Comments:
Spotted: Not long for this world
We have seen and photographed lots of cars in their "golden years" - those with gently declining health but still loved and not yet out to pasture. But there are also plenty of cars which have been formally put "out to pasture" that we can see from the street. They might be in a driveway, in a front garden, on the porch, etc. Do you think I am exaggerating?
Now from the other end of town where the yards are much larger and the prices much lower, this Dodge van which has been turned into an open 12-seater. Apparently its owners have given up on it, as it is for sale. Possibly not registered though ...
It might even be an enormous partially-open pickup. Or a slightly-mobile trash bin. But definitely out to pasture.
Telltale signs are spiderwebs, piles of leaves under or on the car, mold growing on the paint and windows, trees growing up through the bodywork, etc.
This slightly chopped-up and slammed-down dualie qualifies on several counts
As does what I believe to be an El Camino.
As well as this fine gold Pinto, hemmed in by an old Monte Carlo. The first we've seen in yonks!
This Chevy truck is out to pasture, in a field that is a short crow flight from my old digs when I was a child. If you look over the canyon, across the barren land which used to be a landfill, just past the eucalyptus trees (with your time machine set back 60 years), there I was, growing up.
NOTE: We never had dead cars in our back pasture. But when my stepdad died in 2007, he still had the '65 Chevy wagon he bought in 1965, which hadn't run since 1990. In fact, he had a door (smashed) and fender (smashed) from my first car, a VW Beetle, just in case he might need them. The smashing was done accidentally by my high school chemistry lab partner in 1967. In the DMV parking lot. The VW was stolen and burnt up in 1974. But he had the spare body parts! So I guess I have some experience of "vehicular hoarding" even though it's not genetic. But I digress...
Registration is only a year out of date, so it's not a complete write-of, yet.
This one looks a bit sadder. It's in a good position though, for a jump start attempt. The problem is getting the tires aired up, and then if you roll it downhill and it doesn't start, the neighbors at the bottom of the hill get irritated. How do I know??? (Sigh)
Bin there, done that.
I am reusing these photos from a month or two ago (no one but Art might notice) because they demonstrates another detail of "not long for this world" -
Oh, and here's another clue - they begin to take its body parts away
Now the most improbable thing I have sighted thus far on these expeditions - an ancient John Deere tractor, parked on a city street. A steel-tracked tractor, on an unpaved road right in the heart of the city. I didn't expect to see this!
The tracks in the dirt look relatively fresh.
Arrow marks the tractor. (and this neighborhood looks rich in other vehicles too. Maybe I ought to be doing aerial scanning in advance or carry a drone with us for getting those special vehicles too far from the street...
I can recommend the 2016 bus-derby, as a chaser. Even my wife liked it.
We don't usually photograph them, because it could be embarrassing, but some just demand attention. Perhaps you think I jest? Here's an example that lives a mile or two away from us. Zillow (a real estate website) values this house and property at $1,350,000. And this car even appears on the Zillow aerial map, in the front yard.
Now from the other end of town where the yards are much larger and the prices much lower, this Dodge van which has been turned into an open 12-seater. Apparently its owners have given up on it, as it is for sale. Possibly not registered though ...
It might even be an enormous partially-open pickup. Or a slightly-mobile trash bin. But definitely out to pasture.
Telltale signs are spiderwebs, piles of leaves under or on the car, mold growing on the paint and windows, trees growing up through the bodywork, etc.
This slightly chopped-up and slammed-down dualie qualifies on several counts
As does what I believe to be an El Camino.
As well as this fine gold Pinto, hemmed in by an old Monte Carlo. The first we've seen in yonks!
This Chevy truck is out to pasture, in a field that is a short crow flight from my old digs when I was a child. If you look over the canyon, across the barren land which used to be a landfill, just past the eucalyptus trees (with your time machine set back 60 years), there I was, growing up.
NOTE: We never had dead cars in our back pasture. But when my stepdad died in 2007, he still had the '65 Chevy wagon he bought in 1965, which hadn't run since 1990. In fact, he had a door (smashed) and fender (smashed) from my first car, a VW Beetle, just in case he might need them. The smashing was done accidentally by my high school chemistry lab partner in 1967. In the DMV parking lot. The VW was stolen and burnt up in 1974. But he had the spare body parts! So I guess I have some experience of "vehicular hoarding" even though it's not genetic. But I digress...
Registration is only a year out of date, so it's not a complete write-of, yet.
This one looks a bit sadder. It's in a good position though, for a jump start attempt. The problem is getting the tires aired up, and then if you roll it downhill and it doesn't start, the neighbors at the bottom of the hill get irritated. How do I know??? (Sigh)
Bin there, done that.
the vehicle becomes a storage shelf.
or in this case, a bed frame.
Oh, and here's another clue - they begin to take its body parts away
OR they park it impossibly close to other cars about to meet their maker
Now the most improbable thing I have sighted thus far on these expeditions - an ancient John Deere tractor, parked on a city street. A steel-tracked tractor, on an unpaved road right in the heart of the city. I didn't expect to see this!
The tracks in the dirt look relatively fresh.
Arrow marks the tractor. (and this neighborhood looks rich in other vehicles too. Maybe I ought to be doing aerial scanning in advance or carry a drone with us for getting those special vehicles too far from the street...
And now your moment of Zen - a school bus demolition derby! These buses are past their use-by date (not long for this world) and rather than just scrap them, the school bus drivers crash them up on the county fairgrounds, while students cheer them on. I like it!
CAUTION - this video at the 2015 Butler County Fairground Demo Derby may cause you to waste a half-hour. Please prepare yourself by fetching a brewi or two first. And a bag of crisps. You have been warned.
Cheers,
Cazalea
Why do I like the old MOPAR van?
I have this bizarre fascination with these models. Methinks this isn't healthy!
The Mopar van is growing on me, too ;)
And as tires tend not to be a problem in my life... 
Only an ocean in between 
Only an ocean in between
That split window Dodge should be a star in the Fast 'N Loud show :-)
sent your pic & location to Richard WOW! Rawlings
That '66 Dart 270 just needs . . .
. . . a little TLC, Mike. Mopars - especially /6s - were built to last.
Art
Art