Scrapyard Memories

[paulplom]

I was there that often I just didn't think to take any pics. It was just normal behaviour for me.

[mercrocker]

Ah scrapyards, they used to be so good to wander around back in the 70's. Sadly back then I didn't have a decent camera (and film plus developing was expensive) so no photos. There used to be two yards on the A20 in between Sidcup and Swanley, the first was ZB's which had a pre-war Wolseley Hornet atop a pole (the Hornet was always mistaken for an Austin Seven), they might be still in business. Just a bit further along was another yard that I recall having two of those 50's BMW V8 saloons sitting at the front by the fence. There was another yard near there tucked away down a country lane that I visited in 1976 looking for twin headlight buckets that I could adapt to replace the ones on my 1959 Impala that had rotted away. Loads of stuff but to my surprise they had a very complete 1960 Impala 2-door hardtop which looked in decent shape apart from the Farina Oxford that they had plonked onto its roof. I remember that a guy there told me that the chassis of the Impala was broken which was weird as it didn't have any significant damage.

I do have photos from yards in the USA but I don't know where they are, now if only digital cameras had been a thing in the olden days.

It is difficult to get it into young'uns heads these days how expensive taking pictures used to be. Most cameras were pretty crap but the film developing and printing cost the same if you were using an Instamatic you got from a cereal packet offer or a pro SLR. You also had no idea how good/bad the shot was until you'd paid for it.....

Anyway - I remember those BMWs, I'm sure I used to see them as we got close to Dover....

[slowanimals]

Yeah, there was another yard nearby but if I recall he was a bit of a wurzel and didn't really want us in there....I wouldn't be surprised if the Imperial got raced, it looked good but had already had something dropped on the front n/s wing which was full of plod and red oxide.

Not saying that it's the same one you saw, but here's the picture of the 57 at Arena. Surprised I don't remember anything about it being out on the track, I've seen a few of these on the oval and while they're not the fastest thing out there they are almost invariably the strongest. Anyway, apologies for derailing the thread, will have a look in the loft on Friday for the scrapyard photos.

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[mercrocker]

Could well be the one, I never knew what happened to it.....

[DodgeRover]

Plenty of imperials have been imported to be raced over the years,

[Warren t claim]

[mercrocker]

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[Jerzy Woking]

Couple of photos of the one scrapyard I know of here that allows you to walk around and remove parts yourself. Prices are a mixture of cheap and no different from new parts.

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[mercrocker]

127!

[Jerzy Woking]

127 just had a bit of surface rust. When I last went the rear wheels had gone, along with the bonnet. Most bodyshells seem to remain pretty much intact though.

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