Somehow I don't think one would find a '35 Packard in a junkyard today. This relic of bygone days was covered with surface rust, but was relatively complete and quite restorable. Let's hope it was! All photos clickable to enlarge, as always.
These four 1959 Cadillac photos were all shot in a car "cemetery" that contained only Cadillacs. It's no longer there, having been cleared away for a parking lot in the late 1980s, but it was one of my favorite places to go sharpen my photographic skills. The cars ranged in condition from almost turn-key to sad parts cars. There is an elegance to a Cadillac, or a Lincoln, or a Packard, that transcends condition however. They may be down-at-the-heels, the makeup might be aging but, like Baby Jane Hudson, or Norma Desmond, a true classic is a classic forever.
Great pics Casey, brings back a flood of memories.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was restoring my 1970 Mustang Mach I in the late 70's, early 80's I loved to go to the junkyards. I'm talking old style junkyards, like the one you frequented, that would allow you on the grounds and allow you to pull your own parts. Today's junkyards are like auto parts stores, and you buy what you need at a counter - but I digress. In the junkyards where classics from the fifties and sixties and I remember sitting behind the wheel in many of them dreaming what it must have been like to own them when new. Marveling at the rare options they had. I'd collect badges and hood ornaments off of them for my collections. I think I learned more about how a car was put together from my junkyard jaunts then I ever learned from any book. Great memories!
"Another man's loss is another man's gain, these might be worthless to many but someone who has an eye for vintage automobiles can transform these beauties with a little elbow grease into splendid automobiles once again.
ReplyDeleteI"ve always been the type of person that sees things the way they were, or the way they could be, I think I use my "mind's eye" as much as I use my actual eyes. I've always loved broken down stuff because I can see the beauty that it was when it was new and whole. I don't know what that "talent" is called, but my aunt Hoohoo had it. I'd say my father, too, though he was often forced to be a realist when he didn't want to be.
ReplyDeletePX: I didn't know that about junkyards today. I guess I thought they didn't even exist. All the ones we had around here closed 25 years ago. I don't know where I thought used parts came from!
Casey: they come from that big junkyard called eBay, of course! LOL!
ReplyDeleteRestoring that Packard might be a stretch but there is quite good parts availability for most Packards. the Kantors in northern New Jersey either have or have access to any part you could want for most Packards. But it wouldn't be cheap!
ReplyDeleteThe Cadillac on the other hand looks like it would have been a fairly straightforward refresh. And I think there's good part availability for that too, between EBay and Hemmings.
A friend in college drove a pink 59 4-window sedan de ville that belonged to his grandparents -- they never drove but they had a Cadillac in case they needed to go somewhere and would recruit a driver from the family or the neighborhood.
Paul, NYC
Thank you for these photos, Casey,
ReplyDeleteA very short story:
1963. I was a little boy and they refused to let me into the local roller rink because I had jeans on. While the rest of my friends went in, I was left with nothing to do on a cold, gray ,wet afternoon.
I ambled through a junkyard next door . I went deep inside . Suddenly,a dog leapt out at me . Terrified, I madly ran up and over and between junked cars . Heedlessly going deeper and deeper into it. Losing balance, I fell . On my knees , I frantically waited for the dog. Fists clenched
He never came.
I caught my breath while still on my knees. I turned my head to get an idea of where I might be . I look up, and there before me, like the Flying Dutchman, sat a 1935 Packard Phaeton half covered by a tarp, dead leaves up to the hubcaps.
Time stopped .I had never seen anything that old, that big, or that beautiful. Even in a ruined state, I could see how magnificent it was. I sat there for the longest time .
That began my passion for these cars.
Thank you for the photo and bringing that moment to mind.
AP
Malibu
Wow, AP, what a story.... I was on the edge of my seat. Junkyard Dog and all..........
ReplyDeleteI agree with Annie! What a cool story and perfectly fits the photo. It was like a scene from a movie. thank YOU, AP!
ReplyDeleteI JUST LOOKED AT THE CLOCK AND IT READS 12:14 AM. AP, THANKS FOR THE BEDTIME STORY EVEN IF I HAD TO READ IT TO MYSELF AND THE OLD LADY TURNED OVER AND WENT TO SLEEP AND THEY LIVED HAPPY EVER AFTER.
ReplyDeleteGN CASEY GN
that's a wonderful story AP. It's so interesting to think what makes each of us a car enthusiast -- is it nature or nurture? Is it inborn or do we learn it from others. I think in my case it was part of me from the start -- I could name every car on the road as soon as I could talk. Where did that come from?
ReplyDeletePaul, NYC