You could be tempted to think that most vintage cars have survived intact to this day based on the numerous auction events and tens of thousands of local cars and coffee meetups that take place in the US each year. The majority of them, however, are still withering away in barns and junkyards. Millions of autos are at issue.
If you’re a fan of old cars, the junkyard is a depressing sight, but it’s not necessarily full with rusty vehicles that are beyond repair. There are certain vehicles in yards that nonetheless merit a second chance. Additionally, some of those that aren’t worth restoring can be used as donors of valuable parts. One of these is Mopar City in Oregon, Illinois.
This yard brings together thousands of classic cars, either rescued from other yards or barns over a few decades. But the really cool thing about this place is that it’s packed with Mopars. Moreover, it includes a vast selection of B-body and E-body vehicles.
One of Chrysler’s most iconic automobile platforms, the B-body was introduced in 1962 for midsize vehicles, which were gaining popularity at the time. It found its way into the Dodge Dart and Polara, as well as the Plymouth Fury, Savoy, and Belvedere that year.
Later in the 1960s, the B-body platforms spawned high-performance Mopars like the Dodge Charger and Super Bee and the Plymouth GTX and Road Runner. It was also used for the NASCAR-spec Charger Daytona and Superbird. Although muscle cars disappeared in the early 1970s, Dodge used the B-body platform through 1979 in the more mundane Cordoba, Monaco, and Magnum models.
This yard is loaded with B-body rigs from the golden muscle car era. And while many of them are relatively common Coronets and Belvederes, the stash also includes a few rare gems. You’ll spot a bunch of Charger R/Ts from the late 1960s, a few big-block versions from the early 1970s, and many Super Bees and Road Runners. You’ll also see many first-generation Chargers, which are becoming increasingly more desirable nowadays.
Additionally, the owner accumulated endless rows of E-body rigs. The latter was introduced in 1969 and supported just two automobiles. For the third-generation Barracuda, Plymouth used it, and Dodge introduced its own version as the Challenger. The E-body platform, in contrast to the B-body, was short-lived and was forgotten by the conclusion of the 1974 model year.
However, the Barracuda and Challenger are both rather well-known and pricey nowadays, particularly those powered by big-block engines. Although there are numerous E-body vehicles from all model years, including early and rare R/Ts and ‘Cudas, our host did not notice any HEMI cars in this yard.