So the liquidation of the Putnam Estate has been going for a few days now and there are all kinds of goodies being dug out! The guys over at Grandinetti’s Metal Recycling have been doing a good job of posting as much of it as they can on their Facebook page. I really wish we could make it all the way over to Iowa to check this place out, but sadly it’s just too far for us. Thankfully, they have posted tons of photos and even an aerial flyby, so we can at least dream about it! If you happen to stop by, let us know how it is.
Here is that flyby! Talk about an insane amount of cars and parts. I have a feeling they are going to have a tough time getting rid of everything by the 20th. Let’s just hope anything worth saving is gone before they start crushing stuff.
My wife and I went last weekend 11/12 and had a great time. We were there for over 4 hours. You could hear alot of Sawzalls running. I had my pedometer app on my phone running and we logged over 6000 steps, about 3 miles. So may cool things to look at. He was definitely an AMC guy. There were STACKS of NOS quarter panels, looked like they were for a 4 door of some sort, crates upon crates of hoods. I also saw a stack of bumpers all identical, stacked neatly on wood in one corner, chrome was near perfect. Unfortunately they did not allow the sale of an entire car. There were a few I would have loved to take home. If you have the opportunity to go it is worth the $10 admission!
Any Javelin stuff?
Nope, no javelin stuff, sorry.
Hi Matt, thanks for your update. Love that picture, hope more people would do that. But that is only one of those things I’d like to see on Barnfinds .
Did you happen to look inside the buildings? I did not look very well but found some rare parts.
Doesn’t look like a single restorable car in the bunch… at least nothing that wouldn’t leave you financially underwater. Maybe there was good stuff in the buildings. Lots of parts though, rare chrome trim, and surely a non-dented quarter panel here and there for folks with projects. Hope they can save whatever is useful to someone.
There was a jag that was in perfect condition, no title, still ran. A few other vehicles like some fiat x1-9’s and Yugos as well as some fiat 124 spiders.
I like that old Mopar 3 window Bidness Coupe left of center there in the first foto, think its a Plymouth, always thot they looked cool (and also the Dodge and Plymouth 2-dr wagons from the same era). Some of the late 40s DeSoto and Chrysler 3 window Bidness Coupes had trunks almost as long as the hood, looked really cool also (but in a weird way IMHO)
I like it too, but, we have to be realistic.. it may not be too good underneath, and down where the frame meets the ground .. don’t see why they would not sell the whole car(s) tho!
My theory on why they wouldn’t sell whole cars is,
1. Probably no titles for most of them
2. Very difficult to get out of the yard.
3. If you get a car out for one person but not another, because of location of the car. Someone is going to be mad.
Just my thoughts
OK…….here is an off comment……and I am an old guy……..Why is your opinion “humble”? Most of these things are subjective, your opinion is as good as anyone else’s…….I agree with your comment and some comments are factual backed up by experiance, engineering and that sort of thing but your opinion is valueable and as important as any one else’s. I have a similar problem with the idea of being Fair…..when my daughter used to say “that is not Fair” I would tell her “you don’t want everything to be fair, you would have to give up your 30 point IQ advantage and everything you worked so hard to accomplish would be reduced to average. Be proud of your opinions and accomplishments…….you have earned them.
Some of those trees are going to have to come down to extricate the cars. Woodworkers/wood sculptors would be wise to take note. There is going to be some wood available that has some VERY interesting grain patterns!
As I said in the last time this was posted, I just don’t understand how the cars got all askew like this. It’s as if, they hooked the car to a long tether, swung it around, and let go, and where ever the car landed, it stayed. Can’t be a flood, not too many floods in Iowa. I’m sure in their heyday, they sold a lot of stuff. The cars seem pretty stripped. Unless places like this are taken apart, and sorted somewhat, most all of this will be shredded.
In a somewhat related story, I’m a huge Adam-12 fan ( all the Webb programs actually) and in one episode, Malloy and Reed go to a junkyard/shredder ( in L.A., presumably) and were looking for a specific stolen car, and the cars they were shredding would make most of us cry. This stuff, is pretty much done. And again, getting the stuff out would be a chore. Time to be re-purposed into a exercise bike, or washing machine,( or a Toyota?) they served us well.
Howard,
The cars are probably askew due to whoever was running the front end loader with the forks.
Also, many times if you need a part from the underside, one of the guys will stack the car on top of two so that you can cut out your part…..sometimes they flip the car on its side or end.
Employees at some yards rally race or hold demo derbies which tends to move cars around.
I should know, I rented a house for two years owned by a junkyard. The house made up the border of their property at the top of a hill and had an amazing view of the yard!
There is a lot of cars/parts there. Another year should be given to let hard to find parts be found. Tons of chrome, taillights, trim etc., from two door wagons and hardtops. We have yards around here ( Wis.) shutting down because all scrap prices are nothing. Why crush when you won’t get anything.
Wow! For some reason, I find these places fascinating. Perhaps it is the history, perhaps it is the thrill of finding a diamond amongst the junk, or perhaps I’m just a weirdo.
Awesome addition, BF!
what’s so funny is the nice mowed lots around it…..that acreage is a survivor…
I have bought a couple of old wrecking yards. It is great fun…..takes equipment and an organized mind but there is a lot of money to be made. A concise inventory, photos, honest discriptions. I priced things modestly because there was usually a time limit on when they had to be cleared out. Prefer targeted advertising to specific mark clubs, one week I sold 200 cars. Very little of the yard contents went to the smelter. I would always rather sell cheep to an enthusiast than to a scrapper. This is a very fun game.
We need more guys like Dave Wright (Stuff)
If those cars could talk…….
At $2 a pound that would be an expensive way to buy an old hulk of a project that would need everything, 3500-4000 lb car would be $7000-$8000, if you saw an old junker sitting on someone’s lawn would you drop 8k on it? You’d politely walk away thinking the guy was nuts !!! I just bought a ’52 Ford customline, running for $2500 that’s Canadian so that’s like $1800 US.
Actually the last few days it was $.50 a pound. Sadly it is all starting to be crushed by now, went past it again today.