Junkyard Jewels NI Easter Monday 2018

[Datsuncog]

Languishing to the other end of the Triumph, then - the mortal remains of another Mk1 Ford Consul:

Yet another one which I didn't manage to snap solo, other than the ruined interior.

But beside the Consul...

Hoo boy.

Hewn from Swedish granite, it seems this mighty Volvo Amazon has finally fallen. BUO854B.

Plenty of Shiter Treasure dumped down the side, too.

[Datsuncog]

So finally, our virtual shite safari reaches the near corner of the yard - and is rewarded with yet another bloody Morris Minor. 😕

With not even a plate to identify it, this would appear to have been slumbering here for a while too.

[Datsuncog]

And what's that alongside...?

Well, this justifies the price of admission alone.

(Price of admission was £3, you may recall)

A portrait of absolute ruination; both tragic yet strangely alluring.

Interior not bearing up too badly, surprisingly. Vinyl FTW.

1600cc motor long gone.

THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU IGNORE THE CORROSION ADVICE STICKER, PEOPLE.

Have some general shots showing just how badly an old Ford can go, once it really gets going.

Maybe we should head up the yard again, and see what else there is down the middle, hey?

[Datsuncog]

(You'll laugh here, but I've actually put together a schematic of the main yard to try to get these pics in the right order. Maybe I should work it up nicely and sell it as a tourist guide.)

[Datsuncog]

Well, these have been previously noticed, and with good reason.

Not just one, but two Ford Consuls with an estate conversion by Farnham. Mega-rare.

Fibreglass wings, eh?

Just amazing. Again, I'd like to think these are rare enough to be worth spending a bit of coin on.

[timolloyd]

Love these updates. Thanks for all your effort!

[Amishtat]

I second that, absolutely loving these pictures (and secretly looking forward to seeing the PB Cresta)

[AnthonyG]

Interesting that the Farnham Consuls have the same colour scheme - I wonder if someone tried to build a good one out of the pair but gave up. Shame at least one of them isn’t worth the effort.

 

I’m surprised the early Victors haven’t sold given the rarity of them - I note no prices are mentioned - does he want silly money for the cars for ‘sale’?

 

P.S. I assume there is no banger racing in NI or the Republic, hence the survival of so much of the solid looking 1950s stuff!

[doug]

That Vogue is seriously rare. Imagine who ordered that new, what taste, what refinement! Sold - not surprised!

Do you want one? Step this way Sir.

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/singer-vogue/312564091390?hash=item48c64589fe:g:iFgAAOSwcHRcqeh2

[lesapandre]

Blimey...

[Amishtat]

There most certainly is banger racing in the Emerald Isle, some of the Irish drivers have dug out some bloody rare tin in the last twenty years alone. Though I'm surprised some of the cars pictured have escaped so far (accepting that these pictures are a year old)

[bunglebus]

Have to say I got rather excited at the pic of the late Super Minx in non-standard light blue, as that's how my mum's previously off-white one was last seen. Hers had a green interior, so the hunt for KYN465D continues - some pics of a similarly painted late car, in Essex (where it lived) appeared in Rust In Peace some years back, but the photographer couldn't reveal where there were taken.

 

As you were...

[Faker]

I love this place. It's literally a trip back in time... both of the coach built consul estates are epic. You can clearly see the seam halfway along the roof! Weld and filler! Quarters too

[Datsuncog]

On 4/8/2019 at 5:12 PM, timolloyd said:

Love these updates. Thanks for all your effort!

 

On 4/8/2019 at 6:35 PM, Amishtat said:

I second that, absolutely loving these pictures (and secretly looking forward to seeing the PB Cresta)

Cheers guys; I appreciate it's a niche kinda hobby but hoking around overgrown scrapyards is probably my favourite thing in the whole world... with so few now open to such amateur messing, this was a real blast. Glad you're also enjoying it!

I have so many snaps taken in the mid '90s on 35mm film - a long term project is to scan them onto digital format and post them up. So keep watching...

 

On 4/8/2019 at 8:57 PM, AnthonyG said:

Interesting that the Farnham Consuls have the same colour scheme - I wonder if someone tried to build a good one out of the pair but gave up. Shame at least one of them isn’t worth the effort.

I’m surprised the early Victors haven’t sold given the rarity of them - I note no prices are mentioned - does he want silly money for the cars for ‘sale’?

P.S. I assume there is no banger racing in NI or the Republic, hence the survival of so much of the solid looking 1950s stuff!

The paintwork on both of them looks quite original, so I'm wondering if they were possibly coachbuilt and painted for a specific purpose... sort of like the way Queens University (as an example) keeps a few old Land Rover 110s painted in corporate colours, for occasional use by their physical geography/marine science schools. The fact that they're low-spec Consul models yet had the very expensive Farnham conversion carried out might back up the idea that these were originally commissioned as fleet cars for business use.

You'd be amazed at some of the ancient stuff government departments keep mothballed, too. Apart from the well-known Bedford RLHZ mobile pumps ('Green Goddesses') commissioned in the mid-50s and not disposed of until the early 2000s, I seem to remember the Viva Owners Club getting their hands on 200-ish surplus ex-MOD 1256cc engines in the late '90s , stored on pallets and as-new.They'd been squirrelled away as spares for the fleet of Vauxhall Chevette estates used by the RAF in the early 1980s, and then disposed of cheap as surplus. I've heard rumours of armoured Granadas still in storage, too...

I think prices might be a little on the steep side, yes - but I'm basing that on the amount of interest vs the number of interesting cars in there for years without finding a new home. If they were fairly priced, I think they'd be selling...

And yes, there is banger racing over here, although maybe not to the same extent as the mainland: Nutts Corner in Co. Antrim is a popular venue. At least two of my old nails have had their final hurrah in the oval, though I don't think there's as big a following for Classic Bangers - seems to be mostly Sierras, Mondeos and Micras, going by the prepped cars on trailers I pass on the motorway the odd time. Possibly not enough older stuff to make it viable!

Though the odd rarity does appear sometimes...

 

On 4/8/2019 at 9:03 PM, doug said:

Do you want one? Step this way Sir.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/singer-vogue/312564091390?hash=item48c64589fe:g:iFgAAOSwcHRcqeh2

Cor, that's very nice indeed... I'm not normally attracted to very many pre-1967 cars, but that one is somewhat alluring...

 

On 4/8/2019 at 10:09 PM, Amishtat said:

There most certainly is banger racing in the Emerald Isle, some of the Irish drivers have dug out some bloody rare tin in the last twenty years alone. Though I'm surprised some of the cars pictured have escaped so far (accepting that these pictures are a year old)

Yeah, I don't know whether this yard just tends to get there before the banger boys whenever something old but beyond restoration appears for sale... but I'm also surprised!

 

On 4/8/2019 at 11:06 PM, bunglebus said:

Have to say I got rather excited at the pic of the late Super Minx in non-standard light blue, as that's how my mum's previously off-white one was last seen. Hers had a green interior, so the hunt for KYN465D continues - some pics of a similarly painted late car, in Essex (where it lived) appeared in Rust In Peace some years back, but the photographer couldn't reveal where there were taken.

As you were...

Heh, I'm hoping to get back to the yard in a few weeks at their Easter Monday 2019 event, and take more pictures with greater care this time (recording the registration numbers where available). But yes, the blue Super Minx (showing the original pale grey paint underneath?) does seem to be a locally plated car.

I know what you mean though, there's a certain closure that takes place when you finally know what happened to a vehicle - I spent years trawling online ads, I had alerts set up, I browsed magazine classifieds - all trying to find out if my Vauxhall Viva HC was still around. Once I found out that it wasn't, it had been scrapped, I felt a degree of sadness but also relief that I didn't have to keep looking anymore.

I think by posting up the pics and the numberplates here, hopefully someone who does an online search might find this page and have that bit of closure - or, for the better cars, some clues to go on if they're trying to track it down.

Best of luck with your own search!

 

On 4/9/2019 at 1:40 AM, Faker said:

I love this place. It's literally a trip back in time... both of the coach built consul estates are epic. You can clearly see the seam halfway along the roof! Weld and filler! Quarters too

It's fantastic, isn't it? It really does remind me of the yards I used to poke around in the mid-80s, when I tagged along with family members looking bits for Allegros, Marinas and Princesses... a nice nostalgia kick!

[Datsuncog]

Another big FoMoCo product behind the brace of Farnhams, then - a Mk3 Zephyr (I think) .

Drab green paint and a lack of chromework suggests to me that this is a lowly 4cyl version.

Faded copy of AutoTrader from May 2008 gives an indication of how long this has been lying.

No registration visible.

[Datsuncog]

Moving back up to the gate then, it's time to start working our way across the yard...

First wreck in the front row is this tattered Hillman Minx:

Didn't get a good pic of the front end, but extreme cropping of another pic seems to indicate a Mk VII car, going by the grille.

No number plate visible.

I feel a bit guilty, because I have minimal affection for this era of fussy little upright pushrod motor-car. I can appreciate their place in motoring history in terms of democratising transport, but I have no real desire to own or drive one. Maybe you'd need to have grown up around them to feel a more emotional connection?

[Datsuncog]

Next one along the line - anotherbloodyMorrisMinor. PSL653, to be precise, in black.

A split-screen Series II model, though someone's already been snipping bits off it - and they've had the A-series lump out of it and all.

My only decent pic from the front is, again, a barely visible slice that I've cropped from another pic. Not sure why someone's installed a handsome wooden bookshelf in the engine bay - was this a popular owner mod back in the day, to cradle one's workshop manual while de-coking the head?

I've no massive love for Minors, but it is a bit sad to see something survive against the odds for sixty-odd years, only to wind up here - somehow crossing over to NI from its original registration area of Clackmannanshire.

Terrible cropped super-zoom from another pic shows a frankly terrifying bystander.

[Datsuncog]

In its afterlife, this Ford Corsair has been granted the mother of all suspension lifts...

5808UI - a Derry-issued plate, which isn't showing on any databases. It's been a while since this one saw the open road.

Interior must have been a nice place to sit, once upon a time. Paler, modern softwood veneers for the Ford executive repmobile market - rather than those fusty dark BMC hardwoods.

Front wing situation: not good.

[Datsuncog]

Again, for lack of interest in the more numerous and well-known classics, I didn't bother my arse to take a proper snap of this Primrose Yellow MG Midget with rubber bumpers - instead it just happened to be in the way while I was taking some other pics.

Bad historian, naughty historian.

Like so many others, this one's clearly an easy restoration project suitable for beginners.

[lesapandre]

Moving back up to the gate then, it's time to start working our way across the yard...

 

First wreck in the front row is this tattered Hillman Minx:

 

20180402_112624.jpg

 

Didn't get a good pic of the front end, but extreme cropping of another pic seems to indicate a Mk VII car, going by the grille.

 

20180402_103252 (2).jpg

 

No number plate visible.

 

I feel a bit guilty, because I have minimal affection for this era of fussy little upright pushrod motor-car. I can appreciate their place in motoring history in terms of democratising transport, but I have no real desire to own or drive one. Maybe you'd need to have grown up around them to feel a more emotional connection?

The Hillman was styled by the Raymond Loewy Studio. Revolutionary full-width styling for the time -1948, streets ahead of the competition. However not so revolutionary under the skin retaining it's sidevalve carried over from predecessor. I think it's a MKVI, rounded grille but small boot...which would place it around 1953...I think. 

 

I had one - not as well engineered as the contemporary A35 and Minor but a little bigger and nicely finished. Very few survive as they like to rust.

[lesapandre]

In its afterlife, this Ford Corsair has been granted the mother of all suspension lifts...

 

20180402_112618.jpg

 

20180402_095632.jpg

 

5808UI - a Derry-issued plate, which isn't showing on any databases. It's been a while since this one saw the open road.

 

20180402_103402.jpg

 

20180402_103223.jpg

 

20180402_103443.jpg

 

Interior must have been a nice place to sit, once upon a time. Paler, modern softwood veneers for the Ford executive repmobile market - rather than those fusty dark BMC hardwoods.

 

20180402_103212.jpg

 

Front wing situation: not good.

 

20180402_103215.jpg

The hull and centre section of the Corsair is pure Cortina MK1. Two cars for the price of one Mr Ford - very clever.

[Datsuncog]

Blocking in the Midget, and downwind from the Corsair, is what looks like the automotive equivalent of one of those digging dog garden ornaments...

The arse end of a Mini - TGM46Y, as it happens.

I believe the front doors from this vehicle have migrated in a southerly direction across the yard, last seen snuggling up to the Minx Californian.

1976 manufacture date declared, but shown as registered in 1982 and on a Y plate, Might be a story there.

What a vista. Chopped-up Minis in scrapyards were a source of great fascination to my six-year-old self, so this was nicely satisfying to behold.

[Datsuncog]

You'll note from the previous pics that there's a red 1970s Rover P6 lying next to the Mini and Midget, but helpfully* I didn't take any pics of it individually.

I did, however, manage to slick my head inside and snap the interior in all its faded glory.

Sportsing TC grille may or may not be from this car.

Hillman Hunter grille presumably not.

[Datsuncog]

But then alongside the Rover - another big Z-car, courtesy of Abbotts of Farnham.

A Ford Zephyr 6 Mk3 Estate, I think. Seems to only have single headlight bowls, anyway - though apparently all estates were built using a Zodiac as the base car, regardless of how they were ultimately badged.

Wish I'd taken more pics of this one; the Mk3 Estate is one of may favourites. A stylish big lump.

[Datsuncog]

Now - here's the money shot, kids.

Good golly Miss Molly.

LOOK AT THE RUST ON THAT!!

A Jaguar XJ Coupé, of uncertain identity and cylinders, but let's just assume the numberplates have corroded away in sympathy with the rest of it.

This would once have been a most appealing place in which a Jaaaaag driver might perch. Sadly, no more. 

One of less than 10,000 coupés in both 6cyl and 12cyl variants built between 1975 and 1978 - and never the success it should have been, as the awkward three-year delay between Motor Show stand and showroom (problems with leaks and wind noise...) meant that at its launch it was immediately up against the XJ-S built on the same platform.

I've seen wrecks in a worse state, but on what was such an attractive car (IMHO) it's particularly poignant to see its leprous decay across those once-shiny flanks. 

Let's just enjoy the rampant rot etching its own fine filigree, and take some small relief that our own motors aren't as bad as this.

Mind you, maybe this one looked absolutely fine until someone poked a slight blister on the rear arch... we've all been there.

FUN FACT: the reason all XJCs came with a vinyl roof as standard was because the pillarless design led to so much body flex that otherwise the paint on the roof would flake off. True. British Leyland really making a virtue of a necessity...

[Datsuncog]

Less extravagantly rotten, but still pretty far gone, was this Austin Cambridge sitting adjacent to the Big Cat.

Local car, too - 4255IB, a Co. Armagh plate - which, apparently, was still taxed for road use as recently as 2014.

Looks like it wasn't too great even then, if we're looking at rust like this now...

Again, you'd have expected the banger lads to be all over any big Farinas like this.

[Datsuncog]

The fourth Vauxhall Victor F-Series in the yard, now...

Apparently, some fussy MOT testers have an issue with Fred Flintstone floors and propshafts held on with frayed bungee cords.

As with so many, this looks like a restoration project that's gone just that one step beyond, assuming the steel box section has been tacked in to avoid flex while replacing the floor. Or is it an abandoned banger build?

No name, no number.

Nite nite l'il souljah.

[Datsuncog]

And, up against the fence, one of the yard's more modern residents - the last passenger car to wear the Morris badge, an Ital.

Looking like it's been left standing for a right while, this would be a very, very brave project.

Sadly no identifiers on this one either.

[Datsuncog]

Now here's one that caused me much confusion - having initially thought this was a Borgward Isabella, I'm now increasingly convinced this is an early Volvo 120-series Amazon.

It's a bit too close to the other cars to get decent pics, but there's certainly some patina going on here.

Any other suggestions??

EDIT: Confirmation that is indeed a Volvo Amazon 4-dr. Further crops from other pics confirms this.

[Datsuncog]

Next door is a rather more recognisable Humber Sceptre Mk1 - 857RZ (Co. Antrim registered).

Although the car is plainly in a bad way, the registration number is apparently still hale and hearty.

It's on a bloody Mercedes E-class diesel, apparently.

Yeesh.