Carspotters' Challenge #10--Elephant's Graveyard

As Bruce Springsteen once sang, "Everything dies, that's a fact."

How many of these poor souls can you identify?

--Cookie the Dog's Owner

Comments

[That Car Guy (Chuck) on April 20, 2012 at 12:13 AM]

Looks like one crispy critter Explorer there.

[Big Chris on April 20, 2012 at 12:37 AM]

There is a teal green Ford Tempo towards the bottom left that triggers some of the worst automotive memories I have. That car was evil and worthless. Bad combination.

[Jargontalk on April 20, 2012 at 03:56 AM]

The junked Lincoln Continental Mark IV is easy, as are most of the Chevys, but can you spot the Yugo?

[Yankee on April 20, 2012 at 09:58 AM]

Jargontalk, I believe what you thought was a Lincoln Mark IV is actually a '72 Thunderbird (easily confused) - but there's also a blue Cavalier (could be a Cimarron, one could only hope!), blue Tempo (had one for a driver's ed car, and Big Chris was right - they sucked), red Ranger, blue Aspire (aspire... to be what? lol), blue Geo Metro (or Suzuki Swift, as if it actually matters), blue mid-70s Cadillac Sedan Deville, beside it a teal early 90s Grand Prix, beside that a Chevy/GMC conversion van, blue Bronco II (in its element, a junkyard), silver Chevy Astro (or GMC Safari), the burned-out Explorer is interesting (hence the nickname "Exploder"?).

[Cookie the Dog's Owner on April 20, 2012 at 12:01 PM]

The one that breaks my heart is the white first-generation Legacy wagon that seems to have been in a rollover.

[toronado455 on April 20, 2012 at 02:46 PM]

Since no one's mentioned it yet, there's a white late 80s Dodge Caravan down there on the right.

The Thunderbird is a real shame, but the saddest thing for me here is that 71-74 blue Cadillac. The thing looks basically intact and the paint is even still shiny. It always baffles me how half these cars can end up in the junkyard, and yet completely rusted out, disintegrating old Porsches and Jags are being auctioned off for tens of thousands of dollars. What's in a name?

[tigerstrypes on April 20, 2012 at 08:09 PM]

I find it a little disturbing to see many Ford Broncos of varying years here.

What's even more disturbing is seeing not one but TWO Isuzu Trooper IIs!! What happened, did teenage girls drive 'em to death? They look OK. If they still got their running gear, one could sell 'em as off-road rigs to the right people for a small profit.

Near the mentioned Caravan and under what seems to be a Ford Festiva is a Dodge Daytona/Chrysler Laser (Chrysler G Platform). Next to the T-bird is a second-gen Ford Probe.

An array of Ford F150s (most likely 8th-gens), 2 first-gen Dodge Rams complement a couple of Chevys/GMCs of different years and lines.

[peter on April 21, 2012 at 03:13 PM]

I don't see a Lincoln Mark IV, think it's a Thunderbird of the same vintage, which was very similar, also see a Tempo, an old Subaru station wagon, a Bronco II, Chevy Cavalier? and I couldn't remember the model designation for those old Isuzus, glad someone else above did.

[That Car Guy (Chuck) on April 24, 2012 at 02:38 PM]

You know, a while back, we talked about turning a 2-door Granada into a 2-door Versailles. Should not be all that hard to do.

But what would be equally as preposterous (And MUCH easier to do) would be to turn a Cavalier into a Cimarron. Just swap some badges and maybe the grille, and there you go.

The Cadvalier only came as a 4-door. Imagine a wagon, convertible, or 2-door "Cimarron" pulling up at a Cadillac dealer and seeing the amazement on their eyes. Especially a wagon. Tell them it's a very rare car owned by Elvis' ghost or something. Then try to trade it in.

Or you might see their disgust, depending on their mood. But I think this would be a fun thing to do.

[toronado455 on April 25, 2012 at 01:29 AM]

@Chuck
Yes! You need to make a Cimarron wagon! That would be too cool!

Just off the top of my head, you'd need to switch out grille, taillight lenses (only the sedan - wagon-wise you'd have to re-use the Chevy lenses in some fashion), rims, interior bits, seats, etc.

BTW, I was at the LA Auto Show the year the Cimarron debuted. I was looking at it and the sales rep came over, and I said to him, "but it's a Cavalier". And I remember him telling me it has a completely different suspension and rides totally different from a Cavalier. I've never verified the truth about that though.

I'm sure I've seen pictures of a 2-door Granada turned into a 2-door Versailles somewhere.

[Yankee on April 25, 2012 at 01:28 PM]

The problem with making a Cimarron out of a Cavalier is that... GM already did that!

I remember laughing back when the Cimarron was introduced at (among other things) what Cadillac called the futuristic "push-button HVAC controls". Wow, how utterly orgasmic. My 1970 Dodge Dart had those too... *rolls eyes*

Of course the big thing these days (at least where I live) is the Escalade nose on a Silverado pickup. What would you call that, an Escalado? A Silverade?

[That Car Guy (Chuck) on April 25, 2012 at 02:52 PM]

Here's the Cimarron post: http://www.carlustblog.com/2009/02/cimarron-by-cadillac-19811988.html

And here's the Versailles post: http://www.carlustblog.com/2010/06/car-disgust-19771980-lincoln-versailles.html

I still think Elvis has to be somehow connected to a Cimarron wagon though.

Yes... a Caddy nose grafted onto a Chevy truck is too funny. Kind of like a Lincoln nose sewn onto the front of an F-150... wait, they've done that too.

What's next, a Lexus Prius? ;)

[That Car Guy (Chuck) on April 25, 2012 at 02:57 PM]

This just SCREAMS Cadillac, doesn't it?: http://static.ddmcdn.com/gif/chevrolet-cavalier-14.jpg

Doesn't it!?

[That Car Guy (Chuck) on April 25, 2012 at 04:58 PM]

@ Toronado: "And I remember him telling me it has a completely different suspension and rides totally different from a Cavalier."

Of course it rode different. The tires were full of hot air.

[toronado455 on April 25, 2012 at 06:14 PM]

LOL

Have you posted on this car yet?
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7b/1982_Mercury_Cougar_GS_wagon.jpg

It's odd enough in its own right, but it's also about seven bucks worth of parts away from being a Fox-body T-Bird wagon. :-)

[That Car Guy (Chuck) on April 25, 2012 at 06:22 PM]

*Gasp* Holy Deceased Mercury Division, Batman!

I can't tell if that window sign is asking $350.00 or $35,000.

[That Car Guy (Chuck) on April 25, 2012 at 08:54 PM]

Tigerstrypes, most auto salvage places group their same-model vehicles together so they can pick parts and find them easily. So all the Broncos would be together, all the Cadillacs, etc. But that is a jumble of vehicles in the foreground there, for sure.

[toronado455 on April 25, 2012 at 11:15 PM]

I think it says 35,000 miles. :-)

[Big Dave on May 18, 2012 at 07:46 AM]

The awful Tempo I beleive is actually a Mercury Topaz from the look of the taillights.Aside from what others have seen I see:
- a blue Chevy Celebrity (next to the Topaz, labelled "Ronda's Car")
- a Chevy G-series van or GMC Vandura conversion van(mid-right)
- a Toyota Camry (left of the Topaz)
- a red Ford Aerostar (background, left of box truck)
- a couple of Dodge D-series pickup trucks ( maroon to right of Aerostar and blue to right of box truck)
- a couple of Isuzu Troopers (blue in front of the Aerostar and White in back-left)
- a white Subaru Legacy Wagon (behind the Metro/Swift)
- the remnants of a red K-car (bottom-left)
- a silver Plymouth Reliant (behind the Metro/Swift)
- a Chevrolet C- or K- series pickup (blue with white cab top behind the box truck)
- a Toyota pickup or 4-Runner (upper right corner with a silver push bar)
- a Toyota pickup (red, on the left hand side next to the Astro/Safari)
- a couple of Ford Taurus' (silver behind the Topaz and the Ford Green-blue left of the Metro/Swift)
- two Dodge Caravans (under the red Ranger, behind the red Ranger, and I think between the blue Trooper and the Aerostar)
- a blue or black Ford Probe (left of the Aspire)
- a Dodge Daytona (under the Aspire)
- a Pontiac Gran Prix (behind the Cadillac)
- a greay Chevy Lumina (middle of the picture)
- I believe a blue of black Jeep Commanche pickup (behind the Aerostar)
- A second Bronco II in front of the White Trooper in the top-left corner
- A Napa parts van that I think is an Astro or Safari.