The Truth About Cars » junkyard http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com The Truth About Cars is dedicated to providing candid, unbiased automobile reviews and the latest in auto industry news. Thu, 23 May 2013 21:55:18 +0000 en-US hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.5.1 The Truth About Cars is dedicated to providing candid, unbiased automobile reviews and the latest in auto industry news. The Truth About Cars no The Truth About Cars editors@ttac.com editors@ttac.com (The Truth About Cars) 2006-2009 The Truth About Cars The Truth About Cars is dedicated to providing candid, unbiased automobile reviews and the latest in auto industry news. The Truth About Cars » junkyard http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/wp-content/themes/ttac-theme/images/logo.gif http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com Junkyard Find: 1960 Nash Metropolitan http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2013/05/junkyard-find-1960-nash-metropolitan/ http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2013/05/junkyard-find-1960-nash-metropolitan/#comments Wed, 22 May 2013 13:00:10 +0000 Murilee Martin http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/?p=489176 13 - 1960 Nash Metropolitan Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee MartinI find 1960s cars in self-service wrecking yards all the time, but the last time I saw a Nash Metropolitan in this type of yard was, I think, in 1983, at the long-defunct U-Pull in east Oakland. I went back to the East Bay last weekend to visit family and decided to visit some of my favorite yards while I was there. I thought maybe I was hallucinating from the 90-degree heat and the endless rows of Tauruses, but no— this is a rust-free, complete Metropolitan!
19 - 1960 Nash Metropolitan Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee MartinWhen cars like this end up high-turnover self-serve yards such as this one in Newark, California, most often they’ve been through an auction process and no bidder was willing to pay a price likely to be barely better than scrap value. This particular junkyard chain will attempt to sell complete collectible cars before placing them out for parts sales… and nobody was interested in this Nash at that point, either. What I’m trying to say is that this car had at least two (and probably more) chances for a reprieve, hundreds of car freaks took a look at it, and nobody cared.
07 - 1960 Nash Metropolitan Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee MartinThat tends to call into question the common perception that rough-but-restorable examples of these little Nashes are worth big bucks in the real world. This one looks like a solid car, no rust that I could see, all the glass and most of the trim still present, and the drivetrain pretty much intact.
15 - 1960 Nash Metropolitan Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee MartinThe interior is trashed, of course, and perhaps there’s suspension or frame damage that I didn’t see. But still, how is this possible?
05 - 1960 Nash Metropolitan Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee MartinYes, MGB (and early Hindustan Ambassador) owners, this engine sure looks familiar.
14 - 1960 Nash Metropolitan Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee MartinOver the years, I have known three non-car-expert individuals who took on Nash Metropolitan projects (because they were “cute”) only to give up a year or so later when it turned out that cute old cars require just as much work to get running as rusty old pickups… especially when they were built in England (one of these was a guy who had some idea he could convert his basket-case Metro to electric power). I assume that there is a large population of fixer-upper Metropolitans being passed around from clueless owner to clueless owner; some wind up in the hands of those who know how to fix them, while others end up at places like this.
11 - 1960 Nash Metropolitan Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee MartinI’ve always liked these cars, but I prefer a somewhat larger Nash.

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02 - 1985 Toyota Camry Liftback Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin331,120 miles on the clock, or an average of 11,825 miles per year.
09 - 1985 Toyota Camry Liftback Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee MartinThe cavernous hatch makes this into something like a very large Corolla, and maybe that’s what made nearly all the Camry shoppers go for sedans.
11 - 1985 Toyota Camry Liftback Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee MartinIt’s got some rust and the interior is pretty grimy, but this car is in good shape for something that has racked up twice the miles of most 80s Japanese cars you see in wrecking yards.
05 - 1985 Toyota Camry Liftback Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee MartinToyota made the S engine until just a few years ago. While we’ve seen plenty of S engines fail dramatically in the 24 Hours of LeMons, they hold together very well on the street.
17 - 1985 Toyota Camry Liftback Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee MartinWill these cars ever have any collector value? It’s too early to tell.

02 - 1985 Toyota Camry Liftback Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 03 - 1985 Toyota Camry Liftback Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 04 - 1985 Toyota Camry Liftback Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 05 - 1985 Toyota Camry Liftback Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 06 - 1985 Toyota Camry Liftback Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 07 - 1985 Toyota Camry Liftback Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 08 - 1985 Toyota Camry Liftback Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 09 - 1985 Toyota Camry Liftback Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 10 - 1985 Toyota Camry Liftback Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 11 - 1985 Toyota Camry Liftback Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 12 - 1985 Toyota Camry Liftback Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 13 - 1985 Toyota Camry Liftback Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 14 - 1985 Toyota Camry Liftback Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 15 - 1985 Toyota Camry Liftback Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 16 - 1985 Toyota Camry Liftback Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 17 - 1985 Toyota Camry Liftback Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin ]]> http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2013/05/junkyard-find-1985-toyota-camry-le-liftback/feed/ 40 Tailgate Mural Fails To Spare This Expedition From Crusher’s Jaws http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2013/05/tailgate-mural-fails-to-spare-this-expedition-from-crushers-jaws/ http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2013/05/tailgate-mural-fails-to-spare-this-expedition-from-crushers-jaws/#comments Thu, 16 May 2013 13:00:42 +0000 Murilee Martin http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/?p=488640 03 - Nightmare Ford Expedition Tailgate Mural - Picture courtesy of Murilee MartinYou see a fair amount of customization among the inmates of a high-turnover, self-service wrecking yard; sometimes it’s a full-on time-capsule RX-7 and sometimes it’s the kind of thing Manny, Moe, and Jack would build after a week-long ether-and-DMT binge. Here’s a fairly well-executed, if puzzling, airbrush mural I spotted at a Denver yard a few months back.
02 - Nightmare Ford Expedition Tailgate Mural - Picture courtesy of Murilee MartinEven with the swastika vandalization— which may have hastened the depreciation of this truck’s value and helped lead to its junkyardization— you can make out some weird details on the subject’s face. There’s a certain air of Juggaloism in the semi-clownlike makeup, but what does the “Under Oath” caption mean?
04 - Nightmare Ford Expedition Tailgate Mural - Picture courtesy of Murilee MartinIf only junkyard vehicles could talk!

01 - Nightmare Ford Expedition Tailgate Mural - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 02 - Nightmare Ford Expedition Tailgate Mural - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 03 - Nightmare Ford Expedition Tailgate Mural - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 04 - Nightmare Ford Expedition Tailgate Mural - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin ]]> http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2013/05/tailgate-mural-fails-to-spare-this-expedition-from-crushers-jaws/feed/ 16 Junkyard Find: 1953 Chrysler New Yorker http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2013/05/junkyard-find-1953-chrysler-new-yorker/ http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2013/05/junkyard-find-1953-chrysler-new-yorker/#comments Thu, 09 May 2013 13:00:58 +0000 Murilee Martin http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/?p=487882 03 - 1953 Chrysler New Yorker Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee MartinNearly a year has passed since we took a tour of the Brain-Melting Colorado Yard, and since that time I’ve shared such diamond-in-the-rough gems as this ’57 Chrysler Windsor, this ’52 Kaiser, this ’48 Pontiac Hearse, this ’51 Nash Airflyte, and— of course— the ’41 Plymouth Special Deluxe sedan that is now in the process of getting a Lexus SC400 suspension. I need to go back to this yard (which is located in the high desert to the east of Pikes Peak) soon, because the DMV tells me I need a notarized bill of sale to get a title for the ’41, and at that point I’ll photograph some more of the thousands of 1940-70 cars awaiting new owners. For now, let’s admire this ’53 New Yorker I shot last fall.
11 - 1953 Chrysler New Yorker Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee MartinThe big “V” emblem on the hood means that this car came from the factory with a great big Firepower Hemi engine installed.
21 - 1953 Chrysler New Yorker Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee MartinUnfortunately, the 331-cubic-inch, 180-horse Hemi in this car is long gone. Perhaps the engine went into a 1960s drag car.
12 - 1953 Chrysler New Yorker Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee MartinThe single-digit humidity in this prickly-pear-covered landscape keeps the rust down, but the the sun is rough on paint and interiors.
20 - 1953 Chrysler New Yorker Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee MartinYou can still detect a bit of the original luxury inside.
18 - 1953 Chrysler New Yorker Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee MartinIt wouldn’t be an impossible project to get a modern-ish drivetrain in this good-looking two-door, get the bodywork and interior done, and put it back on the road. Any volunteers?

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05 - 1983 Honda Civic Wagon Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee MartinOnly 139,302 miles! The interior and body are in nice shape, which suggests an indoor parking space and very sparing use. Maybe the head gasket blew back in ’94 and it sat in a garage, or maybe it was an extra car that was well cared for but didn’t get driven much.
08 - 1983 Honda Civic Wagon Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee MartinHow late into the 5-speed era did bragging rights last? I’ve seen early-90s Sentras and Tercels with 4-speeds, but 5-speeds weren’t particularly exotic in subcompacts by 1983.
10 - 1983 Honda Civic Wagon Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee MartinThis car’s early years were spent in Northern California.
07 - 1983 Honda Civic Wagon Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee MartinThe first-gen Civics were just tiny, even by the standards of the time, so the added room in the second-gen cars was most welcome.
24 - 1983 Honda Civic Wagon Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee MartinBelieve it or not, this vacuum diagram was simple compared to what CVCC-equipped Hondas with computer carburetors had by 1985. Good luck getting this setup through a California smog check!
21 - 1983 Honda Civic Wagon Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin64 horsepower seemed adequate in these cars, amazingly enough.
14 - 1983 Honda Civic Wagon Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee MartinWill these things ever be considered collectible? Hard to say— 20 years ago, very few thought that Country Squire wagons would be worth saving, and now we have legions of Malaise Era wagon fanciers.

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If you have a half million dollars in your pocket, you can be the opening bidder on a lot of 550 classic cars located at a family owned towing and storage lot in Apache Junction, AZ and listed for sale on Ebay right now. According to the ad, the business has been in operation since the 1960s and the lot is filled with cars from the 1940s through the 1980s, approximately 97% of which are complete with motors, transmissions and body parts. You can even negotiate to leave the cars where they are – that way your wife will never know…

]]> http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2013/05/more-than-550-classic-cars-for-sale-in-one-ebay-auction/feed/ 46 Junkyard Find: 1992 Dodge Shadow America http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2013/04/junkyard-find-1992-dodge-shadow-america/ http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2013/04/junkyard-find-1992-dodge-shadow-america/#comments Fri, 26 Apr 2013 13:00:32 +0000 Murilee Martin http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/?p=486235 When I go to my local wrecking yards to photograph cars for this series, I’m looking for historical significance. Some might say that the Chrysler P-body (based on the ancient and venerable K platform, like so many Chrysler products of the 1980s and 1990s) lacks such significance, and that I should instead shoot the 60s Chevy pickups and VW Beetles I mostly ignore, but I disagree. Someday, wise old men will discuss the importance of the fourth Plymouth to bear the Duster name, but it’s the “America” series of stripper P-bodies that really get my attention. Jack Baruth explains why the Omni America and the cut-price P-bodies that followed it sold so poorly, and it’s the rarity of these things that gets my attention. So far in this series we’ve seen just two: this 1991 Sundance America and today’s ’92 Shadow America.

The selling points of the Shadow/Sundance America were spelled out very plainly in this ad: cheaper than the Civic, cheapest car with a standard airbag, and cheaper (per day) than lunch. Did we mention cheap?

The non-America versions had an equally exciting commercial.
The base two-door 1992 Shadow America with manual transmission listed at $7,984; the four-door we have here would have listed at $8,384. You could get a ’92 Hyundai Excel for $6,595, a Subaru Justy for $6,445, or a complete stripper Honda Civic CX for $8,100.
This one didn’t rack up many miles, and the condition of the paint and interior suggest that it spent a decade or more parked in the Colorado sun.
If Allpar is to be believed, the 2.2 engine was still being built in China as of 2000. Its final year in an American-built car was 1994.
The optional automatic transmission would have added $585 to the cost of a new ’92 Shadow, and what would have been the point of such extravagance?

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The ’41 Plymouth is a bare frame with Lexus SC400 subframes mocked up on it at the moment, and I’ve decided to go with the Vortec 4200 six as its powerplant. I’ll be buying a complete donor vehicle, preferably a 2006 or newer Trailblazer/Envoy/Rainier/97-X/Ascender, but having an engine that I can strip down to a bare block for chassis-fit purposes would be a big plus. Sadly, the ’02 Trailblazer I found in the online inventory turned out to be picked completely clean of anything I might want.
With so much snow on the cars, I didn’t see many photographic opportunities. However, a Mitsubishi Chariot aka Dodge Colt Vista 4WD looks best when covered with the white stuff.
Chrysler used the Colt name for quite a few members of the Mitsubishi family over the decades, and it will always be a disappointment that they didn’t call this car the name they used for the Chariot in Europe: Space Wagon. Space Wagon!
213,000 miles isn’t too bad for a Mitsubishi of this era.
Supposedly there’s a 98-horse 4G63 engine in there.

It appears that Japanese-market Chariots of this generation had some sort of weird marketing arrangement with Disney. C-H-A-R-I-O-T!

For added incomprehensibility, here’s the European Space Wagon Trance Remix.

Calling it the Colt Vista led to boring North American ads.

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This car is a bit rusty and it’s a not-so-desirable four-door, so it’s a good thing that some Valiant (or Dart) owner has rescued most of the interior. It would be a shame to have useful 52-year-old parts go to The Crusher.
It’s possible that this is a ’60, but (as far as I know) the differences between the ’60 and the ’61 are mostly in the grille, which is missing. The junkyard thinks this is a ’62.
Still enough Slant Sixes left in the world that you see them frequently in junkyards.
Chrysler needs to bring back the “toilet seat” trunklid!

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Yes, that’s 315,300 miles on the clock. Third-gen Tercels were never much fun to drive, but they were incredibly competent transportation appliances.
The interior of this one was just about completely used up by the time it got to The Crusher’s waiting room, and there’s no point in spending any real money to get new carpets and upholstery for a lowly Tercel EZ.
I’ve owned several third-gen Tercels, including an EZ, and their simplicity made the Corolla seem frivolous. Nobody ever really loved one of these cars, though, in contrast to the equally slow but personality-fortified second-gen Tercel.
A lot of LeMons fans couldn’t understand why a Tercel EZ finishing tenth out of 100 entries was such a spectacular accomplishment. Drive an EZ for ten minutes and you’ll get it.

01 - 1988 Toyota Tercel EZ Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 02 - 1988 Toyota Tercel EZ Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 03 - 1988 Toyota Tercel EZ Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 04 - 1988 Toyota Tercel EZ Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 05 - 1988 Toyota Tercel EZ Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 06 - 1988 Toyota Tercel EZ Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 07 - 1988 Toyota Tercel EZ Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 08 - 1988 Toyota Tercel EZ Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 09 - 1988 Toyota Tercel EZ Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 10 - 1988 Toyota Tercel EZ Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 11 - 1988 Toyota Tercel EZ Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 12 - 1988 Toyota Tercel EZ Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 13 - 1988 Toyota Tercel EZ Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 14 - 1988 Toyota Tercel EZ Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 15 - 1988 Toyota Tercel EZ Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 16 - 1988 Toyota Tercel EZ Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin ]]> http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2013/04/junkyard-find-1988-toyota-tercel-ez/feed/ 21 Junkyard Find: 1978 Mercedes-Benz 300D http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2013/04/junkyard-find-1978-mercedes-benz-300d/ http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2013/04/junkyard-find-1978-mercedes-benz-300d/#comments Thu, 11 Apr 2013 13:00:47 +0000 Murilee Martin http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/?p=484327 After finding a couple of Mercedes-Benz W123 coupes for this series, I decided to shoot the next four-door version of this legendary machine that I spotted. Here’s one in solid, stolid brown.
It’s pretty tough to beat the diesel W123 for sturdy construction and utter lack of corner-cutting in the build-quality department. These cars cost plenty, and their owners (usually) got their money’s worth. The price tag for a new 300D in 1978 was $20,911. That’s close to 75 grand in 2013 bucks, for a slow car that was reasonably luxurious but utterly bling-free.
This one made it to just 216,623 miles during its 35 years on the planet. Not bad, but a bit low for one of these cars.
Once it got a little battered and its interior was no longer so nice, this car’s days were numbered. Most likely, something broke that would cost more than a couple hundred bucks to fix, and the owner just gave up on the car.
Here it is, the legendary OM617 five-cylinder diesel. Not a lot of power, but ready for Armageddon!
Some junkyard shopper thought about getting the grille, but then left it behind.

01 - 1978 Mercedes-Benz 300D Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 02 - 1978 Mercedes-Benz 300D Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 03 - 1978 Mercedes-Benz 300D Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 04 - 1978 Mercedes-Benz 300D Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 05 - 1978 Mercedes-Benz 300D Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 06 - 1978 Mercedes-Benz 300D Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 07 - 1978 Mercedes-Benz 300D Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 08 - 1978 Mercedes-Benz 300D Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 09 - 1978 Mercedes-Benz 300D Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 10 - 1978 Mercedes-Benz 300D Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 11 - 1978 Mercedes-Benz 300D Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 12 - 1978 Mercedes-Benz 300D Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 13 - 1978 Mercedes-Benz 300D Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 14 - 1978 Mercedes-Benz 300D Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 15 - 1978 Mercedes-Benz 300D Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 16 - 1978 Mercedes-Benz 300D Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin ]]> http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2013/04/junkyard-find-1978-mercedes-benz-300d/feed/ 51 Picked Clean: If You Want 240Z Parts, You Need To Work Fast! http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2013/04/picked-clean-if-you-want-240z-parts-you-need-to-work-fast/ http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2013/04/picked-clean-if-you-want-240z-parts-you-need-to-work-fast/#comments Thu, 04 Apr 2013 13:00:03 +0000 Murilee Martin http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/?p=483451 When an ordinary car— say, a ’94 Camry— shows up in a high-turnover self-service junkyard, most of its parts will still be present when it goes to the scrapper. However, when a seldom-seen-in-junkyards vehicle with an avid following— say, a ’71 Toyota Land Cruiser— appears on the yard, it gets eaten like a roadkill raccoon in vulture country. When I saw this complete and rust-free 1973 Datsun 240Z at my local self-serve yard a few weeks ago, I knew it hadn’t been exposed to parts shoppers for long. Sure enough, look at it now!
It’s good to see that many of the parts from this car will live on in other Zs.
Poor flat-top Hitachi SU carburetors. Nobody wants them. Likewise, L24 engines of unknown condition.
Nearly all the glass and most of the removable-without-metal-cutting bodywork got yanked. A bonus with shooting photos in this junkyard is that the Rocky Mountains appear in the background in many of my shots.
Still a few things left, but this car will be a totally bare shell when it gets eaten by The Crusher, a month from now.

01 - 1973 Datsun 240Z Down On The Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 02 - 1973 Datsun 240Z Down On The Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 03 - 1973 Datsun 240Z Down On The Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 04 - 1973 Datsun 240Z Down On The Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 05 - 1973 Datsun 240Z Down On The Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 06 - 1973 Datsun 240Z Down On The Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 07 - 1973 Datsun 240Z Down On The Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 08 - 1973 Datsun 240Z Down On The Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 09 - 1973 Datsun 240Z Down On The Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 10 - 1973 Datsun 240Z Down On The Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 11 - 1973 Datsun 240Z Down On The Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 03 - 1973 Datsun 240Z Down On The Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 14 - 1973 Datsun 240Z Down On The Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 15 - 1973 Datsun 240Z Down On The Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 12 - 1973 Datsun 240Z Down On The Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin ]]> http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2013/04/picked-clean-if-you-want-240z-parts-you-need-to-work-fast/feed/ 21 Junkyard Find: 1980 Chrysler Cordoba http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2013/04/junkyard-find-1980-chrysler-cordoba/ http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2013/04/junkyard-find-1980-chrysler-cordoba/#comments Tue, 02 Apr 2013 13:00:43 +0000 Murilee Martin http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/?p=483185 It seems strange, but sufficient Chrysler Cordobas still exist to provide a sporadic flow of fresh examples to self-serve wrecking yards. In this series, we’ve seen this ’78, another ’78, this ’79, and now today’s personally luxurious blue ’80.
The downsized second-gen 1980-83 Cordobas, which were based on the Volare/Diplomat platform and didn’t differ much from their Dodge Mirada siblings, sold very poorly. You aren’t going to find many of these things today, either on the street or lined up before the Crusher’s jaws.
Soft Corinthian Leather was still an option— Ricardo Montalban would have quit in disgust otherwise— but this car has the more affordable soft Corinthian Velour.
With a smog-o-lated 318 under the hood, chopping a few hundred extra pounds out of the Cordoba for the ’80 model year made this car a much livelier performer.
The landau roof and touch-o-plastic-class grille treatment were properly Cordoba-ish, but where did the “gold” medallions go?

Not to worry, Ricardo liked what they did to his car!

01 - 1980 Chrysler Cordoba Down On The Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 02 - 1980 Chrysler Cordoba Down On The Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 03 - 1980 Chrysler Cordoba Down On The Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 04 - 1980 Chrysler Cordoba Down On The Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 05 - 1980 Chrysler Cordoba Down On The Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 06 - 1980 Chrysler Cordoba Down On The Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 07 - 1980 Chrysler Cordoba Down On The Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 08 - 1980 Chrysler Cordoba Down On The Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 09 - 1980 Chrysler Cordoba Down On The Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 10 - 1980 Chrysler Cordoba Down On The Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 11 - 1980 Chrysler Cordoba Down On The Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 12 - 1980 Chrysler Cordoba Down On The Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 13 - 1980 Chrysler Cordoba Down On The Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 14 - 1980 Chrysler Cordoba Down On The Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 15 - 1980 Chrysler Cordoba Down On The Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 16 - 1980 Chrysler Cordoba Down On The Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 17 - 1980 Chrysler Cordoba Down On The Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 18 - 1980 Chrysler Cordoba Down On The Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 19 - 1980 Chrysler Cordoba Down On The Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 20 - 1980 Chrysler Cordoba Down On The Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 21 - 1980 Chrysler Cordoba Down On The Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 22 - 1980 Chrysler Cordoba Down On The Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 23 - 1980 Chrysler Cordoba Down On The Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin ]]> http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2013/04/junkyard-find-1980-chrysler-cordoba/feed/ 31 Junkyard Find: 2004 Suzuki Aerio http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2013/03/junkyard-find-2004-suzuki-aerio/ http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2013/03/junkyard-find-2004-suzuki-aerio/#comments Fri, 29 Mar 2013 13:00:32 +0000 Murilee Martin http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/?p=482673 Not many cars appear and disappear while leaving as little trace as did the Suzuki Aerio, which was sold in the United States for the 2002-2007 model years. Normally, I ignore such new cars when I’m wandering around the wrecking yards of Denver, but I’ll break out the camera when I find something of historical significance— for example, an example of the final year of the GM J-body’s 24-year run— or when I see a car that doesn’t seem to exist on the street any more. This Aerio is such a car.
The car used for the first seven years of Top Gear UK’s “Star In a Reasonably Priced Car” series was a 2002 Suzuki Aerio (called the Liana, which was supposedly an acronym for “Life In A New Age,” in Europe). This is the only Aerio most of us have ever seen.
American car shoppers ran out of reasons to buy Suzuki cars, though Chinese buyers can still get a new Liana.
Will anyone pull any pieces off this car before it gets eaten by The Crusher? Probably not.

01-2004 Suzuki Aerio Down On The Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 02-2004 Suzuki Aerio Down On The Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 03-2004 Suzuki Aerio Down On The Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 04-2004 Suzuki Aerio Down On The Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 05-2004 Suzuki Aerio Down On The Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 06-2004 Suzuki Aerio Down On The Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 07-2004 Suzuki Aerio Down On The Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 08-2004 Suzuki Aerio Down On The Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 09-2004 Suzuki Aerio Down On The Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 10-2004 Suzuki Aerio Down On The Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 11-2004 Suzuki Aerio Down On The Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 12-2004 Suzuki Aerio Down On The Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 13-2004 Suzuki Aerio Down On The Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 14-2004 Suzuki Aerio Down On The Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 15-2004 Suzuki Aerio Down On The Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 16-2004 Suzuki Aerio Down On The Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 17-2004 Suzuki Aerio Down On The Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 18-2004 Suzuki Aerio Down On The Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 19-2004 Suzuki Aerio Down On The Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin ]]> http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2013/03/junkyard-find-2004-suzuki-aerio/feed/ 57 Junkyard Find: 1995 Range Rover http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2013/03/junkyard-find-1995-range-rover/ http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2013/03/junkyard-find-1995-range-rover/#comments Fri, 22 Mar 2013 13:00:10 +0000 Murilee Martin http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/?p=481910 Here in Colorado, retired members of the Land Rover family are lined up in large numbers in every self-service wrecking yard. Range Rovers and Discoveries were (and are) extremely popular here, most likely as a form of rebellion against the Subaru Outback-driving hordes whose maintenance expenses (even with all the blown head gaskets and nuked center diffs) come to a boring 0.004% of the total per-vehicle annual cost of Range Rover ownership. I’ve been ignoring these trucks when I see them in junkyards, but today we’re going to look at a typical example, chosen at random.
The most interesting thing about these trucks, from a junkyard-scavenger perspective, is the fact that most of them have the 4.2 liter Rover V8 engine, which means that a homemade MGB-GT V8, or even— shudder— a TR7-to-TR8 conversion— is an easy, low-budget proposition. You’ll want to ditch the Lucas fuel-injection system, of course, but that sort of goes without saying.
These things are very comfortable for those willing to keep them running; this one made it to a pretty respectable 164,774 miles during its 18 years of service.
Of course, there are some Land Rovers around here that are safe from the cold steel jaws of The Crusher!

02 - 1995 Range Rover Down On The Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 03 - 1995 Range Rover Down On The Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 04 - 1995 Range Rover Down On The Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 05 - 1995 Range Rover Down On The Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 06 - 1995 Range Rover Down On The Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 07 - 1995 Range Rover Down On The Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 08 - 1995 Range Rover Down On The Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 09 - 1995 Range Rover Down On The Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 10 - 1995 Range Rover Down On The Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 11 - 1995 Range Rover Down On The Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 12 - 1995 Range Rover Down On The Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 13 - 1995 Range Rover Down On The Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin ]]> http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2013/03/junkyard-find-1995-range-rover/feed/ 87 Junkyard Find: 1973 BMW 2002 http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2013/03/junkyard-find-1973-bmw-2002-2/ http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2013/03/junkyard-find-1973-bmw-2002-2/#comments Wed, 20 Mar 2013 13:00:28 +0000 Murilee Martin http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/?p=481774
For some reason, BMW 2002s are easier to find in self-service wrecking yards (in Colorado and California, anyway) than are 320is. Most of the Crusher-bound 2002s I see are pretty well picked over— probably before they ever got to the junkyard— and so I don’t photograph them. However, a round-taillight 2002 with automatic transmission is something you don’t see every day.
I spotted another ’73 2002 with slushbox at this very same yard, about a year ago; that one was more complete than today’s junkyard find, but there’s a certain “abandoned project car” similarity to them.
It makes me sad when I see an old car with the instrument cluster totally destroyed by a junkyard customer, all the parts scattered around the car’s interior and nothing purchased.
Automatic transmission and air conditioning! This unit has an aftermarket or dealer-installed look about it.
Not much of this engine is left. Still, there are some usable parts remaining on this car.

01 - 1973 BMW 2002 Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 02 - 1973 BMW 2002 Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 03 - 1973 BMW 2002 Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 04 - 1973 BMW 2002 Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 05 - 1973 BMW 2002 Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 06 - 1973 BMW 2002 Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 07 - 1973 BMW 2002 Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 08 - 1973 BMW 2002 Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 09 - 1973 BMW 2002 Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 10 - 1973 BMW 2002 Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 11 - 1973 BMW 2002 Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 12 - 1973 BMW 2002 Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 13 - 1973 BMW 2002 Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 14 - 1973 BMW 2002 Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 15 - 1973 BMW 2002 Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 16 - 1973 BMW 2002 Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin ]]> http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2013/03/junkyard-find-1973-bmw-2002-2/feed/ 54 Clues That a Car Is Junkyard Bound, Part XI: The Space-Saver Spare http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2013/03/clues-that-a-car-is-junkyard-bound-part-xi-the-space-saver-spare/ http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2013/03/clues-that-a-car-is-junkyard-bound-part-xi-the-space-saver-spare/#comments Fri, 15 Mar 2013 13:00:23 +0000 Murilee Martin http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/?p=481268 The car companies say that those little “donut” spares shouldn’t be driven at highway speed, and that they shouldn’t be driven for long distances… but they also say that you shouldn’t use a Vise-Grip as a steering wheel! Just the other day, I watched a Mazda 323 with two space-saver spares (on the left side, of course) dicing with a tippy-looking Wrangler at 105 MPH on I-25 in Denver, and I remembered this A6 with three not-so-high-speed-rated wheels, spotted during the coldest Half Price Junkyard Day I’ve ever experienced. Let’s admire it!
This ’97 Audi A6 was once a pricey, sporty sedan, and the engineers that designed its suspension almost certainly debated the benefits of various tire sizes in meeting after meeting. Hell with that, said the car’s final owner, I’ve got a whole set of perfectly good wheels and tires that will save me a couple hundred bucks over some Dae Yung Radical Radials!
We’ll never know if this Audi was shod in a complete set of space-savers, because one corner of the car was wheel-less. It was too snowy for me to check for the other sign of imminent junkyard residence— many Little Tree air fresheners— but I’m sure there was at least one New Car Scent tree in there.
So what’s worse: this car on three or four space-savers, or a 1973 Buick Century Luxus wagon with just one?
01 - 1997 Audi A6 Down On The Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 02 - 1997 Audi A6 Down On The Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 03 - 1997 Audi A6 Down On The Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 04 - 1997 Audi A6 Down On The Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 05 - 1997 Audi A6 Down On The Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 06 - 1997 Audi A6 Down On The Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin

]]> http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2013/03/clues-that-a-car-is-junkyard-bound-part-xi-the-space-saver-spare/feed/ 38 Junkyard Find: 1980 Datsun 720 King Cab 4WD Pickup http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2013/03/junkyard-find-1980-datsun-720-king-cab-4wd-pickup/ http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2013/03/junkyard-find-1980-datsun-720-king-cab-4wd-pickup/#comments Wed, 13 Mar 2013 13:00:38 +0000 Murilee Martin http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/?p=480958 I see a lot of old, totally used-up Toyota and Datsun pickups in self-service wrecking yards (though any of these newer than about 1984 is a rare sight), so it takes a fairly special one to make me shoot some photos. This extremely Malaise-ated ’80 King Cab 720, with its brown paint, huge “4X4″ door decals, and excrement-inspired tan/yellow/brown tape stripes certainly got my attention last week.
It’s bashed up, the interior is toast, and the rust indicates an origin somewhere east and/or north of Colorado. Must be a million miles on this thing, eh?
Nope, just 155,221 miles on the clock. Either the odometer broke in 1992 or this truck drove a lot of very hard miles.
The full changeover to the Nissan marque was still a few years off at this point, but Nissan was laying the groundwork with these “Datsun By Nissan” badges.
Electronically protected! No doubt the alarm was a variation on the Taiwanese National Anthem theme.
The King Cab wasn’t very kingly. In fact, it would be considered utterly intolerable by present-day truck buyers. You could sort of squeeze a couple of passengers back there, if everyone involved was very motivated, but in practice the King Cab mostly served as a place to store stuff out of the rain.
Some good patina on this thing.
Even though this type of self-service yard charges about the same for a whole long block as for a wheelbarrow full of carefully selected engine innards, whoever pulled this L20 spent a lot of effort grabbing just the parts he wanted.
Here’s an option you don’t see very often on small pickups of this era: air conditioning!

The Datsun Value Phenomenon continues!
01 - 1980 Datsun Pickup Down On The Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 02 - 1980 Datsun Pickup Down On The Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 03 - 1980 Datsun Pickup Down On The Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 04 - 1980 Datsun Pickup Down On The Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 05 - 1980 Datsun Pickup Down On The Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 06 - 1980 Datsun Pickup Down On The Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 07 - 1980 Datsun Pickup Down On The Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 08 - 1980 Datsun Pickup Down On The Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 09 - 1980 Datsun Pickup Down On The Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 10 - 1980 Datsun Pickup Down On The Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 11 - 1980 Datsun Pickup Down On The Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 12 - 1980 Datsun Pickup Down On The Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 13 - 1980 Datsun Pickup Down On The Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 14 - 1980 Datsun Pickup Down On The Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 15 - 1980 Datsun Pickup Down On The Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 16 - 1980 Datsun Pickup Down On The Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 17 - 1980 Datsun Pickup Down On The Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 18 - 1980 Datsun Pickup Down On The Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 19 - 1980 Datsun Pickup Down On The Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 20 - 1980 Datsun Pickup Down On The Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 21 - 1980 Datsun Pickup Down On The Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 22 - 1980 Datsun Pickup Down On The Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 23 - 1980 Datsun Pickup Down On The Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 24 - 1980 Datsun Pickup Down On The Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 25 - 1980 Datsun Pickup Down On The Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 26 - 1980 Datsun Pickup Down On The Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 27 - 1980 Datsun Pickup Down On The Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin

]]> http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2013/03/junkyard-find-1980-datsun-720-king-cab-4wd-pickup/feed/ 23 Piston Slap: FREE Cressida, Sanjeev! http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2013/03/piston-slap-free-cressida-sanjeev/ http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2013/03/piston-slap-free-cressida-sanjeev/#comments Wed, 06 Mar 2013 12:36:30 +0000 Sajeev Mehta http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/?p=479850 Jonny writes:

Hey sanjeev, i’m looking for some advice on what i should do here. The car: 1987 Toyota Cressida, 170,000kms (i live in vancouver, BC), usual mid-eighties toyota rust, other than needing brakes it seems to run great. i paid exactly $0.00 for the car.

a friend’s parents moved away and just wanted to get rid of it. so they gave it to me. thankfully, i work at a dealer service department so any minor repairs and maintenance will be fairly cheap. low miles, RWD, inline-6, loaded with sweet eighties luxury options…. it seems too awesome NOT to drive!
what should i do?
- sell it?
- keep it and drive it?
- send it to a denver self-service yard for Murilee to photograph at a later date?

any tips/experience you can share with a car like this would be greatly appreciated
thanks a lot.

Sanjeev answers:

Much like you not knowing my name, I (Sanjeev) know nothing about your personal situation.  Maybe you could use the extra $300-400 (US) in scrap value for something else in your life.

Nobody needs a free Cressida, per se.

That said, I am super jealous and you need to keep it. Cressidas are just that cool: I suggest you mortgage your future and do a 2JZ-swap.  Or even better, this:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Oh yes, LS1-FTW!  Sajeev hasn’t said that in a long time, so Sanjeev’s gotta take up the slack. You know what to do, so you better do it.

LS1-FTW: do it, to it.

 

Send your queries to sajeev@thetruthaboutcars.com. Spare no details and ask for a speedy resolution if you’re in a hurry.

]]> http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2013/03/piston-slap-free-cressida-sanjeev/feed/ 31 Junkyard Find: 1971 Volvo 142 http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2013/03/junkyard-find-1971-volvo-142/ http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2013/03/junkyard-find-1971-volvo-142/#comments Tue, 05 Mar 2013 14:00:46 +0000 Murilee Martin http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/?p=480104 A Volvo 140 doesn’t always jump right out at you, thanks to its similarity to its still-with-us-in-huge-numbers descendant, the Volvo 240 (especially when viewed from the rear), so I probably overlook a few of these in junkyards. The 140 isn’t an uncommon sight in Denver, and I’ve found this ’68 142 and this ’69 145 just in the last year. I’ve always liked these cars (though I’ve only owned one example, and it was quite troublesome), so it makes me a little sad to see another one about to get crushed.
SU carbs just aren’t worth pulling these days, looks like.
The rust wasn’t so bad by Midwestern standards (i.e., the car still exists), but it probably rendered this car not worth restoring.
The “thermometer” speedo in the 140 was a nice piece of design.
Adjustable lumbar support way back in 1969!

“Nine out of every ten Volvos registered in the last 11 years are still on the road.”

01 - 1971 Volvo 142 Down On The Junkyard - Picture Courtesy of Murilee Martin 02 - 1971 Volvo 142 Down On The Junkyard - Picture Courtesy of Murilee Martin 03 - 1971 Volvo 142 Down On The Junkyard - Picture Courtesy of Murilee Martin 04 - 1971 Volvo 142 Down On The Junkyard - Picture Courtesy of Murilee Martin 05 - 1971 Volvo 142 Down On The Junkyard - Picture Courtesy of Murilee Martin 06 - 1971 Volvo 142 Down On The Junkyard - Picture Courtesy of Murilee Martin 07 - 1971 Volvo 142 Down On The Junkyard - Picture Courtesy of Murilee Martin 08 - 1971 Volvo 142 Down On The Junkyard - Picture Courtesy of Murilee Martin 09 - 1971 Volvo 142 Down On The Junkyard - Picture Courtesy of Murilee Martin 10 - 1971 Volvo 142 Down On The Junkyard - Picture Courtesy of Murilee Martin 11 - 1971 Volvo 142 Down On The Junkyard - Picture Courtesy of Murilee Martin 12 - 1971 Volvo 142 Down On The Junkyard - Picture Courtesy of Murilee Martin 13 - 1971 Volvo 142 Down On The Junkyard - Picture Courtesy of Murilee Martin 14 - 1971 Volvo 142 Down On The Junkyard - Picture Courtesy of Murilee Martin 15 - 1971 Volvo 142 Down On The Junkyard - Picture Courtesy of Murilee Martin 16 - 1971 Volvo 142 Down On The Junkyard - Picture Courtesy of Murilee Martin 17 - 1971 Volvo 142 Down On The Junkyard - Picture Courtesy of Murilee Martin 18 - 1971 Volvo 142 Down On The Junkyard - Picture Courtesy of Murilee Martin 19 - 1971 Volvo 142 Down On The Junkyard - Picture Courtesy of Murilee Martin 20 - 1971 Volvo 142 Down On The Junkyard - Picture Courtesy of Murilee Martin 21 - 1971 Volvo 142 Down On The Junkyard - Picture Courtesy of Murilee Martin 22 - 1971 Volvo 142 Down On The Junkyard - Picture Courtesy of Murilee Martin 23 - 1971 Volvo 142 Down On The Junkyard - Picture Courtesy of Murilee Martin ]]> http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2013/03/junkyard-find-1971-volvo-142/feed/ 40 Junkyard Find: 1980 Toyota Corolla Tercel http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2013/03/junkyard-find-1980-toyota-corolla-tercel/ http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2013/03/junkyard-find-1980-toyota-corolla-tercel/#comments Fri, 01 Mar 2013 14:00:29 +0000 Murilee Martin http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/?p=479517 Because the Corolla had become such a hit in the United States during the early part of the Malaise Era, Toyota decided to confuse car buyers and parts-counter guys for eternity by adding the Corolla name to the first-gen Toyota Tercel. This would have been like Volkswagen selling a “Rabbit Fox” or Chrysler selling a “Dart Colt,” but it seemed to work fine for Toyota. Here’s a first-year-for-the-US Tercel I spotted in a Denver self-service yard last week.
These things were noisy and tinny and cheap, but they were more reliable than the other crappy little econoboxes of the Middle Malaise Era.
They were also quite slow, thanks to the 60-horsepower 1A engine driving the front wheels. Yes, it looks like a rear-wheel-drive setup, but it’s really an engine-over-transaxle assembly that made a lot more sense once Toyota started making four-wheel-drive Tercels.
5-speed manual transmissions were still somewhat prestigious in 1980.
I’ve long thought that the vaguely finny-looking taillight treatment on this car resembled the setup on some BMC AD016 models.
Cloth seats, gas-sipping engine, no frills. These cars sold like crazy, but they weren’t worth fixing once they got to be 15 years old and now most of them are gone.


When ventriloquist dummies need to urinate, they must ride in Tercels.


“Has a longitudinal engine… unlike any Honda!”


It does pretty well in a crash test, considering its insubstantial construction.

01 - 1980 Toyota Tercel Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 02 - 1980 Toyota Tercel Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 03 - 1980 Toyota Tercel Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 04 - 1980 Toyota Tercel Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 05 - 1980 Toyota Tercel Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 06 - 1980 Toyota Tercel Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 07 - 1980 Toyota Tercel Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 08 - 1980 Toyota Tercel Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 09 - 1980 Toyota Tercel Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 10 - 1980 Toyota Tercel Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 11 - 1980 Toyota Tercel Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 12 - 1980 Toyota Tercel Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 13 - 1980 Toyota Tercel Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 14 - 1980 Toyota Tercel Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 15 - 1980 Toyota Tercel Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 16 - 1980 Toyota Tercel Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 17 - 1980 Toyota Tercel Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin ]]> http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2013/03/junkyard-find-1980-toyota-corolla-tercel/feed/ 44 Junkyard Find: Electric 1995 Geo Metro http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2013/02/junkyard-find-electric-1995-geo-metro/ http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2013/02/junkyard-find-electric-1995-geo-metro/#comments Tue, 26 Feb 2013 14:00:45 +0000 Murilee Martin http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/?p=479114 Normally, I wouldn’t consider an 18-year-old Suzuki Cultus badged by a now-defunct GM marque to be worthy of inclusion in this series, but this particular example— which I found at my favorite Denver self-service wrecking yard— has been converted to electric power and is thus sort of interesting.
The valuable stuff that electric-car geeks like to keep (i.e., the electric motor, control circuitry, and batteries) is all gone, but you can see that this setup used the Suzuki front-drive transaxle more or less intact.
It looks like there was some sort of electrical fire or maybe a big acid spill in the rear of the car at some point, judging from the pried-open-in-a-hurry hatch and melted insulation.
You don’t see many 400-amp ammeters and 180-volt voltmeters in junked econoboxes!
Now that you can buy genuine factory-made electric cars, these homemade jobs don’t quite make the statement they once did. Still, the guy who built this car is probably driving a different electric machine. Let’s hope it’s an electron-driven Triumph Stag.
02 - 1995 Electric Geo Metro Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 03 - 1995 Electric Geo Metro Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 04 - 1995 Electric Geo Metro Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 05 - 1995 Electric Geo Metro Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 06 - 1995 Electric Geo Metro Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 07 - 1995 Electric Geo Metro Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 08 - 1995 Electric Geo Metro Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 09 - 1995 Electric Geo Metro Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 10 - 1995 Electric Geo Metro Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 11 - 1995 Electric Geo Metro Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 12 - 1995 Electric Geo Metro Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 13 - 1995 Electric Geo Metro Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 14 - 1995 Electric Geo Metro Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 15 - 1995 Electric Geo Metro Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 16 - 1995 Electric Geo Metro Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 17 - 1995 Electric Geo Metro Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 18 - 1995 Electric Geo Metro Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 19 - 1995 Electric Geo Metro Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 20 - 1995 Electric Geo Metro Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin

]]> http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2013/02/junkyard-find-electric-1995-geo-metro/feed/ 26 Junkyard Find: 1988 Volvo 780 Bertone Coupe http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2013/02/junkyard-find-1988-volvo-780-bertone-coupe/ http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2013/02/junkyard-find-1988-volvo-780-bertone-coupe/#comments Thu, 21 Feb 2013 14:00:36 +0000 Murilee Martin http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/?p=478388 In the kind of Plate-O-Shrimp moment that happens all the time in the car-writing business, I ran across a genuine, one-of-8,515-build Volvo 780 Bertone Coupe in a Denver self-serve wrecking yard just days after writing about this fine Swedo-Italian machine.
Yes, in spite of being considered a high-value collector’s car by legions of Internet Car Experts, this rare 780 couldn’t manage to sell for better than scrap value at auction and thus ended up as a parts donor. By the way, if you’re restoring a 780 and you’re now looking at this post later than, say, April 2013, this car has been crushed by now. Sorry.
With the troublesome Peugeot-Renault-Volvo “PRV” V6 under the hood, 156,519 miles on the clock isn’t too shabby. This car reeked of old, bad gasoline, which means it sat for years or maybe decades before getting hauled off on its final tow-truck drive.
When Swedes and Italians join forces to design a car’s interior, you get something like this puzzling IKEA-meets-Armani scene. I might need to go back and get this seat for my van!
Speaking of weird design, where did Volvo find this more-80s-than-Flock-of-Seagulls font?

02 - 1988 Volvo 780 Bertone Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 03 - 1988 Volvo 780 Bertone Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 04 - 1988 Volvo 780 Bertone Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 05 - 1988 Volvo 780 Bertone Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 06 - 1988 Volvo 780 Bertone Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 07 - 1988 Volvo 780 Bertone Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 08 - 1988 Volvo 780 Bertone Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 09 - 1988 Volvo 780 Bertone Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 10 - 1988 Volvo 780 Bertone Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 11 - 1988 Volvo 780 Bertone Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 12 - 1988 Volvo 780 Bertone Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 13 - 1988 Volvo 780 Bertone Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 14 - 1988 Volvo 780 Bertone Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 15 - 1988 Volvo 780 Bertone Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 16 - 1988 Volvo 780 Bertone Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 17 - 1988 Volvo 780 Bertone Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin ]]> http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2013/02/junkyard-find-1988-volvo-780-bertone-coupe/feed/ 82 Junkyard Find: 1989 Toyota Corolla All-Trac Wagon http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2013/02/junkyard-find-1989-toyota-corolla-all-trac-wagon-3/ http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2013/02/junkyard-find-1989-toyota-corolla-all-trac-wagon-3/#comments Mon, 18 Feb 2013 14:00:03 +0000 Murilee Martin http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/?p=477898 I now believe that at least half the Toyota All-Tracs ever sold ended up in Colorado, based on the quantities I see in junkyards around Denver. We saw the only Camry All-Trac I’ve ever found anywhere last month, and the Corolla All-Trac wagons are well-represented by this ’89, this ’89, and now today’s ’89.
Toyota didn’t go in for crazy-futuristic dashes like so many of their 1980s Japanese competitors (unlike, for example, Subaru and Mitsubishi), but the Corolla All-Trac still got this cool center-diff control panel. Yes, back in those days you had to make decisions about car four-wheel-drive while driving.
Bondo as rust repair?
213,269 miles on the clock, which is pretty good for a 1980s car.
The Toyota 4A engine family was the real workhorse of its era, going into everything from AE86s to MR2s. This one appears to be the not-particularly-hot 4A-FE.
The interior in this one is pretty nice, but the rust is bad by Colorado standards and it just wasn’t worth keeping. Next stop, crusher!

01 - 1989 Toyota Corolla All-Trac Wagon Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 02 - 1989 Toyota Corolla All-Trac Wagon Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 03 - 1989 Toyota Corolla All-Trac Wagon Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 04 - 1989 Toyota Corolla All-Trac Wagon Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 05 - 1989 Toyota Corolla All-Trac Wagon Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 06 - 1989 Toyota Corolla All-Trac Wagon Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 07 - 1989 Toyota Corolla All-Trac Wagon Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 08 - 1989 Toyota Corolla All-Trac Wagon Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 09 - 1989 Toyota Corolla All-Trac Wagon Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 10 - 1989 Toyota Corolla All-Trac Wagon Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 11 - 1989 Toyota Corolla All-Trac Wagon Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 12 - 1989 Toyota Corolla All-Trac Wagon Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 13 - 1989 Toyota Corolla All-Trac Wagon Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 14 - 1989 Toyota Corolla All-Trac Wagon Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 15 - 1989 Toyota Corolla All-Trac Wagon Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 16 - 1989 Toyota Corolla All-Trac Wagon Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 17 - 1989 Toyota Corolla All-Trac Wagon Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 18 - 1989 Toyota Corolla All-Trac Wagon Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 19 - 1989 Toyota Corolla All-Trac Wagon Down On the Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin ]]> http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2013/02/junkyard-find-1989-toyota-corolla-all-trac-wagon-3/feed/ 28 Junkyard Find: 1980 Mercedes-Benz 450SL http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2013/02/junkyard-find-1980-mercedes-benz-450sl/ http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2013/02/junkyard-find-1980-mercedes-benz-450sl/#comments Thu, 14 Feb 2013 14:00:15 +0000 Murilee Martin http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/?p=477400 The Mercedes-Benz R107 is one of those cars that often has a vast difference between the typical perceived value and the typical price you can get when you try to sell one. I’ve seen plenty of these things in running condition for three-figure prices, and I’ve seen them fetch big bucks when they’re extremely nice. Once an R107 gets some blemishes and/or doesn’t run right, its value usually drops down to the scrap range, and that’s why they often show up in wrecking yards and even in 24 Hours of LeMons races. Here’s a Malaise Era 450SL that was an emblem of conspicuous consumption when new and still shows some signs of its former glory as it awaits The Crusher in a Denver wrecking yard.
I might need to go back and disassemble this HVAC control unit, just to see how its analog heart works. Probably a lot to go wrong inside, but odds are that it worked for at least a couple of decades.
Power came from a 180-horsepower, 4.5 liter SOHC V8 engine, which wasn’t bad for the darkest days of the Malaise Era. This car was a bit pokey, given that it scaled in at 3,595 pounds (!), but the luxury was 100% real.

01 - 1980 Mercedes-Benz 450SL Down On The Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 02 - 1980 Mercedes-Benz 450SL Down On The Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 03 - 1980 Mercedes-Benz 450SL Down On The Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 04 - 1980 Mercedes-Benz 450SL Down On The Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 05 - 1980 Mercedes-Benz 450SL Down On The Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 06 - 1980 Mercedes-Benz 450SL Down On The Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 07 - 1980 Mercedes-Benz 450SL Down On The Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 08 - 1980 Mercedes-Benz 450SL Down On The Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 09 - 1980 Mercedes-Benz 450SL Down On The Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 10 - 1980 Mercedes-Benz 450SL Down On The Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 11 - 1980 Mercedes-Benz 450SL Down On The Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 12 - 1980 Mercedes-Benz 450SL Down On The Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 13 - 1980 Mercedes-Benz 450SL Down On The Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 14 - 1980 Mercedes-Benz 450SL Down On The Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 15 - 1980 Mercedes-Benz 450SL Down On The Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 16 - 1980 Mercedes-Benz 450SL Down On The Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 17 - 1980 Mercedes-Benz 450SL Down On The Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 18 - 1980 Mercedes-Benz 450SL Down On The Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin 19 - 1980 Mercedes-Benz 450SL Down On The Junkyard - Picture courtesy of Murilee Martin ]]> http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2013/02/junkyard-find-1980-mercedes-benz-450sl/feed/ 39