OH The HORROR!!!...."Wreckin' Yard Blues 2"

[sixnine]

A few of you might remember my "Wreckin' Yard Blues" post from a few days ago, well, I was talking to a guy I met who owns a "jack of all trades" auto shop in a small town near here. While visiting his shop I noticed he had a couple of our trucks around. He had a PERFECT all original (not restored) 1970 LWB Chevy Custom with Air and a big block. Even the rockers showed no signs of rust! He also had a 1969 shortbed Chevy in decent original condition that he was putting a V8 and an automatic in for a customer (the truck had an I-6 and standard column.) Anyway, I start talking to him about the difficulty of finding parts for our trucks. He begins to tell me about how before he had his own shop, he worked for a guy who owned a wreckin' yard. (Dan's Truck Salvage). And not just any wreckin' yard. He said they specialized in early model pickups. In addition to buying and selling early model pickups and parts, they also started building trucks for customers. Here comes the hard part, ......BRACE YOURSELF.......the guy (Dan) ends up owing the bank a wad of dough and they end up taking over his business. Well, banks are in business to make money, not sell truck parts. He proceeds to tell me that they had around 175 to 200 of our trucks (and countless other years and makes) on the yard and guess what happened to 'em,.........CRUSHED! I know it sounds too horrible to be true, but I'm pretty sure the guy wasn't jerkin' me. I just can't imagine............................

[Canadian694x4]

I'm scarred for Life.....

[Gene]

Unfortunately before the huge popularuty of our trucks that were in salvage yards were considered just old trucks. I used to go to a salvage yard close to here that had around 50 67-72's. He crushed all but 5 of them and they all still had good parts! I almost cry when I think about all the parts I missed out on back then

[Truckstr]

There was a "junk" yard near where I grew up that had cars and trucks going back to the late 40's.

When I was in high schoool I had a fairly clean '69 Chevelle. I wanted to change out the powerglide for a Turbo 400 that I had come across and needed some parts to complete the swap. My folks knew the old man that owned the place and he knew me from when I was a toddler. He let me roam that hillside and pretty much take what I wanted.

Just off the top of my head, I remember seeing a row of Plymouth Road Runners, Satellites and GTXs. Another row of Cuda's and Challengers. Another row of Chevelles and El Caminos (both standard and SS models).

Aside: One of my friends bought a '69 Mach 1 Mustang from him that had a bad tranny. He fixed the tranny and got into a race and ended up being rearended by a State Trooper (long story). He sold it back to the old "junk" yard man and he turned around and sold it to a guy that paid him $3000 for it - wrecked! Supposedly it had "special" factory 'small boss' engine in it that made it desireable to Mustang fans. And this was about '78 or '79.

Anyway, the old man ended up passing away. His sons got into a pi$$ing match about who owned what and they ended up selling the whole place to an "investor". The next thing that I knew was that they had brought in one of those portable car crushers and proceeded to crush everything on that hillside. I stopped by there and asked if I could pull some parts off of some of the cars. They, of course, said "No!"

Jerks!

As if that wasn't bad enough, they added insult to injury by turning the place into an import salvage yard.

It makes me sick just to think about all of that classic sheetmetal being flattened.

I think that I'll go get a beer now and cry.

[Xzavior240]

I think I'm going to have to go cry as well hearing about that. good thing for me is these trucks are a dime a dozen around here. I think all the salvage yards here have at least 1. and numerous ones running around town redone or still looking half way descent. I know a couple for sale right now that I could go buy and save myself a bunch of work. but they seem more important when you put your love for the trucks as well as sweat blood and tears into them. its great because when its done you can look at it and say hey I did that with a big sh*t eating grin on your face.

[69 Short Fleet]

That is sick!!!! I never liked banks that much anyway!!

[wnc mountain]

69 short fleet,
I take offens to that. I run a bank, just not that bank.

[Nova_Cobra64]

I think I really could have gone without reading this.

If there are two things that have killed way too many classics it is the crusher, and hollywood.

[72shadetree]

that bites

[casey]

Back in the 70's Alberta had a cruch program, call them and they would come and get your car, they said it was a unsitely car clean up program, but I always wondered if the big 3 didn't pay for that program, alot of usable stuff went by the way side in that program, A friend of my older brother had about 40 differant cool vehicles on his Dads farm, when he came back from work up north the old boy had called the program, man he had like 57 chevys and impalas it made me sick.

[72c10]

man now im going to have nightmares. thanks alot

[Hooter]

my stomach hurts now

[gmc383]

in chevy heaven, an angel has lost her wings. That really blows goats. I recently had this one old farmer ready to sell me his yard full of parts. A rust free cab, all sorts of doors and such. When I went to give him his hundred dollars which is what he wanted for all of it, he said sorry, I sent it to the junkyard. Dang farmer. I am in the process of buying another yard full of parts, just have to get the stuff from the old guy before his son gets out of prison. He wants his yard cleaned, and well, I am just the fellow for the job. I have been peering over the fence for the last year. Wish me luck.

[jeffbo]

Yeah, my dad tells me all kinds of horror stories like these. It just makes me sick hearing them, and makes him even sicker telling them to me. He says he never even imagined that all those old trucks and cars would dissappear be worth what they are today. But, back then all of these classics were the equivilent of what a '90 Pontiac Grand Am or a '85 Caprice are today, just regular, everyday, dime a dozen cars. He even showed me his old photos of all the dirt track race cars him and his friends made from 55-57 Chevy 2 doors. They just hacked them up and then destroyed them at the track. What a waste.

[1969 GMC]

Urf, the combination of reading that story and having the remnants of the new Arby's (roast beef provolone italian somethin or other) sandwich in my stomach, I think I am gonna be sick.

[sgtjed]

yeah i feel the same as you guys do. just look in the salvages now and try to find a mid 70's monte carlo or vega. they were a dime a dozen and now are hard to find. i remeber going to a salvage here and seeing 40's and 50's model trucks and cars back in the mid 70's and 80's now all i see is import stuff.

luckly there is one salvage here that i go to that still has some good stuff.

[kxmotox247]

It's bad enough that it's a Monday...but now I have that to think about all day. Pretty sad.

[krazy_texan]

my favorite yard to go to is run by a really krazy man 9 seriosly he needs to be put in the funny farm) but he knows his cars and he knows his yard, you ask him for a part and he can tell you exactly where it is at and what you need to pull it and he can also tell you the history of most every car in his yard,but any way i went out there one day and saw i 71 short step with ac and a big block in his crusher and i asked him about it he told me that he was going to crush it but his crusher broke down and it has been sitting out there for 10 years, amazing huh

[Long Knight]

Some day every car is going to be a collector. Everything except my Dad's 3 cyl. Geo Metro Station wagon that someone gave him! However, consider how much the value on these old cars would be reduced if people weren't crush crazy. I know everyone likes these great classic vehicles, but would they really be that great if you saw them every time you looked around? It's not bad to have something rare...until you need parts. Thank goodness almost every part is still made for our trucks.

[speesh]

Even that dang Geo Metro will be collectible if it hangs around long enough. Who would have thought that a Nash Metropolitan would be worth anything? The reason people didn't take care of these vehicles is exactly that, there were so many around they didnt care if it was crushed, they could just get another one. Just like the passenger pigeons there were so many they would darken the sky, they used to shoot them down with cannons.... now they are extinct.
I remember in high school, the parking lot was full of Chargers and Camaros and such...... I thought they would always be available for a few hundred dollars in good running condition. HAhaha on me!

[Long Knight]

Come to think of it, my parents still have the old mail Jeep, DJ-5, that I used to drive to high school, right hand drive and everything. I'll bet that thing would be worth something fixed up.

[weasel29gm]

Saw a guy the other day that said he knew a guy thats got a yard with all pre'75 stuff. It was closed 20 yrs ago and not touched since, a family feud we think. Now this guys got it so we are goin' check it out soon.Should be a good one!!

[chevy70]

You guys are making me sick

[69 Short Fleet]

Sorry wnc mountian, I apologize for my reply to this thread as I did NOT intend to offend anyone who works or runs a bank, regards Doug