Junkyard Jewels NI Easter Monday 2018

[Datsuncog]

Next along, a battleship grey Rover P4 in 100 guise...

… and next to that, a still pretty desirable Sunbeam Rapier.

No known registrations on either of these, I'm afraid.

[The_Equalizer]

The red car above is an Amazon. The hubcaps have the Volvo V on them and the bonnet hinge is correct. The first Volvo 1800s had these hubcaps too. The middle bit with the V was painted red and then later black.

[Datsuncog]

OMG Desireable Cla$$ic Ford up next:

A Mk2 Cortina 4-dr - albeit one that's no longer complete, with the nearside B-pillar now chopped out.

Oh-so-mod dash for 1966. 1600E models got a wooden one of these, but even the plastic here was a step up from the acres of painted metal with the Mk1 Cortina.

HiFi wonders, too. Not sure whether this Philips push-button radio in the footwell came out of this very car, but it looks like it dates from the right sort of era.

For me, the Mk2 Cortina is a sort of firewall between 'old cars' and 'antique cars' - like the Viva HB of the same year and the Rootes Arrow range which arrived the next year, the Mk2 presaged the neat, faired-in three-box frame which would be common currency for saloon cars over the next 20-25 years.

Compared to the fussy older models still being churned out by BMC for a certain demographic - big Farinas, (not yet facelifted) Heralds and the ubiquitous Minors - the clean lines of this mid-range car seem to echo the prevailing International Modern architectural and interior design styles.

I mean, I like Mk1 Cortinas too - but they look and feel from a more distant era, inside and out, with their pressed vestigial fins to the rear and headlights above the bonnet line. And compared to the long-in-the-tooth but still contemporary Anglia 105E... well, nothing dates like fashion.

[LightBulbFun]

Id have a field day robbing all the lightbulbs I could find out of all these cars 

 

been enjoying the content, but not given many post a like, cuz i cant "like" seeing cars in such poor states if that makes any sense

 

but keep up the good work

 

(from a very young age iv always wanted to visit a scrap yard, but being in central London made that pretty impossible sadly)

[Datsuncog]

The red car above is an Amazon. The hubcaps have the Volvo V on them and the bonnet hinge is correct. The first Volvo 1800s had these hubcaps too. The middle bit with the V was painted red and then later black.

Good to have that confirmed! I think I associate the split-grille as being such an Amazon feature that I didn't immediately recognise it with that feature concealed. But yes - the hubcaps are a clue, certainly.

[The_Equalizer]

Id have a field day robbing all the lightbulbs I could find out of all these cars 

 

been enjoying the content, but not given many post a like, cuz i cant "like" seeing cars in such poor states if that makes any sense

 

but keep up the good work

 

(from a very young age iv always wanted to visit a scrap yard, but being in central London made that pretty impossible sadly)

 

There were certainly scrap yards in South London in the 1990s. I remember one Deptford/New Cross way although the site is now, unsurprisingly, occupied by housing. By coincidence the owner's daughter went to college in Tonbridge (which is a good distance away) and I remember she drove round in a then brand new Suzuki Vitara when we were all slumming it in clapped out Beetles and the like. 

[Amishtat]

I can remember being allowed to wander round a couple of yards locally taking pictures in the mid-late nineties but even then there wasn't a lot of fifties stuff, the older established rural yards were the places to find that. I'm riveted to this thread, this is pretty much my favourite period for cars. Heartbreaking how genuinely fucked they are though it's no surprise really.

[bunglebus]

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

 

Ford have always been the master of that, look at MK1/2 Escort estates, MK3-5 Cortina floors (and you can put a MK5 tailgate on a MK3), MK1/2 Transits... loads more I'm sure. Then they do weird shit like change things half way through a model run like the door hinge layout on MK2 Escort estates - doors off any 2-door MK1 fit, up to about 1977. Then they don't. Again, loads of similar examples.

 

Anyway, pics please!

[Datsuncog]

^^^ More pics coming tomorrow, fear not!

Further yet and deeper into the yard...

[Datsuncog]

On 4/9/2019 at 5:49 PM, LightBulbFun said:

Id have a field day robbing all the lightbulbs I could find out of all these cars 

been enjoying the content, but not given many post a like, cuz i cant "like" seeing cars in such poor states if that makes any sense

but keep up the good work

(from a very young age iv always wanted to visit a scrap yard, but being in central London made that pretty impossible sadly)

Hey, I fully understand - I kinda feel the same about pics of banger racing; I sort of like seeing the cars, but it makes me terribly terribly sad at the same time - even though I know they're total no-hoper basket cases that have been utterly lashed up and then nicely painted. I couldn't bring myself to 'like' pics of a banger race either (though I appreciate someone taking the time to document it!)

As mentioned before, I think I still kid myself that all these cars are restorable somehow - and it's just a matter of time and effort before they're back on the road.

I can be very delusional.

 

On 4/9/2019 at 8:32 PM, The_Equalizer said:

There were certainly scrap yards in South London in the 1990s. I remember one Deptford/New Cross way although the site is now, unsurprisingly, occupied by housing. By coincidence the owner's daughter went to college in Tonbridge (which is a good distance away) and I remember she drove round in a then brand new Suzuki Vitara when we were all slumming it in clapped out Beetles and the like. 

I can remember travelling through England in the early '90s and seeing colossal metal recycling yards visible from the motorway outside Birmingham and Coventry... by comparison, the yards local to me were tuppenny-ha'penny jobs with probably less than a hundred cars in them at any given time. These were massive.

I would have loved a good rummage through some of the yards we passed, especially the small rural ones... and while I know it's typical to blame EU environmental regs/ 'elf 'n' safety for the decline of the good ol' British Scrappy, the inevitable increase in cars being cubed for electronic shortcomings (rather than traditional mechanical or structural failure) - combined with a general decrease in drivers' ability/willingness to mend cars themselves - meant that they could never all be viable, long-term.

That said, maybe it'd be worth documenting some of the other scrapyards still functioning locally... perhaps a Team Chod & Ulster visit to McKinty's Yard in Gleno could be an idea, at some point? And I think there's still one old-school yard hiding in the Balloo Industrial Estate in Bangor...

 

On 4/9/2019 at 8:58 PM, Amishtat said:

I can remember being allowed to wander round a couple of yards locally taking pictures in the mid-late nineties but even then there wasn't a lot of fifties stuff, the older established rural yards were the places to find that. I'm riveted to this thread, this is pretty much my favourite period for cars. Heartbreaking how genuinely fucked they are though it's no surprise really.

No, even I hardly remember much '50s stuff in Bobby Shaw's Yard, my local venue of choice for scavenging Cortina bits in the 1990s - the occasional well-rotted Minor or Anglia would have been the height of it, with a smattering of 60s and 70s tin still remaining.

Seems like a lot of these have been borderline-condition cars probably bought with the very best of intentions to restore, but after a few moist years under a tarp in the corner of a garden, they've been rendered irretrievably banjaxed.

Still, it makes for a fascinating study of ferrous oxide - glad you're enjoying! And hey, if you have any of your scrapyard pics to hand...

 

On 4/9/2019 at 9:32 PM, bunglebus said:

Ford have always been the master of that, look at MK1/2 Escort estates, MK3-5 Cortina floors (and you can put a MK5 tailgate on a MK3), MK1/2 Transits... loads more I'm sure. Then they do weird shit like change things half way through a model run like the door hinge layout on MK2 Escort estates - doors off any 2-door MK1 fit, up to about 1977. Then they don't. Again, loads of similar examples.

Anyway, pics please!

Indeed, the Ford bean-counters were always legendary for their ability to shave off a few pennies here and there through recycling and re-using componentry wherever possible - although every now and then would do something odd, like the Escort estate door hinges.

I'd probably add to that list the change to the shell and panels to incorporate a bigger glass area between the MkIV and MkV Cortina saloons (barely noticeable, but nothing was interchangeable - although the estate version remained the same) and the curious decision to change the rear flanks of the low-volume Mk1 Granada Coupé from coke-bottle rounded to a flat profile...

More pics a-coming...

[Datsuncog]

Another victim of my disorganised camerawork - one of a number of Mk2 Ford 204E Consul/Zephyr/Zodiacs , which I neglected to render as an individual portrait.

Structurally, this one still looks not utterly bollocksed. The inner wings are a damn sight better than those on my Mk5 Cortina, that's for sure.

Small, body-coloured rear light surrounds would be suggestive of an early Mk2 Consul Highline to me.

The red bootlid resting across the 204E's engine bay belongs to JZL131, the Morris Minor on the other side of the Consul Farnhams.

[Datsuncog]

Beside the big Z-car, we have this no-longer-so-super Hillman Super Minx.

Sharing the same body as the more upmarket Singer Vogue and Humber Sceptre, the Super Minx was sold alongside the Loewy-inspired Audax-series Minx, providing more interior space and glass area, until both bodyshells were superseded by the Arrow-series cars.

This one's looking a bit frilly up top, so probably even more so down below...

[Datsuncog]

Popping up next, a less-than-happy Triumph Herald.

Going by the rear deck, it looks like this was originally a saloon rather than a drop-top; part of the fun with Heralds was the ability to unbolt the roof of your saloon and turn it into an open-top, thanks to the separate chassis keeping the body unstressed.

All good until the rain came on, anyway...

[Datsuncog]

And ending this particular row, here's an Austin A40 Devon in cheerful Austerity Grey...

As Austin's first new post-war model there was a great deal of fanfare at its launch in 1947, followed by immediate public and press disappointment at its conservative styling. As Lesapandre points out, the launch of the new Hillman Minx the following year would include a 'full-width' grille and more faired-in wings, which immediately made the Devon look somewhat old-hat.

In Austin's defence, they had just launched their smooth new Austin 10 in mid-1939 using innovative semi-unitary construction, when production was suddenly halted due to some sort of commotion in Europe - so it was unsurprising that the 'new' family Austin would draw heavily on the unfulfilled promise of its predecessor. In their haste to be first to market with a new product, Austin wouldn't benefit from those extra few months of development that allowed the 'Class of '48' - including the Morris Minor and the Jaguar XK120 - to be so influential.

Still, with not a lot of consumer choice and huge waiting lists for new cars, nearly half a million were built in five years - many of which were exported.

And that, folks, concludes the front part of Zone 6.

Be careful then, as we move further in... because here be dragons.

[Datsuncog]

Starting off the row, another Rover P6 in a bit of a state - this one believed to be in 2200SC flavour (assuming the wing inside belongs to this vehicle).

Ship ahoy.

[Datsuncog]

More Triumph Heraldry alongside - a sad looking grey saloon, also lacking its tin-top (along with much else).

I nearly got the plate here - KOV69**

Looks like this was originally a Birmingham car, then.

[Datsuncog]

You'll have noticed the CALAPST remains of a Ford 100E Popular alongside the Herald:

Someone's been having fun with an angle grinder here, and the spanners. Hopefully its sacrifice has not been in vain.

The 100E Popular was 'launched' (for want of a better word) alongside the all-new 105E Anglia in 1959, as a replacement for the antediluvian 103E Ford Pop. It took the old Anglia bodyshell and sidevalve engine, and stripped it out further to create Ford UK's new entry-level model - in much the same way Renault did with its Clio Campus model in the 2000s.

The 100E Pop sold at a manufacturer's recommended retail price of £494, equivalent to 26 weeks' average wages - a rigid pricing formula to which Ford stuck for many years for their very cheapest models, from the 1930s to the 1970s - even if it meant that the 1975 Mk2 Escort Popular was brutally basic and largely made of painted cardboard inside, to still turn a tiny profit at the dictated £1,299 price point.

By comparison, a base spec Dacia Sandero (£6,995) now weighs in at 23% of the 2018 UK average wage (£29,588 - ONS).

Cars are half the price they once were.

[Datsuncog]

Another Humber Sceptre, then:

Fairly well picked-over, but still with some decent-looking bits of brightwork remaining.

I'm guessing these cars would have been pitched at the comfortably-off middle management types of the mid-1960s, working in wood-panelled offices within large, modern factories - and with their own parking space.

They had a bit of presence, these things.

[Uncle Jimmy]

Following with interest!

Following with interest, tempered with mild fear.

[The_Equalizer]

I'm guessing these cars would have been pitched at the comfortably-off middle management types of the mid-1960s, working in wood-panelled offices within large, modern factories - and with their own parking space.

 

 

Not quite the same, but you get the idea...

 

[Datsuncog]

Shoring up the Sceptre, is this thoroughly dejected-looking Wolseley 1500 (probably).

Built on the Morris Minor floorpan (check out the familiar lever-arm suspension units) and sharing a great deal with the Riley One-Point-Five, these were BMC's upmarket small-luxury saloons from the late 1950s.

But with the launch of the Cortina, Viva and even BMC 1100 in 1962 and 1963, these suddenly must have appeared somewhat dated with their rather humpy Minor-esque profile. Still, they shifted over 100,000 of these things in seven years. Riley output was less than a third of that - and many of them were scavenged by Minor owners looking for uprated bolt-on parts such as the bigger Girling brakes.

I say this is 'probably' a Wolseley 1500, because I'm given to understand that a super-rare 1200 version was produced, exclusively for the Irish market.

Could this be one?

Well, I couldn't read the mangled number plate so sadly, I can't really say...

[Datsuncog]

On 4/10/2019 at 12:53 PM, The_Equalizer said:

Not quite the same, but you get the idea...

humber.jpg

Heh...

"Darling, what does 'YPLAC' mean?"

"Oh, ignore it, my sweet - just some silly prank from those jokers in the Drawing Office. Don't worry your pretty little head it about it."

"It says here they'll chop your bollocks off with a pantograph if you do it again."

[Datsuncog]

Going even further back into the mists of time, now...

I think this is an Austin 8, possibly pre-war - ZB6234

(I hadn't realised, but the plate is just about visible in pics of other vehicles behind)

This places it as registered in Co. Cork between April 1935 and April 1949 - so still no clearer on whether it's a pre- or post-WW2 example, but at a guess there were probably more Austins registered in the 1930s in than the 1940s.

There's also the nose of an Austin A35 4-dr just peeping into shot; that's the only external pic I have of that, other than some in-the-background shots.

Didn't get the plate, though snapped the interior, somewhat blurrily.

[Datsuncog]

Now, things get a little messy from here on in as the cars are a bit heaped up against the far fence, some stacked, and access is somewhat limited. Equipped with only a wet phone and the early stages of hypothermia, these shots are not award-winning, I fear. But here we go.

More Z-cars - this time another Mk3 (211E, for those who prefer Ford's internal coding system) - maybe a Zephyr 6? Hard to tell. 

The Zep' seems to be missing its rear end, although also pggybacking half a 105E Anglia, just for funsies.

Mmm, super-frilly.

No plates visible on any of these, so their identity and history may be forever lost to us.

[Datsuncog]

Also forming part of this alarming gestalt Zephyr/Anglia entity, is another Ford:

OMG MK1 E$$$CORT

Could be an interesting Shite-based Crystal Maze-style game show in here - the first contestant to make it out alive with the VIN plate wins a squillion quid and ten thousand 'Is this still for sale?' messages from eBay and Facebook Marketplace mouth-breathers.

Except it doesn't seem to have a front end, so presumably the VIN's long gone.

And it's a 4-dr anyway, so not much good for Mexico/RS1600 clones.

Meh.

[Datsuncog]

And what do we have here...?

Yet another Z-car, but with a hearse body.

(No pun intended.)

Actually, I couldn't be quite sure there's not a body still in there...

But I didn't much fancy investigating further.

Plenty o' grot.

Interior is pretty ruined, I'm afraid. Plenty of bulbs left for LBF, mind.

Though how cool is that big 'Z' on the dash?

They laughed at me in school for decorating my GCSE art folder with Zephyr and Zodiac insignia, but I know I was right.

Surprised to see the three-pedal arrangement on the floor - I would have assumed that any hearse would have had an autobox. Although, I'm led to believe that things were a bit different in Ireland, where hearse building tended to be a bit more homegrown and ad-hoc than in GB, where specialist coachbuilders like Coleman-Milne have been the norm for a long while.

Anyway. Ashes to ashes, rust to rust.

Rest in peace, Big Ford.

[LightBulbFun]

Also forming part of this alarming gestalt Zephyr/Anglia entity, is another Ford:

 

20180402_101422.jpg

 

OMG MK1 E$$$CORT

 

Could be an interesting Shite-based Crystal Maze-style game show in here - the first contestant to make it out alive with the VIN plate wins a squillion quid and ten thousand 'Is this still for sale?' messages from eBay and Facebook Marketplace mouth-breathers.

 

Except it doesn't seem to have a front end, so presumably the VIN's long gone.

 

And it's a 4-dr anyway, so not much good for Mexico/RS1600 clones.

 

if its a NI regged with visible number plate car, I might be able to grab the VIN number regardless 

 

(the amount of Model 70s I could ring at this point LOL, 56 to be specific, curiously i have exactly 28 Invacar Chassis numbers and 28 AC chassis numbers known...)

[Datsuncog]

^^^ Heh, it might be worth me having a look, then - should I get up there for another poke-about in a week or two!

And so, then... behind the Escort, and craning over the roof of the Ford Hearse, here's an awkward-to-reach Triumph 2000 in a fetching shade of yellow.

[Datsuncog]

Next to that - I'm not 100% sure, but I think this may well be a W120 series Mercedes Benz 180 (Ponton).

I haven't any clear pics of the front, annoyingly. Any Merc-lickers here to confirm or deny?

No plates to point towards ID, sadly.

At this point in the yard, very few seem to be wearing any form of registration plate now - possibly reflecting that some of them wound up here as collateral damage from a 'cherished plate' transfer in the 1990s?

I can only speculate.

[Datsuncog]

...and butted up to the possible Merc, at least this Reliant Scimitar GTE's  slightly more readily identifiable.