LEFT BEHIND
Haunting photos show ‘wonderland’ classic car graveyard with over 300 vehicles dating back to 1950s
A car graveyard with hundreds of cars stirs up some strong feelings
A MAN has discovered property with hundreds of cars from his childhood and walks the rows of cars weekly to reminisce.
Some readers say the condition of the cars makes them feel "incredibly sad."
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American vehicle design language in the 1950s was a truly unique time for automotive history, as the country had just come out of the shadows of WWII and the economy was at an all-time high.
Citizens at the time had money to burn, and with extra cash, they turned to one of the country's most freeing privileges: driving.
Automakers were buzzing with new models, designs, body styles, and engine choices to meet the needs of eager Americans - and people bought them.
Fast forward to today, and it shows that mass production of cars had a side effect that no one saw coming - surplus.
Car graveyards with vehicles from the 1950s crop up all over the United States, with troves of them that were once brightly colored and leather-clad becoming rusted shells of their former glory.
One man in upstate New York, Phil T, discovered a property with 300-400 cars of the era sitting in rows along the trees becoming one with the Earth.
He wrote that he regularly returns to the site to bring himself back to that joyous time of his life.
"I drive up to this place maybe twice a year just to look and take pictures of the vehicles. It's a wonderland," he wrote to .
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";I am 76 years young and when I walk down through the fields and look at these vehicles, I am back in the 50’s. Each car means something."
The mass production of these cars meant that Phil saw them everywhere, and seeing them once again brought sweet memories rushing back.
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"I look at a certain Ford or Chevy and I can remember who had one like it... It was a great time to grow up in," he wrote.
Phil wrote that he'd offered to buy the property from the original owner, saying that he'd live among the rows of American Iron.
"I told him that I would like to buy the property with all the vehicles left on it," he continued.
"I told him that I would build a house right in the middle of these cars. Every morning I would get up and walk around outside and pretend I was back in the good old days."
One reader of Phil's story wrote that seeing those cars in such dire conditions made them emotional.
"Fantastic place, as always, but when cars are this rusted, it's a little sad," a user wrote.
The largest car graveyard is in the US
Junkyards filled to the brim with old cars are all over the US.
However, some are bigger than others. The largest in the world is in Georgia called Old Car City.
Sitting on 34 acres, the site is home to over 4,000 classic cars, vans, trucks, and buses from America and Europe.
The yard is more than just rusted cars, though. The main building has another time capsule for the early 20th century and beyond, with vintage toys and other automotive memorabilia collections.
The property has since become a museum where people can peruse the symbols of a treasured American era for $34. Weddings, parties, and corporate events can be held there, too.
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"Maybe if they ever get sold some parts can still be useable. I always contend myself thinking of the stories each of these old cars could tell."
Someone else responded saying that if restoration wasn't possible, this was a better option than being crushed.
"I agree, it is sad. But my thoughts are that most, if not all, of these cars are too far gone to restore, so they should rust in peace," they wrote.
However, someone else wondered if rusting away was a better fate.
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"I can’t help thinking that although these vintage cars avoided the crusher they are fighting a losing battle against disintegration," their comment read.
"Unfortunately that’s coming, and it’s not too far off now."
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