Down On The Junkyard

posts about #downonthejunkyard more →
1971 Volkswagen Squareback
Back When Automotive Interior Designers Weren't So Slick: SECU- RITY Indicator Lamp
1969 Mercury Marauder X-100, 1968 Chrysler 300 Go To Crusher Side By Side
Cash For Clunkers Vehicles Still Crowding Junkyards
One Of The Last AMC-Built Grand Wagoneers Heads To The Last Roundup
Adios, Amigos: Pick Your Part's Octopus Shuts NorCal Wrecking Yards
Corvair-Powered Fiberfab Valkyrie GT-15 Prepares To Take Leave Of This World
Speaking Of Crusher-Bound 80s Two-Seaters, How About This Nissan Pulsar NX?
I'm Not An EXP, Says Doomed Mercury LN7 To The Crusher
Clunkerized Mercedes-Benzes Clog Up Junkyards, Ghost Of Karl Benz To Haunt White House

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I was drivin' that Model A
07:33 PM

In reply to 1971 Volkswagen Squareback
Wow.

That car looks wholly intact, down to the spare which shames three of the five tires I have on/in my ride. #volkswagentype3
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JCWhitless
06:45 PM

In reply to 1971 Volkswagen Squareback
So the 1989 420SEL isn't a car that you are selling for parts?

Are you sure? You wrote an article on it.

WORST SEVIS EVA #volkswagentype3
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Novaload
06:21 PM

In reply to 1971 Volkswagen Squareback
There used to be a sedan one of these around the corner--in the unavoidable pale blue--with the tiny rear deck and everything. I really, really wanted that. Looked much better than the square back. To me. #volkswagentype3
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Paul Y. don't drive too fast.
06:26 PM

@Novaload: Nice. The notchbacks were always my favorite. Interestingly, they still had the pancake engine, covered up, which allowed the rear to have a second trunk. Practical, yet complete nonsense: the German way! #volkswagentype3
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Novaload
07:38 PM

@Paul Y. don't drive too fast.: See, I was going to say that it DID have a trunk because I saw the boot lid up, but I figured that couldn't possibly be true. Thanks for the info. #volkswagentype3
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skaycog
06:13 PM

In reply to 1971 Volkswagen Squareback
Someone woodyized one.
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Rockford Brodie and the Masters of the Hooniverse
05:58 PM

In reply to 1971 Volkswagen Squareback
So, how much do you want for that gauge cluster? =p

Maybe you should just rename the series "It's Already Been Crushed, Asshole!"

#itsalredaybeencrushedasshole
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Edited by Rockford Brodie and the Masters of the Hooniverse at 11/07/09 6:03 PM

Novaload
06:17 PM

@Rockford Brodie and the Masters of the Hooniverse: Genius. I love simple solutions to complex problems. #volkswagentype3
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skitter
05:33 PM

In reply to 1971 Volkswagen Squareback
Let's see if we can put together a form letter/mad-libs for you to use on these endless-loop minds:

Dear Sir/Madam/Houseplant,

I am (adjective) to inform you that the fine example of (nationality) engineering has been purchased wholesale by a wealthy (pejorative). It is being lavishly transformed into an as-new state that will leave it unrecognizable from these pictures.

Kisses,
- Murilee #volkswagentype3
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Novaload
06:19 PM

@skitter: Well played! #volkswagentype3
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Murilee Martin
08:20 PM

@Novaload: The problem is that they never believe me- they think I'm holding out on them, just for spite.

The worst one yet was the junked '72 Vista Cruiser from a few months back. Someone must have posted it on a Vista Cruiser forum, because I have a half-dozen guys alternately pleading and threatening over that car. Some of them are on their 15th email by now. My patriotism is being questioned, because obviously the Vista Cruiser represents America. #volkswagentype3
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If FromaBuick6 has to watch one more Chevy commercial, he's going to punch Howie Long in the face
08:31 PM

@Murilee Martin: The very fact that one can no longer purchase a long-wheelbase, glassed-roofed station wagon version of one of America's most popular cars, complete with bench seats, lower body wood paneling, optional rallye wheels and a choice of hi-po V8s is enough to make me question everyone's patriotism. #volkswagentype3
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Novaload
08:42 PM

@Murilee Martin: Well, then charge the buggers--there ought to be some way you could make some bucks from their stupidity. Tell them it's $50 for additional information. "Click here for more information"--but you're too nice to do that, I suspect. #volkswagentype3
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Novaload
08:43 PM

@If FromaBuick6 has to watch one more Chevy commercial, he's going to punch Howie Long in the face: Indeed, it's true.
Also, if you want to punch Howie Long, he lives in my town. Or maybe I'll just punch him for you, if you like. #volkswagentype3
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If FromaBuick6 has to watch one more Chevy commercial, he's going to punch Howie Long in the face
08:47 PM

@Novaload: Please do. Better still, wait until he's out telling some Pilot or Accord owner how dumb they are for not buying a plasticky, thrashy-motored Chevy, and hit him with a Vista Cruiser. #volkswagentype3
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günter macbeetle, codename: chrystlubitshi
05:13 PM

In reply to 1971 Volkswagen Squareback
why can't they design something this attractive anymore...? #volkswagentype3
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Paul Y. don't drive too fast.
06:27 PM

@günter macbeetle, codename: chrystlubitshi: The windows are too big, the wheels are too small, and it's too slow. It will never sell! #volkswagentype3
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Van Sarockin, rogue trebuchet
05:11 PM

In reply to 1971 Volkswagen Squareback
Always hated the Squarebacks. At least they weren't 411s. Now there's a car that was impossible to keep in good running order. #volkswagentype3
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62imperialcrown
07:48 PM

@Van Sarockin, rogue trebuchet: Agreed - when I was 19 I bought a '71 411 which was a fun driver but needed a lot of fiddling to keep running right. Plus the PO had removed the bulb from the oil pressure warning light... so after the 411 died I replaced it with a '74 Coupe DeVille. #volkswagentype3
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If FromaBuick6 has to watch one more Chevy commercial, he's going to punch Howie Long in the face promoted this comment 62imperialcrown was starred 62imperialcrown was unstarred

If FromaBuick6 has to watch one more Chevy commercial, he's going to punch Howie Long in the face
08:37 PM

@62imperialcrown: So you went from one of the weirdest, worst rear-engined VWs ever sold, to one of the hugest, biggest-engined Cadillacs ever sold. Congratulations, I don't think it's possible to own two more different vehicles. #volkswagentype3
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skitter
05:02 PM

In reply to Back When Automotive Interior Designers Weren't So Slick: SECU- RITY Indicator Lamp
Twenty-three years late
I will suggest Anti-Theft
as a solution. #1980s
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Ford Tempo Fanatic
02:28 PM

In reply to Back When Automotive Interior Designers Weren't So Slick: SECU- RITY Indicator Lamp
I love it. Just look at that fake dashboard stitching! The 1980s were truly a great decade for automotive design; inside or out. #1980s
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Ford Tempo Fanatic was starred

haxor911
02:34 PM

@Ford Tempo Fanatic: fake stitching! the 80's was great decade for music not automotive design. I guess fake stitching is like todays chrome colored plastic pieces. #1980s
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Ford Tempo Fanatic
04:34 PM

@haxor911: Hey now, I'll take an honest-and-true 80s anything over the fake stuff of today. Technology be damned, the pinnacle of automotive design was the mid-80s. After that, it was all down hill. #1980s
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Novaload
06:02 PM

@Ford Tempo Fanatic: Do you love it enough to look away from a Tempo? Or are you just cheatin'? #1980s
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Ford Tempo Fanatic
06:29 PM

@Novaload: Tempo still reigns supreme, but I can find good in most 1980s cars. Except J-Bodies. #1980s
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pauljones
06:29 PM

@Ford Tempo Fanatic: I respect you, man, but you're an odd duck.

The problem I have with the 80s is that you literally could not tell any car from any manufacturer apart.

Is it a Camry? An Accord? A Maxima? A Celebrity? Seriously. If you were to set all four of the above cars side by side, you would not be able to tell them apart. At all. I've actually seen all four of them at once.

The only good designs to come out of the 80s were the BMWs in general F-bodies, Supra Mk III, Corvette, Mustang, Taurus, Prelude, AE86, 2nd gen 300ZX, and the NSX.

Otherwise, it was all crap.
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Edited by pauljones at 11/07/09 6:29 PM pauljones was starred pauljones was unstarred

skitter
06:56 PM

@pauljones: I've actually seen all four of them at once.

How can you be sure? #1980s
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pauljones
07:15 PM

@skitter: I actually wiped the dust off and saw the badges with my very own eyes. Not the badges couldn't have been swapped with no way of knowing.

The Celebrity was the easiest to identify, however; it was the only that was falling apart at the seems. #1980s
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Ford Tempo Fanatic
07:28 PM

@pauljones: Camry, Accord, Maxima, Celebrity. Think man. What do all four of those automobiles have in common? They aren't Fords. Really, the only good designs to come out of the 1980s were from the hand of Ford and Chrysler designers. GM the Japanese could suck it with their appliances. That's not to say I wouldn't take a 1980s Maxima over a brand new Maxima, but everything is relevant. But when you're talking 1980s, the cars Ford was churning out were anything but dull.

All Wheel Drive Tempos, SHO Taurus', Mercury's with light up grills, even sportified Escort EXPs. It was all there. The F-Bodies and Corvettes too weren't much in comparison to, say, the SVO Mustang. We're talking about a high output 2.3L with forced induction that could wipe the floor with a V8 equipped Camaro. Everything about 1980s cars, especially from Ford, was innovative. If not the best, but hey, they tried new things. Which is more then can be said for automakers these days. #1980s
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Ford Tempo Fanatic was starred

Novaload
07:34 PM

@Ford Tempo Fanatic: Actually I had a 86 Sunbird that was high-end (for what it was) and was really nice, clean and sporty design with really nice trim and wheels and a factory awesome cassette player. If I ever find a picture of it, I'll post it. You wouldn't recognize it as a funky J. But it is the exception. #1980s
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SmaartAasSaabr
07:54 PM

@pauljones: Accords with pop-up headlamps, Celebrities with the concave rear and distinctive taillights, Maximas with the strange lights... they all seemed pretty distinct to me... #1980s
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pauljones
08:09 PM

@SmaartAasSaabr:
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pauljones
08:10 PM

@SmaartAasSaabr: #1980s
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pauljones
08:11 PM

@SmaartAasSaabr: #1980s
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pauljones
08:12 PM

@SmaartAasSaabr: #1980s
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pauljones
08:14 PM

@SmaartAasSaabr: You were saying? #1980s
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Ford Tempo Fanatic
08:23 PM

@pauljones: Still all far more appealing then a 2009-anything. The Chrysler Sebring looks much more distinct when compared to a modern Nissan Sentra, but really now. Come on. #1980s
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Ford Tempo Fanatic was starred

Murilee Martin
08:33 PM

@pauljones: The Fiero was a good design. Badly executed, unfortunately. #1980s
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If FromaBuick6 has to watch one more Chevy commercial, he's going to punch Howie Long in the face
09:01 PM

@pauljones: I've never mistaken any of these cars for each other. But I'm also a huge nerd.

A lot of Japanese cars the overly similar styling in this era. The late-80s Camrys and 626s are a good example. At the same time, GM completely gave up on making any of their cars look the least bit different. It's bad when you can't tell the difference between an Eldorado and a Grand Am. #1980s
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If FromaBuick6 has to watch one more Chevy commercial, he's going to punch Howie Long in the face
09:14 PM

@Ford Tempo Fanatic: I'd definitely argue that Fords were the best engineered, best styled American cars in the '80s. Unfortunately, they weren't the best built; cars like the Taurus had a lot of substandard parts that just didn't have much durability and they just didn't last. Meanwhile, GM cars of the era were completely lacking in any sort of (good) innovation and generally felt as though not one person, from the very first design sketch until the moment it rolled off the assembly line, gave a rats ass about making a car anyone would want to buy. Yet, so many of those souless GMs absolutely refused to die, in spite of poor engineering, wretched drivetrains and abysmal build quality.

So in short, Ford built great cars that were hampered by quality that was decidedly not job 1, while GMs run bad longer than most cars run at all. And, Chrysler? Well, Chrysler was and still is pretty much on the same 5 year "A few exciting products followed by complete garbage and near backruptcy" business plan it's been using since 1955. #1980s
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tonyola
02:09 PM

In reply to Back When Automotive Interior Designers Weren't So Slick: SECU- RITY Indicator Lamp
I liked these boxy Maximas - particularly the '87 and '88 models with the raked-back nose. Had I been able to afford a Maxima in the day, I would have happily bought one to supplement my CRX. Notice the dash - a full complement of six needle gauges. Somehow, Maximas became less special and appealing after 1994 - seems that the sportiness was being slowly bled away. #1980s
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theeastbaykid
02:08 PM

In reply to Back When Automotive Interior Designers Weren't So Slick: SECU- RITY Indicator Lamp
That's not an '87 Maxima dash--that's the startup screen for Windows 7! #1980s
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Novaload
06:05 PM

@theeastbaykid: Bill Gates tracks everything on the internet for negative references to his products. You better set your Secu-Rity system on "High" for the next few days. #1980s
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bzr
01:18 PM

In reply to Back When Automotive Interior Designers Weren't So Slick: SECU- RITY Indicator Lamp

And they had the good sense to set the typeface in Eurostile, I believe. Many Japanese companies love that font; Honda is obsessed with it. Take a look at the Engine Start button on the S2k, for example.

Yeah, I'm a font nerd. #1980s
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A strolling player
01:48 PM

@bzr: Kindred spirits, we are. Did you ever notice that the gauges on the '92-'96 Camry use the same typeface as the displays in the later original-crew Star Trek movies?

...Yeah. #nerdalert
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Edited by A strolling player at 11/07/09 1:49 PM A strolling player was starred

Maxichamp
01:05 PM

In reply to Back When Automotive Interior Designers Weren't So Slick: SECU- RITY Indicator Lamp
I would like to see a collection of weird and hard-to-interpret dash buttons and pictograms please. #1980s
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skitter
01:13 PM

@Maxichamp: My employer wants to go to text free industrial warning labels. They think a picture of bleeding fingers is just as effective as "Caution: Spinning Blades Below." Never mind the guy going "F*** me, those spin? Good thing you told me." #1980s
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blueplate
01:18 PM

@skitter: The DTTS (driveshaft-through-the-Skull) is a very effective pictograph, and Jalopnik approved, too. #1980s
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Murilee Martin promoted this comment blueplate was starred blueplate was unstarred

Murilee Martin
04:58 PM

@blueplate: I actually commissioned that symbol to use in the transit-bus shop manuals I was writing at the time, but my boss took one look and said "hell no!" #1980s
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Novaload
06:09 PM

@Maxichamp: Well, for that you just need to go find some very, very old Ballentine Pale India Ale--back in the day they had this almost impossible to decipher pictograms in very tiny images under the bottle cap. I probably still have some, 20 years later. They made no sense at all -- at least not in the US -- but it made for an interesting and hilarious drinking game as people sounded them out. #1980s
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I was drivin' that Model A
10/25/09

In reply to 1969 Mercury Marauder X-100, 1968 Chrysler 300 Go To Crusher Side By Side
Seeing that Chrysler interior going to the crusher brings a tear to my eye.

I love big-block land-yachts. #1969
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