The junkyard is a great place to be if you need parts for an ongoing project, but it’s a sad sight if you’re into classic cars. Because scrapyards are usually packed with derelict vehicles that are simply way too expensive to restore. But some junkyards are actually worth exploring, especially those that focus on a single brand. Because they look like an open-air museum that’s been abandoned a long time ago.
The Mopar yard you see here is one of those places. Sure, it’s not a single-make scrapyard since it includes both Plymouth and Dodge vehicles, but it might as well be since these brands have shared loads of components back in the 1960s and 1970s. And I’m mentioning these decades because this yard includes a massive stash of Dodge Challengers and Plymouth Barracudas from the golden muscle car era.
I’m talking about more than 100 examples, which has to be one of the largest collections of first-generation Challengers and third-gen ‘Cudas, both of which were offered from 1970 to 1974. Sure, “collection” might not be the best word here since none of these cars are still in one piece, but they’re all lined up up like in a museum of derelict classics.
And they’ve been here for a very long time because the footage is about how most of these Mopars are getting freed from the trees that have grown around them. Granted, it’s a sad sight if you love E-body Chryslers, but hey, they’re finally getting some attention after a few good decades. And it could also mean that many of the parts that are still usable will end up in Barracudas and Challengers that are getting restored.
But here’s what I like most about this stash of wrecked and parted-out Mopars. While most of them are covered in surface rust, some still show traces of their original paint jobs, and quite a few of them were finished in colors from Chrysler’s now-iconic “high impact” palette. I spotted one in Butterscotch, a couple of cars in Top Banana/Lemon Twist, and a Barracuda in Curious Yellow.
Some of them were also finished in Bright Green/Rallye Green and Green Go/Sassy Grass, but you’ll also notice examples in Hemi Orange and Plum Crazy/In-Violet. Yeah, there’s no Panther Pink/Moulin Rouge to ogle at, but pink Mopars are quite rare given that this hue was only available as a “spring color” in 1970 and a special-order paint in 1971. And it wasn’t exactly popular back in the day either. To many, pink wasn’t manly enough for a muscle car.
So are there any rare Challengers or Barracudas in this junkyard? Well, it’s impossible to tell since many of them are wrecked beyond recognition. We don’t get to see VINs, so there’s no way to know if the stash includes any HEMI cars either. But I’m assuming at least some of them should be scarce in terms of engine/transmission and option combinations.
But this junkyard is definitely E-body heaven if you’re planning on restoring such a Mopar soon. Hopefully, the owner will sell everything for parts because 100 ruined muscle cars could save thousands of Challengers and Barracudas that are getting restored to original specifications. But until we find out more about that, take a closer look at this Mopar honey hole in the videos below.