Vehicle Graveyard

Vehicle Graveyard

The Final Resting Place

I have a wide and eccentric collection of vehicles, in various stages of disrepair. From tiny to huge, old to new, import and domestic,I have all my bases covered. In order of age, the following is a list of my "children".

1970 Chevrolet Suburban - One of the biggest battleships to grace America's highways. A full-length covered pickup bed, and seating for five. Longer than many conversion vans, it has an interesting feature: Like a van, it only has one "side" door. Being a flat primer-gray, I've decided the color suits it. I'm going to paint this one to look like a Navy Frigate.

1971 Chevrolet Suburban - Still a battleship, this particular ship of the desert is somewhat more "disorganized" than most. The front-end is in the "trunk"! Obviously, this poor guy isn't exactly in the best of shape - I'm still deciding what to do with it. I'm thinking of swapping the lower chassis for a 4x4 of an appropriate wheelbase. But whatever I end up doing with it, I've already decided on it's name: It has been christened "The Thundering Dandelion"

1972 Chevrolet Pickup - This lean, mean, green machine has been known by many names - most of them derogatory. Most people (not understanding the understated elegance of 'camoflage rust') would call it "that ugly green truck". I always preferred the name Fred, myself. Sometimes it went by the moniker "Fearless Fred, the Wonder Truck".

This is what I learned to drive in. And it shows - Leaping through the air, sliding sideways down empty desert roads... Living near the open desert where the "Roving Sands" wargames are played can be so fun. Of course, you're not supposed to be out there, so let's forget I said anything. Okay?

1973 Volkswagen Thing - This guy is so cute, I gave him his own section. But for sake of completeness, the Thing has to be here, as well. An odd-ball by anybody's standards, the VW Type 181 was a short-lived military failure. But Germany's loss is my gain, and I couldn't be happier. Going down a local street, I passed a beautiful white civilian Hummer going the other way. Admiring the truck going by, I noticed something odd... The driver of the Hummer was staring at MY car!

1977 BMW 530i - An "accidental" aquisition, I bought this from my friend Johnny, who needed to rebuild the engine in one of his other cars. Mid-sized sedans aren't normally my idea of exciting, but of course, this is a BMW. The rather impressive size of the 6 cylinder in-line engine is surprising - It hardly looks like it would fit!

Sorry, there's no picture right now.

1979 BMW 320i - (times two!) A more enjoyable car than I first expected, the blue 320i was another "accidental" aquisition. This one went to pay part of my friend Johnny's college tuition. Once I started driving it (in fact, just driving it home!) I decided that this wasn't a bad deal. In fact, I eventually bought a second one! Can there be such a thing as too many BMW's?

Please, don't answer that.

1979 Volkswagen Scirocco - This was the first car I bought myself, and it was already 10 years old when I got it. Even though it had been through several years of Detroit weathering, it was the most enjoyable car I had driven - Excluding Fred the Wonder Truck, of course. A short-throw shifter, and more power (for less weight) than anything I was used to at the time, it was my own little $500 sports car. The street salt has finally taken its toll, and now the uni-body is crumbling to pieces. But I can't bring myself to toss the thing. Parts-car? Hmm... A reason to buy another one!

1996 Dodge Neon - One of my "new" cars. My daily driver has already seen it's fair share of the highway, and then some. Well past the 90,000 mile mark, and the car has rarely left El Paso! My daily commute (and any weekend jaunts) puts around 500 miles a week on this car. Pardon it hiding in the picture - It's still a little shy. They must keep all the out-going ones for those "Hi" commercials.

1996 Plymouth Neon ACR- The "newest" car. Not being happy with one Neon, I just acquired another one. This is, if you couldn't tell, the racing model. This is a picture of my car "in the pits" while racing with the SCCA. (www.scca.org) It's even more fun to drive the the first one. How fun is that? I bought a second one, didn't I?

And in case you're one of THOSE people:
Yes, the stripes make it go faster.