Vehicle Sightings at the Junkyard

Number_35

Number_35

Joined
Jul 7, 2014
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Location
Winnipeg MB CA
My fruitless trip this morning to the auto wrecker was redeemed somewhat by the sight of several vehicles from the past:

2nd-Gen Mazda GLC (1981 - 1985)
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These really were Great Little Cars (the supposed etymology of GLC). My wife bought one new, and we drove it for a number of years until it was rear-ended at a light. Reliable, fun to drive, and very economical.

This one is unusual in that it's a 4-door hatchback, and automatic.

Ours was the much more common 2-door hatchback, and had a manual transmission.

There was also a 4-door trunk model, which was quite rare.

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Mid-'60s Vauxhall?

This looks very Brit to me, and if I had to choose I'd say it's a Vauxhall, perhaps a Victor or a Cresta.

Vauxhalls were sold in Canada by Pontiac-Buick-GMC dealers. (Chev-Olds-Cadillac dealers got sister cars badged as Envoys.)

They were pretty popular as a VW alternative before the Japanese imports really gained a foothold, but did not do well here on the Canadian Prairies. The subcompact Envoy Epic was derisively referred to as the Epidemic.

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1st-Gen Mazda 626 (1979 - 1983)

These were RWD compacts, descendants of the beautiful Bertone-styled Mazda 1500/1800 and the later 616/618 (the piston-engined sib of the RX-2).

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I guess automatics were taking over by then.

I like how the firing order is cast on the valve cover.

Note the Tim Horton's cup abandoned in the engine bay. Very Canajen, eh? 😁
 
How about vehicles parked in someone’s yard that they “will never sale” so they rust-rot to the ground then someone tows it to the crusher. 1962 Impala SS 409. We stopped and asked. He said “it got horrible gas mileage “ That doesn’t matter so name your price. “No, not interested “ he said. Never sold it…. Scrap yard.
 
There was a guy around here that had a real nice Rover P5, it rotted into the ground, he would never sell it. When he died it went to the crusher. I guess some people just need a permanent reminder of the hatred they had for whatever reason for these cars.
 
Thats an interesting yard OP. The only yard here is LKQ (publicly traded company). They only put the older junk there, and it stays maybe 2 months at most.

Anything newish they pull all the commonly sold parts and sell them through there recycler model. I order parts from there also.
 
There is (or was) a yard about fifteen miles north of us in the sticks that had all sorts of interesting old stuff, like one of these:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autobianchi_Bianchina#/media/File:1961_Bianchina.JPG
As well as the more usual old Mercedes that predate the finmobiles, but some of those as well along with some pre-war American cars and many from the post-war period, of course.
Most yards these days operate on a part it quick or crush it model.
A shame, since there is a small market for oddball car parts and it is interesting to walk a yard and see all sorts of interesting and uncommon old machines.
 
Trav said:
There was a guy around here that had a real nice Rover P5, it rotted into the ground, he would never sell it. When he died it went to the crusher. I guess some people just need a permanent reminder of the hatred they had for whatever reason for these cars.
Click to expand...
They'd have to finally face their inabilities to "fix it up." It's like how a stock isn't losing money until you sell it.

The human brain is a fickle thing.
 
I was at a house with a 65 Mustang in the side yard rusting away. It had junk piled on top (real trailer trash living there). Wasn't interested in selling it. It'll go to the scrapper when the they die or the county makes them clean out the yard.
 
PontiacHO said:
How about vehicles parked in someone’s yard that they “will never sale” so they rust-rot to the ground then someone tows it to the crusher. 1962 Impala SS 409. We stopped and asked. He said “it got horrible gas mileage “ That doesn’t matter so name your price. “No, not interested “ he said. Never sold it…. Scrap yard.
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That really bugs me. A guy up in Michigan years ago didn't get a good lawyer and the city came in and said he was a hoarder and had to get rid of his "collection ". He had so much rare stuff it was unbelievable.
 
I’ve probably told this here before… A neighbor had a 1949 Chevy sitting at the back of his driveway. My buddy and I were young teenagers (early 70s) and asked him what was he going to do with the car. He told us “you boys can have it if you can get it to run”. After several summer afternoons, a junkyard battery, our collective lawnmower gas, and cleaning spark plugs and points, the old engine cranked and ran. We had it running when the neighbor returned from work. He told us to take our battery, tools and fuel and leave. Another scrapyard donation. Our parents told us that he was hanging on to the old car because it was what he and his deceased wife used years before. A memory he didn’t want to part with. I assume that could be something similar with many of these old vehicles rusting away in someone’s yard…
 
SC Maintenance said:
Thats an interesting yard OP. The only yard here is LKQ (publicly traded company). They only put the older junk there, and it stays maybe 2 months at most.

Anything newish they pull all the commonly sold parts and sell them through there recycler model. I order parts from there also.
Click to expand...
Most of our local wreckers don't allow customer access - you tell them what you want, and they remove the part and sell it to you at the counter. It takes a lot of the fun out of it.

The one I was at does allow customers in the yard, but is a sea of mud with junk scattered all over, including broken glass and jagged sheet metal. It's a bit of an obstacle course.
 
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