History Old photographs of long lost auto junkyards & scrapyards from the 1930's

I know we've had some threads on junkyards with old vintage pics of some yards in addition to pics of newer yards with older vehicles. Couldn't find one that was just era specific. Also searched for this video being on here before and couldn't find it, so hopefully not a re-post. It's an interesting watch.

 

Hicksville Auto Wreckers

http://hixnews.com/1904/Hixtory.htm

Quoted from article at link above...

"Who was Michael Caruso? He was a mechanic who dreamed, and who by dint of his ingenuity and dedication got to realize his dreams through auto racing, where his record as a builder/owner of cars was unprecedented. He used his junkyard on West Barclay St. in the way that alchemists supposedly used their medieval laboratories, taking worthless discards and converting them into gold. From that junkyard emerged championship racing cars, novel feats of engineering, and once-lost automobiles now of inestimable value. Caruso’s legend stands on both the dirt of racing ovals and the polished floors of museums."

...I saved this pic a long time ago and did a search and found an article with this picture as part of the focus...The pic is 1937...





https://forums.aaca.org/topic/342524-period-race-car-images-to-relieve-some-of-the-stress/page/2/

Quoted...regarding two pics above both related to the Wrecking yard in top photo...

"Walt, Could that have been Mike Caruso's yard? He was famous for being the first guy to use a Bugatti Brescia engine in a Midget Race Car. this famous photo was taken in his yard in the 1930's. That Type 43 Bugatti was saved and raced in ARCA road races. I have the left rear wheel, or the remains of it are in my basement, the car has been under restoration for over 45 years now. Car #6 is the mike Caruso built Bugatti Brescia powered midget, the first to use Bugatti power. Bob"

https://www.facebook.com/CarusoMidgetRacing/

The Bugatti Pic reminded me of Tommy Lee of the Dry Lakes Racing in the 40s...I thought it might have been his...

https://www.jalopyjournal.com/?p=7365

...Who is Tommy Lee?





Credit to Photographers, Owners
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Great post @Stogy!

Another one I had saved.

 

very Cool - amazes me that someone took the pictures back then

 

Yeah, and there are actually quite a few of them. Cringe worthy though, knowing all those parts and pieces are gone.... a hot rodder's picking paradise. This was a big one in LA.

 

Whats with all the sticks/posts?
Is this last one a burn pic?

Seems to be cringe worthy on more than one level.

 

The bottom center sedan appears to have scallops painted on the hood.

 

Appears to be.....looks like they are all toasted and no top wood in any of the cars. No idea what all the poles are but you can still see wires on some of them.

 

I think that was the Los Angeles Auto Show fire of 1929.

 

That's probably it. The picture was captioned as "junkyard on LA's salvage yard row." Which I guess might technically be correct....after the fire.

 

The photo above was from the 1929 Las Angles auto show fire where a electrical fire burned the tent where all the cars were housed, 320 cars were destroyed.

At the time the damage was estimated at 1 to 1.25 million dollars, when the article was written in 2014 he value would have been 25.1 million to 31.4 million.

This photo is the day before the fire. HRP

 

Dang it, where’s my time machine when I need it ?

 

From all those Ford engines laying around, that wolf's head oil must not have been very good lmao!

 

Not the kind of advertising they had in mind, that's for damn sure.....be kinda like a Firestone sign stuck on top of this Pile Er Hi - You Know Why.

 

My grandfather was a part owner in a wrecking yard somewhere in L.A. area. AS a young kid, my father would go to the yard with my grandfather. He would run around and pull the emblems off of the new arrivals and put them in a tool box from the running board of an old Ford.
He kept them for years, always wanting to do something with them. He gave them to me when I bought my first house. They followed me around for 20+ years. I finally put a few in shadow boxes.

 

That is a great collection and presentation of those cool emblems!
I bet @Moriarity is eyeing this collection pretty closely!
Thanks for posting.

 

Flat out cool.....the family history and the emblems.

 

Holy Crap, thats cool

 

These old yards are fascinating.

 

The Dirty 30s...Then War, Then...Lots of Hotrod Material...for the pre and postwar crowd...

 

Yep, the golden age of hot rodding as they say.

 

That's how my Pops got his first car. Paid Gramps $20 and built a car from the scraps. His first car was a '23 he built from parts in the yard. His next one was a '34.

 

After Years of Parting the Wind on the Nose of the Speedster 'Grace' was able to Elevate The Most Beautiful Automobiles for the Wide World to See with ease...or something like that...



Love This Artwork....Great Historic Connection to an image I saw as a salvage yard...I recall seeing this or reading it too...was there anyone lost in the Fire or was it just a Hole Shiload of Cars...

Thanks for sharing that HRP

Look at this incredible Shot...Wow...

Credit to Photographer, Owner



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Very cool. My Pops would have just turned 4!

 

My only memory with Family and Wrecking Yards was Grandma had a Used Hearse from a Wrecking yard in Cooksville Ontario in the 40's. It was a daily I guess...no pics...

 

...still from the first video...








...30s iron...in general...some gems at that...the newer pile with the 35 or 36 has 40s and some European stuff...

I remember a few yards in the 70s that went back that far...
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Fun thread....Those are some sad images from the L.A. car show fire..Devastating losses there.