History Drying up all over the country

Jimmy Hoffa too, so the story goes.

 

This one is still in business: http://www.a1autoco.com/

 

Not many Junkyards left in Wisconsin, a few old time yards left that are grandfathered, Not sure if the DNR shut them down, but some government agency has removed them, now we have recycling centers, very organized, expensive, the positive they are all connected, they will find what you are looking for, you pay, it's shipped to your door or local center. Because of Insurance you cannot walk through any yard/center today that I'm aware of. Another "It Is What It Is"

 

In Minnesota, we're still fortunate enough to have a few salvage yards, that older cars & trucks. French lake is the most well known, with cars & parts going back to the early 1900's (one building up until a few years ago, had brass era parts upstairs) Windy hill, which is just a little farther out from the cities, also has a field full of 40's-70's stuff. Trailers full of teens through 60's parts. I even pulled a model A sport coupe body out of a newly acquired construction dumpster a few years ago. There are others, Bridleys, to the south, Joes auto salvage( ford/mercury/lincoln) yard only twenty minutes away, the cars in the yard are rusty, but buses, & trailers full of ford parts.
Seems like every time i go to an auction, it seems like i find another "private" yard though. I've found so many of those that a farmer started on his property to supplement income, when things got slow.

 

Everything in my area is long gone. I still get a similar kick from walking the swap meets but cool stuff is drying up at those also.

 

He was a Kiko. A breed originated in the wilds of New Zealand they are know for their hardiness.

 

My local yard only has cars 10 years old and newer. All the old stuff was crushed !

 

That seems to be common business practice, we have a couple of yards and one has the newer vehicles and the other has older than 10 years old but the owner of the yard with older vehicles is in his 80s so don't know how long he will keep it going.

 

Yes same here in the UK everything has to be politically correct and Health and Safety bonkers.
No common sense left at all.

One thing I would say though for you guys is you do have a fantastic guy.
Bob Owens, he has helped me out whenever he could,
Owens Salvage Company
Recommend him.

 

None in my area......Absolutely none.........No point in nosing around looking.......nothing to see here........Nope, no old really excellent yards anywhere around here......filled with old iron.....nope... ain't seen any....

 

we are fortunate to have Turners Auto Wrecking here in Fresno. Jerry still has all kinds of older cars and trucks. Usually you walk up to counter, ask for the part you need, hop in the yard car, and go for a ride, and verify, that's the part you need, then his guys pull it for you. I've bought many parts over the years from him. He is getting up there in years though. Sometimes, if you catch him in a good mood, he'll let you walk around and take a look. We even had our family (wife, kids and I) photo's taken out there, although that was a few years ago.

The ipull-U-pull's, Pick-n-pull's, are okay, but they have the same stuff.

BigMike

 

https://www.owenssalvage.com/
He a good hot rod feller

 

Jnaki, I’ve talked to you before about living close to Lions. I was on the pit crew of Cooks Auto Wreaking C/G dragster. Milton Cook lived in Dominguez. As a kid I would walk by his house and see him working on his car in the garage. I started hanging out there and he let me help him with the car because I was interested. We went to Lions every weekend and never lost a race. We raced against small block chevy engine dragsters that were very light cars that ran high gear only. Cooks car ran second and high gear. We would hole shoot them so bad they never could catch us on top end. The only time we lost was when we went to the Smokers run in Bakersfield. Cook decided to run alcohol and we lost the first race. You blew my mind when you posted that picture. Hal


Sent from my iPad using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

Binghamton NY area - really only 1 Pick-a-Part type yard (for older than 10 years) as a sister yard to one that inventories just 10 year old stuff and newer. My grandfather and dad had the yard I hope shows up (not too tech savvy) from the 40s til the mid 60s. My brother and I had a "back yard" qute different than our friends. LOL

 

One of my local yards only does late models unless someone drags in a oldie. He has a chart on his computer that lists every 'slot' in the yard. A vehicle has to produce so much income every month or into the crusher it goes.

 

There is one in MN that still is adding old card sfrom smaller yards.
They are a bit unique in that regard.
From heie web page...

French Lake Auto Parts, Inc. has been a leader in the automotive recycling industry for over 60 years. Whether you are looking for a complete vehicle for restoration, to purchase a pre-owned vehicle or have scrap metal to recycle, we are here to help!

Restorable Classic Vehicles and Parts
With over 100 acres of classic cars, our inventory changes daily. We have vehicles in our yard dating back to the 1920’s, many with useable parts. Our yard is clean and well organized, making it easy for you to find the parts you need. Customers are welcome to pull their own parts or have our knowledgeable staff pull it for them. We can help you find the parts you need to complete your dream project!​

 

Philbates Auto Wrecking just west of Williamsburg VA is still operating although its something like 8-noon tue/ wed/ thurs ... I haven't made it inside yet but the place seems to be stuck in time from the images I've seen online

 

There is a yard here and I was looking for a part for my 93 Chevy. Guy told me "I don't have anything that old."
I walked out to my car thinking I thought 93 was kinda new...

 

Arizona Dessert Car kings. Just walked it the other day during a vacation. Some nice stuff. Unfortunately a lot of the cars are not treated with love. 30 years ago I walked some yard in MO with my dad and the owners were adamant about closing doors, hoods, trunks. Basically you treated the cars regardless of their condition as museum pieces or like a cherished item. Windows were cracked open just a pinch to circulate air through the interior. I learned young to treat vintage pieces with care. Every place I go into now there seems to be a need by some individuals to damage whats left. I once saw where a guy cut out the power window switches on a very nice Electra. In order to get at the wiring he took off the interior door trim then left it laying 5 feet away for the elements to destroy it. The balance of the interior was pristine. Luckily I saw it and tucked it away nicely. Please take what you need, remove it with class/care, and leave the rest for others to re-purpose. Don't destroy out of laziness. There is not much left. Keep it as intact as possible so someone else can bring one more hot rod back to life. This is a video I shot. One of about a dozen aisles. Hope the link works.

 

The only yard I know of that's not private is still there in part because of lawsuits. Somebody got hurt and sued and the guy basically shut it down unless he knew you real good. And it's someplace where you can't even get into it about half the year because of weather. Saw some photos taken in there once, a '51 Merc wagon stuck out. I've never been to it myself.

The you pull yards get interesting stuff, one here just got a '70 Toronado, o/t but there's a lot of flipable parts on one. There's a '55 Desoto out there but someone tells me the heads were off it when it went in there. So I haven't been out.

And vintage does seem to sell, eventually, they all get stripped of anything worthwhile. Trouble is a lot of them are complete crap when they go in.

 

I had worked at the Calvert Cliffs Nuclear plant In Maryland on different projects over a span of a few years. Unknown to me was a junk yard just across the highway from the plant. The entrance faced a service road and was not visible from the main north south road leading to the plant. One day by chance I saw a flat bed truck loaded with a few crushed cars entering the highway. They were vintage which piqued my entrance. I followed the secondary road a ways and came upon a portable car crushing operation that had just finished up for the day.
There was a sign with a number indicating to call for entrance to the yard. I called and the fellow told me he would let folks in to get stuff by appointment. The sign was old and he had finally contracted with the crushers to liquidate every thing on the property. I backed my truck up to the fence and stood in the bed to see what I could see. I was amazed! The crushers had just recently began and what was left was incredable. Chrome and stainless shining everywhere. There must have been a thousand vehicles in various stages of decay. Vintages from the forties to the mid sixties. The facility seemed to have ceased operations around then for there were no later models I could observe, and the place was totally overgrown. I had passed there for a couple of years and not even seen the vehicles at all.