Yates Center, Kansas seems to be the gathering place for old cars to die. That little town is at the crossroads of US-54 and US-75 in the eastern portion of the state. In a salvage yard there lies an assortment of more than 450 cars, trucks, and motorcycles of which the 4-wheel variety seems to focus on the 1940s to the 1960s. You can take your pick of vehicles for parts (or more) ranging from $800 to $2,000 here on Facebook Marketplace. If you’re anywhere near there, you should drop by on November 18 or 19, 2023. An incredible tip from Desmond G!
This is an impressive assortment of once-motorized transportation, though it’s unlikely anything in this salvage yard has been on the road for several decades. Most no longer wear paint, replaced instead by rust or patina. The pictures suggest that just about every make of U.S. auto or truck is represented, and they seem to be sorted by manufacturer. So, if you’re looking for a Ford, Chevy, Oldsmobile, Mercury, Buick, Plymouth, or others, come on down. In some cases, there are multiples of the same cars!
For the most part, these are parts cars and some of them are better donors than others. Some have been wrecked, others just worn out. You may find some of them to be complete, while others may have already had parts removed. Everything is outdoors in a field or the woods except motorcycles. Those appear to be 1960s Japanese cycles that are inside a warehouse, meaning they’re likely to be in far better condition.
Have a thing for a 1959-60 Buick? Several to choose from. Or a 1957-58 Plymouth? Plenty to pick over. The seller seems to have a price in mind for every vehicle, but we’re told there are exceptions. While a lot of sub-$800 potential seems to be here, we’re not sure what more than $2,000 would buy you. Come visit if you have the time to spare!
I’d like to live close by! Look at all that great American Iron!
The field of dreams! At one time many of these storage yards
across the U.S.A.
I remember our family took a cross-country trip from LA to New York via Route 66. We stopped in New Mexico and Arizona whenever we saw abandoned cars in fields. My dad and I would remove any name script and take them home. I had a grocery bag full. I have no idea where they went (Mom probably tossed them in the garbage). My favorite was the big hood logo we got from a 1953 Buick. I still have it…somewhere.
If I am not mistaken this is the same salvage yard Mr. Goodpliers on YouTube filmed a couple videos of.
There’s a nice heavy duty International D series in the back of that truck shot. It deserves restoration. Looks like it has all the glass intact.
I love looking through junkyards, haven’t been to one in many years. I saw what looks like a 57 Plymouth Belvedere coupe in one of those pictures. I wish I could go.
Reminds me of Christine. Though Christine’s a Belvedere Fury
Maybe if it self-healed, I would buy it… since it really needs some work
Neat old scrapyard
Yes: That is a 1957 Belvedere 2 door sedan! It has the rare roof trim.
Three 57 Plymouths in that row. How cool is that nowadays?!
I’m always astounded to discover another huge assortment of outdoor mid-century vehicles like this (especially in the snow/ice belt). How did they survive the decades of scrap metal dealers, environmental laws, and real estate developers??? Amazing.
Not in the cards any longer but I wish I had found this place several years ago as I have a high optioned 59 Invicta wagon that needs a front from an accident. I have since decided I will never get to it and it an several dozen others I have are going to be recycled after the first of the years. Lots of iron hides for decades, like this and mine. If your not near a populous area and the stuff is inside or out of sight, it will then sit quietly waiting or dissolving.
So instead of making an effort to find homes for them as inexpensive projects or parts cars, you’re just going to scrap them and get a couple hundred bucks each? I’d get permanently banned from this website if I told you what I really thought of that reckless disregard for beloved old iron.
Who cares?
Reply to Frank Drackman: the rest of us care.
How many are you taking home?
@Big C
I’ve had over 300 vehicles in my life, and saved at least a few dozen that would have probably gone to the crusher had I not had the tenacity to find them homes, while also making myself a profit on most of them. I’ve also parted out many more that would certainly have gone to the crusher, but now at least some of their parts live on. I’ve also purchased tons of parts from guys who actually make a genuine effort to sell their parts.
Guys like Chris have fields full of cars but make no effort whatsoever to try to sell them or their parts. They just expect people to somehow find them. They also have no patience. If they can’t sell something within a couple days of advertising, they call it junk. Some of the stuff I have sold has taken YEARS to sell, but it almost always does eventually. When you own property and aren’t paying huge monthly storage bills, who cares how long it takes to sell? These guys put no effort in and get no sales. I put a lot of effort in and have sold millions of dollars worth of parts and cars over the last three decades. I always wanted the classic car community to be better off for my having participated in it, and I am DAMN sure it is. Can you say the same thing?
Oh boy, well first, I have gone through thousands of cars. I put things through a press that I even cringe thinking about but that was then. As for now, no I am no salesman. I have no interest in parts pushing. I have some very nice things and some others I question why. At the end of the day they are just old cars, not Ferraris. lambos, Shelbys, just old cars. Not everyone is into cars worrying about the profit down the road. No, I don’t want people crawling around my things, I don’t want to be bothered with getting the cheapest shipping rates, blah, blah. I don’t want to wait around all day for what amounts to pennies and headaches. Finally I don’t want to leave piles of junk for my family to clean up. Cars are messy when you have many and the herd must be thinned out or the junk consumes to good things. We are all different, we,value one thing over another and at some point one must let go and not everyone cares about finding homes or donating junk to unworthy causes.
@Real Enthusiast
I don’t have 50 acres, or a rich dad. Thusly, I can’t have loads of cars sitting around. I’ve owned plenty of iron, in my day. Your constant combative attitude is strange, though. Why so sour? We’re all in this together. Some of us have made millions, buying and selling. Some of us just enjoy one or two vehicles, and don’t dabble in the “industry.” So what?
If you have an Invicta wagon that is highly optioned, pass it to someone who will carry the project on. Not many around!
Hey Chris, you might reconsider scrapping that 59 Invicta after you see what won the SEMA Battle of the Builders award 2 weeks ago…absolutely amazing 60 Invicta.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C4Y-qT_CDdE
Chris, not sure why BF took down my reply to you but here goes again.
Check out the 1960 Invicta that won the 2023 SEMA Battle of the Builders
award 2 weeks ago before you scrap that 59 wagon!
I sell parts all over the country, and those responses come via craigslist and other classified advertising sites. In today’s world you don’t have to live in a populous area at all to sell parts. It is part of the game and has been for some years now. I have sold two vehicles that each went halfway across the country just within the last three months. I ship parts to other parts of the country at least 3-4 times a month on average. And I’m talking big parts that sell for real money, not $15 knickknacks. And I don’t even have all that many cars, mostly a large accumulation of parts that somebody out there wants.
If you have a bunch of classics languishing in a field that aren’t completely rusted away, you’re doing yourself and the classic car community as a whole a huge disservice by not advertising those cars and their parts for sale. You WILL sell them if you put in the effort. If you’re going to just recycle them for a couple hundred bucks apiece, you can sell them for even $500 or a grand and still be doing way better than just scrapping them.
But another big part of the problem is that so many of these crusty old boomers won’t sell them for a fair price like that. They feel like they have to sell them for $5k otherwise it’s not worth their time. So they scrap it and make $200 instead. Totally devoid of all logic, but that’s how a lot of these old hoarders think. They get no interest at $5k and just assume NOBODY has any interest and scrap it. Meanwhile the guy with a grand or two in his pocket was waiting for you to come down to reality and sell it for a price someone will actually pay. But so many of them are just too hardheaded to suck up their pride and make someone happy with a cheap project.
If that Invicta wagon isn’t a terminal cancer patient, if it’s mostly complete and hasn’t been rolled off a cliff, there IS a buyer out there for it who will pay a lot more than scrap value.
Everybody needs to relax. This is NOT social media crap……..just talk cars and stay off other folks backsides. It serves no purpose. IMHO
Yes sir…you are correct. Many treasures waiting to be discovered. But the vast unpopulated lands will hold them or return them to the earth. I have to say though…with the ever increasing YouTube crawlers discovering these hidden places…gives hope for some as it did my 63 GP I came across sitting on a dilapidated trailer on 5 acres. She’s home with me getting her second chance.
Cheers!
There are at least two on Facebook in colorado. One is a 4-spd. project.
Yeah one in Lamar on Hwy 50 in the SE part of the state. Lots of good stuff….
Good for you and that ’63 GP. Always wanted me one of those gorgeous looking machines.
Seen it didn’t want Noone else to know.
One in Cheyenne
I never see a true 1964 Plymouth State Police car? It should be a 2 door post, no radio and definitely no AC. A 383 engine with push button torquefligh transmission. A poor boy’s rare car. I don’t even see any clones?
This was my first car that my Dad purchased for me at an auction in Frankfort, KY. On February of 1967.
I think he paid around $750.00 for it?
I realize there are rare compared to the regular ones that was made, but where did they all go?
I know Chrysler made some weird looking vehicles and also some strange engineering, but I am still partial to Chrysler products.
I enjoy seeing these old cars, and hopefully someone will save some of these?
Just my oponion!
Sounds like a sweet ride
Of course $750 in 1967 translates to almost $7,000 today, but hey, I’d buy a 2020 Charger Pursuit for $7,000.
Dream? Are you sure it is not a nightmare?
I went to look a three Subaru Brats but they were beyond saving in my opinion, would’ve been ok as parts cars but not builders. I did leave there with a solid MGB project.
Whenever I look at pictures like these I can imagine how proud the original owners must have been when these vehicles were driven home from the dealerships.
Oh man,
my 94 Z28, my first new car.
Ordered special in July 1993, 6 Speed (standard), Oil Cooler, whatever the option group was without power windows/locks, specifically demanded no dealer emblem, but did spring for the power driver’s seat.
There was some problem with a shortage of transmissions, finally stopped calling the dealer, till they called me in December to say it was there (at 4pm on a Friday of course)
They asked if they could “Test Drive” it, as it was the first 6 speed they had seen. (NO, of course)
Got there 10 minutes before closing, had to stop the guy from drilling the holes for the ugly Dealer emblem,
Man, I must have gone outside to look at my car every hour until Saturday morning,
Finally sold her in 2019, with 248K, new clutch at 190K, new Tranny at 200K, went through an Optispark/Waterpump every 75K, few Fuel Pumps, put an 1LE front anti roll bar on her, weekend before I sold her, drove 300miles at mostly 80-85 (little over 2000rpm in 6th) got same 26mpg as new….
Afraid to search her VIN, prefer to remember he as she was…
not like I treat cars as living beings or anything
Frank
Dang, Gary, I thought I was the only sentimental sap here. I think about that too.
They’ve been ‘Under the Sun’ too long!
they’re called “Graveyards” for a reason
I could spend hours wandering around here. I remember all of the junk yards that were operating back in the sixties and seventies where I grew up. Different back then as most of the yards let you look for whatever on your own and you could remove the part which was usually dirt cheap. It always struck me that every old relic was at one time someone’s brand new pride and joy. A couple of weeks ago I was able to enter one of the few old salvage yards still operating in my area. The guy who ran the place told me at a car show where I met him that he thought he had an old Mopar in his yard with a complete engine. Sure enough he was right and I got an exhaust manifold for my 1952 Plymouth. I had been on the internet for two years looking and all I could find were insanely priced manifolds. This gentleman changed me a real fair price and pulled the part too. Just like the good old days.
Good story. Good customer service…and at the junk yard!
I recall first calling, then driving to get a manual transmission once
at a local “yard”. It was waiting for me. I asked the gal there if
it was ok? Did she know if it worked ok?
Her answer: “Honey, it worked just fine when the gentleman
drove the car in here and turned it over to me.”
Whelp, paid her and brought it home. It was ok.
I’d love to do another one,have the skills but to old.
A hot rodders car restoration classic junkyard dream find I must say!
Yeah, these junk yards were all over the country in the 1960’s-70’s when I was driving “older” cars. Anything you needed you’d just go to a local yard and find it. In 1974 I had a 1947 Cadillac 60S that needed some chrome windshield trim after a low rider lost his 13″ wheel on the 110 freeway in LA and it bounced all over the freeway including bouncing into the passenger side of the split (thank God) windshield and roof while driving at 60 mph. I hitch hiked out to an LA junk yard where I found another Cady with the same passenger side trim moldings. A few months later the the radiator got torn up in the same Cady when the fan bolt loosened up and the fan fell into the radiator in downtown Oakland, CA. Again, go to a pay phone booth, look up junk yards in the yellow pages, call to see if they have the car that you need, hitch hiked out to the junk yard and hitched back with a nice radiator. Good times!
In my younger days I spent hours/days walking automotive boneyards. I must have visited every junkyard in New Jersey. At the time I was restoring a 1972 Buick Riviera.
There was a very large yard in Tabernacle, NJ. Loved that place. It was sad at the demise of all these wonderful cars….. a 1950 Cadillac hearse with the oval window, 1966 through 1970 Oldsmobile Toronados, a ’60 Cadillac limo.
I got quite a few parts at reasonable prices for my ’72 Riv and my ’70 Riv. A friend of mine got tons of chrome pieces for his ’65 Ford Falcon.
I’m pretty sure the place is gone now. This was late 90s early 2000s.
I still frequent a Pic-A-Part here in Vegas.
Would love to go to a Arizona yard and walk around. Any takers?
I am no fan of the looks of ’59 Buicks; still, it saddens me to see one that could be repaired get scrapped. I am older than some of you good folks — I still listen at home to my 78s — and I personally remember 1953 as one of the best-looking years for new cars (excepting Chevrolet and Hudson). 1954 brought crisper lines on Oldsmobiles, Buicks, and Cadillacs, but otherwise just more unnecessary chrome and doo-dads as face-lifts spoiling the clean-looking ’53s. After that, things went nuts. Didn’t like Mopar’s “Forward Look”, odd roof-lines, and ridiculous fins. 1959 was about the worst, except for the Ford. Why did Chevrolet take a rather nice 1958, and come out with that ugly ’59? But I liked the 1960 Edsel: too bad they deep-sixed it. I have conflicted feelings about junk yards: memories, yes — but there is something heart-breaking about a once-noble 1939 Buick rusting in the sun with no window-glass remaining, mouse infested moth-eaten interior, sitting on permanently flat tyres sinking into the earth. Something weary about the many virtually annonymous little blobs passing for automobiles these days. Cars, once a statement of style, have devolved into prohibitively expensive utilitatian appliances, any routine repair of which costs you the price you once paid for a new car! It amazes me that contemporary things I loved are now seventy and more years into the dusty and rusty past. I think I’ll go play a Guy Lombardo record.
Oh, oh, play his New Years theme.
How did Chevrolet have a nice looking ’58 and then put out the ugly ’59s?
Harley Earl was chief designer at General Motors. His guys from the different makes would draw up something and if Harley liked it, you tweeked it. If he didn’t, you start from scratch.
Mr. Earl was on a lengthy business trip and the 59 designs weren’t locked in yet, but time was getting short. Second in command, Bill Mitchell approved the designs of GMs flamboyant 59s, with huge fins, lots of chrome and a so called space age look. By the time Harley got back, it was too late to change anything and Bill Mitchell’s designs went to production.
Can you imagine what the 59s and on would of looked like if Harley didn’t go on that business trip? We couwith it a totally different history.
I personally like the flamboyant 59s and the toned down 60s, but, I’m flamboyant also, so that might have something to do with it.
Everybody loves the ‘59s across the board from GM.. hence why they are all so valuable compared to the cars just before and after. Can’t imagine anyone complaining about the styling on them, then or now. They are OUTSTANDING, in particular the Cadillacs. They were flamboyant cars for a flamboyant time, and make for a great glimpse into our country’s past and the outlook and feel of the time. I’m very glad they were made the way they were.
Easy on those 59s…I bought a red and black fully loaded convertible when I was 19 from the original owner. The 80s were a blast in that car. Even though the hair is long no more and now the music can be too loud, as the ears have faded. I can walk out and slide in and for me and that 59 time has stood still and nothing has changed. A great friend who has been there though really great times and some not so…..Ride on car people.
I remember hunting around for older cars and parts in junkyards like this as a teenager, but most are long gone today. People who love old cars dream about old haunts like this. I hope many of these are bought and repurposed in some way and I wish I lived closer.
Pretty cool scrap yard if you ask me…
What we have here, for the most part, are “armchair” commenters, and part of the reason I’m here. Oh sure, if you attend this site, then there’s no question a post like this would interest you, but really, who has the “koach” ( ambition) to do that today? We’ve all spent countless hours wandering through yards like this, in our younger days. Pixxed away a lot of Saturday mornings, to install your “treasures” that evening. But that was then, this is now. I put a water pump on the Jeep, and was sore for 3 days. Point is, this was an accumulation of crap nobody wanted in the 1st place, and as always, aside from a few plausible projects, it’s scrap to the next developer. I suppose, what could be done, is if time permitted, take parts or vehicles that may be useful, and sell it by the piece, because, nobody, but NOBODY, is ever going to restore a ’59 Plymouth. Now, someone might want a grill for a Buick, again, if you have the knuckles to remove and store it. Most don’t, and it’s adios to many of these eyesores, in favor of housing eyesores,,go figure.
Exactly! I have enough crap for three lifetimes and have known several other car hoarders as many of us are refered to but in reality when I aquire most of mine years back, they were others junk. I would say most of mine were cheap used cars, including a 60 Seville I have. Yup, just an old outdated car when I bought it. Like you said sir NO one is going to restore any of this and who wants piles of stuff for years looking for a fish. Again, well said sir.
Howard is right about how age is creeping up on a lot of us old car people. Like he said actually doing work on our vehicle, house, or whatever is definitely more challenging than it used to be. But the sense of accomplishment still is enjoyable no matter how piddling it was. I’m just grateful that I can still do some of the things I want. Hopefully we all get to enjoy our “golden years” for a good while longer.
Just turned 80 and love to “tinker” around a few old cars / pickups I have and to keep the house and property well tuned. But !!!! Busted knuckles and very sore muscles are the result. Mostly dreams today of what I saw back in the 50’s and early 60’s Then off to Viet Nam and life and my wishes just became dreams. Still looking for that 1965 Ford Falcon 289 Future 2 door. That I would buy instantly.
Went to this yard on 11/18 Saturday. There is so much to see here it is unreal.
The new owner really deals on prices , his philosophy is he does not want to see them crushed. Bought a nice seat of bucket seats for 40.00
They will be open the weekend after thanksgiving Fri-Sat-Sun
That’s outstanding news! He sounds like one of the good guys. We need more like him.
Blu, what car and year bucket seats were you able to buy? Sounds like he is one of the good guys. I sure wish I lived closer so I could check the place out.
New owner and his wife are nice folks, really friendly they don’t live locally so they are open on weekends. Crazy how much there is to see not only cars but parts.
I am gladdened for an actual report from one of us who went there and got something, and for the fact that the new owner does not want to crush these cars. Yes, they were not wanted at some point; however, value so often comes from the tbings we discarded and wish we hadn’t. I have records I’ve listened to since the 1940s. And my 1949 RCA Victor four-tube portable battery-operated radio still works fine, after 74 years (that 67-1/2 volt “B” battery is a “bear” to find nowadays!). But how many similarly things — particularly those 78 rpm records — have I seen left at the side of the road for trash pick-up?. Even now, the records I love listening to, I could not GIVE away. I drove a 1946 Ford Tudor Super DeLuxe V-8 flathead for but YEARS, and I often wish I still had it. My current daily transportation is a 1988 Mercury Grand Marquis with 361,000+ miles on it. And I will run it until either it dies, or I do (or, I become incapable of driving, which could happen at my age). Bet that it costs less in repairs than most newer cars.😊
We have a 88 Merc Grand Marquis and we will never let it go. At age 80 we and it can keep being repaired until the end. We do have a grand son who said he would love to have it and promises to keep it his entire life.
I’ve only got 4 older classics for my family to deal with when I’m gone. I think that’s more manageable than dealing with dozens of them. And as I’m getting older it’s also a more manageable number for me to work on and keep going. There is a condition called Hoarding, and it a destructive disease. And it applies especially, to car collectors. Its overwhelming for families to deal with after you’re gone.
To HC: you are right. A car is, after all, an appliance for personal transportation. But once we add some emotional connexion to the vehicle, we do run the risk of attachment as an end in itself — and then we want to possess what we do not strictly need. In my case, I bought numerous records between 1946 and 1962 — mostly at the earlier end of that range. But there always were ones that I missed, either from lack of sufficient interest at the time, or owing to limited funds in the moment. But, as this music began vanishing from radio airplay (even as they continued with the 1935-1945 “big band” era seemingly “for ever”), I began hunting for records I remembered but had not purchased in their heyday. Having invested in fine and highly revealing playback equipment, I was not willing to settle for average garage sale or Salvation Army condition. So I began hunting for pristine copies, hunting further to improve upon copies I’d previously found. I do donate duplicates to second-hand places (where nobody seems to want them anyway) — but I have a huge quantity of 78s which nobody is going to want when I’m gone, all meticulously cared-for, and filed in order. But even radio stations have long since dumped their libraries of 78s. So, as you might say, I am intimately familiar with the disease of “hoarding”. I keep these records on hand for personal enjoyment in listening to the memories they each re-visit — but I’m also way up in years now. I try to keep going just as I always have, but I know that is chasing after a delusion. Still, I cannot bear to cut down to just what I would want at a desert island, and unload the rest. Here is the bottim line for any hoarder: do you own your collection, or does your collection own you? Something that some of us with pet hobbies in collecting need to think about, as we get to where nearly all of our friends and class-mates have long since departed this life. But I don’t WANT to think about that! Hoarding is a response to the remaing “child” in us — and, as Rosemary Clooney sang in 1953 about a man:
“As strong as an ox or as meek as a pup;
He’s just a small boy who will never grow up”. I plead guilty.
To Tom: you and I have the same car! I still love mine — it seems to go forever — but a grandson keeping it on the road for the rest of his life: now THAT is an interesting ambition: I hope he intends to garage one or two others, for PARTS! 80 is a nice young age: I remember back that far😊
We have a 1978 Ford F-350 in Pristine condition. Barely 90,000 miles on it and I have driven 100 % of those miles. A Grand Son will end up with it when we pass. Hope it stays in the family for many decades to come. Still looking for that 1965 Ford Falcon Futura Hardtop 289 with 4 on the floor. First new car I bought in November of 1964 in Spokane, Washington. It was stolen while I was in Nam in 66. No record of it ever being found. Probably in some Arab country for many years.
Oh, man…!! Had I known about this place when I still lived in Junction City, I’d have paid them a visit! I may have had an easier time collecting parts I needed for my car, presuming they had any clap-door Lincoln organ donors in their stock.
Tom, sorry to learn of your loss. Simply because it was in 1966, that does not make it any less keenly painful.