So far, EXBRO5 was mostly about driving, scenery, camping and historical/cultural sites. Given our proclivities, finding some old cars well preserved in the dry Nevada air would certainly have been a welcome bonus. We hit CC pay dirt on Day 5, just outside Tuscarora, a classic Nevada ghost town still inhabited by a few dedicated citizens.
Actually, it wasn’t a “junk yard”, which implies some economic basis or ownership; this was the town dump, where folks are welcome to dispose of their automotive hulks and other detritus. Quite the eclectic collection it was too, as this German Ford Taunus in the foreground attests.
But let’s star at the beginning of that day. We headed back up into Lamoille Canyon to take a hike up into the mountains. After four days in the mostly hot desert valleys, the notion of hiking into a cool alpine environment was a powerful draw, especially to some of (me).
Lamoille Canyon is a gem. We took a loop hike past several high lakes.
The last one was the destination: Lamoille Lake, where there was still a fair amount of snow. What a contrast from all that dusty sand.
Randy took a group selfie, to document this high point of the trip.
The welcoming committee wasted no time making an appearance.
The return trail took us back down on the other side of the canyon.
Wildflowers were in abundance.
We headed back out of the canyon, somewhat reluctantly.
I could have spent several days up there, and plan to come back.
The weather had become progressively cooler, and there were some distant storms.
In Elko, we treated ourselves to a well earned meal out.
Our next destination was Tuscarora, another former silver boom town. First stop was the cemetery.
It’s a splendid spot to be buried, given the views.
These heavily-weathered wooden grave markers and fences date back to the 1880s. They’ve survived only because of the very dry climate; in Western Oregon, they’d have been turned into duff within a couple of decades.
The year of death is still visible on this one: 1881.
The fence posts have become sculptures.
The marble wears a bit better. The town is visible in the background.
The sky added a melodramatic touch.
Here’s a more recent addition.
This one’s from 1990, and includes a VW hubcap.
The former Tuscarora Society Hall has been restored and is the town museum. As is common in these little hamlets, as soon as we pulled someone walked over from one of the nearby houses and opened it up for us.
Across the street from the pottery workshop we spotted a fine old Land Rover.
Love that grille material and the badge.
Looks ready to drive away. Seating for three in the front, as long as the middle passenger doesn’t mind all those levers between their legs.
Room for four more back here. A different sort of three-row SUV.
Some critters have been nesting on its intake manifold.
A gas pump is located conveniently nearby.
The only remains of many of the former wooden buildings in town, which was once quite the bustling place.
Not quite so old as the building it’s attached to.
Continue to Page 2 for the most scenic junkyard ever.
On the other side of the town from the graveyard is the dump. It included a number of cars that found plenty of interest in our party. Jim Klein was particularly taken by this blue Datsun 510, which has a particularly fine resting spot.
Looks like the engine bay isn’t exactly fully stocked.
The block is still there, and the transmission too.
There’s still a fair amount of the interior left.
A jumble of older cars, including a 1950 or so Buick coupe and a ’63 Chevy.
The old Chevy wagon has some good company.
The Buick is still sporting its big straight eight.
It’s got a nice bronze patina. Like on everything else out here, the rust out here is very superficial.
The Rambler’s high coil spring is on full display.
This Starlet looks to be a rather recent arrival.
It’s just starting to work on its tan.
The German Ford Taunus P2 (1957-1960) was of particular interest to me, as it’s the first of its kind here and of course it reminds me of seeing them in Austria back in the day.
It looks a lot like a scaled down ’55-’56 American Ford, and was dubbed the “Barocktaunus” due to its rather gaudy American styling.
The interior was still fairly intact, except for the upholstery.
These were of course sold by some American Ford dealers in the 1950s during the great import boom. The 1960 Falcon effectively killed that, until the Cortina arrived some years later.
I was curious to see what was still left under the hood.
The pushrod four cylinder, either a 1.5 or 1.7 L unit, was still fairly intact.
Coincidentally, its styling inspiration was sitting nearby.
Although much of the front clip was gone, the Y-block V8 was still there.
A good look at its odd stacked intake ports.
This Plymouth Belvedere has gone green.
A Pinto and Chevette; two fitting neighbors.
A good look at the Chevette’s somewhat unusual valve cover.
A vintage snowmobile.
This Ambassador called to me: open the hood!
I’m not just why exactly, but I was rather surprised to find a six under its long nose.
And a three-on-the-tree. A stripper Ambassador. So why didn’t they just buy a Rebel, which had the exact same body except for the shorter front end?
This old Pontiac had a rather different power train.
Under its hood is a flathead straight eight, the last of its kind in 1954, its last year.
And its teamed up with the original Hydramatic.
I love these old Hydramatic shift quadrants.
An old timer.
I’ve saved the best find for last. As soon as I spotted this early Wagoneer, I wondered if it might still have its Tornado OHC six under the hood. If so, it would be a first for me, as I’ve yet to be up close and personal with one.
There’s the oil pan. But it appears it didn’t have the IFS, which would have really made my day. Jeep Dana solid axles are worth something, so it’s not surprising to see it gone.
The vinyl upholstery Jeep used was pretty tough, to last this long in this environment. Three speed column shift manual.
Ever wonder what the gauge cluster of one of these looks like behind the face plate?
The back seat’s in even better shape, thanks to being more shaded from the sun.
And the view from the way back.
Now to lift that hood. Success! There it is, the first post war production OHC engine in America, not counting the Crosley. Its block was essentially the venerable long-stroke Continental-Kaiser 226 six, upped to 230 cubic inches. But on top sat a classic aluminum SOHC hemi-head, designed by the Italian engineer A. C. Sampietro, who had also designed a high-performance head for the Nash-Healy.
It has a lovely cast exhaust header. Although its power output of 140 hp was not exceptional, it was tuned more for a healthy torque curve, given its intended role on Jeep trucks and the Wagoneer. But its potential was massively unleashed after it was sent to Argentina, to be used in the legendary IKA Torino, where it eventually made up to 300 hp.
Jim Klein was captivated by its lovely scalloped alloy cylinder head cover, and was determined to add it to his growing collection of junk yard finds. That turned out to be easier said than done, because the engine was not supported at its rear, so the head and its cover were bearing on the firewall, with considerable force.
I determined that the solution was to raise the engine from below, and scrounged for the proper lever. The first piece of well-aged wood broke, but I found a stouter post and managed to raise the back of the engine just barely enought for Jim to wrest loose his prize.
There it is! I felt very slightly ambivalent about taking it off, as these are quite rare now, but then this is a dump, and it’s unlikely anyone is ever going to want this motor to fix up.
It’s a lovely piece of automotive sculpture.
Removing it did allow me to get a good look at a somewhat unusual configuration: the intake and exhaust rockers for each cylinder share the same cam lobe, meaning that they also have the same valve duration. Seems like it worked, but not quite typical.
Time to pack up and hit the road. Andrea must have gotten a bit bored waiting for us. But what a spot this was; the best junkyard view ever.
We spotted this on the way out through town.
Back in the saddle and out on the open range.
The sky was a never-ending show.
The only other human we encountered the rest of that day was this cowboy moving this herd.
Our campsite was at the edge of another reservoir.
We drove down to explore, and everyone except me took the rocky, steep way back up. Time to put four wheel drive to some good use.
Setting up camp.
Since I didn’t have any setting up to do, I scrambled up the rocky hill nearby, and got this shot from up there.
Ted’s smoked salmon made another superb dinner.
There was a brief shower.
And then we sat in our front row seats for the daily feature light show.
But there were two, as only minutes later the full moon rose on the opposite horizon.
A double feature.
All photos and videos by the various participants.
EXBRO5 Day 1: Alkali Flat Hot Springs to Pine Springs
EXBRO5 Day 2: Pine Creek to Toiyabe Range – The xB Gets Stuck
Looking at the dash with the strip speedometer and the arrow front side markers, the 510 is either a ’69 or a ’70.
I was thinking ’68 as that’s what we had – but ours had clap-hands wipers so you’re probably right.
The engine bay photograph of the 510 actually has the serial visible: PL510-043404. IINM, that means it’s an early 1969 model.
Wow.
Wonderful. Just wonderful!
The photos of the wood in the cemetery are fantastic. I believe I can make out the name “Jones” on the one wooden marker. Interstate 80 avoids the isolated mountain ranges located throughout the state, so it is a real treat to see how rugged, beautiful and untrammeled they remain.
You were in a very remote part of a remote state. North of I-80 isn’t much explored, except for the gold prospecting, as I understand it. Its vastness justified the open pit gold mining in the region. I don’t like seeing that done, but there doesn’t seem to be anything else to do up there. My love for that landscape doesn’t pay any bills.
Still jealous as hell that you experienced this trip. Thank you for sharing with your fans – I really appreciate it!
I have a question – bugs. Nonexistent? Rare? Only at night? Any flying bugs? Were there clouds of mosquitos around the mountain lakes? I’d appreciate any anecdotal evidence! Thanks!
Zero bugs, except those ugly “Mormon crickets” on the ground in a few spots.
Just lovely pictures .
-Nate
Wow, fantastic photos. Much appreciated as I look out at a grey and snowy day…
Isn’t that Tercel actually a Starlet? That’s another rare car.
Great scenery, great old cars, and great food.
Of course it is a Starlet. I didn’t actually look at it or shoot it; Jim did. And when I tossed it into the post, I didn’t really look at it either.
What a tour! Thanks so much!
The Starlet was, if I’m not mistaken, the newest car there and likely with the most advanced rust-proofing…It’ll be there for some time. Thank you (and Ed) for all of the help in getting that Jeep valve cover, it was hard work and I certainly could not have done it alone!
Thanks for the great memories, this may have been my favorite two-day stretch. And no, we didn’t seek out the cemetery specifically as the first place to stop in Tuscarora, it just happened to be located on the outskirts of town on the road we came in on so we stopped there and the continued into town proper afterward. Unlike the people graveyard, the car graveyard had no markers as to how long each had been there.
Great scenery, both automotive and otherwise!
We’re planning a trip to Nevada and Idaho for next summer, so I’m looking at this with particular interest, though this part of the country has many more options for folks with high-clearance vehicles. We’re planning to visit Great Basin NP, and then work our way north to Idaho. I learned of the Lamoille area from one of your previous posts and would love to be able to visit there if we can.
Thanks for the pictures and stories from this trip; I’ve enjoyed all of the posts.
Great pictures Paul and Jim. The scenery is unbelievable
Something from my past in there; looks like a 1978 or 1979 Polaris TX snowmobile, not something I would expect to see in the desert. I had a 1979 TX-L (Liquid cooled) for many years. I can faintly see the TX on the tunnel and it looks like air scoops on the hood for cooling that mine did not have.
All of those cars would have long disintegrated here as well due to the climate.
Thank you for sharing
Although I suppose this area may be technically desert depending on annual precipitation, the so-called Basin and Range area has cold winters and some very high elevations with lots of snow. I drove through one of this group’s stops, Austin NV, around Memorial Day this year and it was snowing hard and sticking, though in inches not feet. Come to think of it, the last time I drove through Austin in spring it was also snowing. Snowmobiles are pretty common as work vehicles and recreation in many parts of the West.
I liked the Tornado cam cover. A work of art … in fact I wonder if it’s shape inspired the similarly scalloped cam covers on the later Honda SOHC bikes starting with the 1969 CB750. But as I continued to go through the photos, the salmon looked even better. Not quite as curvaceous, but it sure looks tasty! On another note, about 10 years ago, I think before I discovered CC, I saw a Taurus of that tailfinned vintage in the side yard of a repair shop, also somewhere in the mountain desert West. I’d like to think I remember these from my childhood in California, but at this point I can’t say if those memories are of real cars, or just of pictures in my European car books.
Fantastic scenery and photos again. What a place and what a trip!
The abandoned vehicles are amazing. I am surprised that no one has snagged some of the trim or Datsun body panels. Remote local being what keep them semi-intact.
I can’t believe those hanging panels are still on that Plymouth
That photo of The Jeep That Tried To Eat Jim Klein is one for the books!
Amazing scenery, as well as some great cars. Straight eights and Japanese compacts – what a combo.
The Taunus stands out, though. It really struck me as a better-designed German cousin of the Simca (ex Ford) Vedette. The family resemblance, especially the greenhouse, is a lot easier to make out in these pictures, without the chrome bits to distract from the overall shape.
Y’lost me on that curve. They have the same overlap as…what? By definition, the intake and exhaust valve of an engine have the same overlap; overlap is when both valves are open. You appear to be saying the intake valve has the same amount of overlap as the exhaust valve, which doesn’t compute for me.
I blew that. Since they both use the same lobe, the duration is the same, not the overlap. And unless the rocker arms for one has a different ratio, the lift would be the same too.
I’ll fix that.
This reminded me of the Triumph Dolomite Sprint SOHC that also ran both intake and exhaust valves from one lobe. The difference from this engine was that inlet valves ran directly off the cam with bucket tappets and the exhaust used rocker arms. It also had 16 valves. A very unusual design. A friend who lived in south England gave me a very exciting ride in his in the 70s. Narrow roads with stone walls and hedges enhance the experience.
Spectacular.
Walking distance from my home, is a cemetery where many of the first Irish settlers to move to this area are buried. Their headstones are still legible after some 207 years. I find that amazing.
I’m thinking the “old timer” is a 1938 Chrysler, which had that shape of grille and still lacked a V windshield. Perhaps others know better.
The moonrise pic alone is astonishing and worth the trip!
I was more thinking Dodge, as you said someone will know for sure .
-Nate
Thanks for taking us along……………..a real pleasure, for both automotive stuff and the sights.
I join the chorus and all of their plaudits thus far.
How extraordinary is natural America, and how unseen. The great world outside her could be forgiven she was no more than those cities and the few known wild wonders to which all film and too much writing and photography all clings.
They’re very lovely photos, Dr N., good for a long meditative stare.
Despite Independence, and my own fiercely anti-monarchical being, it is England and the Land Rover for me. They are an inadvertent assembly of the right shapes to begin with, amounting to sculpture the way good industrial design can, and when planted in the grass and slowly stripped of paint by the elements that are bending it to their will for rawness, it is an artwork.
We didn’t just shoot the half dozen pix you see here of the LR – there was a bit more poking and prodding going on… As we were there I was actively making inquiries about the Land Rover and already planning in my head how best to return with my truck and a trailer and tow this thing to the warm embrace of my garage and how wonderful it would be to be able to get this running around town and up in the hills again. It’d only be a little more than a thousand miles there and another thousand back…Perhaps I was infected by the British Bug at that point? Alas, it apparently belongs to “Bob” and the townfolk were quite clear he had/has no interest in selling it, as one day he’ll “get it going again and doesn’t need the money”, it’d only been parked there for about a decade or two now. So that was that…And then they dropped the nugget about there being a Wagoneer in the town dump and we were off to take a look at that…
Bugger!
I really like the cam cover too. I agree, best junkyard view I’ve ever seen!
The Rover will never run again, and nobody there needs money as there is nothing to spend it on.
The Ambassador is somewhat unusual.. It appears to be a ’72 or ’73. According to Foster’s books, V8 and automatic were standard equipment in those years.
It’s a 1970. 1971 and later years had front side marker lights lights that wrapped around the front fender tips. And the 1969 had different side marker lights.
Here’s a ’71:
Polistra,
Yes, you are correct, and so was factory A/C. Except for cars ordered for US Government use, and for the Military. The federal government published a list of specification requirements, and the Ambassador met those specs, so for a few years it was also the low-price winner, especially because they did a bunch of standard accessory deletions to get the price low enough! For some strange reason the Rebel sedan did not meet the specs, don’t know why.
I remember well these cars in use at Ft Meade [Maryland] when I was in the Military Police. We had the choice of horrid Ambassadors or M151A1 military Jeeps to chose from. If possible I would always choose the Jeep in the summer months [more air movement to keep cool[er], and the Ambassador in the winter because they had a heater!
I’ve had recent heated [but good natured] arguments with today’s police officers about how good they have it today, their cars not only have a heater, but A/C, 6-way power seats with adjustable lumbar support, and even power windows & locks! I’ve been told cops today keep the electronic key fob separate from the keys so they can lock the car doors and leave the engine running.