Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration.

[Rick]

Ellis' post about Fiats, and my recollections of playing in a derelict 124 Coupe (and being interrogated by a local occifer of the law), got me wondering about other cars that people remember being dumped in the area they grew up in?

Not far from the Fiat, I regularly used to play in a ropey Austin FG lorry. Again there were a few panes of broken glass, but otherwise I don't think it was in too bad a state. Who owned it I've no idea. They didn't seem to mind me playing in it anyway - or perhaps they never noticed

RJ
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[Richard H]

It was all Sierras, Metros, Astras and Escorts when I was growing up!
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Richard Hughes

[kevin2306]

There were about 10 Austin 7s and 10s in a back yard down the road from my parents house. Sadly bulldozed into a skip when the house was redeveloped.

Sad

Kev

[peter scott]

When I was about 10 my parents took my sister and me to a farm on Mull for our holidays. There were various interesting car chassis dotted around in the fields some dating back to the 1920s. Others less decayed were used a hen houses I can remember playing in a Series Morris 14.

Some what later when I owned a Series II Minx I discovered another one dumped down a quiet lane. Someone had already taken the engine and gearbox and the wheels. With the help of a friend I rolled it over on its side and took the rear axle.

Peter
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https://www.nostalgiatech.co.uk
1939 SS Jaguar 2 1/2 litre saloon

[Ellis]

In a rural area where I live there are many "retired" cars to be found in old barns.
An elderly local smallholder, for example, retired five years ago and before selling his property disposed of his old machinery to whoever wanted it for scrap or restoration.
One enterprising young Land Rover enthusiast bought all his old Land Rovers - two Series Ones and the remains of an early Series 2 for pennies!

But as for abandoned vehicles the two most "spectacular" I remember from the 1960s was a beige Jaguar Mark 7, registration BCA 303 simply left in the old stables which now comprise the local visitor centre.
In the autumn of 1967 I remember one of these left by it's owner :

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A Daimler Majestic which had broken down outside the village and was just abandoned in a layby with numberplates and chassis number removed!
The Forestry Commission roads were favourite places to abandon vehicles around here and one I recall was a Wolseley 15/60 in respectable condition!


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Starting Handle Expert

1964 Jaguar Mark 2 3.4 litre
1962 Land Rover Series 2a 88"
2002 BMW M3 E46 Cabriolet

[Ray White]

I once had a soft spot for a poor old Austin Princess Sheerline that had been abandoned in the corner of a car park. It rested in the same place for several years and remarkably was never vandalised or robbed. As a youngster I visualised restoring this grand old lady to her former glory and imagined what it would be like to sit behind that big steering wheel and polished walnut dashboard which resembled a side board.

How anyone could just abandon such a sumptuous vehicle which superficially looked in good condition, I could never understand but what might seem beautiful to our eyes today was just thought of as "old fashioned" back then.

[bob2]

Strangely I have no recollections of what the cars were at the time but I too remember playing in such cars in my youth in the 80s, but what I do remember most was playing in abandoned airplanes in Hal Far, an ex RAF base were a couple of planes had been left in a field!!
Me and my cousins used to play for hours in them during weekend outings, and picnics in another adjacent field!!

[Rootes75]

My Grandparents ran an old style village car breakers yard when I was a lad. We used to play in the cars and vans, none stacked like modern yards. There were a lot of Gazelles, Minx's, Minis, Mk1 Cortina's, Corsairs, Hunters, 1100's, Vanguards, Victors, Morris Oxfords and Minors, the list could go on...
They kept better cars in the sheds, I remember playing in a lovely old Austin 16 (mid 30's), a Morris 8 (mid 30's) and one we weren't allowed to play in was a 1925 Rolls Royce 20/25. A lovely car that they sold when I was about 10/11 as they though none of us youngsters would be interested!!

[christine lowery]

there used to be a small haulage yard at the top of the back lane where I lived and we played on an old Thames flat bed wagon One of the houses that backed on to the yard had a large car and I loved it i can't remember its make but i think it had badges that said double 6 or 6x6
chris

[Ray White]

As kids my brother and I used to play in an old Morris van which had been dumped in a hedge at the bottom of a field. What we hadn't realised was that it was a commercial 'snub nose' version of the bull nose Morris from the 1920's which was rare even in the 60's.

The good news is that many years later I read in the Automobile magazine that the remains had been rescued and restoration was well under way.

[lowdrag]

I was aged 14 when the Ten Year Test was introduced, and from then on one saw more and more static exhibits all over the place. Fords by the dozen, Vauxhalls as well, a sprinkling of Wolseleys, and so on and as time went by one noticed that one headlight had disappeared, or a bumper, or even a door or two. I was given my uncle's E-type (Morris, not Jaguar!) and learned to drive on the fields. It failed due to a rotten chassis, but it lasted a year or two and we had a load of fun with it.

[Keith D]

I don't remember playing in old wrecked cars as a kid, but like Bob I played in old aircraft.

I lived fairly close to Southend Airport that had been RAF Rochford during the war. In the fifties a couple of us used to creep through the damaged fence at the back end of the airfield and spend hours playing in the aircraft "graveyard". We would sit in the cockpits of the wrecks and imagine we were Biggles!

Keith

[Ellis]

I have an interesting tale of an "abandoned" car from 1992 if you would like to read it.
I needed a rear deck panel between the rear window aperture and the boot lid for my Mark 2. After days of phoning around I found a Jaguar dismantler in the Midlands who would cut the part from another Mark 2 for me provided I was there to identify the exact area I needed and I could take it with me.

It was the first time I had seen a plasma cutter in use and a large part was cut off in minutes with the flanges I needed.
While paying in the Portakabin the yard's owner asked if I would like a cup of tea and I accepted willingly.
There were dozens, possibly hundreds of Jaguars being dismantled from Jaguar (Mark 1) to Series 3 XJ6.
Parked by the portakabin were 2 XJ40s, one had suffered an engine fire but the second a "J" registered looked brand new. It was a dark blue Sovereign model with the latest 4.0 litre engine.

I asked what it was doing there and the yard's owner explained in his dry humoured way "....there's an interesting tale to that..."

The XJ40' s owner was a professional man who indulged in a little extra maritals from time to time. This is a family forum so I will be careful.
One evening, accompanied by a "lady friend" he was "in the course of performing his duties" in the Jaguar when he suffered a heart attack and passed on..............
There was one hell of a " to do". The lady was taken away by ambulance under sedation to the local hospital where she was kept in psychiatric care for some days.
The Jaguar was moved to the local Police pound and there it remained as a possible crime scene exhibit.
The Post Mortem examination and subsequent Inquest declared that the owner had died of a pre existing cardiac condition and that meant that the XJ40 could be released back to the deceased's family.

The owner's widow insisted that she did not want the car back under any circumstances and declared that she wanted it dismantled and crushed.
The yard's owner told me had one week to dismantle the nearly newcar, take the bodyshell to a crusher and take photos of the crushing process for her and notify the DVLA.

I doubt if she asked for the rear seat as a keepsake!
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Starting Handle Expert

1964 Jaguar Mark 2 3.4 litre
1962 Land Rover Series 2a 88"
2002 BMW M3 E46 Cabriolet

[baconsdozen]

Near me was a deep pit with what was left of a large car in it. The body was ally,someone had tried to cut it up with a welding torch (presumably to scrap it) but given up and it had been pushed into the pit. We played about in it,not many kids knew about it and it was pretty complete. The pit was fileed in and as far as I know the car (which I'm sure we were told was an Armstrong Siddely) is still down there.
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Thirty years selling imperial hand tools for old machinery(Now happily retired).