A Question for Our American Friends
Discussion
Have just got back from a very enjoyable road trip across 4000 miles and 11 of your lovely states and pretty much all of it was great, the people, the scenery and the empty roads but why is it that almost everywhere we went, there were cars just sat abandoned in fields or yards quietly dissolving back into mother earth?
It's not even like they're all old sheds or Lincoln town cars, I saw a few '60's chargers, at least 3 240Z's and I don't know how many old Bel-airs and Buicks...I'd kill for half of the cars I saw in those fields, is there a reason you just leave them to die?
Some of the cars in these photos are a bit far gone admittedly but in the dry states there are just as many cars sat there. What the hell is going on over there?
It's not even like they're all old sheds or Lincoln town cars, I saw a few '60's chargers, at least 3 240Z's and I don't know how many old Bel-airs and Buicks...I'd kill for half of the cars I saw in those fields, is there a reason you just leave them to die?
Some of the cars in these photos are a bit far gone admittedly but in the dry states there are just as many cars sat there. What the hell is going on over there?
Perhaps a combination of factors:
Nation of hoarders (out in the boonies, lots of yard space).
Throw-away society views cars like white-goods.
Nostalgia - "I'll fix it up one of these days"
Hopeless optimism - It'll be worth a fortune one day.
Laziness - can't be bothered to call a wrecker to get it hauled away.
Somewhere for the hens to roost.
Nation of hoarders (out in the boonies, lots of yard space).
Throw-away society views cars like white-goods.
Nostalgia - "I'll fix it up one of these days"
Hopeless optimism - It'll be worth a fortune one day.
Laziness - can't be bothered to call a wrecker to get it hauled away.
Somewhere for the hens to roost.
I came across a YouTube video of a guy who'd trailered some 60s and 70s cars to a scrapyard. He was telling the crane operator the guy had stored these cars and then when he came to them he found they'd all rusted. He'd presumably planned on restoring them and driving them and when he finally did they were all ruined.
This is a weird one. Not just abandoned cars but a whole abandoned dealership with cars still inside.
The story is here. Apparently the owner of the dealership had a chain of them and sold all but this one which he just left abandoned except for someone cutting back the plants around it occasionally. The garage contained about 40 cars and at the time of writing the owner had found a buyer for the building and was looking to offload the cars.
http://jalopnik.com/5632032/the-mystery-of-flickrs...
This is a weird one. Not just abandoned cars but a whole abandoned dealership with cars still inside.
The story is here. Apparently the owner of the dealership had a chain of them and sold all but this one which he just left abandoned except for someone cutting back the plants around it occasionally. The garage contained about 40 cars and at the time of writing the owner had found a buyer for the building and was looking to offload the cars.
http://jalopnik.com/5632032/the-mystery-of-flickrs...
I think a lot of it has to do with a weird phenomenon of hoard like/bargain hunter type behavior. Certainly what you describe is not unusual but neither is it common where I live. I believe what happens is many cars wind up breaking down seriously and then it becomes the choice of the owner to fix it (most likely more than the cost of the car), give the car away, scrap it or optimistically hold on to the car until it becomes a "collectors item". I have had a few opportunities to obtain free cars but have declined on the basis of the need to repair or bring them up to my standards would have been cost prohibitive.
Please also note that we put a lot more miles on our cars as a general rule than europeans and are generally harder on our cars and have much harsher climates in fact we have a portion of the country known as the "rust belt". Also american generally have a disposable mentality and everyone wants the latest, greatest, best. I was once of that mindset but now I prefer to buy items of higher quality, keep them in good repair and hold on to them for awhile.
Please also note that we put a lot more miles on our cars as a general rule than europeans and are generally harder on our cars and have much harsher climates in fact we have a portion of the country known as the "rust belt". Also american generally have a disposable mentality and everyone wants the latest, greatest, best. I was once of that mindset but now I prefer to buy items of higher quality, keep them in good repair and hold on to them for awhile.
Blakewater said:
I came across a YouTube video of a guy who'd trailered some 60s and 70s cars to a scrapyard. He was telling the crane operator the guy had stored these cars and then when he came to them he found they'd all rusted. He'd presumably planned on restoring them and driving them and when he finally did they were all ruined.
This is a weird one. Not just abandoned cars but a whole abandoned dealership with cars still inside.
The story is here. Apparently the owner of the dealership had a chain of them and sold all but this one which he just left abandoned except for someone cutting back the plants around it occasionally. The garage contained about 40 cars and at the time of writing the owner had found a buyer for the building and was looking to offload the cars.
http://jalopnik.com/5632032/the-mystery-of-flickrs...
Seems a saddening sight, cars that never even had the chance to be owned. This is a weird one. Not just abandoned cars but a whole abandoned dealership with cars still inside.
The story is here. Apparently the owner of the dealership had a chain of them and sold all but this one which he just left abandoned except for someone cutting back the plants around it occasionally. The garage contained about 40 cars and at the time of writing the owner had found a buyer for the building and was looking to offload the cars.
http://jalopnik.com/5632032/the-mystery-of-flickrs...
BDR529 said:
Blakewater said:
I came across a YouTube video of a guy who'd trailered some 60s and 70s cars to a scrapyard. He was telling the crane operator the guy had stored these cars and then when he came to them he found they'd all rusted. He'd presumably planned on restoring them and driving them and when he finally did they were all ruined.
This is a weird one. Not just abandoned cars but a whole abandoned dealership with cars still inside.
The story is here. Apparently the owner of the dealership had a chain of them and sold all but this one which he just left abandoned except for someone cutting back the plants around it occasionally. The garage contained about 40 cars and at the time of writing the owner had found a buyer for the building and was looking to offload the cars.
http://jalopnik.com/5632032/the-mystery-of-flickrs...
Seems a saddening sight, cars that never even had the chance to be owned. This is a weird one. Not just abandoned cars but a whole abandoned dealership with cars still inside.
The story is here. Apparently the owner of the dealership had a chain of them and sold all but this one which he just left abandoned except for someone cutting back the plants around it occasionally. The garage contained about 40 cars and at the time of writing the owner had found a buyer for the building and was looking to offload the cars.
http://jalopnik.com/5632032/the-mystery-of-flickrs...
PaulFontaine said:
Please also note that we put a lot more miles on our cars as a general rule than europeans and are generally harder on our cars and have much harsher climates in fact we have a portion of the country known as the "rust belt".
Yet used car prices are still a complete piss take?! 
Anyway, the "rust belt" name is more to do with the decline of the steel industry in the region rather than rusty cars. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rust_Belt
By the way, what part of Chicagoland you in? Are you off to Super Car Saturday tomorrow morning in Bolingbrook?
We don't really have this in or around Los Angeles, but I think many of them are either project cars or cars which went bad (engine shot, etc.) that were abandoned on their own property pending eventual removal for scrap. Time passes, car remains, and yadda yadda yadda, you see a bunch of those types of things.
PaulFontaine said:
Please also note that we put a lot more miles on our cars as a general rule than europeans and are generally harder on our cars ...
Looking at average annual mileage figures for the UK and USA there's not much in it, both countries averaging between 10-20k miles a year depending on car type and age group.Having driven in the USA several times, everyone seems to just potter around so I'm not sure they are harsher on cars either.
Truckosaurus said:
Looking at average annual mileage figures for the UK and USA there's not much in it, both countries averaging between 10-20k miles a year depending on car type and age group.
Having driven in the USA several times, everyone seems to just potter around so I'm not sure they are harsher on cars either.
We stayed off the interstates and were cruising along the byways and tbh regardless of the speed limits pretty much everyone was cruising along at 80mph. I suppose the difference is that in a big lazy v8 with long gearing the engine is barely above idle, over here in our tinpot 4 cylinders you're usually around 4k doing that.Having driven in the USA several times, everyone seems to just potter around so I'm not sure they are harsher on cars either.
The cars in yards seemed to be a consistent sight across the places I went, the ones in the panhandle (Florida/Alabama/Louisiana) had been eaten by the rust fairies, as you'd expect from somewhere so wet and humid. The ones up in Utah/Arizona looked fine, the biggest danger to those seemed to be the weeds taking hold around the bottom of the cars.
I'm thinking a trip back out to the dry states with a 4x4 and a trailer followed by a trip to the docks could be a good idea...
It's not just the USA where you find abandoned cars, though they seem to be more prevalent there. You find them all over. It is sad to see nice cars disintegrating when they should be being driven because no one seems to care for them.
You find lots of stuff abandoned in Dubai that rich people have just got bored with.
There was a barn finds thread on here a while ago with lots of pictures of abandoned classics and supercars.
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=964...
You find lots of stuff abandoned in Dubai that rich people have just got bored with.
There was a barn finds thread on here a while ago with lots of pictures of abandoned classics and supercars.
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=964...
Or two to three weeks holiday. Anything properly abandoned will be owned mostly by the bank so the owner has done a bunk on his liability - not on his asset.
You need to put 20% minimum down on any car here now. In the past you could put nothing down as deposit and get finance over 5 to 7 years. Bonkers stuff.
You need to put 20% minimum down on any car here now. In the past you could put nothing down as deposit and get finance over 5 to 7 years. Bonkers stuff.
TAHodgson said:
Alot of the 'abandoned' car pics from Dubai really aren't so. Just pics taken after a sandstorm.
not even that is needed. there's a golf been parked across from here for 2 weeks that was fresh and clean on day one and now looks like it's just been dug up from a crypt. taxi drivers use the strip of sand by the car park as a short cut. Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff