The rear fuel tank on my ’95 F-150 4wd started piddling gas on the driveway a few weeks ago, which meant a return visit to the the junkyard I pass on the monthly run to the landfill (having already had to replace the front tank due to rust-through). We found a workable donor in their “tank pile,” and on a whim, I asked if they had any old Beetles in the yard. He said he only had one, and I was welcome to drive back in the yard down the “import row” to check it out…
Well, the Beetle turned out to be a mid-’70s Super, which was of no interest to me (I’m restoring a ’62 and ’63), but the next row over had some great former “domestic” CCs.
Here we have a 1962 Ford Fairlane 4-door sitting next to a 1979 Dodge Aspen R/T. The Dodge was apparently a real go-getter in its day, with potential 0-60 times near that of the contemporary Corvette L82 or Camaro Z-28.
Next up is a ’75-’78 Mercury Bobcat (help me out with the exact model in the comments) along with a 1979 Ford Pinto down on the end. There was a second Bobcat (’79, I think, based on the later grill) to the left of the red car.
Here’s another Dodge, a 1974 Charger this time. It’s more of a ‘squatter’ at this point, tho.
With my mind still fresh from the AMC AMX history I recently posted, I immediately recognized this as a Javelin, probably a 1973 model, going by the full vinyl roof. Not an AMX trim level, unfortunately.
Continuing to step back in time, here’s a 1964 Ford Galaxie 500 convertible. I wonder what stories it might tell…
This 1962 Ford Falcon didn’t look too worse for the wear, actually. It’s a very no-nonsense face.
Corvairs are rare enough around here, but it wasn’t until I was reviewing my photos back home that I realized this is a 1960 model with the one-year-only concave front facia.
As soon as Paul stops drooling, he’ll have to help me ID the specific model of this Volvo 544. My best guess is around 1959, but I don’t know these well enough to tell the difference from year to year. This has to be a rare car for the Middle West.
We’re getting close to the end of the row now, where I spotted a pair of mid-century Plymouths. This shy one is a 1950 Deluxe Business Coupe. What a trunk!
And here’s a 1949 Plymouth Special Deluxe Station Wagon. Note it’s a two-door, though! I’d call shotgun if I were you.
The 218 c.i.d. (3.6L) 100hp straight six engine has been resting (rusting) away for a long time. It’s very artful at this point.
We’ll finish up our frosty walk by paying respects to the elder statesman, a 1947-49 International KB Series, which appears to have been a working yard truck at one point.
It’s been a number of years since I haunted junkyards regularly. I’d forgotten how much I enjoy walking around and imagining what these relics from another time once looked like, or what they could potentially look like given enough love and care (and very deep pockets)…
Where do you live Kansas? I never saw a junkyard in such a flat remote place before. Usually they are fenced in in more dense areas.
That yard is certainly eclectic with various years and makes mixed in without a lot of rhyme or reason.
I am surprised you are digging for a used fuel tank for an F150 we were buying them for like $60 locally new and then spraying them with zinc spray for corrosion resistance. Or even rubberized undercoating for good results.
That Charger looks like it might be a viable project car.
I’m actually in central Illinois, not Kansas. Pretty flat here, and this yard is pretty remote, basically nothing but corn and beans all around.
Given my truck is just a beater farm truck, I wanted a tank I could just “plug and play.” Most trucks the same age as mine (’95) are pretty rotted out – we’re in the heart of the salt belt.
Nice to see a yard that keeps the older stuff – most around here have way too high a turn over. That Aspen R/T is particularly neat. Too bad someone gave up on it as it doesn’t look in too bad of shape.
Thanks Ed,lot of interesting stuff in the yard
The old volvo makes me drool. At the mention of Kansas I was flooded with some memories. There is a similar junkyard in wilroads garden Ks, a suburb of dodge city. I went there about 15 years ago and was still able to see individual cars from my youth. Thats something since I left town in 61.
If you happen to live in the area, it was once called stapletons junk yard and I am curious as to whether it’s still there. He offered me a full 48 studebaker pickup for $800 but I was still recuperating from my ex wife and exwife bankruptcy. I don’t go up there any more and don’t think I’m in the market. Some of you might be if he still lives there. I might make an exception for that volvo.
I have a thing for that 64 Fairlane hardtop. On your tank, I had understood that there were some pretty good interior stop-leak coatings for those, though I have never tried one.
Yep, I’m familiar with them, but really didn’t want to add another project on top of the work I’ll already have to do to replace the tank – got too much else going on!
Nice to stroll through a yard.. I need to move to an area where you can still do that (not here in the litigious north east; home of the ‘Insurance Capitol of the World’….baah!)
Mike, Based on you comment you must be near me (I even used to work in insurance unfortunately) There are a few yard’s around that let you walk around. At least a few years ago Chuck and Eddies would let you take a walk. And depending on who was there Levilles in Somers would also let you in plus they sometimes have some weird stuff to look at.
Thanks for sharing these. There’s literally no place I’d rather be than poking around a junkyard (surprise surprise). The ’67, ’68, & 69 Chevies & the ’68 Mustang call out to me.
Junkyard pics would be a nice little feature here.
Curbside Clunker?
Curbside Crushee?
How about “kicked to the curb?”
I was reading this post with my transportation-obsessed (cars, trucks and trains) soon-to-be two-year-old son on my lap. He kept pointing at the pictures saying things like, “Oh, No!” and “Uh-Oh!”. “Yeah, buddy, these cars are all broken. It’s too bad.”
What’s the car in between the Bobcat and the Pinto? And can the Pinto be definitively identified as a 1979 and not a 1980?
IINM, that ’49 Plymouth wagon is a historically significant car; it was the first all steel-bodied wagon on the market. All 1949-54 Plymouth steel-bodied wagons were 2-doors (I think a larger 4-door woodie remained available through 1950), and the 1949-51s were built off of a very short wheelbase (nearly compact-sized) that Chrysler built only during that period. Those two facts limited its market impact, especially once GM put normal-sized Chevy and Pontiac 4-door steel-bodied wagons on the market late in the 1949 model year.
Hard to tell on the Pinto. The rubber strip on the front bumper matches photos I found of the ’79, and was not on photos of the ’80. But then, the interwebs have been known to be wrong on occasion!
Thanks for the added backstory on the Plymouth wagon, didn’t know that. It’s a car that appeals to me a lot (but not enough to save that particular one!).
No idea on the car between the Merc and Ford. Here’s a closeup of the grill:
Looks like a Mazda 323 to me, missing the chrome from the wing part of the M badge
It’s a Mazda Protege. Late 90’s or early 00’s.
Ed-
Can you find out how much he wants for that Charger???
I’m serious.
The yard is Nelson’s Auto Salvage in Victoria, IL at (309) 879-2306. Good luck!
Burn Notice replica?
I’ve always went into salvage yards thinking that every one of these were once somebodys pride and joy at one time. Also for some reason pick and pulls remind me more of the lobster tank in a seafood place compaired to a regular yard.