The junkyard is commonly known as the place where wrecked or decommissioned vehicles are brought to be parted out and then crushed for recycling. However, some junkyards are actually private collections owned by enthusiasts who save cars from barns and scrapyards. This yard, hidden away somewhere in Michigan, is one of those places.
Discovered and documented by Ryan Brutt of Auto Archaeology, this junkyard includes classic rigs rescued from tow yards, barns, and even abandoned vehicles on the street. It includes a little bit of everything from the 1930s to the 1970s, but it also has a big hoard of muscle cars from the golden era.
A Mopar enthusiast, our host documented the Chrysler section of the yard, which is packed with Plymouth and Dodge models that would be worth a lot of money in restored condition. Yup, I’m talking about B-body and E-body cars, which are among the most desirable classics from the late 1960s and early 1970s.
Granted, the property isn’t home to rare Mopars of the HEMI and Six-Pack variety, but you’ll see quite a few muscle cars worth saving. The 1971 Plymouth ‘Cuda that shows up early in the video is one of the main highlights.
Introduced in 1970 on the then-new E-body platform, the third-generation Barracuda sold nearly 49,000 examples in its first year on the market. Sales dropped to fewer than 17,000 units the following year, which makes almost any version of the 1971 Barracuda scarce or relatively rare. The example parked here is a 383-cubic-inch (6.3-liter) four-speed car of the range-topping ‘Cuda variety.
Only 5,675 customers went with this version in 1971, and just 1,867 buyers selected the four-barrel 383 V8. The four-speed gearbox narrows it down to 534 examples, of which 501 were hardtops. Sadly, the car was involved in a terrible crash, and the front end was crumpled beyond recognition.
If you’re a fan of the bigger Road Runner, this yard has plenty of them. There’s a 1970 version that used to be Plum Crazy purple. This car still has the original 383 V8 engine, a rare feat for a junkyard find. This one is not exactly rare, but the 1971 version parked on top of it is. Road Runner sales dropped to only 13,664 units in 1971, and only 3,730 examples got the 383 and four-speed combo.
I also spotted a 1975 Road Runner. Granted, this version isn’t very desirable because it has very little in common with the original version, but it’s the final iteration of the B-body Mopar. It’s one of only 7,183 made, and it’s rare even if it has the common 318-cubic-inch (5.2-liter) V8 under the hood.
Moving over to Dodges, the owner saved quite a few Chargers, including a 1970 500. If you’re a fan of the second-generation Dart, a derelict example is spending its retirement here. The second-gen Dart was produced in 1962 and is the sole midsize iteration of the nameplate. It’s not exactly rare, but it’s a rig we rarely see on public roads nowadays. A 1970 Super Bee rounds off the list of cool Dodges.
Sadly, many of these classics are in very rough shape, and it doesn’t look like they’ll be restored soon. Like most hoards of damaged vehicles, this collection morphed into a graveyard packed with rust buckets that are simply way too expensive to revive. Some still have solid parts, though. Check them out in the video below, and tell me which one is worth saving.