A month ago I visited this yard down in Vancouver WA. Whats inside was kind of surprising! 3000 cars from the 40s, 50s, and 60s. UNREAL. Thought some of you might enjoy this video.....
Thats exactly what I was thinking when I was looking in some of these. Some happy family made a big investment for that car! The history in them....so cool. I've not spent a lot of time with cars from the 40s and 50s so to me most of this was new. Some of the dash instruments and designs were amazing! Would love to have seen these on the road years ago. Just a really cool place. I'm sure I'll go back again one of these days.
yes , they were someone's dream and a big investment at the time. i can't help but wonder if they were better maintained they would still be on the road. the reality is they were all sold at some time for cheap as basic transportation , then at some point the cost of repairs was more than it's value. that's how they ended up there now.....people want them to fix up or for parts and are willing to pay. i guess that's the circle of a car's life
I don't know, but I've sent that picture to a few Tim's already letting them know the proclamation. Its important they know.
Any of you folks know what either one of those pictures are? What car they are out of? The one thing I neglected to annotate when I was taking pictures.
1st one is a Pontiac and the banjo wheel says 1939-1940 to me. The second one is what appears to be a 55 Buick. The Buick guys will be able to nail it down.
Makes sense. The yard is heavy on both Pontiacs and Buicks. Wasnt sure of the years for either. I'll see if I can find some images of those cars. Appreciate the tip!
I know but if I told you I'd have to kill you...and I wouldn't get any more deals on MAACO paint jobs. Todd owns All American. He called me a few years ago with a legit bandit Trans Am with PHS do***entation. I made some sweet coors money off that blocker. Todd is a straight shooter. If you are in town this is definitely a must see yard. I have picked it clean for a few decades now but more treasures still lurk.
Back when I was hitting the NW swap meet trail regularly I always took it seriously and made sure I got in early, seems I couldn't get there earlier than Todd and Connie, they usually had a wheelbartow full of parts before anybody.
Nope in most cases its wasn't somebody's dream. It was a status symbol to buy a brand new car. As soon as the new wore off the adoration became tarnished. Second hand cars where looked down on. As soon as it was paid off the old car was traded for a brand new one. It was the keeping up with the Joneses mentality. Many new car dealers did not want any used cars or even nos cars on their lot. Like the Hartung idiot they parked them someplace and let them set & rot. When I was a teen a 10 year old car had no book value. I could buy them for $30 or less. Ive seen a lot of trade ins go straight from the dealer to the salvage yard. If the car needed paint or body work or any major mechanical work they where considered junk. The term cl***ic wasn't ever used. I seen a nice 64 impala 327 nice interior and paint get traded in on a new Plymouth Roadrunner. The next week that impala was at the salvage yard with the engine already pulled out & bucket seats already gone. The mentality was that the new cars where better and desirable. Everyone wanted new everything cars appliances ,houses ect. Second hand was looked down upon. The TV became commonplace and the advertizers all touted the savings you would have buying the brand new stuff. So the junkyards and landfills filled up. In many places you had to pay a junkyard to take your old car.
Unfortunately, this yard is downsizing. From 20 acres down to 5. They are only keeping the best cars and everything else is going to the crusher. They need to be down to that limit by January 10th, 2018. Quite a few of these cars in this video are now crushed and gone, or will be very soon. Extremely sad to see these go. Most weren't really in good enough shape to restore, but the value was still there in being able to scavenge some items needed for another build. I feel fortunate that I had the chance to go down and walk most of the 20 acres before this happened. The pictures they are posting on instagram are heartbreaking. All that history - GONE. I'll try and sneak back down there next summer and see what survived. I have a feeling its going to be depressing.
The Jalopy Journal
