Every now and then you run up on a cache of cars and wonder how they came to be. Such is the case with this gathering of upwards of 50 cars (that I can count) which are largely British in origin, but not entirely. The seller lists a 1971 MGB for sale here on Facebook Marketplace for $1,900, then includes photos of the rest of the cars in the “collection.” Some of the autos are even shown individually rather than in the group. So that leaves us to wonder if it’s just this one car that’s for sale or is anything in the pile available for purchase? If you can get directions to the parcel in Lake Elsinore, California (southeast of Los Angeles), maybe you can get a tour.
We gather whoever put this group of cars together no doubt has an affinity for British imports. About 30 of them came from Merry Old England, or 70% of the headcount. Best as I can tell, the following cars from as far back as the 1960s are included:
MGB – 13
MG Midget – 13
Triumph/TR7 – 3
Volvo – 2
Add to this one each of these cars: VW Beetle, Nash Metropolitan, Datsun/Nissan, Fiat and maybe a Jensen Interceptor! And somehow a domestic truck got into the mix, i.e. a Chevy pickup. I can’t identify nine of the cars, but the end result is a minimum of 46 vehicles!
Because the cars are largely parked one next to the other, we can’t tell the condition of most of them individually. But some of them look to have survived the elements relatively well, although we don’t know the seniority ranking of what’s out there. Convertibles, hardtops, sedans — they’re all in one place!
BTW, for the car in ad’s headline, the 1971 MGB is yellow in color and has a black interior. A nod of the hat to Barn Finds reader Abraham for sending this tip our way!
Got to be an overdrive unit in this bunch. I’ve always wondered that too. You’ll see on shows, like AP, some guy has a FIELD of a certain kind of car. How do they get all those cars? Interest is fading fast for these, probably why they are bailing out, of the few people that still want something here, I highly doubt they are going to restore one, just go to B-J and pick out the color.
BTW, I’ve never seen wires like on the black one. Looks like aftermarket and they bolt on to the 4 bolt axles.
You know, I wondered that too. I understand why my ham shack is home to a bunch of CB radios from the early days of the service until 1980. Some I bought, others were given to me to spare them from the trash bin. I can’t see people saying “I see that you’ve got a (insert name of car, truck, motorcycle, boat, etc.), here, take this one too.”
While not a major MG fan, it is painful to see so many cars “hoarded” and not getting to be enjoyed
I would love to get hold of one of those factory hardtops that are on a few of those MGBs. Maybe an original aluminum hood to go along with it.
Only MG that has an aluminum hood is an MGC. Won’t find one there.
Stephen. All MGB’s up to the late 1960’s sometime had aluminum bonnets.
I bought some parts from this fellow for a ‘64 MGB restoration I did a couple of years ago. Nice guy. Quite reasonable. Not your average “hoarder”.
Charles Fulop,
Is the owner’s first name Eric? If so, I probably know him from many years ago, and he’ll probably recognize my name.
How many MG’s does it take before you have one good one?
Also see an MG Magnette but not sure of the year
Correct on the Magnette. From memory these are 1955-59… but can’t be specific on what can be seen here.
It’s a Z series Magnette, but cannot tell if it’s a type A or B.
I think that one is a Datsun 411
Either this is a disgraceful “hoard”or it is a gallant act of heroism saving a lot of fun cars from the crusher. Depends on which side of the highway you are standing.
If I had the room I would go, pick out an MG Roadster and Coupe, a Magnette only because they are so unusual and make a call to Moss Motors, and order $$$$$$$ in parts. In restoration I’d be in it about a year in time and large dollars in labor.
I guess if you spill enough oil on the ground the weeds won’t grow between your cars!!!
TimM,
having been around junkyards & other madmen who seem to delight in leaving old oil everywhere, I can speak from experience that most weeds are not affected by small amounts of motor oil.
I knew a guy who, up until the state told him he had to stop providing his service, used to charge a fee to spread old motor oil onto gravel & dirt roads to keep the dust clouds to a minimum.
He had a 1950s beat-up Chevy or GMC tanker truck where he pumped oil under pressure using a series of nozzles on a 12′ wide pipe, just like the modern asphalt oil trucks. This did a great job keeping the dust clouds down, but the weeds would keep coming up wherever vehicle traffic was light.
I was just joking Bill but it was a good read and I thought it to be curious that those cars were there with no weeds growing around them!! It just looked to me like they weee just brought there!!
I had a 68 MGC GT, yes, the 3 litre.
Gutless rotbox even at ten years old, but the cabin was well designed. Comfortanle, good visibility, all the controls fell easily to hand. I imagine in that respect the B would be the same.
This stash of cars is actually in El Cariso Village on highway 74 west of Lake Elsinore on top of the mountain. I drove past it going to work in Irvine for 13 years.
TimM,
I figured you were joking, and so I took it one more step, glad you liked what I wrote. As for the cars out there in southern California, I’m told with the lack of water in the soil, you don’t have to worry about trimming the grass/weeds around cars, as they don’t grow where it’s not wet.
I remember as a young lad, a specific set of conversations I had while visiting relatives outside of LA. My uncle was doing some home improvement work in his garage. He had just measured and drawn all the cut lines on a 1/4″ 4’X8′ sheet of plywood laying on the bare earth, when he decided to call it quits for the night. When I suggested we should pick up the plywood off the ground, he laughed and asked me why. When I said so it won’t warp from moisture, he said that wouldn’t happen.
When I checked the next morning, that plywood sheet was still nice and flat. My niece had also joined in on the conversation, but [having never been west of the Rockies] she refused to believe that out in Maryland we have weeds that grow more than 6 feet tall! She said that out in LA the only way to get a weed to grow is to water it!
That’s really cool I’m going to Southern California for my second time on the 8th of September to ride motorcycles with two of my high school buddy’s!! I met them when I moved to the small town I live in on my brand new Honda XL 100! I was fourteen!! We went to high school together and now one lives in New Jersey and the other one lives in Southern California!! He’s got a 600 mile ride planed on fire roads with enduro motorcycles!! I’m siked out for the ride!! I’m also going to take notice of no dew on my tent every morning!! That’s why I like this site!! No matter how trivial I learned something today!!! Thanks Bill!!!
You’re welcome Tim. My girlfriends tell me I’m full of trivial & useless information! And sometimes they shorten that comment to “I’m full of it.”