Reader Michael F. went out for a Sunday drive a while back and stumbled upon this junkyard outside of Manitoba, Canada and found something he would love to own. For those of you who own a copy of our 2014 Barn Finds Calender and have flipped ahead a few months, might recognize this photo for the month of September. While he was browsing through the rows of cars and trucks, he stumbled on something a little out of the ordinary that he’d love to get his hands on. See his favorite find after the jump.
An old milk truck might not sound like the kind of classic that many of us would get excited about, but there is something cool about these old milk haulers. Since Michael was there on a Sunday, he wasn’t able to get any information about this Morden Creamery Van. He believes it is a Divco Delivery van and we are inclined to agree with him. We would love to see this old van back on the road, especially if the original paint and graphics can be left as is. Michael hopes to go back this summer to have a closer look and to get more info, let’s wish him luck! So of the vehicles in the photos, which would you want to have? Would you go with Michael’s choice or pick something else?
Looks like a painting
I assure you it’s not a painting. The photo was taken right after a rain storm moved on and the resulting light was incredible.
I have to agree with both of you the photo is incredible in the way that it looks like it is between photo and painting. The effect is just stunning.
It looks like the camera may have been set to a vivid or HDR setting. Or just the flat low contrast conditions.
Hi Michael,
I would love a copy of this photo if you think you still have it.
This actual truck made it out of the salvage yard after all and ended up in my shop for a detailed restoration. Maybe more of an upgrade than what you hoped.
Check out the progress on my instragram page. search driven2performance .
Our shop is Driven Performance in Ontario.
Would love to hear back from you.
Greg
There is a segment of the car/truck culture that collects and restores Divco milk/delivery trucks.
Is that a Chrysler/DeSoto Airflow there on the from right in the first pic?
I think its a VW beetle, it looks way too small to be an Airflow.
I just saw a Divco at a so. fla car auction a few weeks ago. This is really cool & I agree with Gary it looks like a painting.
“So of the vehicles in the photos, which would you want to have? Would you go with Michael’s choice or pick something else?”
YES i want one !!!!!!!!
but I live in Australia so chances are slim.here if impossible..though there has been a lot of yanky tin bought into australia when our dollar was higher than US but now its dived its unlikely as its not the type of truck an Aussie “yanky tin” lover would import, though we have had an increase in yanky panel trucks which is nice. Plenty of LHD cars for sale here now….
Prefer an unrestored one as I would use it as my daily driver suitably resto/modernised with a modernish 6 cylinder and rack front end, unless it was a late model Divco that i think I read had the 70’s style ford motors? [those would be good everyday motors].. Not into that V8 scene…want power to tow my other toys but economy of a 6 in a resto body..
Been looking at em for a few years on various blogs…closest panel truck [panelvan here in aussie] I purchased here are 2 dodge fargos which were sold localy so are right hand drives, these were chosen as my desire for a local 1940 ford van only uncovered 2 local ones that were very very rough and 2 expensive for their roughness.
At the moment I am building a modern V series Sandman panel van as my everyday driver. [aussies will know what I mean] but a Divco modernised would stop that.
Keep any reference/features to/of Divcos coming up on your site…
Happy New Year, Rusty. Did you get a Sandman for Christmas?
hi don ..happy days to you too….no I got an NSU SportsPrinz
the Sandman is an everyday driver project..Don I bought a VU ute a year ago to put under my original Sandman canopy [only about 250 made] which had come off an unsold Van in a car yard which had found it easier to sell as a ute..go figure its not quite a van but not a ute…. [some aussies know the modern Sandman is a fibreglass canopy [full front fitting] bonded to a ute…Holden brochured it as a Sandman much to the dismay of some Sandman purist..or is that Sandmen and Sandwomen purists hee hee.
But the Divco would take the cake for me. Or help make the cake with the milk it delivers.
You’re going home in the back of the divvy van!
NSU… sweet. What condition?
FYI, Manitoba is a province in Canada, not a city or location ! Maybe you could be a little more specific.
It’s near Roseisle Manitoba.
It is stated that the fellow stumbled onto this “outside of Manitoba” so my question to the writer is: Is this in Saskatchewan or in Ontario, or is it in the Northwest Territories? Since Manitoba is a Province, not a city, it must have been found in one of these places.
I believe I indicated I found this in rural Manitoba near the town of Roseisle. I think the editor got it a bit mixed up.
Yep, sorry about that. It was on me. Thanks for clearing that up.
More pictures of this place please!
For sure. When I go back this coming summer.
check out driven2performance on instagram to see the build of this Divco
What are the odds? Two yards FULL of ’30s-’60s vintage cars—not just a few leftovers along the back fence—with plenty of good parts and even some unusual and desirable vehicles, all within one week on Barn Finds. Makes a man think there’s hope for pre-1950s vintage car fans.
When I saw the photo the last place I expected it to depict is somewhere in Manitoba, which is bigger than both Dakotas and Nebraska all put together but has a grand total of about 8 trees in the whole province, the rest being wheat, grass, lakes, and tundra. Well, that comment about the 8 trees is a bit of an exaggeration, but this lush spot must be near a river.
Shows you can never discount the most unlikely places to find rare old iron until you go and look. Come to think of it, those ‘unlikely’ places are probably the best places to go looking these days, since the land in places where wrecking yards mostly used to be—near where lots of people and their aging cars lived—got to be far too valuable to be ‘wasted’ on mere auto wrecking yards, and is now housing developments and shopping malls, or in the case of the yard where I got my first job as a parts monkey, a large office building.
I hope someone goes to this Manitoba yard and pulls some of those cars out. Even if they were flipped on ebay most of them would probably sell fairly cheap and make both parties happy.
@rusty
there is a Divco here in Australia that was on display at last years Sydney Motorex.
Try this site for the photos
http://www.carsguide.com.au/pics/motorex-2013/5104/2/77318/
wow thanks Artinoz
fantastic….damn though being featured at Motorex means it may prompt other Aussies wanting them here..reducing any chance to find one on the other hand that could be good maybe importers will bring some in or have already???
never knew one was here but I guess owner kept it under wraps till its reveal at show.
thats certainly a nicely done rod though for my use I would opt for resto look with road usable ride height & simple modern motor conversion. Certainly wish I saw that up close but I have opted out of attending shows years ago…
I appreciate your link My guess is this will / or has been written up somewhere…
I guess i couldnt have been the only Aussie wanting one…an everyday driver Divco would be very useful for me..it would be used for work and recreation.
found this
http://www.oz-rods.com/Joe's%20DIVCO%20Build%20New.html
found a link to it that shows its side profile
http://www.oz-rods.com/Joe's%20DIVCO%20Build%20New.html
to me the beaty of the truck is the original height of the roofline
this is certainly an unbelievable rebuild but for me its the original shape with that quirky front that gets me..I would have a stock looker but this is an amazing job that totally changes the truck
That`s a split-window VW Beetle which makes it a pre-1953 model. A lot of Beetle fanatics looking for one of those.
Not a VW, rear fenderwell in the wrong profile. That is American iron.
It’s Morden, not Modern. There will be questions afterwards!
Thanks Bob! All fixed.
Michael , be careful with exact location, or the divco and others won’t be there when you get back.
Fantastic find and great photos, thanks for sharing that.
I feel there needs to be a Worldwide non-profit group that will buy and store vehicles like (most of) the ones here, especially,if the owner retires or sells these, hopefully to others than scrap dealers.
Don Andreina said “You’re going home in the back of the divvy van! NSU… sweet. What condition?
hee hee Don..wrong van back..the current divvy vans’ fibreglass backs are a different back to the modern sandman canopy which simulates original 70’s sandman backs with roof up to windscreen …
The NSU sportz is original cond & solid but roughish…missing motor but very rare here.
Regarding the Divco guys..I like this featured shortwheel base styling [rear roofline sloping down/off]. Can anyone tell me if this shape is purely on the early ones or is the squared off rear body only on the longer wheelbase?
Rusty.
Try this http://divco.org/ It is the Divco club in the USA.
I prefer the high standard roof and think they are “cartoonish” as they are.
Fit a SBC or one of Henry’s bent 8’s and do the rest original.
I’d kill for the Bug.
split window car by truck looks to be a 40 Ford 2 dr.sedan,looks like there might be more,split beetle next 2 milk truck? lot much window to look at. Beetle and 40s had 2 diff. style rear windows,even tho body was similar but not in size.
Actually Tom, I they are one and the same vehicle. The Divco is right next to the car in question. The front of the Divco can be seen at the right edge of the picture. I don’t thinks it’s a VW, but I could be mistaken.
Divco is an awesome find.
Michael, your photos are stunning. Composition, lighting, spacial awareness, color, its all there.
Pro photogs kill for shot that good. If you are an amateur photographer shooting for fun, you are shooting well above your weight. Well done sir.
As for the Split Window Bug, Beetle enthusiasts are honing in on the location as we speak. They kill for cars like this, pay damn good money for terrible hulks and bring them back to life. This one will live to see another day…..
Many thanks Bryan! I did work as a photographer many decades ago and then changed careers. I just recently bought myself a half-decent digital camera and have been enjoying photography as a hobby now.
The car on the right is the same car next to the Divco in the second picture.
It is definitely NOT a VW ! Wrong rear body lip next to the fender, no air intake below the rear window, and wrong shape of the deck lid opening, just to point out a few differing items.
I am not familiar enough with 40’s era cars to tell you what it is without research. It does appear to be very similar to the cars in the next row up on the left hand side.
I agree with Bryan, beautiful pictures. I would love to see more.
Thanks
Sometime circa 1970, my older brother found a Divco sitting on a corner on the border of Morain and Kettering Ohio, with a “For Sale” sign in the windshield. He and I tossed about the concept of buying it for a week or so, with the idea of making it into a kind of a street rod/hauler for racing karts that we also thought about buying. The truck needed some repairs, and I was early in my development as a mechanic.
Turned out that we did neither purchase, both being poor students. Plus, we had no independent location to do the work, and mom would have nixed bringing it to the house! Even though both of us had part-time jobs, there were girlfriends and other ways to spend the few $ we could scratch together.
Any one finding an early Valiant 60-61 Wagon? I have no need for the front clip nor roof. I plan on making a RatRod from one! I’d prefer the roof be in place to facilitate transport since these were Unibodies but care not for the condition! I’m looking for that survivor that has met with a frontal impact that deters others who want a restorable car. I’ll be placing it on a roadster style frame so the floor condition isn’t important either. I’m hoping to find repairable rocker panels and rear wheel arches plus a tailgate that could be welded in place. With the cateye taillights and rear quarter styling, these cars can make a gasser style roadster rather unique!
How close is it to Roseisle? I am only interested because I have a cabin in Manitoba and would love to check this place out!
I’d love to just wonder around in there for a couple of days and shoot pictures.
Nice photos Michael. I have been there many years ago with my camera as well. Did you figure out who owns the yard? I was told by some locals to stay away if you want to avoid bullet holes. I always wanted to go back.
Thanks Wayne. No I don’t know who owns it. I respected the no trespassing signs that day and didn’t go in, but I would like to. I’m going to see if I can find who owns it and ask permission next time. Hopefully this coming summer… if it ever comes.
This is probably the yard belonging to a well known (and friendly) old car dealer by the name of Bill. See http://www.vavavoomgarage.com/index.html.
You are correct sir.