I don't even care if they are chev's, put a ford motor in it......COE's of any make are worth saving!

 

I took a trip out to this yard today. Quite an amazing place. Almost 20 acres of stuff of all kinds and shapes. The few pics posted don't even begin to show the enormity of the place. Unfortunately most of it is in really rough shape. Sitting outside in Michigan weather is not kind to anything steel especially sheet metal. I would have taken my camera but there is 6 inches of snow on everything and all you would have seen is piles and lumps of snow. The owner is 83 years old and has collected this stuff for 40 years. He has a friend helping him who is the contact person and you have to make an appointment to see the place through him. My main mission today was to find some 5 lug 22.5" rims for sweet old Bessie. I was hoping we could find a couple buried in the snow already off the truck but no luck. To make a long story short I ended up with 2 that we had to spend all day removing from the front end of a late fifties ,early sixties truck.
The contact guy says he is getting about 50 calls a day about the place. So far he says he hasn't sold anything from the adds except that today I was his first sale. He says there is one guy who wants to buy all the COE trucks that are in there. I think I counted at least 6 or 7 while there of all makes and shapes. One truck did catch my eye, a 54 F500 with a 2 speed axle and a possibly complete Y block engine. Logistically I can't begin to haul something like that home until better weather so I will have to do a lot of thinking on it for a while. If someone beats me to it ,good for them , life will go on, nothing I can't live without.

Louie

 

What road is it off of? I'm trying to google earth it !

 

I was there back in the early Fall. The place is about 12 miles from me. Neat place to check out but when I inquired about vehicle price and titles things got pricy quick. I love saving old iron but some people especially in Michigan think the stuff is gold. If someone is interested in checking this place out in the spring there is another place like it about 30 minutes away with a lot of Ford, Stude and Dodge trucks sitting around.

 

Can't remember the road but I will find it for you tomorrow. You don't want the F500 do ya Chris? lol If you (or anyone) wants me to swing by there and snap a couple of pics/get more info let me know. It isn't far for me. We have 15 inches of snow on the ground but it will melt fast with 45 degree days for the next few.

 

Very nice all of them! I really like the cab overs. Now, about that lottery question again?.....lol

 

Judging by the pictures it doesn't look like there would be many that could be saved other than the cabovers. It makes you laugh that guys will try and hang onto this stuff figuring they are going to make thousands of dollars per unit only to have it disappear into the ground, they would have been dollars ahead to be thinking in hundreds. If they are going to save them until they are worth what they ask for them they at least should have tried to preserve them.

 

Totally agree John! I come across so many vehicles that have been left to sit and they just fade away into the dirt. All these current tv shows don't help either. People now think that anything older than 82 has some huge payday attached to it. I looked at a 68 Mustang coupe yesterday. It had the usual rust issues and a seized motor. I liked the car because it reminded me of my high school days. After inspecting the car I offered $1500 cash (which I thought was a more than fair offer). The owner looked at me, laughed and said he wouldn't take less than $5000. Told me "these cars are getting very rare, especially around here." Yeah, they are "rare" in Michigan because they rotted away. They are so rare that I have in fact only owned over a dozen 65-69 Mustangs over the last 10 years. Stupid people. The only people I like now are those that have personally restored or worked on their own cars. Any idiot can buy a car, it's those that work on them that know the true value. You want rare? Try to find a low mileage, rust free 1983 Ford Escort Wagon that still runs! My god, that car would be considered a collectible in most states. I am getting to old.

 

The address of this place is: 51650 County Rd 652, Mattawan, Mi, . The prices may be high on some of the stuff there ,like teardropty said, but it just depends on what you are looking for and how bad you want something. The two 5 lug 22.5" rims I got yesterday were cheap to me. I paid $ 50 each and they look in real good condition, I had the tires pulled off today. I paid $ 150 each for a couple rims a while back that were useable but not in nearly as good condition. For the 54 F500 the old guy quoted $ 850 to me . It seems like a fair price for what I would want out of it . If the Y block is complete and runable and everything seems to be there for the 2 speed rear end, this alone plus other parts would be worth it to me. To restore the whole truck is not in my interest, widow makers all around plus definate rust problems and with that it probably wouldn't be worth the agrevation for the money and the time and problems of getting it out of there. I think this place is mostly worth the parts and the prices are just what you are willing to pay. I learned the words " No thank you" many years ago.

Louie

 

Thanks Louie, you beat me to the address. They told me $1400 on the F500 couple of months ago. I agree $850 is much more fair and reasonable. I agree for parts it is a good place for odd stuff but for a "project trucks" most of the stuff there is far gone.

 

What most people don't understand is how many Mustangs were made and most are still out there......Escorts were all crushed so there are very few still in existence. So, yep, much more rare. I have actually been looking for an early '70's Pinto hatchback (don't laugh)......extremely hard car to find, at least in these parts......

 

That's because Pintos and Vegas from that era were manufactured from compressed rust.