canadiancatgreen is one of our most prolific Cohort posters. He doesn’t even shy away from visiting junkyards in the depths of winter in Canada. So let’s tag along and see what he’s found, starting with this 1968 Impala sports coupe.
1978 Ford LTD
1964 Mercury Meteor. Yes, in Canada this was a Meteor.
Lookie here; it’s our mystery car from two weeks ago: a Dodge Wayfarer or Plymouth P19 two-door sedan. Or more likely a Canadian combination of the two, as in a Plodge. That means a Plymouth but with Dodge grille and badges.
Corvairs were built in Canada at the Oshawa, Ontario plant. This 500 coupe is identified as a 1960. The coupe didn’t enter production until mid-model-year, so they were always a bit rarer.
1968 Fairlane.
1959 Morris Oxford.
1974 Mercury Cougar.
1966 Plymouth Fury
1962 Buick Electra
1958 Austin
1967 AMC Rebel
1973 Ford Maverick
Another 1964 Mercury Meteor
Last but hardly least, a 1974 Lincoln Continental Mk IV
Didn’t some “Plodges” have more than just badges changed? Didn’t some have a whole front clip exchanged?
They are essentially a Plymouth with Dodge trim and front body work (sometimes narrowed).
Two Austins? they cant be common, first is a A55 Farina second car is a A50 55/6, mechanically very similar.
Plodges & De Plotos were assembled and sold in NZ, but not all the varieties usually one version of each flavour all with a flathead six
With the second Austin I’m going to suggest an early short boot A40 or A50. These have the circular back lights on the rear panel. The later run A55s have composite rear lights mounted higher up on the back wings and a lower boot lip. As I understand it the mechanical element was pretty much a direct carry over to the early A55 Farinas. There’s something quite poignant about scrapyards, all of these cars were once brand new and somebodies pride and joy. Over here we don’t tend to put the cars on old rims though they just get left resting on the ground which is probably safer.
Wow ;
Some nice finds there .
Is the ’58 Austin a ‘Cambridge’ ? . I bet there are parts I could use .
I was always told “there are _NO_ old cars in junkyard anywhere in Canada !” . nice to see there are still coming out in dribs and drabs .
Also very nice to see them all properly sorted most of the big LKQ self serve yards in So. Cal. are just jammed together higglty – pigglty, this means of course there are now vehicles salted away in random rows that I have to go looking for and I don’t like the spend the entire day walking the yards .
Keep ’em coming C.C.G. ! .
-Nate
“Most of the big LKQ self serve yards in So. Cal. are just jammed together higglty – pigglty, this means of course there are now vehicles salted away in random rows that I have to go looking for.”
LKQ posts their inventory online, so you can run searches from the comfort of your couch. For example, while sitting at home here in Colorado I can see there’s a 1966 Chrysler Imperial sitting in Row 4, Space 3 of the Ontario, California yard.
When I lived in SoCal, I used to check the inventories at 10 or 12 yards on Friday, and then head out Saturday morning to check on any interesting finds.
Parts of BC and Alberta seem to have a lot of old cars still. Edmonton area in particular always has a lot of neat classics turn up. Quite a few come off rural properties and have been sitting a long time and thus need everything. I suspect those Austins, for example, have been sitting in a field since the 60s.
The doors on the early A40-50-55s are interchangeable with A90 Westminster doors.
Wow! What a variety of cars. And it seems this yard is neater and more organized than the ones I’ve visited. Although it’s been a few years.
When our son, now 34, was first driving, I took him to visit a local yard where I knew there was a 94-95 Buick Park Avenue like the one he was learning on.
The car had been hit very hard from the rear, pushing the bumper into the back seat cushion.
But from the front, it looked normal.
He walked over and said “hey dad, it’s just like our car. What’s it doing here?”
Then he saw the rear end and said he never would have imagined a car of that size being wrecked that badly.
I explained that it could have been a truck that hit the car.
That stuck with him and he is one of the best driver’s in our family.
I don’t see anything worth dragging home here, but quite a selection. I can’t imagine the challenge of operating a British car in an Edmonton winter, but many must have done it.
Great post!
These shots remind me of my younger days prowling the U-pull yards, yes even in the snow. “That ’68 Impala might have a 327, lets check it out”.
I haven’t seen a yard with ’60s or ’70s iron in a long, long time though. Most of the yards I frequented are now gone, with housing developments in thier place.
Rural BC does indeed have a lot of old iron sitting in fields, but most of the deals are long gone. Everyone thinks that rotting hulk out back is a “Classic”!
Oh the stories these cars hold. A shame to see them end up here.
I love junk yards and junk yard posts. Although I have to say that it’s hard to look at that Corvair and think about how it got there. Looks like it took quite the front end hit.