Old Car City USA in White, Georgia professes to be the world’s largest known classic car junkyard. Across more than thirty acres, mostly wilderness, thousands of largely American-made cars have come to their final resting place here over the last several decades. If Detroit made it over the past 90 years, chances are at least one example is there somewhere in the underbrush. This place is very much worth checking out in person! Thanks to Barn Finder Larry D for bringing this to our attention from a recent article here in Motor Trend.
This property is just 45 minutes southwest of Atlanta. Old Car City started as a dealership in the 1930s and is still family-owned and operated. There is a nominal charge for taking a self-guided tour of the place and for a little extra dinero you can bring your camera and have a field day taking pictures. I had the pleasure of visiting here about four years ago and – after three hours – only saw a half of it, so I’ll be going back one day.
Most of the cars, trucks and busses you’ll find were left for dead ages ago, yet a few look like good restoration candidates. But you’re not likely to talk the owner out of any parts or a whole car, although the Motor Trend writer says it’s been done. Not only will you find tons of ancient metal everywhere you look, but you’ll also see some auto artwork compliments of Dale Lewis, the honorary “mayor” (and owner) of Old Car City. Lewis is an artist in his own right with some of the most unique stuff on Styrofoam canvas in his upstairs loft.
Don’t come expecting to take something home other than memories. This is a wonderful place to “watch nature and automotive history come together.” One fun way to tour the acreage is to bring a list of all your favorite cars and check off which ones you’ll find here. Betting your list will end up with checkmarks as long as your arm. For more info on Old Car City USA, check out their website.
Arlo Guthrie said it best, “and the graveyards of rusted automobiles”,,, too bad, 40 years ago, I bet this place was a hummin’. The only thing “hummin” today will be the sound of the portable shredder firing up,,all going to be turned into metal 2×4’s,,and such.
Doesn’t sound like it’s going anywhere soon. If he only sells a few thousand tickets a year at $20-$30 each, that’s not bad. No employees, rent, utilities, inventory…just insurance and property taxes. Sounds good to me
Steve Goodman wrote and recorded that song, later sung by Arlo and Willie Nelson among others. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Goodman
This reminds me of AMS Obsolete, a huge Mopar parts place just north of Atlanta, near Fairmount, GA. I had the pleasure of wandering that place a couple years back, no charge.
They, too, have many acres of old Chrysler products strewn about the wilderness there. And they have several giant buildings packed to the rafters with Mopar parts from the 1920s and up. But they actually sell the parts. It’s a mind bottling place. Mopar guys, you should go there if you can.
Here’s another shot from AMS Obsolete.
I was restoring a 1969 Dodge truck about 20 years ago and went there for some parts. I couldn’t believe all of the parts in that building. I can’t remember the owner’s name but he advertised in all of the car restoration magazines. I wonder if the same owner still has it.
Every time I see these east coast field and forest junkyards all I can think of is it would be a great way to get bit by a rattler or cottonmouth or recluse or black widow. yeesh
I’ve traipsed through many of these type yards in all 4 seasons in CT and RI ; I’ve never even seen a snake , but all the yards I went in were wooded, not swampy. Deer flies , wasps, mice , spiders by the hundreds , but never a snake !
Yes, I saw 2 big rattlers in there and I’ll be honest it spoiled a fun day and made it shorter. They got away and could not figure where they went made it worse.
As much as I used to love these places, today all I can think of is the toxic solvents leaching into the water table. I am surprised the EPA even allows these sites to still exist.
Go hug a tree
Hey Johnny, what’s wrong with hugging a tree??
We should all strive to be good stewards of this planet, it’s the nicest one in the solar system, I looked into it. But maybe you’ve found another one to move to after we despoil this one?
Gary,
In 2001, not long after buying my farm in Maryland, I discovered a vine covered mound of old cars and farm equipment. Everything had been there for at least 40 years. I had a scrap dealer come in and haul it all away.
The fuel tanks and oil pans had rusted out and there was no trace of oil or fuel. I had a company specializing in remediation come and check the ground, as any problems would be covered under insurance.
To my surprise, no trace of oils, solvents or engine oil could be found. They did find low levels of lead, probably left over from worn engine bearing sludge in the oil pans, but it was so low there was no need for remediation.
I was surprised to learn from the remediation guys that this was typical for what they found under vintage cars & trucks that have been sitting on the ground for decades. I was informed when the fuel and oil slowly leaks into the ground, over time it is re-absorbed into the earth.
He said that 100 years ago the Appalachian mountains in our area had many oil wells drilled, and back then when they found those oil deposits, they were all under great pressure, resulting in geysers of oil that coated all the surrounding ground, sometimes for miles around the wellhead.
They built huge catch ponds to keep from losing the oil, yet none of the remnants of this oil can be found, as it was all reclaimed by nature. Remember, unrefined oil is from biological materials like grass and trees, so with time, nature reclaims it.
I’m NOT suggesting we simply let today’s leaks and oils go unchecked, because it can take 100 years or more for nature to complete the job of remediation. It’s important that we don’t add to the problems nature is already dealing with.
But when we do find abandoned vehicles, or even engines partially sunk into the ground, if they have sat for as long as those we see in the photos above, it’s unlikely these cars are causing an ecological disasters today.
When I owned a restoration shop, we had 4 acres in the back area that contained many cars we kept for spare parts or didn’t want to see go to the shredder. I tried to keep all these cars up off the ground by putting the wheels or drums on old rims. This was for 2 reasons; first to keep the underside off the ground, and second, to keep the woodchucks from burrowing under the cars. We never had any type of oil sheen forming on run-off waters after a rain.
Absolutely!!! The truth is not what some want to hear and they will continue to deny it even when facts, such as these, are presented to them. These people have the same level of mentality as those that believe the earth is flat, or those that don’t believe evolution is real.
That is really good to no . I love cars allways have I’ve had probly 3to400 over my life drove most of them the nabors would turn me into the town I’d have to clean out 20 or so I hated to the worst one was a 70 impala no rust at all mint shape had to let it go I am still pissed off at my nabor for it thanks for the read
Michael Berkemeier,
In the mid 1990s I had a 1985 Rolls-Royce Silver Spur Centennial, #18 of 25 built to celebrate 100 years of the automobiles. I had it parked next to my house, in the driveway. I lived on a major arterial 4 lane highway. I was not driving the Rolls-Royce at that time, so I didn’t have tags on it. As it was on my land, it was covered for property damage on the house insurance.
The county has a law against having a car on residential property unless it’s registered. In my state to register a car requires full insurance. For that car it was quite expensive.
So the county cited me for having a junked and inoperable vehicle on residential property. I ignored it in the hopes the county would take me to court. Every month the county left another citation on my front door. Once I had 6 citations I gave them to my attorney. He filed suit against the county for harassment.
County tried to get it dismissed in a pre-trial hearing, but the judge said we had a good case. So on the day of the trial, before the trial actually began, the same judge asked both parties to approach the bench. He advised we should attempt to settle before he heard the case.
The county attorney said he didn’t want to settle. The judge, in a very stern voice, told the county attorney to go settle, as he would not be happy with the judges ruling! So off to a side room we marched.
Agreed: We would drop the charges IF we got letters from the county attorney indicating he had dropped the complaints, with the promise not to ever bring the same type of charges against me or my heirs. They also had to pay all my legal bills for the case.
2 months later, I put a 24″x30″ professionally made sign next to the Rolls-Royce. The sign said the county had claimed the car was junk, and a judge said otherwise. It also said if anyone was having a similar problem, they could leave me a note in my mailbox, and I would contact them.
A few days later I got a letter in the mail from the county. It said I had an illegal sign on my property. It was illegal because I had not filed for a sign permit. I turned the letter over to the same attorney, who asked for a hearing before the same judge.
The county attorney failed to show up. The judge was pissed, and he had a Sheriff go find him and bring him into the court [The judge knew he wasn’t far away.]. My attorney claimed my sign did not require a permit or license, as it was not a commercial sign. It was a political statement. Judge [of course] agreed.
Judge ordered the county to cover all my legal fees, and in addition, to pay me restitution for all my time defending myself. The amount: $10,000. With that payment, I bought another car. Guess where I parked it? LOL
That is PHENOMENAL Bill. Best story of all…well played!
LOVE your Roller vs. County story ! Back when I lived in Sunnyvale, Ca I was constantly moving my cars to prevent the ones parked on the street from being towed as they had to be moved every 72hrs. Making it more challenging was the real estate agent down the street that used to send her toddler daughter to my house with a digital camera to take date-stamped pictures to prove my cars hadn’t moved in the alotted time. One day I came home to find she’d called on my Europa (running, registered and insured) which had been parked in front of my house, and had it towed. I called the police, who responded immediately and after explaining the law, said apologetically that they had no problem with me, and that some people “needed to mind their own business.”
About a week later I came home to witness a *major* confrontation between the nosy neighbor and a tow truck driver who was removing a boat from her driveway. Seems there was a law about having an inoperable vehicle in view of the street and someone had called about her boat. Sweet, sweet payback.
Gee, some more junkyard images. Hard to find those.
Did they EVER do more than sell tickets to Old Car City? Seems like an odd business model, even when the cars were only a few years old. When did it go from being a dealership to being a weird destination with a health warning?
Notice it is “CASH ONLY”: bet the IRS would like to see this guys tax returns
I’ve traipsed through many of these type yards in all 4 seasons in CT and RI ; I’ve never even seen a snake , but all the yards I went in were wooded, not swampy. Deer flies , wasps, mice , spiders by the hundreds , but never a snake !
Just some Lyme disease in CT or RI. No biggie! PASS!
People can get bit by a deer tick sitting on their deck in their backyard . I’d rather go hiking around. Never had a deer tick get me yet, I just prepare myself before I go.
Caught the rear corner of a `61 Impala–no telling bodystyle, piled up next to the `62 Catalina sedan. Most of what I see is too far gone to bother with. I can tell some of them have been there since the 50s. There are better yards full of cars to search. Trying to get any of these might result in the car crumbling in half, etc.
Tetanus shot anyone?
All I can say is what a crying shame
What a waste…..The owner sounds like an idiot to me.
I’ve been there. I heard about it about 18 years ago when I owned a 62 Dodge Lancer with an aluminum black slant 6…yes it was aluminum….anyway, I needed a couple of trim parts because mine were either destroyed or missing and I went there after calling to ask if they had any 62 lancers…”Yes I have 2″ he said. Great….so I drove down from Chattanooga and asked if I could see them.
“that’ll be ten dollars”
“ten dollars for what?”
“To go see the cars”
“Ten dollars to go see 2 cars?”
“yup, but you can see as many as you want on the way.”
“But I only need a couple of chrome pieces”
“Oh, we don’t sell parts, but we will sell you the whole car if you want.”
“how much for the whole car with the trim pieces I need?”
“$2000”
“You’ve got to be kidding, a really good driver is only going for $1500”
“$2000, take it or leave it.”
I left it…I refused to even pay the $10 for the “tour” because the yard cars I could see from from the road were 100% crusher ready.
Now I will say, he had some really nice stuff for sale in the shop and outside the shop, but he probably wanted millions for those based on what he was asking for the yard cars.
Mental illness is a problem
You cant lock up a crazy basketcase until something really bad happens and then its too late
These crazy hoarders are a perfect example
Come tour our scrap yard only 10 bucks each. And pics are 30 no matter who the f@ ck you are. This guy should be a comedian. I wouldn’t buy anything from an idiot like this. And really from the pics there ain’t nothing worth looking at let alone to buy.
My first impulse was a opportunity to scavenge through the place, seeking those unobtaininum parts, but when reality set in moments later, the long arm of the EPA reached out into my thoughts and I realized remediation of toxic metals and chemicals would prevent ownership of such a fun place. I have many memories of such places while growing up in California, post EPA rules, and spending hours in such locales removing parts for some of my projects. Unfortunately those opportunities have now become few and far between. Sad, but probably important.
I went a few years ago with a car club twice. It is northwest of Atlanta – not southwest.
Uh, yeah; I don’t get it. Why would a car guy or gal enjoy watching automotive history being purposefully and systematically turned into worthless junk? Maybe there’s an exhibit where you could watch a classic being fed through a shredder or something? Or maybe “Bring-Your-Grandfathers-Car to Crusty Carl’s-Classic-Crusher-Days!” ooh! “Ladies Night! Ferrari vs Maserati on the Figure Eight Smashup Track! yeow! Destroy a Tucker Night! $10 for Ten Swings of the Sledgehammer! zowie! All-Hemi-Demolition-Derby! SUNDAY! SUNDAY! SUNDAY!”
It’s ghastly and ghoulish and I dislike it.
Location is NORTH of Atlanta, not South. I have driven by this place for decades, always thought it was a waste of often restorable old cars. Rust in Peace.
I wouldn’t pay a dime to see anything on this idiots property. There are several other junkyards that are way cooler and have tons of old stuff just like this. Stark’s Auto Wrecking south of Dayton, Ohio is way cooler than this, as is Leon’s in Culpeper, Va.You can wander all day through the hills and woods at both of these incredible places for free…and buy parts too (for reasonable prices, to boot)!
Michael,
In the mid 1980s I paid a visit to Leon’s in Culpepper, on Rt 29. While wandering around high up on a ridge of cars, I stumbled onto a 1967 Plymouth Fury II wagon, gold color. I mentioned to a friend it looked just like the one my parents bought brand new at Maryland Motors, in Rockville, Md. as I got closer I spotted the metal Maryland Motors emblem on the tailgate.
Then I noticed the small dent in the aluminum trim piece between the tailgate and the rear bumper, it looked like the dent I put there in 1970 when I installed a bumper hitch to tow one of my Packards. To get the clip over the edge of the bumper, I had to pry the tailgate just a bit higher, and bent the trim strip. My dad was really pissed to find the dented trim piece.
Was it possible I found my parent’s wagon? I knew there was another thing to check. When the clock stopped working I decided to pull it out and see if it could be fixed. To remove the outer dash trim piece surrounding the clock and instruments, I had to first remove the knob for the clock stem, used to set the clock time. In my attempt to take the knob off, it required a TINY little screwdriver, and I didn’t have one. So I tried to use a larger screwdriver & damaged the insides of the clock set knob, so I never was able to take it off.
I opened the passenger door and climbed in. I quickly saw the damaged clock set knob. One more thing to check: The owner’s manual in the glove box. Dad had written our family name on the cover in big letters. The owner’s manual was there, complete with a name I was very familiar with! I opened the hood and found the MoPaR Certicard warranty card, so I pulled it out, sticking it in the owner’s manual.
On leaving Leon’s Auto Parts, along with various other parts I was buying, I sat the owner’s manual on the counter and explained what happened. Everyone on the other side of the counter [it’s a big place] came over and I showed them my driver’s license. I have a rare last name. No question it was my parent’s car from new. The guy I had shown it to, told me it was mine, free of charge. Said something like “It belongs with you.”
I still have it, with a letter inside of how I found it, along with photos of the car at Leon’s. My nephew gets it after I’m gone, along with a few photos of it when new.
I had brief ideas about buying the wagon, but I would have had to move 30 to 40 cars to get a truck in to pull it out, or hire a Sikorsky Heavylift helicopter, and both were financially not possible.
And Yes, Leon’s was, and is, incredible. Over 100 acres.
Bill, how it is that you and I have never run into each other is beyond comprehension! I too have wandered Leons in the same timeframe as you. Back in the 70s, I was all about finding as much salvageable Corvair trim as possible along with glass and taillights. (Clarks Corvair Parts was in its infancy). Anyway, I am fascinated by every story that you tell that involves Northern Virginia or the DC Metro area from my time growing up there in the 1960s until around 1992 when I moved to Nashville. Thank you for the (continued) blasts from our past! BTW, my last trip there was to check on the availability of Datsun 5 speed transmissions for a number of Sprites and Midget projects I was working on….they had them all en masse in one of the MANY school bus carcasses in the woods!
Bill, and Little_Cars…
I, too, wandered Leon’s many a beautiful fall morning, whilst skipping school at Herndon H.S. in the ’80’s, lol! I love anything to do with the DC area as well. This is a great story Bill, absolutely awesome. I still have a few friends in NoVa that still frequent Leon’s on a pretty regular basis. Leon’s had a ton of old police cars (many from Arlington PD). There are 440 cars, 429 cars, etc. A goldmine for those of us that restore these reare beasts.
I don’t know if it’s still there or not, but Leon had a GSX in that sat in the building up front. It was complete and decent, and has been there since the ’70’s or, at the least, early ’80’s. It was not for sale the last time I was there but, that was 35 years ago.
The last time my friends were at Leon’s, they found a stash of nudie magazines in an old Fury I police car. The joke was that I had left them there while skipping school, back in the ’80’s.
I still have the ’71 Road Runner Grille Bird Head that I pulled off of an In-Violet “71 at Leesburg Auto Recyclers too.
I knew where all of the stashes of muscle cars in the woods were, back in the day. Sadly, they are likely all gone now to make room for all of the McMansions out off 50 and 29…west of Centreville. There was a Lemon Twist Superbird, 440+6, 4-speed car, that you could see off 29/211. The yellow wing stuck out of the carport. We stopped one morning and asked if it was for sale…an older, black lady said “That’s my husband’s and he’s at work. The Six Pack manifold and carbs are in the trunk. He’ll sell it for $10,000.” We laughed and said “Thanks anyway”, then left. We laughed about it the whole way home…we don’t laugh now when we think about it. We kick ourselves in the a** for being so stupid.
Herdon High School, eh Michael? I think my Edison HS team kicked your butt in sports and marching band, or the other way around. ??? LOL Last time I walked through Leons was 2014 so I’m tickled that it still brings smiles to all of us old high school delinquents!
Art project? Good one!!
I live in Atlanta and pass by the place every once in awhile. I see no reason to pay 20 or $30 to go look at Rusty rotted cars that are so buried in the woods, covered with poison ivy, kudzu and trees growing through them. You almost can’t tell what some of what you are looking at is. Maybe if I were a photographer it would be worth it to me. LOL, maybe I’m just jealous because I’ve had to work for a living and he seems to manage by just sitting there and charging everybody that walks through the door 20 to $30 to tour. It’s Good work if you could get it I assume.
Thank you Larry D for this insightful post! I live in the Atlanta area and have been there a couple of times still without seeing everything. One time there was a film crew taking shots of all of the Edsels; they would not divulge the reason. Definitely worth the trip and the entry fee for any old car buff.
Sounds like he had parents and/or grandparents who were automotive hoarders who kept everything because in the future they would be worth a fortune.
When the current family member discovered the actual value of what lay before him, and the cost to clean up the property exceeded the scrap value, perhaps he opened it as a piece of art, and a way to stay one step in front of the local county inspectors. Claiming it as a piece of art, not a junkyard, may be the actual reason nothing is for sale. If parts and cars are for sale, then the local government could shut it down.
The current owner may be smarter than we give him credit for. All he has to do is sit on his behind, and collect $ for letting everything rot. And I’m betting there are plenty of photographers paying good money to use the place for photo shoots, thereby solidifying his claim it’s an art installation. Once something is considered by the public to be art, then everything begins to be considered artistic expression.
I had a friend who was hassled by the local county for allowing her back yard on her 5 acre lot to become a “flowering meadow”. The county took her to court because she refused to mow her back yard. She had a doctorate in biology, and won her court case. Judge basically said one has an obligation to keep their property safe and managed. She was doing just that.
So in retaliation, she took 6 white toilets and arranged them in a row in her front yard. She planted the bowls and tank with flowers in soil. She signed each one with her artist’s signature. When the county claimed cited her for junk in the yard, she went back to the same judge and complained the county was overstepping it’s authority, as she had a right to artistic expression that was safe and managed. The county was fined and told any additional harassment & unsubstantiated claims would result in heavy fines and imprisonment.
Several months later she was back in court, claiming the county inspectors had illegally entered her property without notice [as required by the judge], the county denied they had done so. Except that she produced videotapes from carefully hidden video cameras [installed by me!] clearly showing county vehicles and county employees checking out the property 6 different times, even photographing various locations and items. The judge was furious to see [on tape] the inspectors had entered a closed door into her barn and took photos. Fines [later reduced] exceeded $150,000. The chief inspector lost his job, and the head of permits and inspection resigned.
I describe the above situation to illustrate the slippery slope local governments may encounter trying to “Clean up” outdoor artistic endeavors. Today, unless the public or someone of stature complains, local governments are often not interested in going head to head.
“30 Acres of Rust” is more like it.
I’m glad that there are unique individuals out there that present the rest of us with a different view of the world.
It may seem humorous to diss this sort of behavior as abnormal or even stupid, but there are many of us who can appreciate and enjoy the fact that something like this can still exist in our disposable society.
I know that the next time that I am visiting in GA, I will be planning to stop in.
When I lived in New Jersey (born and raised) there was a junkyard up north near the Pennsylvania and New York boards. I don’t remember the name of the place, but it was similar to the one in White, Georgia. Acres and acres of old rusted metal. When you first walk in, the cars are neatly parked next to each other, pretty much all the same make put together. Cadillacs in this row, Fords in the next, etc.
But, venture a little further out and in the woods there were old cars from the 20s and 30s, half sunk in the ground, trees growing up through them. There was actually one car that had completely sunk into the ground and you were actually walking on its roof.
This was back in the 80s so I don’t know if it’s still there or not.
But, I have always found wandering through junkyards fascinating. Here in Vegas, we have a couple of ” you pull it” junkyards. Those are very neat and orderly, with blacktop and wheel rims keeping the cars off the ground. There are a couple of what I would call “regular” junkyards, but, for the most part, you can’t walk around exploring in them.
I understand Colorado is supposed to have some good ones near Denver.
Specht’s in Warwick? It’s still open
Outside Washington up on Montana Mountain? They have all been crushed and condos built there.
@ Will Fox
That ’61 Chevy Impala is a 4 door flattop.
Don’t know if it’s Sedan or hardtop
That’s to bad that some of these cars have been let to rot like this. I can only think of my local scrap yard is paying $300 per car right now and more if the cat, converter is still on it the motor trend article says over 4000 cars. That’s over a million in scrap metal but I guess he going to get richer at $10 per person to walk through
That is some very interesting comments on this one. We will all be going to electric or alternative in a few years