Another Mopar Graveyard Turns Up

[Bruzilla]

http://www.hotrod.com/cars/featured/1505-mopar-graveyard-hidden-in-the-carolina-hills/

 

[D575]

Wow ! great article. she needs to start an EBay store. :jerk:

 

[MT_Mopar]

Cool old cars, I like the old Pepsi Richard Petty bottles too.

 

[69roadr]

Wow ! great article. she needs to start an EBay store. :jerk:

or a yard sale

 

[Bruzilla]

I was wondering about that. It's one thing for a guy like us to keep a collection like this, but I gotta wonder why someone like the widow keeps all this stuff. I would expect my wife to sell off everything I've got in short order once I'm dead and use that money to do whatever she likes. This lady's sitting on a fortune and seems to know it's got some value, so why not sell most or all of it and keep her husband's Roadrunner if she needs something to remember him by.

 

[Lets Roll]

Incredible, probably sites like this all over the USA. Just silently rusting away..

 

[GetX'd]

This kind of find always makes me wonder. What is/was the point. You've got dozens and dozens of old cars sitting out in a field rotting away. I just never understood that.......

 

[Bruzilla]

I read another article that talks about guys like this and uses the term "hoarder" to describe them, which I think is inaccurate. The owner of the cars they talked to said he just likes to come out and see them all sitting there. That to me is a collector, and the only difference between him and someone like Ron Pratte is they are content to see their collection in that state rather than full restored.

Would anyone go into some woman's house who collects Hummels, look at her display case, and say "why are just leaving these sitting around? You should sell some!"? No, so why think that someone who collects old junky cars should want to sell any?

 

[mutt71]

People collect things or cars for their own reasons. In this case, maybe she wants to keep things the way that they were when her husband was alive. You just never know what motivates people to do certain things and why. She may sell parts as she needs money, her son would be a source of what is what and how much this or that is worth. This is a great story and find!

 

[YY1]

I agree with Bru once again.

Just because my cars are not restored or pristine does not mean it is not a collection.

 

[petieg383]

Would anyone go into some woman's house who collects Hummels, look at her display case, and say "why are just leaving these sitting around? You should sell some!"? No, so why think that someone who collects old junky cars should want to sell any?

That might be true but a Hummel was never meant to burn hellacious rubber up and down the streets, it's supposed to sit in a glass case. Muscle cars are meant to be driven. Period.

All any of us are doing with our cars is holding it for the next guy. Might and we'll use em the way Ma Mopar intended.

 

[Bruzilla]

That might be true but a Hummel was never meant to burn hellacious rubber up and down the streets, it's supposed to sit in a glass case. Muscle cars are meant to be driven. Period.

All any of us are doing with our cars is holding it for the next guy. Might and we'll use em the way Ma Mopar intended.

Would a gun collection be more to your liking? Also, what about the guys who obsess about mileage and won't drive their cars the way Ma Mopar intended either?

 

[Photon440]

Perhaps we should just be glad that this collector got hold of and saved a bunch of cars that might otherwise have been crushed. Like the Petty car. Maybe he saw them as an endless, cheap source of parts for his other cars, like the red one he was last working on. Maybe he sold a few from time to time. We just don't know the rest of the story.

 

[petieg383]

Would a gun collection be more to your liking? Also, what about the guys who obsess about mileage and won't drive their cars the way Ma Mopar intended either?

I think that sucks, but that's my opinion. That's why there is chocolate and vanilla man. Something for everyone.

 

[Moparsmitty]

I understand having a parts car or two out behind the shop but I don't get having a field full of old Mopars rusting away. I know whoever owns them can do whatever the hell he wants with them but some of those cars look like they could be drivers without too much effort. I understand what you are saying Bru, but I've never seen a rusty Hummel.

 

[ws23jrt]

I tend to agree that collecting/owning these old cars like they are is an individual decision. Those that need parts may see this as a junk yard but that may not be the mind set of the owner.
Some have indoor storage (barn) some do not. Also to assume that the owner is unaware of the rust monster is silly.
A rational financial decision for what we do with our stuff is not the way life plays out.

Just ask your self----did you do the best you could do for the future value of your car? Or are you enjoying your interest for now.

Another question for those that see this as a bad situation.----What would you do with this collection?

 

[GetX'd]

I tend to agree that collecting/owning these old cars like they are is an individual decision. Those that need parts may see this as a junk yard but that may not be the mind set of the owner.
Some have indoor storage (barn) some do not. Also to assume that the owner is unaware of the rust monster is silly.
A rational financial decision for what we do with our stuff is not the way life plays out.

Just ask your self----did you do the best you could do for the future value of your car? Or are you enjoying your interest for now.

Another question for those that see this as a bad situation.----What would you do with this collection?

Question 1 - Yes
Question 2 - offer the entire inventory for sale via auction or wholesale.

 

[OldFolksMopar]

Man, all those 440's and 383's, probably a few Wedges to boot and probably a hemi under the hood of one of those things they forgot about!!!! Man there are some nice panels on those rides that some of us could really use. Nice barn find.

 

[Cranky]

Hopefully they don't rot down too fast and will be useful at least in some shape or form to the next person down the line. I'm sure the woman isn't a spring chicken and knows she's not long for this world and if that yard gives her comfort in remembering the days gone by then so be it. It's her stuff and she can do whatever she wishes with it.....just wish it all was mine!

 

[Bruzilla]

I understand having a parts car or two out behind the shop but I don't get having a field full of old Mopars rusting away. I know whoever owns them can do whatever the hell he wants with them but some of those cars look like they could be drivers without too much effort. I understand what you are saying Bru, but I've never seen a rusty Hummel.

I've seen dusty Hummels.

I have to throw this out. When I was based at NAS Bermuda, we had a LCDR who's wife was the biggest Hummel collector ever, and he had gotten her all these figures from traveling all over Europe. We also had a LT who was one of your classic chubby nerds who was never at ease at social functions.

One year, the LCDR and his wife hosted a Christmas party, and this LT had a few too many to drink and fell into the Hummel collection. Wiped about 60 or so figurines out in a second. He spent the next two years being called LT Hummel all over the base.

- - - Updated - - -

Hopefully they don't rot down too fast and will be useful at least in some shape or form to the next person down the line. I'm sure the woman isn't a spring chicken and knows she's not long for this world and if that yard gives her comfort in remembering the days gone by then so be it. It's her stuff and she can do whatever she wishes with it.....just wish it all was mine!

We've been discussing cars like this on Facebook for some time now, and I think the real issue for these folks is there's really no benefit to buying these cars anymore. It used to be you bought cars like this because even drivers were too expensive for most folks and if you had a beer budget you bought one of these and brought it back yourself. Now that same kind of money will buy you a nice driver and even a restored car depending on the model and options.

The market is flooded with cars that are in great shape, driveable, and ready to enjoy, so unless you're really a glutton for punishment, why buy a rough project car that's not rare or very desirable? I imagine the number of folks who want to go to that level of effort these days is getting really small.