Alfa Romeo "Alfetta" No Juliet............ Euro Trash Edition

Just another quickee............... found this last summer in sweltering San Jose.... looks to be a mid 70's Alfetta............ please feel free to comment! Like I have said, I can spot the cool cars, but my Alfa knowledge is lacking to say the least! Alfetta sounds like some sort of "junior" or maybe a good cheese...... Any info, folks? C'mon, lets make this a little interactive here......

Appears this car was in some sort of flood, or had sat outside a looooong time....had a lot of growth on it, and the interior definitely smelled like teen spirit....... but the body was reasonably clean...of course...but they still threw it away like a used paper towel...... so sad.

Ira

Late Night Specials...... Shelby Charger, Yellow CVCC, & Yugo "Pocket Rocket"

Just a few more random pics before I turn in..... These cars were from last summer, by now they're chopped up & melted into tomato sauce cans........... Shelby Charger...... this spunky little guy wasn't giving up easy, still had a pissy stance - albeit two feet in the air! Not sure on the year, probably mid 80's? Broke my heart to leave behind the MINT leather seats...... almost like they had been replaced.

Also, and for reasons I can't explain, a near perfect CVCC...... you might walk by this on the street, but it looked out of place in the yard..... like some wanker forklift driver pulled it out of the customer parking lot as a prank.....

FYI - a lot of the damage you see on the cars is a result of the forklifts & pre-handling - these guys FLY around the yards at 25 mph on HUGE forklifts - I'll get some video of them in action!

And lastly, another Yugo..... Why is this the car that everybody emails about?

Goodnight,

Ira

A Few More Wall O' Cars Pics

A few more of the wall pics.... Great response from the jalopnik.com crowd - Thanks! I didn't even notice the Fiat had suicide doors! Shame on me...... Also, what is a "MIGDET"? Funny......

p.s. - Clicking on the pics will give you a higher resolution.....

Ira

Going Down In A Blaze O' Yellow Glory - Gran Torino Fastback Does It's Final Lap

From the archives again - this car reminds me of bad 70's tv for some reason...... This relatively clean fastback appears to be a 1973 - it has the newer front end, but the old rear bumper and I believe fastbacks weren't available in '74.... As always, correct me if I'm wrong.....

Being from Michigan originally, I can tell you that we would have killed for a body this clean in my High School years...... Even my first car, a 1973 Cutlass S, was already rotted to the core in the early '80's.... but look at this - nearly 40 years old and hardly a spot of rust, and perfect floors & trunk... sigh. And yes, the interior is thrashed, but who cares? Tijuana is only a short days drive away - you can get screwed, blued, and tattooed while the button-tuck is gettin done.......

What i would do: Full Resto, wash it in the front drive, and run gang bangers off my lawn in Detroit....... That would make a great movie, huh?

Peace,

Ira

The Mother Of All Yugo's - GVX Rally Wannabe!

I've been out at the yards lately, but was in a hurry and didn't really see anything crazy..... So I'm digging in my archive of pics from this past summer. Here we have what really isn't thaaaat bad of a looking car........ considering. Proving wrong the old adage that you can't polish a turd, we have the Yugo GVX! From the brief research I did (about 3 minutes ago), looks like it was just a quick spoiler & stripe package.... and a set of massive rims - check out those 155/13's!

What I would do: There is one, and only one, fix for this fail: Hayabusa Motor! If you stripped it down, you could probably get it to weigh about the same as the GSXR powered smart cars you see on youtube....... think Lemons racer, folks!

Gotta run,

Ira

Near Perfect VW Diesel Caddy Trapped in the San Jose Ca Yard!

Well, not a lot going on today..... Came across this almost pristine VW Caddy where it shouldn't be: At one of the yards in San Jose. One always wonders how cars like this end up here - could be towing due to tickets, registration, or good ol' gettin your drunk on........ or a lot of time it's the infamous not-passin-the-smog-test-idus that we Californians have to deal with....

But that's not the case with this clean ass truck - it's a Diesel! And sitting right next to it - another rabbit Diesel! Odd thing with this truck is that it looks to be freshly painted - and there was a box o' parts inside the cab... which was pretty clean itself. Looks like someone put a lot of work into it recently. Hmmmmm.... another mystery.

What I would do: drop the greasy french fry motor and slip in a nice fresh 16V or even a VR6....... NO SMOG TEST NEEDED! Add some GLI Recaros and your done!

Mark I parts are common here, gives me the urging to embark on (yet another) project.....

Until next time,

Ira

Richmond Classic Car Wall of Treasure: Complete with Bullet Holes!

So here we go again.... This time we'll take a look at a "wall of cars" guarding the perimeter of a vintage yard in Richmond, Ca. Most of the time the cars I shoot are in self-service yards, and once they're in the system, that's it - they usually have a lifespan of about two or three weeks - a month or two at best - before being crushed...... and you can't buy the whole car. This yard appears to be more traditional, looks like they stack the cars like cord wood until a lucky orphan gets to go home....... hopefully to a full rotisserie resto job!

This yard skirts some of the toughest neighborhoods in the bay area, surprising is the minimal amount of damage..... the Fiat must have pissed off somebody, as he took a few shots to the windshield.... probably a snide remark to the Caprice just down the row.

See how many cars you can identify - I have an idea on most of them, but some still have me scratching my head.... and look close, you can see a second row of roof lines in the background...

It was only fitting that as I was shooting the last pics, the sun was setting on these fine old guys & gals once again........ the Dodge van was posted up to watch over his flock for yet another night......

Until next time,

Ira