.
What a cool place to wander around for a couple hours!

Did you find a '59 FORD Fairlane Galaxie 500 convertible?
Just in case you need something later.

 

Thanks for the tour. There look to be a lot of nice saveable cars in there.
That 55 Chevy wagon rear bumper with guards is very nice.
I remember almost buying a Hilman Minx years ago.

 

Thanks for posting! The pictures went well with my Sunday morning coffee.
Like a trip to a museum.

 

That '60 Country Sedan could be something special!

Take another look at the pic. It's got a molding on the roof that I've never seen on these, separating the dark roof color from the red body color. This wagon looks fairly solid. If I were in your business, I'd certainly check this one out.

 

Interesting yard.

I've heard of Hillmans, actually a friend of mine owned one or two back in the '60's, but never heard of a Borgward.

A lot of Restore-able cars there and although I'm all Chevy, I like that '57 Ranchero.

They need to get some primer on it soon.

Bill

 

Cool adventure!

 

Thanks all.
There was another car there that looked like it was also European, and as soon as I saw the nose I figured it was French. I don't think I got a good photo of it though. You can see it in the photo next to the Hillman's.



There was a ton of cool vintage iron here that I didn't get photo's of. There was an entire collection of Corvairs, even a Greenbrier truck.

I looked the 60 FORD wagon over pretty well, aside from the broken glass it is very complete. I think it was a Country Sedan. I was pointing out to my buddy how different the 59 FORD is versus the 60.

They did have a Fairlane, but it was a 64, so no parts for our 59 Convertible.

My Buddy found an 86 Jaguar XJ6 with a seized motor in the yard. He fell in love with it and tried to buy it for $500 but they wanted a grand for it. He figured we had an empty trailer and we might as well try and bring something home.

In the end we had a great time in the yard, the folks there were a little standoffish at first, but once they realized we were just a couple of car nuts they warmed up to us and showed us all over the place. I would love to go back again and buy something from them. If anyone is interested in anything they have, PM and I'll send you their info.

On our way home we came upon this on the highway:



It's a Mercury Commuter. We passed them (Empty, without our quarry) and gave them a thumbs up.

 

If you were in front of the Hillmans, the car immediately to the right was a DKW - German.

Basically a company that later turned into Audi

 

We stopped in Ellensburg on our way home for lunch at a little Mexican restaurant that is behind an old service station. In the past few years it was a coffee shop, but it is vacant at the moment. It's a pretty neat little place. Has some old gas pumps out front.

 

That looks right. Thanks Marshall.