Trip to classic car junkyard

[addyguy]

I went with a buddy today to check out a very old car junkyard, Roblins (roblins.net)

Really neat place, has been there for decades, and most of the stuff has been in there for more than 20 years w/o being touched.

No really rare of valuable cars here, just old average cars - still some neat finds. Nothing there is really 'restorable' anymore, it's mainly a parts yard.

Some pics:

My 2003 Tribute at the entrance:

View as you go into the far back lot:

This I thought was REALLY neat - a tire with 'spare' actually printed into the tread!:

Random row of old Comets and Mavericks:

More in a sec...

 

[addyguy]

An idea of just how long stuff has been sitting here:

I stumped my buddy with this one - early 1970's Vauxhaul Firenza:

Old highway truck:

Older, more overgrown part of the yard:

Lots of the cars had front DRUM brakes - how often do you see that?

 

[Bluestream]

Why is this guy keeping all these old cars? I would think the used parts value to be near zero, since none of those makes/models of cars are even on the road anymore. Who wants a lower control arm from a 1970 Maverick???

 

[addyguy]

Old 1970's 'wide oval' glass-belted tire - LOTS of these all over the yard:

Vega hatchback:

1970's hot-rod engine bay - tranny cooler, 'high performance cam' sticker, and electronic ignition on firewall:

Chev 283 hiding under a fender:

Old Ford 360's:

'Woodie' bed on old truck:

AMC Matador Coupe:

This was neat - on a 1970's rusted-out Cougar, the 'opera windows' were in PERFECT shape - not even a scratch!:

I would have taken a ton more pics, but my camera battery ran out, LOL! Anyway, it was a fun trip.

Enjoy!

 

[addyguy]

Originally Posted By: Bluestream
Why is this guy keeping all these old cars? I would think the used parts value to be near zero, since none of those makes/models of cars are even on the road anymore. Who wants a lower control arm from a 1970 Maverick???


Guys been there for 45 years, and actually runs a full-service garage at the front of the property. I guess he supplements this business with parts sales.

Ask SS1970Chrysler how 'important' a yard like this is - where else is he gonna get parts for his 1978 Granada, than a place like this?

 

[SS1970chrysler]

Originally Posted By: addyguy
Originally Posted By: Bluestream
Why is this guy keeping all these old cars? I would think the used parts value to be near zero, since none of those makes/models of cars are even on the road anymore. Who wants a lower control arm from a 1970 Maverick???


Guys been there for 45 years, and actually runs a full-service garage at the front of the property. I guess he supplements this business with parts sales.

Ask SS1970Chrysler how 'important' a yard like this is - where else is he gonna get parts for his 1978 Granada, than a place like this?

There does come a point where you can have too many of a type of car in the yard, but without them, you'd have cars that only need one little part to be used. We have a local yard full of Mustang II's. Aftermarket support isn't really out there for many cars and not everyone is rich. Many of the parts on the restored "show cars" everyone oooohs and ahhhs at came from beginnings just like those.

A 1970 Maverick control arm would fit my car BTW and would likely be better quality than a repop.

The vast majority of my cars have front drum brakes. They are a little more work, but give me far less trouble than disc.

Psst!- what year Cougar? My brother uses a '73 as his backup car.

 

[eljefino]

My volvo spare tire has a tread pattern like this.

Good grief does it howl! Sounds like a propeller airplane. I guess they want to remind you in their Nordic humor that you're driving on a donut.

That yard looks nice and peaceful, though I'd check myself over for ticks afterwards. Yard I go to has so much heavy equipment activity that grass never sticks around and it's a perpetual mud pit/ environmental disaster.

BIL had a four door 69 Nova with a 307 and 2 speed powerglide with drum brakes. It was absolutely not a hot rod. It at least sounded cool with true dual exhaust, but only happened because our mechanic couldn't find or fab the y-pipe/ crossover. Remember for every GTO there were probably ten Tempest "secretary specials".

 

[SS1970chrysler]

I saw a 73-76 dart in there(the drum brake car)

as well as a Grandville and an Olds Cutlass 73-77.

Most of these have all drums and wouldn't be around without parts.

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1...&permPage=1

 

[JHZR2]

Nice! Thanks for taking pictures and sharing, good stuff in there. Most all of it was before my time, but I remember seeing many of those on the roads growing up.

 

[dave1251]

Awesome read! Thanks for posting I like looking thru automotive history, I would like to own a junkyard for myself, just need to get the money!

 

[nitehawk55]

Old yard like that make a great place full of subjects and you can get some pretty cool shots like the couger window .

 

[jetmech1]

Quote:
Who wants a lower control arm from a 1970 Maverick???


Someone who is restoring a 302 Maverick Grabber or Comet GT. Have been seeing more of them recently at car shows. I used to watch them being built at the Claycomo, MO. assembly plant in 1972. Would love to have one now.........

 

[Bluestream]

Originally Posted By: jetmech1
Quote:
Who wants a lower control arm from a 1970 Maverick???


Someone who is restoring a 302 Maverick Grabber or Comet GT. Have been seeing more of them recently at car shows. I used to watch them being built at the Claycomo, MO. assembly plant in 1972. Would love to have one now.........


That may be, But my point was I dont want some rusted POS Maverick in my back yard sitting for 20 years until I get a call for a lower control arm to sell for $20

 

[KrisZ]

Just look at some of those chrome pieces, man some of them look better than brand new chineese junk we get now.

 

[Garak]

I wish I had taken some pictures of some of the old cars we took out to the shredder after selling the farm. One of them was the old 1981 Impala with 1,000,000 km on it (with the engine still in running order).

 

[Garak]

Originally Posted By: Bluestream
That may be, But my point was I dont want some rusted POS Maverick in my back yard sitting for 20 years until I get a call for a lower control arm to sell for $20


It could be no different than my dad keeping used SBC engine components, irrespective of the fact that they can be had new for next to nothing. You come out to this province, you see fields of vehicles like that all over the place. The funny thing is that some of these guys have huge amounts of these vehicles, and drive a beater themselves. If they sold all the steel, they could not only clean out their farmyard, but could probably buy a new vehicle with cash.

 

[eljefino]

Originally Posted By: Garak
If they sold all the steel, they could not only clean out their farmyard, but could probably buy a new vehicle with cash.


Smart. Better than money in the bank, really. Just have to tim the market.

What will make a Maverick, Volare, or Astre cool, like they never really were, will be rarity, which will happen when parts are hard to find. Stuff will start going up in value only AFTER these guys (or their estates) give in and crush everything.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and sometime someone will look back on the 1970s (Jalopnik's "Malaise era" 75-83) with fondness and want to restore something with no power, spaghetti line vacuum hoses, buck toothed 5 mph crash bumpers, etc. I'm already seeing mid 1980s Tempos and Tercels running antique license plates-- cheaper and exempt from annual inspection.

 

[Bluestream]

My wife owned a Tempo, what a POS. Ford should have been charged with false advertising by call it a car!

I am glad those days are gone..

 

[addyguy]

My folks had a 1994 Tempo 4-cylinder they bought new.

Drove it for 8 years, and had barely any problems with it.

 

[Bluestream]

Originally Posted By: addyguy
My folks had a 1994 Tempo 4-cylinder they bought new.

Drove it for 8 years, and had barely any problems with it.


That's' good to hear; Ours was a 1990 also bought new, and kept to 160,0KM

Other than the poor handling, loud and rough running engine, poor ergonomic seat design, and A/C hose seals that leaked, axle shaft seals that leaked, body that rusted out prematurely...oh [censored] I could go on all day...

A friend of mine hd one with the manual transmission; that Had to be the worst design cable shifter ever built.