Haven't been on here in a while and surprised to see there hadn't been anything posted about this: http://www.oldcarsweekly.com/news/old-salvage-yard-closing-auction I'm not sure how much is left or how good any of it is at this point. My guess is it's all pretty far gone. I spent a day there about 8 years ago and took a bunch of pics. There was a bunch of cool stuff, but really rough.
I wont be making it but thanks for sharing,Most guys wont let a cat outa the bag like this until its over.
...went down and walked thru on Monday, about 300 cars, ***les for about 85% of em, lots of good parts, some savers, lots of wagons, the black shoebox coupe has a louvered hood, frenched lites and a nailhead...reserve of $150-175 on each car, some are already sold..
I got to go there in the heyday when Gus had several hundred cars and no trees! Had a fried buy a 1947 Ford tudor sedan from him. Pushed it down the hill, popped the clutch and we drove it back to Rantoul where we were stationed at the time. Gus had a swarm of cars at his house in Funk ' s Grove too. Wonder if they are gone or part of the auction. Gus Miller was/is a great character to talk to. I hope he does well. I can't say what the cars are like now, but back when we would go there, he had some stunners. Like 2 rows of big 1937 to 38 Buick side mount sedans! If I wasn't too old, broke , and far away I'd be there.
Gus is a real nice guy and knows every car he has, ...here's those 37-8 Buicks (all are sold) and a few wagons...
Just a little more Gus information. He used to work gate 7, I believe at the speedway for time trials and if you were his friend, he would lok the other way as you came in! He cost Tony Hulman 2 dollars on my behalf a few times. He was a big fan of AJ Foyt and Gus named his son AJ. Nice to see some pictures of the Buick with side mounts, brings back good memories. I hope Gus does well today.
...a friend of mine went to the auction, I'll get a report from him tomoro and let you know what I find out....hope lots of cars found new homes.
Ok,..friend went to the sale, 3/4 of em went to s****pers, they have a year to get em all out of there, hopefully the s****pers will offer people a chance to buy parts first, don't know...most sold for 140-200 bucks,...the best car IMO was this 47-8 Ford coupe which only brought $600. ...sure hope some people get a chance at these cars for parts, lots of good stuff in there.
"most sold for 140-200 bucks" If nobody gets any parts and they wouldn't outbid the s****pers at that kind of money there should be no complaining.
^^^I agree, most likely a lot of the people there were just curious lookers,...many who couldn't attend or didn't hear about the sale mite like a chance at some stuff, ...a few more pics...
The problem with these yards is how do you get the car out. I heard about this about 10 months ago, but went to a local swap meet instead. They are neat to walk thru but most vehicles are far too gone in some cases even for useable parts. Neat to see as these yards are becoming harder and harder to find as they are being crushed out as second generations do not see any value in the cars there.Now thinking maybe I should have gone. What city was this in or near?
Danvers, Illinois just west of Bloomington...on 150E road , runs north and south it's a dead end just past the yard going north..here's the ph no on the gate, mite help...
'59 '60 mercury possibly? I can see the V slash off the top of the fender and '57 -'60 mercs had that in one form or another with the '59 being the most pronounced.
I think you are rite, I was thinking merc around those years and thought the tail lights on that one was oval shaped like a early 60s comet sedan at first but??? 57 to 59 maybe maybe??? That would have been an interesting one to build, 2 or 4 door hardtop if it were salvagable. 57 58 59
low budget,...think it's a 60's Merc wagon,...yup, a 49 Merc 4 door, and there was 51 up by the front gate, here's a few more pics... View attachment 3349185
Here's a few photos of a 62 Tempest that was there. It had good 1/4's, front fenders, doors and trunk lid. However, the entire floor had fallen out of the car. At $300, it was one of the higher selling cars and was complete, right down to all four original hubcaps.
...anyone know the current status of this yard;...heard the s****pers bought 3/4 of the cars, had a year to get em out,...wonder what it looks like now or if they are selling cars or parts,...probly snowed in by now.
dorf,..re-read my post, the 49 was referring to the Merc next to the Merc wagon,..the 51 was up by the front gate.
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