Adventures and Finds and the Pick and Pull

I decided to take a trip down to the local salvage yard to see if I could find some monsoon door pods as well as random parts for both the Beetle and the Cav. After walking around for a bit and not finding too much I decided why not snap some pics of some of the yard and some of the more interesting cars laying around (it's not like I'll see any of these again on my next outing), and while most of these are not insanely interesting or collectible I just remember seeing dozen of them doting parking lots as a kid and now you only see them in stock photos (which for some of them is bad enough)

First a couple overall shots (this is only about 1/4 or the yard):

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First thing I saw was a picked clean Chevy Venture Mini Van (been a while since you saw one of them I bet). The only interesting thing is that is had the Warner Bro's Package, meaning it had either a 8" CRT TV/VCR combo with 2 VHS looney tunes collections or a 10" flip down LCD and DVD player with a DVD copy of the above tapes.

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I then stumbled on a very rare find, a 1995-20002 Ford Taurus SHO, yes that does say V8 on the side. 32 Valve Yamaha V8, sadly auto was the only choice but even with that it was stupid fast for a FWD family sedan.

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and here we see two examples of the pioneers of the small SUV craze, The GEO Tracker. both were just pilled with body panels and the black one had some nasty rust around the windshield frame
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Little Isuzu 3 cylinder that probably still has another 200K left in her.
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First victim of the day a mid nineties to early 2000's SUV, looks like a Trailblazer.
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On the way to the back of the lot where they keep the Euro's mainly German's (me and my friends Call it the Reichstag for that reason) I spotted some other interesting finds. like this rotting stretched Lincoln continental/towncar.

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and this riced out and clapped out 5th gen Prelude, the engine and interior had been pulled out by the time I found her.

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a rotting LT1 Camaro

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and a couple feet away his older brother (V6) this time.

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now this is just kinda humbling a red Porsche (968?)sinking into the mud awaiting a final ride from front loader.

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some random traveling shots:

A mid 90's Deville hangin' out with some LeSabres and Centuries

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A lonely new arrival, a Seville STS


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a Oldsmobile Aurora 3.5, while the N* derived Aurora V8 get all the praise (well all that can be given) the 3.5 is largely forgoten despite being GM's first true and reliable DOHC V6.

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Know as the LX5 the 3.5 was actually derived from the Aurora 4.0 V8 which due to it's tie to the N* earned the LX5 the nickname Shortstar. Making 215 HP and 245 ft-lb the LX5 was a decent engine for regular mid size applications. Saddly GM killed it off after they killed the Olds brand and it wouldn't be till 2004 that we would get another DOHC V6 from GM, which would be the Holden V6 which actually made the same amount of HP and fewer torques. Seriously GM stop being stupid and killing off your good small displacement engines.

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While I will admit that a mid 80's Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme Brougham is not that amazing in it's self, I'm just surprised that one this clean is in here. I remember my math teacher in middle school had one this same color.

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and here is the arthritic heart of this whale, Throttle-body Injected V8 hacking out 125HP at best.

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now here is something special, shitty but special. What appear to be most of a 70's AMC Matador. Powered buy the AMC straight six which was forged in the prehistoric magma flows by ancient man.

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and it's post it's a post emissions model too.

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A mid 90's Town Car, now were talking

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look at all that white leather

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5.0 V8 Overhead Cam...BAM...200HP

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Oh look a cougar

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lol, it went straight from the used car lot to the used parts lot.

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The euro section was kind of meh but I decided to snap a few picks.

Found late 80's early 90's Volvo 740 sedan with Bertone coachwork, Engineered in Sweden, crafted in Italy, Rotting in northwestern Il.

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Alles klar, Herr Kommissar?

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and I though this was funny and a bit fitting, BMW 740 sitting next to a Chevy Lumina Sedan as they both wait for the end.

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and now some random imports

Hyundia XG300

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Real leather and Simulated Wood, looks the South Korea got the 80's in the 2000's. :p

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and the 3.0 Sigma V6, which is actually a joint Mitsubishi Design.

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look a lexus

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Oh an Acura 3.0 CL and it came from a Dealer, Guess it didn't get to far off the lot

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Didn't realize the SHO Ford used was made by Yamaha. They have a 4-stroke outboard with 4.3 litres of displacement in 200, 225, and 250hp offerings, and a smaller displacement SHO 150 coming out. My encounters with the marine SHO's have all been jaw dropping. Makes the old v6 2-strokes that are known for big power and frequently blowing up a thing of the past.

Well the block was a cosworth modified Duratech block but the heads, intake & exhaust manifolds, ect were all custom made by Yamaha in Japan. Yeah a V8 SHO Tauras was nothing to scoff at back in 96, just a shame to see a pretty clean looking example in the bone yard.

The sho in both 6 and 8 cylinder versions were awesome running engines......when they did run. Unfortunately what they became known for was catastrophic failures......probably the reason this one resides where it does, lol.