History French lake auto parts aka junktown usa

Nooo, please say it ain't so. This was one of the best resources I found for parts for my '38 Ford truck project. Floyd is the man and could always be counted on to be more than fair with his prices. I loved going up into the upstairs of the barn with all the headlights in it. Or out to the trailers scattered around the place to look for parts. Floyd was always able to point me to the right trailer, but like a little kid I couldn't help go into other places to see what was hidden away.

 

WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
So....after all the years of buying up all the other old yards, they're going to sell out!?
I hope the new owners keep it an old parts yard, and don't send it all to China. Since they've pretty much cornered the market on the old stuff in this area!
Sorry if it comes across as a rant! Just surprises me since they seem to keep bringing new old stuff in.

 

Sad news, its a great place! Please, please, please post when the end is near. Still need a few odds and ends for my project and would hate to miss out.

 

Great place, I've been there a couple of times. I also hope the new owners keep it as is.

 

Fantastic place to go.............fantastic place to walk around...........fantastic owners. Lets all hope the new owners continue the tradition. As Mark said in the first
post " its like a mental health day" to just walk around the place. Thanks again to Floyd and family and the best of luck to you where ever you end up at.

 

Heard of it for years but have never been there. Sounds like a terrific yard.
I should head up and see if I can find some body parts for my Nailhead RPU.
I, like you guys, sure hope who ever buys it continues as is.

 

You live that close and you've NEVER been there? Some of us all the way over here in Mi have been there a number of times.

 

Just an interesting thought, last time I was there they had an okd news paper clipping on the wal, which pointed out the car crusher - that we all hate so much was invented is made in Annedale Mn near French Lake Auto.
I too hope the new owners realize what a prize French Lake Auto is.

jim h

 

Man I haven't been there in ages. It would be sad to see it go, I hope the next owner continues the legacy.

 

They have always been good to me. Years ago I purchased a used pontiac 400 V8 that when I put it in my car the motor lasted less than a day and they did not have another one so they rebuilt one for me at no charge. You wont find that today! Great People!

 

Thanks Mark,and Thank You to everyone that has supported us over the years,I hope it goes another 53 years.

 

I'm blown away by this. I just heard and can't believe it. Why now? Is there a discount for Hambers? Can you guys be sure whoever buys it never kills it? You guys are irreplaceable.

Slim

 

Despite being a "car guy" and living in the Twin Cities allof my 35 years I only made my first trip up there a few years ago. Since then I usually head up 3 or 4 times a year. I live about an hour away and always bring "the big tool box" so I am never caught withtout the tool I need to get the part I can't go home without.

After hearing the news of the sale I'm pretty quick to think to myself that access to a place like that was just too good to be true. In a world with most yards scrapping anything before it even has a chance to get to be 15- 20 years old and not even letting customers back in the yard to have a look anymore French Lake was a throw back in time- or honestly as close as I ever expect to come to any situation in which I could imagine what a yard might have been like 50 years ago.

The first time I went there I was absolutely speechless at the sheer size of the place. I'd heard rumors but it exceeded my expectations 10 fold. I think over my succesive trips I've taken in the neighborhood of 1500 photos there. To this day I've never seen anything like it.

I too hope the new owners have an appreciation for the history and uniqueness of what they will be purchasing. I also hope they have an understanding of what a nearly 'sacred' place it is for a lot of us. More realisically I hope that they also find a way to make it financially feasible for them to keep it in operation like it currently is. If it can't be done then I guess I couldn't blame them for doing whatever they need to do to make it work. What a shame it would be to lose all that history though.

I do have a lot of respect for the family keeping the business running as it has been for this long. It was always a pleasure just to go there and walk around for an hour or two after finding the part I came for.

Much thanks to the family for many good memories. I doubt we'll see another yard like FL again.

Jay

 

i was there last friday (4.5 hours ) they are stiill hard at it
we did not even come close to examining every row!

sorry brain faded and took no pics duh!

saw 2 desoto hemis.. a few chrys hemi trans in a trunk(?) and a few 30's ford cowls and lotsa 50's cars still have usable grilles and trim parts and pieces every where !

studes
corvairs
odd ragtops
40s tin?


with some patience and energy many complete cars from the 50's and 60's could be stitched together

we were looking for some specific 63 dodge stuff ,70's ply wagon interior pcs. and late model dodge maxi van doors we came home w/o any parts but many ideas on what to go back for ...

the klunker program pile was a saddening revelation?


all in all it was way more fun then the state fair which we had gone to the day before

i am gonna try and rest up today man thats alot of miles walked in a few days

 

Hey, if everyone on the HAMB kicked in a $100 we could make the down payment. At $16M I think most of the old stuff is going to get crushed. The new owner is going to have to do $1.5M per year in business just to pay off the loan :-(

 

Closer to the cities, and in the old economy, it would be getting crushed and turned into a housing development anyway.....

 

Kind of make you wonder what is going to happen when "old iron" is no longer available due to yard closings, crushing, EPA, tree-huggers, and the passing of time and old car folks.

 

Why...then it will be over.

 

Best of Luck to Floyd in his Retirement! Hope to see him cruising that packard around. This is a first class operation dedicated to our hobby, hope it stays that way!

 

What a shame..... one of my favorite places to shopping on the day after Thanksgiving....

Doug

 

I think I'll be making a trip up there soon. Being unemployed has it's perks.

 

bryan6902 and I were out there last Thursday. I wasn't looking for anything in particular but Bryan found a bunch of stuff for his 57 Pontiac project (and got a smokin' deal too!). We also got to chat with Skip for awhile before we left. I've been out there a number of times over the years and every time I go I'm still amazed by the size of the place and the quantity of old iron out there. And each one has a story to tell. What a great way to spend the morning . . . surrounded by old tin!

 

^^^^^^^ YES YES YES^^^^^^^
Had a great time walking around with Bull lookin at stuff and B.S in'! If you live in the upper midwest and have not been to French Lake you need to go! Quantity and quality, there is still a lot of great parts to be found and re-used! With the business being for sale I thought maybe a lot of the old stuff would be gone/crushed but the good stuff is still there and it seems like they keep getting more! So step away from the computer and head on out before its gone!

 

WOW! I can only hope the next ownership keeps it the same. I would if I won the lottery.

 

The folks at French Lake are great to deal with, either on the phone or in person ... none of the "WTF do you want?" attitude that you get at some yards. Walking the yard is time well spent, even if you don't find the exact part that you came for.

 

Wow, That's news here in MN. I have not been there in a long time but the LF door on my Biscyane came from there. I pulled it off in the winter of '76 and Floyd said anyone who would haul that up here in the winter gets a deal. When I called he quoted me 50$ but let me have it for 20$. Floyd is a good guy.

 

We need more good folks like Floyd.

 

Do Floyd & sons have an internet site, pix? Where in MN is it? If it's for sale for $16M, then it must be huge, but I have no idea how many cars are there, what makes, '30s, '50, etc.

 

http://www.frenchlakeautoparts.com/

here is there web site check it out.