Well, here we go again – another Friday, another Junkyard Outtake. Or is it?
This week’s yard tour is far from typical. Make the jump to find 72 more pictures, including several cars you probably haven’t seen in a while (if ever). And if the word “Aero” and/or the letters “SPG” mean anything to you, get ready – you may find yourself Saabing before it’s all over.
Around here, John’s Auto Parts was the 800-pound gorilla of used auto parts for many years. They kept expanding, advertising, and pretty much dominating the market. Things were good – so good, in fact, that big national companies began to take notice.
And so it was that LKQ, a mammoth corporation and owner of junkyards throughout North America, decided to buy John’s a while back. Why bother with starting your own (and facing zoning, NIMBY, a sea of competitors, etc) – or with buying and trying to grow an also-ran – when you can simply lay down the cash and own the biggest joint in town?
One of John’s selling points was their extensive inventory of pre-pulled parts. Because of this, their self-serve operation became less and less of a priority, and was eventually closed a couple of years ago. But LKQ’s business model calls for doing self-serve in a big way, and their latest acquisition would be no exception.
I took note of the big “Pull Your Part” sign that appeared out front a few months back, and decided that I’d have to check it out sometime. Seeing an ’82 XJ6 appear in their inventory last week was the incentive I needed to finally make the trip.
Upon entering the yard, I was taken aback by the sheer enormity of it. There had to be at least a couple thousand vehicles on the premises. I understand they had to acquire additional land to make room for it all.
Jumping up on the roof of a truck, I tried to get the lay of the land – but all I could see was an endless sea of vehicles. The only course of action was to pick a spot and dive in.
The first thing I saw was this silver Trofeo.
It had black interior, just like what I installed in my faux Touring Sedan (though this was in much poorer shape).
Just a few steps away was this supercharged Bonneville – one of many L67-equipped cars I’d see.
What was next door? A white-on-white Cavalier Z24 ragtop.
Complete with trailer hitch!
Or how about this odd duck?
It’s been years since I’ve seen a Somerset…
…but I know I’ve never seen the E&G version, nor one labelled as a “Sport Coupe”…
…and I’ve definitely never seen these wheels before. Wild!
Buckets and a console, plus digital gauges and climate control.
I walked two more steps, and spotted this drop-top Cutlass Supreme.
It was rough – but if you needed some of those vert-specific parts, this might be your best bet.
F-bodies!
Auroras!
Magenta Berettas!
Even a boy racer Malibu!
And all that was within the first six rows! It was total and complete freaking sensory overload. I actually had to pause… it was just too much to take in at once.
The G-bodies were represented.
This one looked way too straight to be here. But that “SSEi” badge on the door, and those wheels, suggest that whatever punk owned it probably thrashed it to death mechanically.
A later RWD Bonneville.
Looks like this one contributed to the revival of a crash victim somewhere.
Too bad that nice velour interior is open to the elements.
Eventually I hopped across from the GM car section to the truck and van department.
Most thoroughly stripped rig of the day!
Ex-Federal Blazer. (Forest Service?)
“For Official Use Only”
I can’t recall ever seeing an S-10 Blazer with a front bench prior to this.
I explored only a couple rows of the truck section before overload once again began to set in. So much to see – so many wonders to behold – and yet so little time! I needed to focus, to move into the Import department, and find the Jag I was after.
Something tells me I’m in the right place.
I hadn’t gone more than halfway into the first row when I saw it. Gadzooks! Could it be?
It had the trim. It had the wheels. It was Edwardian Grey. Had I finally spotted an SPG in the tin?
I shouldn’t gloss over those two items so quickly. This is the first set of SPG panels, and SPG wheels, I’ve ever had the chance to buy. Damn the luck – had I found this car back when I still owned a classic 900, I might still own it today (or at the very least, I’d be a few dollars richer). Though I don’t currently own a Saab, and have no plans to acquire one, I’m still tempted by these rare parts.
Like these vent visors – an actual OEM Saab part. I’ve never seen a set in person, ever.
Black leather, 5-speed, and (of course) it’s a turbo. Why, I ask, couldn’t this car have surfaced a year ago? Why?
After performing some magic on the damaged hood release cable, I finally got a peek at the APC. No red top here. Could this be a fake SPG?
I couldn’t find anything on the door tag to prove one way or another (was hoping to see the word AERO, or tire suggestions containing VR). Since I’m no Saab expert, I can’t say whether this car is the real deal or not.
There’s no shortage of classic 900s in this yard. Just a few steps away, I encountered this late non-turbo sedan.
Ah, a ’92. If that power antenna works, it’d be a great score for $6.
Tan leather, manual… another one that had plenty going for it.
It was even a local car. How ’bout that!
This little red ragtop was actually pretty clean. Someone should be hooning it, not robbing its fenders.
Jeez, this place is Saab city! And look – more SPG-style wheels! This is truly a red-letter day.
Black on black. And the tires actually look pretty meaty. Hmm…
Class reunion nametag on the front seat. Somehow, I’m not surprised.
Around the corner, I found yet another Beemer. I’d walked past at least a dozen so far. But wait! What’s this I see?
Four basket-weave wheels, with four mighty nice tires! This one has a small paint issue, but the other three are in great shape. Let’s see… $200 for these, or $500 for Jag cross-spokes and a set of tires, plus mounting, balancing, and a 75 mile trip to retrieve them? I think the Project XJ6 wheel/tire decision has been made.
As I neared the Jag’s supposed location, I was taken aback by yet another uncommon Saab sighting.
Holy cow… it’s an Aero! Another first for me – until today, I’d never seen one in person.
And again, I find it has all four of its special wheels. Someone really needs to claim these 16-inchers.
Too bad these special Aero seats weren’t in equally good shape… they’d have been in my attic by now.
I’ve never been much of a 9000 fan – but for this one, I think I could make an exception.
Yes. Definitely.
The Saab stories never end in this yard.
Finally, after miles of walking (literally), I found the Jaguar.
Four Kents. Zero caps. (Does no one buy wheels around here?)
Same colors as mine… but unfortunately, there’s not much left of it.
Will this one perhaps be a tank donor? We’ll find out next time.
Until then, you’ll be glad to know that this car did provide me with the missing chrome strip for my trunklid.
I also performed a simple test to prove that the BMW wheels will indeed be a workable fit.
With that question answered, I found my way back to the 5-Series in question and began to remove the remaining three wheels. The first two came easy, but the last one…
…not so much. (Ended up using an impact socket, extension, and breaker bar, then working my way through increasing lengths of “cheater bar” for added leverage. In the end, I managed to shear off this 1/2″ drive extension while using a 4′ piece of exhaust pipe as a “helper”… and I still hadn’t broken any of the five loose. Talk about overtorqued lug nuts!)
With my head spinning from the overabundance of vehicles (and the stinging defeat dealt to me by a certain Bavarian automobile), I decided it was time to pack up and head home. Next time I’d need to bring a battery-powered impact wrench to hopefully aid in removing the final BMW wheel, and all the tools necessary to inspect and possibly remove the Jaguar’s fuel tank(s).
But this yard is full of surprises. What have we here, just inside the fence of new arrivals?
It’s a double whammy – a Touring Sedan, and another Trofeo! If anyone wants to make their very own faux Touring Sedan, here’s your opportunity.
It didn’t FEEL like 72 pictures because it was so fun to scroll through them.
I have an abnormal attraction to the N-body in Olds and, especially Buick, trim. A small car which looks like a living room inside. Granted, a sleek ’80s living room, but still kinda Broughamy.
72 pics? Dang, you’re right-and it didn’t feel like it!
Next time, more Mopars please 🙂
The Buick N was especially fancy when it came out, it was sort of pitched as junior Regal, hence the Somerset Regal name, the D&G top and “sport coupe” emblems are dealer add ons.
Those Somerset Regals were one of my automotive lust objects back in the day. Sadly, I never got to drive one, or even ride in one. I did get to experience a couple of Grand Ams, though. Those were cool, but not as much as a Somerset.
I looked at a Somerset when I was shopping for my first car in 1992. The one I looked at was immaculate but very boring. You really “lusted” after a Somerset?
The main thing I remember is those horrible digital gauges. It was just such an grandma’s car.
I liked the Somerset, I remember the neighbors across the streets daughter got one, a dark blue coupe with the sportier alloy wheels, I remember biking alongside the car at dusk as it cruised up the street and thinking that those digital gauges were soooooooooooo cool.
I’ve always had a thing for digital gauges, I guess you have to been the right age when they hit their stride, they were seen as so very modern and futuristic for a time.
Digital dash…….and roll-up windows. Computerized dash……..and manual windows. Wtf were they thinking?
Sounds like my leather-equipped ’85 LeBaron GTS
we need a CC outake about the somerset, the interior seems rather unique…I don’t see any other GM products that were similar
My two sisters each had a Somerset Regal. You can quit drooling over them…
Over which?
Found an old Jag recently on pepper pots cant say I like the combination there are 300+ british cars in the shed behind it and a pile of wrecks around the side we’ll have to visit one day
Really ? 300 + British cars ? any Morrys ? .
My 1961 Morris Minor 1000 Series III needs a few bits….
=8-) .
-Nate
What is “pepper pots”? I’m into old British sports cars and I’m curious to know where this shed with all the Brit cars is. Cheers Karl
Pepper-pots is the one of the alloy wheel designs used on the SIII Jag XJ6 – so called because the little holes resemble the top of a pepper shaker. The museum is in New Zealand: http://www.britishcarmuseum.co.nz/
72 ?!?I trolled thru those pix so fast, just contemplating what it would be like to explore this yard in detail. Alas! So far away…… 🙂
Wow, that is a clean yard. Around my neck of the woods all the Pick & Pulls are dumps. Dumps because most of the people who use them are pigs. Let’s use a sawzall instead of unbolting the part and therefore ruin one part to get another. The interiors are trashed because parts are literally ripped out. Nuts, bolts, gears, transmissions all over the ground once they get what they want. So many cars have a $29 – $39 part removed but have another couple of hundred dollar parts destroyed in the process. Been there, done that and it is incredibly frustrating.
How could you miss the Subaru XT next to the Saab 9000 Aero? Is it in Part 2?
Probably because I know relatively little about foreign cars. I’ll be sure and snap it next time.
I’ve owned a Saab (technically a few Saabs if you count parts cars) and a Jag; other than that, I’m pretty green in terms of them furrin’ vee-hickles.
As always – if anyone catches a hint of something I should have paid more attention to, let me know so I can try and catch it in a future installment.
When is the Saab COAL coming?
Sometime in the (likely distant) future. It’s just too agonizing to relive the whole affair.
All those SPG parts would have dressed mine up nicely. Still, it’s hard to say whether that would have been enough to make me keep it.
I tried to talk myself into it, based on its near-zero price and great condition, but it just wasn’t my style. What can I say… I gotta be me! 🙂
I suppose I’m a quirky individual so the 900 fits me perfectly. I also have a Fiesta ST to keep my Saab 900 S out of the salt, but my sister divorced this winter and needed to borrow that car so I’m back to driving the Saab. I live in Houghton, MI. It looks like that yard is about 6 hours from me. How difficult do you suppose it would be to pull those spg bits and install them? do you suppose they would have a tenancy to cause rust? Mine has zero tin worm and I hate to ruin that just for aesthetics. Those plus the wheels and maybe some other bits may be worth the drive.
http://www.datazap.net/sites/Svensk_exports_images/SPG_Install_Guide/Saab_SPG_Panel_Guide.html
Far better than anything I could say off the top of my head.
Thank you for the link. It looks more involved than I expected.
Has there ever even been an XT featured on CC? I can’t remember the last time I even saw one.
yes we need a outtake on the XT such an awesome car
There’s no better sight than GM and foreign cars siting in a junk yard.
Whilst the others are being melted for scrap metal…their worth.
No their still on the road.
Yes ;
Fords are easy to push .
(see ? it’s easy to be an ignorant troll)
-Nate
The SPG appears to be a fake one. A real one would have a 3 spoke steering wheel (pre airbag cars) and the red APC. Also, the junk yard has 86 written on the side. Saab didn’t introduce those rounded bumpers until 1987, however, someone could have easily made a mistake with the year.
Those are some great finds. I truly am Saabing right now. I’ve owned 3 different 900s and none were turbos :(. 1985 sedan, auto. 1992 hatch 5 speed. and 1996 convertuble auto. I drive a Jetta now, but look forward to the day that I can own another Saab.
“the junk yard has 86 written on the side…. however, someone could have easily made a mistake with the year.”
From the information on the door tag and emissions certification, it’s definitely an ’86. (I’m assuming those are on the door jamb, not the door itself, and are therefore almost certainly original to the car.)
2 Trofeos meeting their demise…..now I’m bumed for the weekend, thanks.
You’re not alone.
Keith, thanks for taking us on a tour of this yard. Can’t wait for your next installment!
Wow, I only live about 15 minutes away from Johns, and i’ve never been. After scrolling through this I think a trip this weekend may be in order.
Wow for the rust belt there are a lot of “old” cars. Horseheads Pick-a-Part’s cars are usually from the last 15 years or so.
All those 90’s GM vehicles give me the creeps. And what’s an SPG anyway?
Nice choice on the wheels, and good luck getting the last one.
I think that’s Saab Performance Group
You meant $AAB Performance Group…..
Cool post. Our local LKQ isn’t that good. I prefer the UPAP yards.
Great tour and commentary through the bone yard. That is a bummer about the Bimmer wheels. Another Saab idiosyncrasy is featured on the 9000 model. These cars make due with one, passenger side reverse light from the factory. I remember telling a fellow in a parking lot about his “burnt out back up bulb” and learned something new that day.
Is that last bright-blue Saab convertible a Viggen? It’s the color that they all seemed to come in, and the age and ground effects seem right….
Out of curiosity, I looked to see if there were any LKQ lots near me in Baltimore. Turns out they bought “Crazy Ray’s”, which was the big U-Pull chain in Baltimore.
I absolutely LOVE going to the Oakland CA Pick your Part where I have often found valuable parts for my car or to sell on eBay. Just last week I found a beautiful set of fold down wood veneer picnic tables for the Jaguar XJ6 and sold it on to a buyer on eBay for $200 (I spent $40 for them).
And going there for me is always an object lesson in how cars are built. In my opinion, it’s painfully obvious that the Europeans spent far more effort, time and money building their cars. The Japanese less so and perhaps until quite recently the Americans were so embarrasingly off the back it isn’t even funny.
The blue Saab convertible is an Aero. I hope those 9000 seats are as comfy as they look. And sadly those Aero wheels don’t have the 5 stud pattern.
Definitely Forest Service green. Not uncommon on Oregon’s roads.
You put a lot of work into this article, just the mass of pictures alone. Thanks!
Nice choice on the wheels! I’d be tempted to paint the inner section black, like so many 80s hot rods, but I dunno if that really jives with the brown paint.
This is a friggen amazing junkyard, especially since they let you pull parts yourself. There’s one of probably equal size nearby that I used to go to, but they won’t even let you see the cars. You just walk into an office and there’s a bunch of people sitting at desks. Laaaaame!!
Great collection of Saabs, too. I would’ve assumed they were at least kinda popular out there with all the snow. No loyalists from the days before AWD? The only 9000 I’ve never seen is the CDE/V6 model, which I didn’t even know existed until the last time they came up at CC… but the rest of them I see pretty frequently – and hopefully it stays that way for a long time!
Also, I think those wheels on the Somerset Regal were the same ones used on the Olds’ Calais Quad442. The early style dash on the Somerset with the separate pods above the console is kinda cool. Underneath that fake wood is a silver/aluminum-type finish that looked pretty neat, too. CARMINE posted a picture of one on here with factory leather interior once, but I can’t seem to find it now.
I think the wood was an 85 thing only, those are the same wheels, they were also available on the Skyhawk too. Interestingly the one with leather, did have crank windows too. The digital cluster guts are the same as the digital gauges in the LeSabre/Electra and Riviera. The 85-86 ones had an interesting “pod” style radio on the top of the console, that was Somerset only, there even was a Delco/Bose optional radio. Later it was integrated into the console on the 87’s.
Here’s the Somerset with leather. You could option these up really nicely, like a fancy junior personal luxury coupe, leather, bose, door courtesy lights, etc, originally the thought these would appeal to Regal customers.
@ Keith – make sure you pull the woodtrim from the touring sedan if you can it would be shame if it goes to waste
You know I will! Hopefully it’s not already destroyed, with the finish cracking and the wood discolored (as most I’ve seen were). My best set left with the faux Touring Sedan, but I still have an incomplete set of wood trim in “driver quality” condition. Would be nice to complete it.
I’d also like to snag another console assembly and the matching lower dash trim (both of which were another case of ‘let my only one go with the car’).
Trouble is, if I have a complete set of TS goodies sitting on the shelf, I might be tempted to acquire another Ninety-Eight in the future 😉
No Lincoln Town Cars? Not even one? No Crown Victorias or Grand Marquis?
Got to say, the sight of those manual crank windows in that Buick alongside all that nice gadgetry is depressing. It makes no sense and whoever optioned that car should have their licence revoked!
I feel your pain about finding the right car at the wrong time. I looked at every yard within 50 miles to find a fender and hood for my Jetta a few years ago that were the correct color. I found one, but it was a rust bucket. So I paid $200 to get the hood and fender I finally bought painted. A month later, the yard 3 miles from here had one the same color and the hood and fender were perfect! LKQ owns all the U Pull yards around here now, also. They are well kept, but prices seem to be getting a little high. I buy more off the internet now, new can be almost the same or cheaper then used. Nice job with all the great photos.
“They are well kept, but prices seem to be getting a little high”
Corner the market, raise the prices.
One of the first things I noticed about this yard was the prices. They’re not terrible, individually; but they have a price and/or fee for *everything*. Forget grabbing anything and calling it an assembly, they’ll count each and every piece. Worse, many things are on a sliding scale based on condition, which (unsurprisingly) is usually rated top-notch by the time you get to the counter. Almost everything has a core charge associated, and many things have an (often inexplicable) environmental fee attached as well.
Fortunately I was able to find a friendly employee on my first trip, and can get straight responses (and an occasional price break) from him when he’s available. But still, I don’t grab parts so readily when I know every nut and bolt is costing me.
The U-Pull yard I usually visit is much more reasonable – and even nonchalant at times, depending on who’s working the counter. They did jack up the prices a bit six months ago (around 15% on most things, and 25% or so on motors, trannies, and other major parts), but I’ve gotten over it.
However, I am happy to see that the U-Pull is finally bringing back their half-off sale for the first time in years. Only one date is listed so far, and I’m betting it’s going to be a circus – but still, it’s about time!
I thought it was maybe because it’s been quite a while since I’ve been to a U Pull. I can’t find any independently owned pick a part yards. And I too was not happy with “environmental fees”. I’m OK with core charge’s because I bring the old part to be sure it matches up. And I know what you mean about the recent “hemorrhoids on a gnats ass” policy about anything attached to a part that was never obsessed over before. What date is half price day? I need a fuel distributor for my Jetta.
Um, where IS another u-pull yard in the TC metro area? I thought they were all gone…
A Somerset Regal… probably the dorkiest name ever given to a car… altho it fits putting that name on one of the dorkiest looking cars ever built, the GM N-Body. Very few cars have such odd proportions.
LKQ bought John’s? A sad day indeed. Checking on the internet, I see they also swallowed, er, acquired Viking auto salvage in Northfield. Viking was where I found I could buy a glass lens for my Cadillac’s headlight for $195. New from the dealer was $245. I loved John’s though…I had a Thunderbird with TRX wheels on it. Went to John’s and was able to pick and choose from a whole shelf full of steel wheels! The luxury… ^_^