Take a Look At Yourself. Are You Hoarding Cars?

Back in my high school years, I knew of a reclusive man nearby that had an entire yard full of totally complete 1960’s Ford Falcons. There were probably more than 30 of them scattered around his yard with just few other models sprinkled in between. It was quite clear that none had moved in several decades because the vast majority had old plant growth securing them firmly to the earth below. I never did find out what his draw to Falcons was, but being a car guy, on some level, I respected it. Yes, I realize that he was potentially the reason that these cars would never see the road again, but that is not always the case, and not always a bad thing. It really depends on the situation. Maybe the Falcons were destined for the junkyard long ago, and he saved them from certain death in the crusher? Maybe he was storing them for a friend? Maybe he had already saved 100 of them, and these were the leftover real junky ones? Who really knows. The only thing we knew was that the dude had a lot of Falcons, and they may still be there.

Today, we have a more modern version of the story, but seen in a much happier light. This story takes place in Michigan, on Craigslist, and it’s a person with 50+ Mitsubishi 3000GT’s and Dodge Stealths. That, my friends, is a hell of a lot of lug nuts. He (I’m assuming it’s a “he”) has twin turbo cars, he has N/A cars, he’s even got factory red interiors for god sakes. How jealous are you? Be honest. The great thing, it’s all for sale! That’s right, he isn’t just hoarding them and watching them sink into the worms presumably like the Falcons. He is selling parts so that other cars can breath life again. It is the automotive life cycle and assuming that these cars weren’t mint when he got them, he is definitely doing the responsible thing, helping his fellow enthusiasts. Well done!

Are you this guy? Are you a car hoarder? Contact us and tell us about your collection at blog@1aauto.com! Seriously. The enthusiasts here are jealous and want to see more.

Oh and here is the Craigslist Listing if you need some 3000GT/Stealth parts.

 

Special Thanks to Jeff B for Spotting This!

Jeremy Nutt

Hi, I'm Jeremy.

15 thoughts to “Take a Look At Yourself. Are You Hoarding Cars?”

  1. Hi, My name is Robert and I’m a car hoader. Yes cars are the cooling thing to hoard. I only wish I have a bigger place to store them! I like all cars but prefer old mopars for my personal collection. Thwe rest I sell and trade..like a hobby. So many cars, so little time

  2. I think for some of us it is unavoidable and possibly genetic. My own experience has surprised me. If you get one, the others tend to follow you home. My problem started with a 69 ghia project. Once I owned one, I have had to fend off several that wanted to show up on my doorstep or follow me home. This includes the type III fastback that followed me home from an auction – I had gone to see if the 69 ghia listed had bumpers. It turned out to be a 70 fastback and somehow, $50 later ended up in my garage. It took me three years to convince my son to roll it down the street to his buddies house where it seems to have disappeared. While I had the fastback, I even had a guy who would not stop bothering me to take his old fastback off his hands. He wanted no money, he just couldn’t stand to send it to the junk yard. It had not moved in his driveway for close to 20 years. He happened to notice mine in the garage on day and then pestered me for close to two years to take his. My son is now following in the family footsteps. His 93 Camaro is resting uncomfortably in my garage (for about 2 years now). He has come accross two different ‘donors’ for free. Luckly, I have remembered my own mother’s rule and told him that he cannot bring home a vehicle without first removing an old vehicle. Now if I could just get him to take the Camaro to his house, maybe I could park in the garage again – or find something interesting on craigslist that ‘needs a good home’.

  3. I badly want a 3000GT VR-4, but I’ll try to keep this comment unbiased.

    I think it’s a good thing that the owner is selling parts. However that’s somewhat dependent on what the owner is like. There is a guy in my state with 200+ 3rd and 4th gen Camaros and Firebirds that he is selling parts from. Problem is, he’s a jerk and wants far too much money for his stuff. I don’t know a single person who bought a part from him, as everyone says the same thing.

    Hopefully the owner of these 3000GT/Stealth parts cars is a nice guy charging reasonable prices and is willing to ship them.

  4. A dude in my neighborhood hoards 60+ cars. The trouble is, he does not fix them up, he does not store them out of the elements (but on neighborhood streets) and keeps buying more. His whole life is devoted to looking for new streets to STORE (store, not park) his vehicles on, move them from one street to another and generally prowl around at night checking on his cars. Would be funny but we neighbors stopped laughing about 20 yrs. ago. Out of control and plain ridiculous. Google “car hoarder in Covina” and read the media coverage on this clown.

  5. I am cleaning up after a car hoarder, who happened to be my father-in-law. Luckily, late in life he did something most hoarders don’t: he realized that most of the 170+ 40s-70s cars needed to go. Several of the best were sold to collectors who have restored them.

    An irony of our family’s car-hoarding is that even when the majority of the cars were in better shape, buyers were scarce. They’d see adverts in Old Cars and call, but they would never show up. Alternately, they’d say the cars were “too rough” even though the photos showed vehicles clearly in need of massive work or simply parting out. They’d want to pick parts, and this would be tedious and not address the underlying problem.

    I tried advertising some cars online, but my father-in-law was a mechanic and Depression-era letter-to-the-editor sort of guy; to him the Internet was from another planet. The lack of him having e-mail really hampered matters, but he was adamant about staying in the mid-20th century, technologically.

    After the best cars went, we stored the others as well as we could. Three are on the road now, fully restored or conserved. I drive one of them, a ’70 El Camino purchased new and kept up really well.

    As for the rest?

    Many of the cars–about 150–were too far gone. In 2007, just before the Crash, they got crushed. Now years after his death, only about 8 cars, all ready to be sold, remain, plus many OEM an NOS parts.

    1. Hi Joe!
      Thanks for the comment! It sounds like quite a collection. Do you happen to have any pictures of all the cars? If so, I would love to post them up here.

  6. Hello Everyone On This Blog! I am hoping…Maybe now praying for a reply from some of you…A good friend of mine does not hoard cars, but instead he hoards trucks. In a few weeks, he will need to appear in court again for summons due to the condition of his property. For all of the years I have known him and was witness to his property, I have been appalled. How can the nicest person have created such a nightmare, and also at the same time, not see how bad things are. ‘And not see what he was doing to the property value of his neighbors. I hate seeing an old home torn down. I want to preserve history just as much as the next person. But the reality is we can’t save everything. I am not into cars…Nor trucks. I can’t imagine what my friend has paid through the years for all of his metal. Nor what he has lost when he had to scrap trucks and parts from year to year due to summons. But reading many of your postings, I see him…And all he has said to me about saving history through such and such truck. I do not have money lying around to pay for fines, the likes of which he has had. The town has for years, been trying to force him to change, or to force him out. I can imagine many of you dealing with the same problems…Or had acted in such and such ways to avoid such problems, at a great financial expense. Could you offer any suggestions? My friend is now on permanent disability, his health is declining, and he would now have to pay someone to do the ‘clean up’ he could used to do.

    1. Hi Liz!
      That’s a tough situation! I don’t have a guaranteed solution to your friend’s truck hoarding woes. However, as a car-guy, I do have some ideas for you to try that may help your friend relieve himself of some vehicles. The one thing to keep in mind is that he probably isn’t concerned about the financial aspect of his collection. He knows that if he owns these vehicles, they are in good hands. If somebody else does, they may get ruined in some way. Finding the right buyer for this stuff is 99% of the problem. The buyer should ultimately end up being a new friend that can be trusted to do the right thing for these vehicles. Imagine that these trucks are beloved pets. I know, it’s weird. Here are my other ideas:

      1) The buyer of these vehicles should want the vehicle(s) to restore and get it back on the road. Maybe even a parent/kid project? Your friend will want his vehicles to go to a good home, not to somebody looking to make a quick buck.

      2) Try convincing him to sell a smaller, insignificant item first. Maybe a wheel, a fender, etc. Not the big stuff. Once he gets over that initial “hurdle” of selling something small, has the cash in his hand, and knows it went to the right home – you may be able to work the selling up to something bigger. Just make sure that whatever it is that is sold, it is 100% going to a good home for real. Not being resold for profit, or scrapped. Maybe even have the new owner of the item/vehicle promise to bring the part/vehicle back to your friend once restored to show it off.

      3) Try Trading something – Find somebody that wants one of his trucks. Then have that “buyer” do a deal with your friend where they clean up some of the property or get another truck running in trade for that truck. Gearheads love to trade.

      4) Maybe contact a local old vehicle club and see if they would visit him and his “collection” with all of their old cars for your friend to see. “Car-guys” speak the lingo, and that could get the conversation started. If nothing else, it would be a nice day for your friend.

      Good luck and Keep us updated!
      -Jeremy

      1. Jeremy,

        I can’t begin to thank you for the time you took to respond to my email and all of the suggestions you provided. Yes, my friend definitely fits in with a lot of what you said above. He goes to swap meets, would give away parts to people he trusted. I think the problem had gotten so big that there was no way to tackle it…Rein it in, so to speak. I personally do a lot of animal rescue. I don’t want to keep every cat I foster. I just want them to be safe and go onto a good home. There are a lot of parallels. Thank you for helping me think in that direction. Yes, I will definitely keep you updated.

        1. Hi Liz!
          You’d be amazed how fast fellow car enthusiasts could empty a yard full of cars when motivated! Good luck! I’m hoping the story has a happy ending for all involved, especially your friend who “protected” the trucks all of these years!

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