Thread: Pics of old car graveyard.....

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I unsuccsessfully tried to post some pics of an old car graveyard last week. A friend had been telling me about this place and sent me some shots but I couldnt get them to post here......Well, I took a nice trip to Lake Ouichita in Ar. for some camping and boating. On the way home I decided to try and find this rumored resting place of old tin. After a few wrong turns and many U turns....I finally found the holy grail......Well, maybe not that good, but there are probably a hundred or more old car carcasses hiding amongst the trees. There is good news and bad news......the bad news is I was in shorts and flip flops (still had the boat hooked up to the truck) so I couldnt explore too deep into the woods. Also, I was lucky enough to track down the owner. It wasnt very hard, he lives in the middle of all the junk (treasure?) in a single wide mobile home. He was a strange and scary dude!!! I was lucky to catch him off guard or I probably would have been shot!!.....After assuring him I wasnt a gov. agent, he gave me about 3 minutes of his time.....I asked if any of the cars were for sale and he told me he was selling off the property and the cars were already going to the crusher for scrap metal!! .....and besides, he says, they are already all picked over. But damn, this was still a hot rodders dream. He said I had come at a bad time (probably burying the last tresspasser in the woods!!..lol...) but he may be interested in selling some. I'll be going back to that area this week to pick up a 41 sedan I bought on Ebay last year. He said to stop back then and we'll talk. (He's probably digging my grave right now!!....lol...) I'll keep ya'll posted after I get home Friday.

I didnt see anything in the woods from the 20's or 30's, but a lot of late 40's 50's and 60's. Here's a few pics I took. They're not very good, but I'll get more next week if I can get the owners permission to crawl thru the woods!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...ingtrip030.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...ingtrip029.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...ingtrip028.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...ingtrip027.jpg

Had to add this one......a shot from our campground with my boat in the water!!.....just dont get any better than that!! Plus finding a hotrod grave yard was iceing on the cake!!!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...ingtrip017.jpg

thats a shame, all those cars going to waste. Maybe you will get lucky and talk him out of a few, watch your backside. I hear that dirt coffins are very confining.

Bring a friend!

He did seem interested in selling them and he had a forklift and equipment. I think I may be able to score a few cars here. I'll let you guys know whats available when I find out.

I went back to get some more pics of what he has.....If any of you are interested, I suggest you bring an empty car hauler and cash. He wont really talk price unless youre ready to deal on the spot. But he's not given it away...I offered him a couple hundred for the 2dr plymouth wagon in one of the pictures and he told me it was worth at least $480 in scrap metal. Which is what he's doing with them....taking em to the crusher!!

heres a few more pics....if u see anything you like let me know and Ill post directions to the place....I have to ask my GF how we got there since thats where shes originally from and I wasnt paying attention to street names... Its located just outside Little Rock Arkanas not far off I-40.

Here's a few more....the last two were at the place I picked up my 41 sedan, but were pretty rough....

I like the maverick with the green door. But its too far for me. And it looks kinda rust free.

Some of those cars dont look too bad.I dont know what the rust problem is like in Arkansas,but back here in New Zealand some of those early bodies would be quite welcome,or should I say,would have been welcome a few years back.Because of the rust problem we have in parts of the country,anything left outside for a year or ten has usually rotted into the ground.There is a large yard in the middle of the North Island at a place called Horopito.Just about all the old iron has a healthy coat of moss and lichen covering it,and has started to settle into the ground.What you guys have up there still appears to be good rebuild material.Most of the truck cabs I have seen in pix are still better than what we have down here,as most of our trucks have been driven into the ground,but hard!!
Kiwis have always been known to do the impossible when rebuilding our cars,because they were always harder to get,therefore had to last as long as we could get them to,then,usually,got another rebuild. The flood gates opened some years back,with the news we were allowed to import almost what we wanted from USA,hence,there is a wave of old 50s and 60s cruisers coming in.Fact is,I think us Kiwis are getting lazy,we would rather find a good rust free body now, than rebuild a rusty example,plus,the powers that be in this country,are making it hard to bring in a car/truck with a bit of rust in it,they still havent figured it out,that us enthusiasts are willing to do the hard yards to make that car/truck roadworthy.When I see pix of those 30s 40s and 50s cars crouching among the trees,I wish that I had the time/space/money/another 50 odd years to do something about it.

didnt you post them on olskoolrodz i hope somebody saves them

It seems like a waste now but you have to keep in mind how much those cars were worth back when they were put there. I can remember back in the 60’s having a 56 Chevy 4 dr. wagon the junk man wanted to give me $15.00 for the whole car. My friend and I pulled the motor and transmission, and park it outside of his gate at night for free. I paid $40 for a 55 Chevy 2dr. 210 4 speed, Et mags, that a guy wrecked, I got the engine, transmission, plus many parts. The cars weren’t worth much at that time. Hindsight being 20/20 we would have kept them all.
When I was 16 my first car cost me $55.00 and the guy put a new paint job, and not with a brush that was 1962.

It would be a shame to see some of these cars being crushed today as scarce as they are becoming. I can see quite a few that could be brought back. I like the pickup sitting on the Pontiac, the 46 to 48 Ford, the Late 40’s Chevy 2dr. sedan. There is definitely hope for some.

If the dash is not rotted, and the steering wheel is ok from the 60 Chevy it would be nice to have them, they look really nice in just about any car or truck.

Richard

heck id take the maverick

Originally Posted by lamin8r

Some of those cars dont look too bad.I dont know what the rust problem is like in Arkansas,but back here in New Zealand some of those early bodies would be quite welcome,or should I say,would have been welcome a few years back.Because of the rust problem we have in parts of the country,anything left outside for a year or ten has usually rotted into the ground.There is a large yard in the middle of the North Island at a place called Horopito.Just about all the old iron has a healthy coat of moss and lichen covering it,and has started to settle into the ground.What you guys have up there still appears to be good rebuild material.Most of the truck cabs I have seen in pix are still better than what we have down here,as most of our trucks have been driven into the ground,but hard!!
Kiwis have always been known to do the impossible when rebuilding our cars,because they were always harder to get,therefore had to last as long as we could get them to,then,usually,got another rebuild. The flood gates opened some years back,with the news we were allowed to import almost what we wanted from USA,hence,there is a wave of old 50s and 60s cruisers coming in.Fact is,I think us Kiwis are getting lazy,we would rather find a good rust free body now, than rebuild a rusty example,plus,the powers that be in this country,are making it hard to bring in a car/truck with a bit of rust in it,they still havent figured it out,that us enthusiasts are willing to do the hard yards to make that car/truck roadworthy.When I see pix of those 30s 40s and 50s cars crouching among the trees,I wish that I had the time/space/money/another 50 odd years to do something about it.

Lamin8r
I know what you mean. If I'm not mistaken a certain Kiwi celeb Burt Munro, not only kept a 1920 Indian Scout Motorcycle alive and well, but went to the History books with a still Standing World Speed record at the Bonneville Salt flats!
T42 - There's a nice 48-50 Ford Panel truck there too! What a stash. They are probably worth the scrap metal price he wants. Some of these old characters will play with you. One day its all for sale the next well it 's price may have gone up!. Instead of the restorer collector, hot rodder approach, send in a friend who wants it all for scrap metal. Tell him the vehicles ave. weight and what iron is going for, say the hazardous fees asociated with the seats, tires etc, to low ball him, and say you'd take it all for say 50 bucks less, but it's not worth you time or gas to come back, wait until the last week of the month(before the next check comes in the mail), you'd be surprised how he might sell the same thing for half the price!
We have a few guys out here in the country that will literally let some beauties rot, before they'd sell for something like 30 years, then one day, it's like they are a different person, and they give the stuff away! Go figure!

Originally Posted by stovens

Lamin8r
I know what you mean. If I'm not mistaken a certain Kiwi celeb Burt Munro, not only kept a 1920 Indian Scout Motorcycle alive and well, but went to the History books with a still Standing World Speed record at the Bonneville Salt flats!
T42 - There's a nice 48-50 Ford Panel truck there too! What a stash. They are probably worth the scrap metal price he wants. Some of these old characters will play with you. One day its all for sale the next well it 's price may have gone up!. Instead of the restorer collector, hot rodder approach, send in a friend who wants it all for scrap metal. Tell him the vehicles ave. weight and what iron is going for, say the hazardous fees asociated with the seats, tires etc, to low ball him, and say you'd take it all for say 50 bucks less, but it's not worth you time or gas to come back, wait until the last week of the month(before the next check comes in the mail), you'd be surprised how he might sell the same thing for half the price!
We have a few guys out here in the country that will literally let some beauties rot, before they'd sell for something like 30 years, then one day, it's like they are a different person, and they give the stuff away! Go figure!

Actually, there was nothing there that I absolutly HAD to have...so he can keep it all or crush it all, I dont care........Just thought Id pass it along to anyone who might be interested.....

what became of this

sweet find, anything under the hoods