Most derelict cars end up in scrapyards. That’s where they get dismantled, sold for parts, and eventually crushed. However, some owners opt to keep the vehicles they no longer use in backyards. The junkyard you see here is a bit different because it was set up as an open-air museum in the woods.
The Auto Skulpturenpark, which is German for “car sculpture park,” this junkyard-like setup belongs to Michael Frohlich, a classic car dealer and enthusiast from Dusseldorf, Germany. And it’s not the result of old vehicles being dumped in a forested area. All these rusty classics have been carefully set up and got additional weathering.
Why would someone do that, you ask? Well, Michael is the kind of guy who believes that no matter how much something costs and its sentimental value, nature will reclaim it one day. This car park was built to reflect that. But it’s also a tribute to his birth year. Our host claims the park includes 50 cars from 1950, but as shown in the video below, some vehicles are much older than that.
The junkyard includes both rare and mundane classic cars. Arguably the rarest piece of automotive history parked here is a pair of race-spec vehicles sporting Jaguar and Porsche badges. One’s a Jaguar XK120 sporting “218” roundels on its doors. There’s no word about where it was raced, but XK120s are highly sought-after nowadays, fetching six-figure sums at public auctions. When in good condition, of course.
Powered by a 3.4-liter inline-six, the XK120 was the world’s fastest production car at the time of its introduction. In 1949, a stock version hit 124.6 mph (200.5 kph). The record stood until 1955 when Mercedes-Benz introduced the 300SL. It also set several other speed records through 1953.
The XK120 was also a successful race car. It won the Tourist Trophy and Alpine Rally and finished fifth in the 1950 Mille Miglia. It also contested the 24 Hours of Le Mans, paving the way for the winning C-Type and D-Type models that followed.
The other race-spec rarity parked in this yard is a 1950 Porsche 356. The vehicle is also in derelict condition, but as an early 356, it’s rare and desirable as well. Porsche built only 7,627 early 356 cars, and less than 400 saw daylight in 1950. These cars make Michael’s collection a bit controversial. His refusal to restore them resulted in “some very unfriendly comments,” he told our host, YouTube’s “The Bearded Explorer.”
The old Rolls-Royce with a King Charles dummy cut in half in the back seat may also upset a few people. And speaking of art, the junkyard also includes a piece of the Berlin Wall. The footage also shows a 1930s Mercedes-Benz that’s relatively scarce today and what appears to be a BMW 326 four-door from the same era. These Bimmers were built in almost 16,000 units from 1936 to 1941, but only a few are still in one piece and running in 2023. This is one of the BMWs that inspired the early Bristol luxury cars in the UK.
The yard includes a few American rigs too. I spotted a 1950s Buick and an old Jeep wagon. You’ll also see a couple of Volkswagen Beetles and iconic French cars such as the Citroen 2CV and Traction Avant and a Renault 4CV. Michael also amassed quite a few vehicles from extinct European carmakers. The collection includes a Tatra 600, built in Czechoslovakia from 1948 to 1952. Only 6,000 examples of this rear-engined flat-four fastback were made, and only a few have survived.
There’s also an IFA, a DWK, and a Borgward. The latter company disappeared in 1961 and returned in 2008 with investment from China, but it filed for bankruptcy in 2022. Frochlich’s collection is not only about derelict cars, though. His dealership in Dusseldorf is also loaded with rare and iconic classics. Here’s a detailed walkaround if you want to check it out.