Look inside overgrown and rusty 15-acre junkyard filled with rare 1920s motors – from Cadillac hearse to iconic Ford
PHOTOGRAPHS have unveiled an overgrown and rusty 15-acre junkyard filled with rare 1920s motors.
The collection in Hartford, South Dakota, boasts a 1962 Cadillac Superior and an iconic 1951 Ford.
Oakleaf Old Cars of Hartford, South Dakota, was created in the 1950s when Donnas Oakleaf bought the state’s first crusher.
Before Donnas died, he crushed everything he could – from farm machinery to bicycles and cars.
But, he saved the best vehicles and soon boasted an extensive collection.
After Donnas died in 1995 his sons refused to let the classic cars rot away.
In 2008 they transformed the site into an exhibition, for all to see.
Most of the cars date from the early 1940s, however, there are a few more recent models and others which stretch as far back at 1915.
One of the older cars is the 1940 Lincoln Zephyr.
It was nicknamed the “Style Leader” by its maker on the account of the “new size, power and beauty it brings to its field”.
The Lincoln Zephyr marque existed between 1936 and 1940.
It was a budget-priced car in the luxury Lincoln line-up.
Meanwhile one of the teenagers of the collection includes the 1971-1973 Ford Mustang Mach 1.
The Mach 1 was a performance package for the Ford Mustang that made its debut in 1969.
It was only offered on SportsRoof body styles and went on to replace the GT within a year of launching.
However, the rusted and dented remains of the once sleek yellow car are a sad site with the vehicle’s V8 and bonnet missing, leaving grass to grow inside.
A rare black 1963 Cadillac hearse is also part of the collection with less than 2,500 built that year.
The hearse is a three-way model that could be loaded and unloaded from the reversed doors as well as through the tailgate.
There are numerous car graveyards in America with one of the largest located in Annandale, Minnesota, US.
French Lake Auto Parts boasts around 1,500 classic cars but like Donnas Oakleaf’s collection, the vehicles are in various states of disrepair.
The 88-acre lot was founded in 1956 with a variety of cars including rare, vintage models.
According to Autocar, there’s even a section of the junkyard that’s dedicated to modern cars, where rare European and Japanese imports can be found.
However, most car fanatics hope to find something they’re more familiar with, including cars from Cadillac, Dodge and Pontiac.
Another famous US-based junkyard recently flogged its collection of worse-for-wear motors – including an ultra-rare Mercedes Gullwing.