There are tons of classic cars tragically wasting away in barns, fields and abandon properties all over the country- forgotten by extended family or left on purpose, unable to be saved by those of us who’s hearts break at the site of them. While private cars or collections dying a slow death are sad, it is the junk yards chalked full of classics wasting away merely because of owner’s stubbornness or greedy prices that really pull at the heart strings.
Recently a DodgeCharger.com [3] forum member had the opportunity to take a look around the Mo-Par City Junkyard in Oregon, Illinois. While the pictures he took are neat, you can’t help but feel bad about the cars just wasting away to nothing with no chance of resurrection.
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Normally a very private yard, the Mo-Par City Junkyard opened its gates to a small number of people to see the collection of Mopars they had in their possession. Ryan Brutt, the forum member who went on the tour, captured Super Bees, Challengers and Chargers alike, along with many other Mopar classics, sitting among the weeds at the yard, tortured by the elements daily.
Even more interesting are the photos of engine components hanging from and sitting on racks in some sort of garage. There are plenty of photos showing Mopars that have faired far better than their field-banished brothers in the photo collection, but even these cars sit dusty and not maintained. Fortunately, at least some of the better looking cars are kept indoors.
While there are plenty of project cars to choose from, judging by the photos, just like many classic car junkyards, the Mo-Par City Junkyard is known to be hard to deal with- not answering questions eagerly or being fair on prices. It is such a shame that so many iconic machines of America’s muscle car era are wasting away under our noses with nothing to be done.
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With the majority of the cars wasting away or too far gone for even the most talented individuals to save, we were surprised to see some Mopars kept in extremely good condition. Some even looked like they were of show quality-washed and shined up for the tour.
Unfortunately this scene is not limited to just this yard. The same situation is happening everywhere. We can only hope that someday, hopefully soon, junkyards like this will start being more approachable when it comes to selling their stock to people who actually care about the muscle car breed. After all, the people who own these yards can’t be car enthusiasts. It is hard to believe anyone with that designation could sit by and watch all these iconic cars dwindle to dust.
We can only hope that the Mo-Par City Junkyard’s decision to open its doors for a tour for a select few is the first of many changes to the practice of holding onto these cars until there is nothing left. For a ton more photos of Brutt’s Mopar City Junkyard experience, check out his forum post [3] and Flickr [2] account.
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