Found Abandoned cars!! One old custom

So i was out taking pictures with one of my buddies and on top of this hill just happened to see the roof of a car. you could barley see them from the road below. you really just need to know where they are to see them, if you blink you'll miss it. its a really wierd piece of property they are on.

i climbed up the hill to have a look and saw these cars. the convertible really caught my attention. told they were all packards thanks guys.

i just thought these were too cool and had to show you guys. the cars are pretty gone but there are some parts i hope to salvage. there aren't any signs or anything and no place for an address. all the buildings around it in the area are all closed up.

Let me know if you see anyting else. it would be cool to find some history on the cars.

 

Wheres the custom?Everythins stock.

 

The first two photos are of a Packard.

 

That convertible is a Packard Carribean not a custom.

 

Theyre all Packards

 

cool man

 

Haha, I was just there last week on my way to pick up the K member I got from Roadstar. I posted about this spot earlier in the year. It's the corner of Piquette and Russell in Detroit. I'm not sure if you know the history of that street, but you probably passed the first Ford plant and birthplace of the model T. The field where the Studebaker plant once stood, and Fisher Body 21 where they stamped out GM bodies from 1912-1991.

 

And abandoned cars are not usually found inside fenced lots....................sheesh.

 

Thanks guys! i stand corrected, that was fast. thats why this place is awesome.

yeah i was sure i wasnt the first to post about it.

Lucky 77: yeah i have been on a tour of that plant they have all kinds of cars up there. tools stuff like that. they are trying to make the top part of the building into a museum. the cars are usually on loan. i was there when the piquette burned down. that sucked.

 

I believe the top floor is basically untouched since Studebaker took the plant over in 1911 or 1912. I heard it still has the original paint and teak floors!

 

yeah thats pretty much the way they wanted to keep it. the only thing they have really fixed or updated was the elevator. i think the sprinklers even still work. it was really cool to see.

 

yeah the lot is owned by the company that owns the building and little wrecking yard across the street.

 

You can go to google maps and see some of those on the Street View feature at that location.

 

I guess I was about a block away from there as I rode the Amtrak to Chicago last weekend. Not exactly a flattering view of Detroit from the train.

 

Looks like some guy name Cortez owns one of those cars

 

That was my thought. People usually don't keep the weeds down around abandoned cars either.

 

Third picture is a '56 Plymouth 2dr hardtop.

That Caribbean convertible is ultra-rare.. even as trashed as it is, it deserves a restoration.

 

1953 Packard Caribbeans are just about my favorite 50s car. In 53 there were a number of "halo" cars produced, the Skylark, Eldorado, etc and this one was Packards. There is a good write with pictures here: http://www.conceptcarz.com/vehicle/z8081/Packard-Caribbean.aspx

"All were constructed by the Mitchell-Bentley Company from production Packard convertibles. Extensive modification included de-chroming, a hood scoop, extended quarter panels, wire wheels, and a rear-mounted 'continental kit' spare tire."

 

Those don't look too abandoned sitting there inside a fence out in the open and not all overgrown.

 

Some dude named taint owns one of em'.

 

Those cars used to belong to a packard n.o.s. parts dealer.They had a parts store set up in a building behind fisher 21.I was restoring a packard pan-american for the detroit historical society,and we needed a master cylinder.You buzzed in and it was like walking into a dealership in the 50's.

 

those Packards are nice, I have a buddie with about 6 , been sitting for years, " someday" is all he says.

 

Tell your buddy MOTHER NATURE is getting to them quicker than he is!!!!!!!!

 

/\ amen brother, "ran when parked" LOL!

 

Off the top of my head they made around 800 53 Caribbeans and only around 450 in 54. The 54 cars bring more money (although I prefer 53) mostly cause they got a beefed up 9 main engine that put out an extra 30hp. These cars had straight 8 engines with a 4 barrel carb that was basically a couple of two barrels glued together. The 54 looks very similar except for fender skirts and a belt line down the rear quarters.


Sadly, restoring the cars pictured in this thread would probably be a fools errand. They are very big with lots of chrome and leather and expensive little bits that better not be missing.

 

I disagree with this statement. I agree with the better engine, but in $$$ the 53 is "the one"...always has been.

 

Yeah, I thought the rag top looked 53ish, that has to be a low # car for sure. Really an unusual setting indeed. Thanks for the piture of the old building, very cool. Had a 2-dr 49 Packard that I still regret selling!!~Sololobo~

 

Someone would buy that car for parts if not to restore, when it comes to the early '50s limited run convertibles, you just about have to crush them flat before no one will want to attempt to restore them. We had a '54 Packard convert and it wasn't that bad, but the rear body rots away from the mounts and sags like that. It just needs a solid original donor for the parts that aren't reproduced and a lot of TLC and labor.

But I'm sure they belong to someone - there is ALWAYS a way to find out who owns a piece of land to find out who the cars belong to - there is no excuse to just go and take pieces, and around here that gets you greeted with a shotgun.

 

Did Kanter buy 'em out?

~Jason

 

I'm with you that the 53 is the "one". Shockingly, the 54 cars have brought more money at public auctions fairly consistently. The survival rate of the 53 seems higher and you almost never see a 54. My dad had a low mileage 54 that he made the mistake of storing at his buddies junk yard in the late 60s. Showed up one day and it had accidentally gotten crushed. I guess that's something you could kinda predict might happen. Three years ago he sold a 53 that he had owned since 1969 for 20k. It was a solid running driving car that needed paint, chrome and upholstery. I could have had it for 13k but just the thought of the chrome bill made me pause. I wish in retrospect I had bought it.