Found this pic when looking at a car on eBay (120072805070), thought that there might be some interest in some of the cars this guy has in his yard. Doesn't look like the typical s**** dump.
this is the oldest thing there ive heard.. a friend gave me a cd of shots he took up there...some say the guys hard to deal with and others say he's alright...lots of good projects in the pics though...
I have delt with him a little. If you come in and tell him his stuff is junk and he should give it to you he can be not so nice. If you treat his stuff like it has some value he is OK to deal with. Lets face it, the only reason he still has most of if is becaues his prices aren't give away. He does sell and he will trade. I bought some 57 Cadillac trim from him. The place is in Newton (on old hwy 6) and he keeps it clean to keep the city happy. I think his son lives next to it and they do have dogs. If you are driving east of Des Moines it about 10 minutes off of I-80. He is building a 53 pontiac custom and he has more than a couple late 50's Caddy limos. Carmak Riverside, Iowa
This is not fair! I just spent a week in Grinnell,which is but a stone's throw away and nobody said a thing! Okay,so now I have another reason to visit my kids again.
i stoped in there one day when i was looking for a job, hes got some nice stuf. there were working on a baged 53 poncho, the kid workin in there said they where trying for the ridler award i dont know if it was that nice, hes got o few t-birds also i live right in the center of newton and grinell
I've spent a lot of time in central Iowa. Although I was never there, back in the 70's there was a landlocked "abandoned?"junkyard in Grinnell that you could only get to by walking south on the railroad tracks out of town. My brother borrowed a really nice Packard hubcap from there along about '73. Any of you guys know of this place or what happened to it? I'll probably be back in Grinnell next fall or winter. My middle daughter and husband live in town,my youngest daughter lives in Iowa City. We've probably had about 16-18 family members attend the college and my wife's family used to live there for a while,too. They're Noyce's-like the Noyce Science Center and Intel-too bad the money didn't flow on down.
The fairway is well groomed but if you tend to hook or slice a little you're going to be right in the hazards.
There was a character outside of my town who had conservatively triple the amount of bodies which were atop a wooded hill lot. From the road below you could pick out a good forty....who knows what was on the other side of the crest... probably another sixty. Apparently, as I was told, the guy either liked you and gave you whatever you needed...or hated you and wouldn't sell to you at any cost which was the situation with the guy who told me about him. Needless to say, he was a character himself and wouldn't blame the old guy for refusing him parts. Now, this is Canada, so your talking about alot of these cars being rusted beyond help but the value in the peices and trim would have nonetheless been priceless to some, especially here. Anyways, the man eventually past and the township supposedly rushed in quick and crushed it all. So he took it all with him to his grave. Its a shame although Id probably do the same thing if people hounded me or act like gouls for parts. A lot of this kind of thing happened all around here in the 90's and little is left. Many once prominent salvage yards have since downsized and have crushed anything more than ten years old. I suspect it has to do with firmer environmental sanctions here in Canada and the fact its not a viable business anymore since most 20+year old cars have long since rotted into oblivion here. Insurance and government testing is starting to pull the noose tighter on the hobby here as well.
I have a couple of buddies that work there. There are more cars then that actually. They sell engines on ebay all the time. They do some really good work too. I work at the Carquest in newton and we sell a lot of performance parts so i get to know a lot of cool people with a lot of interesting toys.
Ridler, Ha! Not even close! I stopped last summer and looked over a '59 Elky that was very rusty and overpriced. Then looked over the rest of the stuff out back. Most of it very rusty as well. He does have a few cool items inside, but very pricey.
Wow, this is an old thread. Its funny this pops up because I worked there for almost 15 years, and he does have a lot of stuff. I'm fairly new to the hamb, but I can atest that he is in fact building a car to TRY for the Riddler. He is a very nice guy, but yes he is a lil overpriced on some stuff. He hasnt quite got it that the internet has killed the high priced vintage parts market. I've been on many road trips in his old hauler looking for the cl***ics that he has, and he is starting to realize that car parts have to be priced to sell now days. I wish him luck on his 50 Pontiac Riddler car? It is very nice, very radical. Chopped, channeled, sectioned, tons of one off's. He is an ex machinist, and his brother still owns a full blown machine shop (tool and die makers) But the Riddler is a very lofty goal. Time will tell. Any ways if anyone is in the area hit me up I can get people in to see the yard, he is very knowledgable and fun to talk hot rods to.
Finally, a newbie dragging up an ancient thread that actually is worthwhile! Thanks. Wish I'd known about this back when I lived in Grinnell and Iowa City.
It looks to me that those vehicles are recent transplants to that location fron another. Just to neat and lined up nicely like they were slid off of a rollback or something similar?
Nope no pink trim pieces, it is dark midnight purple, with lavender purple accents. As far as transplants, those vehicles have been there my whole life (i'm 33) as far back as I remember they were there. The city is on his *** to go away but he is grandfathered in and as long as he keeps everything clean and tidy they kinda leave him alone. Again i've known him for 19 years and I have him to thank for teaching me a thing or two about cl***ics, and keepin me outta trouble as a teen by workin there. That is where I learned how to paint, weld, build, fabricate, etc... Great teacher to take a chance on a kid that just walked in to his shop one day and asked questions.
Besides I could tell you I'm the kid that got to park and align most of those cars in rows and up on blocks. It's called labor and time invested, lol. But it was good for me to do those things. He is getting close to "retiring" if you can call it that, he has been self employed at this for a long time. He will be selling off things and trying to finish this car for himself. Or so he says.... I think it will be hard for him to retire since he is self employed? As far as a roll back, no but a 1967ish Ford tilt cab F800 cab over with a flat tilt bed yes. And I can tell you it aint fun to unload a car without a roll back.
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