For years if you needed a part or just wanted to wander through a field of aging Volkswagens, Sunray Bugs in Dade City, Florida was the place to go. Now the owner has until February to finish clearing what's left of the 800 or so old VWs left on his property.
Owner Leroy "Corky" Yager had managed to amass a collection of almost 800 old VWs since the business opened in 1986. Yager sold parts off the cars and used them to bring old Bugs, Ghias, Buses and Things (and more) back to life himself.
When a neighbor complained about the amount of cars on the 10 acres of property surrounding Sunray Bugs in 2009 it was the beginning of the end for the massive Volkswagen "graveyard". Although Yager had been doing business on the property for over two decades and the lot was zoned commercially, county officials ruled the junkyard was illegal. They officially ordered the property cleared in August of 2010.
After a couple missed deadlines to clear the property—stripping and selling the VWs took longer than Yager expected—Pasco County took drastic measures last month. On December 16th they got permission to clear the land themselves. Over six days a county contractor crushed more than half of the vehicles on the property—an estimated 200 tons of scrap metal.
Sunray Bugs has until February 15th to clear the rest of the cars on the property, a goal they expect to be able to meet without the crusher's help.
According to Tampabay.com, "Yager, employees and volunteers are feverishly stripping cars" in order to meet the deadline.
Photo Credit: Lauren Bailey