Abandoned cars

Chevrolet Vega

2013-04-17T12:05:00.000+02:00

(Source: Oldride.com)
The Chevrolet Vega Kammback is rare, just like every other variant of the Vega. This might sound surprising, considering almost two million examples of this model were sold between 1970 and 1977.
The reason for this is the horrible quality of the Vega. With rusting bodies and terribly engineered engines, Chevrolet's smallest model had a serious impact on the reputation of the brand. The example in the photo above was sold in 1975, when sales were already dropping, as the reliability issues became known.
Probably the only reason for the people to still buy the Vega was its price. To keep it low, GM developed a unique system of transporting the new cars. By storing them vertically, they could fit 30 instead of 15 vehicles on each rail car. To make this possible, cars were fitted with an option the customer couldn't choose. It was called "Vert-A-Pac" and included modifications to the oil pan, the battery and some other parts to keep fluids from leaking. (Source:autoblog.com)

[Special] Abandoned dealership - Boundary Garage

2013-04-02T17:36:00.000+02:00

(All photos by Mr. Gav!)
Somewhere, on a small country road near Ipswich, United Kingdom, one can find this gem of an abandoned dealership. At some point in the last four years, the owner of the small garage obviously had enough of it after more than 50 years (the business was founded in 1954), so all the cars for sale back then are now slowly rotting away.
Eight vehicles are permanently parked on these premises. There are some second hand cars which aren't exactly valuable or interesting, namely a Peugeot 405, a Volvo 850, a Mercedes-Benz 190D and one Ford Mondeo. The other half of the stack deserves more attention, though.
The Peugeot 305 Break from 1988 the workshop used as a service car is quite a rare sight nowadays and looks rather unique with the flashing light on the roof.

Another rare car here is this 1979 Reliant Scimitar. Reliant, a company people outside Britain only know for its three-wheelers, if at all, produced this model in three generations between 1965 and 1986 but only sold a few thousand examples of each generation.

Even rarer, the 1969 Daimler 250 V8 is a sought-after classic. Based on the Jaguar Mark 2, only 4885 examples of this facelifted version left the factory. With lots of rust and moss on its body, this one would need a lot of TLC to shine again.

The oldest car the dealership stores is this 1967 Land Rover Series II. Its license expired in 1992, so if any member of this models' huge fanbase should decide to restore it, they better be prepared for some downtime damage.

(Screenshot from Google Street View)
While all of the photos above were taken in 2013, Google drove past the garage in 2009, when it apparently was still active. Nevertheless, the Land Rover, the Reliant and the Mondeo were already standing in their respective spots back then. And while the Daimler has moved some metres in the last four years, it already had a visible layer of rot on it. The 305 is also present in 2009, but obviously still in use and therefore a lot less brown.

Toyota LiteAce

2013-03-16T13:51:00.000+01:00

(Photo by me)

Sometimes, abandoned cars look like they could actually still be usable for many years and thousands of kilometres. This Toyota standing in a parking lot in a small town in Greece is quite the opposite. Hardly displaying any undamaged parts, this LiteAce from the early 1980s wears the traces of having been used hard for about three decades.
As this is what those small commercial vans were built for, not many have survived until today. And as almost nobody is interested in collecting this kind of car, they are likely to become extinct soon.

(Photo by andrewcarspotter98)

Chrysler Neon

2012-12-18T17:41:00.000+01:00

(Photo by Arete Trading Pte Ltd.)

Most abandoned cars are old and used until they didn't work anymore or suffered some kind of damage. The Chrysler Neons in the picture above are different. They are new. Well, not if you take time for measurement (they were produced in 1997), but definitely if you have a look at the odometer. None of them has moved under its own power since they left the factory.
Apparently, quite a lot of right hand drive Neons had simply been forgotten in a storehouse in Singapore (or they were bonded, but that sounds boring).

In 2010, the cars were found and offered for $1350 each by "Arete Trading Pte Ltd.", a company normally selling construction equipment. They claimed to have 150 examples in stock.
By October, they had sold the bundle to another company from Singapore, "Puma Investments Ltd.". Seemingly, the new owners actually went through the effort of counting the cars and therefore offered 139 new Neons (8 of which had a manual transmission, the rest automatic) with air conditioning, calling them "ideal for 3rd world countries for taxis or rentals".

(Photo by PUMA INVESTMENTS Ltd.)

Nevertheless, a month later, an American company called "General Equipment Inc." tried to sell the now at least partly cleaned Chryslers. The number of cars once again mysteriously reached 150. The picture of the interior confirms what the list of equipment in the previous ad already suggested: Obviously, the radios were easier to sell than the cars.

(Photos by General Equipment Inc.)

However, the ownership then went back to Singapore, where "OZ Group/Office Zone Pte Ltd." offered "around 150 units". The cars seem to have left the warehouse by then, already showing faded paint and plastic parts.

(Photo by OZ Group/Office Zone Pte Ltd.)

Later in 2011, "Keng's", also from Singapore, offered 136 units, showing how the sorry-looking cars were stored at that time, while claiming to have them "kept in a warehouse". More surprising is the price asked by them, though. Each faded Neon was now supposed to be worth $4500!

(Photo by Keng's)

This was the last entry I could find about these "new" Chrysler Neons. Maybe they are still out there waiting for new owners, maybe they aren't ... we'll probably never know.

Trabant 601 Universal

2012-09-01T15:15:00.001+02:00

(Own photos)

This Trabant 601 Universal has been parked behind an abandoned discotheque in Germany for the last few years, maybe even decades. It's still wearing its original numberplates from the German Democratic Republic.
Before Germany was reunited in 1990, the Trabant was the most popular car in East Germany with more than three million cars having been built from 1957 on. The 'wagon' version of the Trabant only had three doors, none of which are left on the car pictured above.
There still are lots of examples in better condition, though, as you can see below.

(Picture by orangevolvobusdriver4u)

Mercedes-Benz /8

2012-07-19T23:10:00.001+02:00

(Photo by thermionic)

Somewhere in Greece, this nice Mercedes-Benz W114/W115 (usually referred to as "/8") is standing unused at a roadside. Apart from some missing chrome and the too new W123-rims, this example looks almost collectible-like. Like many Mercedes of this size, it probably had a long and useful life since it left the factory between 1973 and 1976. As the /8 was very successful, there are still plenty of it left, making it a quite affordable classic today. So maybe someone decided this Mercedes was cheap enough to not drive it, but place it on the roadside as decoration.

Ford Thunderbird

2012-05-13T00:00:00.000+02:00

(Photo by I am Ted7)

This 1967 Ford Thunderbird is standing on a scrapyard in the United States. Not a project for a weekend, but with a proper restoration, this example is probably still saveable.
The fifth generation of the Thunderbird was even bigger and more luxurious than the previous ones. With its big 8-cylinder-engine, it was not a slow car, though. Between 1967 and 1971, Ford sold more than 270.000 Thunderbirds. With six more generations to come, the Thunderbird was produced until 2005. At least the first six or seven generations are popular classics nowadays.
Therefore, more T-Birds look like the one below than like the one above today.

(Photo by Alex Nunez)

Ferrari 512 TR

2012-05-06T00:00:00.000+02:00

(Photo by Lukas Hron Photography)

An abandoned Ferrari ... where could you find something like that? I'm sure everybody's first guess was Dubai, but this time, that's wrong. Although the plate points to the United Kingdom, this photo was actually taken in Czech Republic. With a flat tire and lots of dust on it, this example is waiting for its owner to return. Maybe he just forgot he still has a car worth at least 60.000€/80.000$ standing in a garage.
This would amaze, especially as this is not just any car. It is a 512 TR, of which only 7500 examples were built, already including the precedessor (Testarossa) and successor (F 512 M). All of these cars leaving the factory between 1991 and 1994 were equipped with a 428hp-V12-engine, making it capable of a topspeed of 314 km/h (196 mph). The speedometer of the car above probably hasn't displayed such a high number for quite a long time, though.

[Multi] Opel GT

2012-04-29T14:35:00.001+02:00

(Photo by KatrencikPhotoArchives)

The Opel GT, of which 103.463 examples left the factory between 1968 and 1973, always was a doubtlessly desirable car. In its homecountry, Germany, it still is well known for the slogan "Nur Fliegen ist schöner" - "Only flying is better.". More than 50.000 cars were exported to the USA, though, where it was known as the "Baby-Corvette". As you can see in these pictures here, not all of them survived. Nevertheless, the Opel GT is a popular classic today, with good examples reaching prices of 25.000€/30.000$. So, even the examples above and below probably are still worth some money. Most of them would require much more money to restore them, though.

(Photo by tikitonite)
As it is for sale, there is hope for this one to be saved.

(Photo by yavinbase)
There is not only hope for this one, it actually has already been saved. See the owner's photostream for more pictures of this example.

(Photo by Pintopower)
Seems to be the final resting place for this one.
(Photo by blugrigio)
Despite standing on a scrapyard, this GT from Italy looks pretty solid.

(Two photos by Tyler Linner)
The same can't be said about these two Opels standing on a junkyard in Wisconsin, USA.
(Photo by cgill)
Hidden by a hedge, this one probably is not easily savable anymore, too.

Subaru L1800

2012-03-22T22:57:00.003+01:00

(Picture by Atrocity_Exhibition)

This car has been left behind in an abandoned workshop at a college and obviously became the victim of vandals. Part of the damage may also be a result of the car being used for training purposes, though.
It is a 3rd-generation Subaru Leone wagon, also known as L1800, Loyale or Omega in parts of the world.
The wagon sold best of all variants of the Leone, but still not in really big numbers.
As this model also rusted quite quickly it is almost impossible to find a good example now, 18 years after production ended.
Here is one of the few still existing:

(Photo by Spottedlaurel)

Update 19.7.12: Had to replace the originally used picture with a smaller version due to some problems with Flickr. Clicking the picture will still bring you to the full-size photo.

Update 16.3.13: The scene has changed, and not to the better.
(Photo by donebythehandsofabrokenartist)

Lotus Excel

2012-03-03T16:28:00.000+01:00

(Photo by Alpus)

Just eleven years after it left the factory in 1985, this Lotus Excel has been left standing in someone's driveway in Great Britain.
As the body is made of plastic, it doesn't rust and therefore still looks quite fresh for having been parked outside for 16 years.
The Lotus Excel is a facelifted version of the Lotus Éclat; sold from 1982 on.
Like pretty much every Lotus, it is not a common car. However, as it is not considered a classic yet, even very good examples hardly reach five-digit €-prices.

[Multi] Subaru SVX

2012-02-04T21:33:00.002+01:00

(Photos by V6CavRS (two), [jonrev] and MindThreat)

Presenting the SVX as the successor of the not quite successful XT in 1991, Subaru was planning on selling 10000 cars per year. In the end, they only sold 25000 till the end of production in 1997.
The Subaru SVX was only available with automatic transmission which not only put off buyers who wanted to use the 3.3-litre-boxer-engine with a stick, but was also known for failing quite often. Therefore, it probably also is the reason why many SVXs can be found on scrapyards today and it is even rarer than it was when it was new now.
There are some fans of this model though who care for their car and keep it looking like this one:

(Photo by Rutch)

Peugeot 205

2012-01-26T21:44:00.002+01:00

(All photos by me)

A Peugeot 205 may not seem special to you. More than five million examples produced between 1983 and 1998 do not exactly make it a rare car.
The one in the pictures above apparently has an interesting story to tell, though.
Especially the high milage (if it is genuine) is astonishing. 444784km are a lot for such a small car.
Furthermore, somebody still seems to "care" for the car. When I first visited it, a part of the front bumper was hanging down and the left front wheel did not have a hubcap. Two months later, the bumper was fixed and the hubcap from the right front wheel had been moved to the left.
To see all photos I took of this Peugeot, please click here.

Happy new year!

2011-12-31T15:30:00.000+01:00

I hope all of you will have a happy year 2012!

Here is a preview to what will be the first post of the new year:

[Special] One year "Abandoned cars"

2011-12-14T23:07:00.000+01:00

Today, this blog celebrates its first birthday.
I want to thank all the readers, who viewed this site almost 18000 times in total.

Now, let's look back at the five most popular posts of the past 365 days.

With far more views than all the other posts, the very first one takes the "victory".
This Ford Escort Mk2 abandoned in Great Britain opened the blog.
One year later, here is another example standing in the same country:

(Photo by iron_mighty07)

Unlike the Datsun 411 posted almost one year ago, the one below is far beyond restoration:

(Photo by edsel)

The third-most-clicked post is this Porsche Cayman
As it's probably impossible to find another abandoned Porsche Cayman, the next picture will have to represent the fourth place as well, which is taken by another Porsche, this time accompanied by a Rolls-Royce. Containing quite a lot of Porsches, I think it will do this job just fine (I highly recommend to click on the picture to view it in a higher resolution).

(Photo by reverendtheef)

The Volkswagen Karmann-Ghia on fifth place is one of the few stories told in this blog which have a happy ending.
In this photo, another VW is still waiting for being rescued:

(Photo by Rolfen)

So now, I am looking forward to another year of hopefully interesting pictures and stories. Let's see which posts will be in the Top 5 next year...

AMC Pacer

2011-12-03T22:42:00.001+01:00

(Photo by ic21985)

Unlike the Citroën DS in the previous post, which undoubtedly is a beautiful car, the AMC Pacer may be argued about.
Many things were special about this car.
As an answer to a growing demand for compact cars, AMC created the "first wide small car" (original advertisment slogan) in 1975. Despite only being 4,32 metres long, the Pacer was 1,98 metres wide, which lead to unusual proportions. The very high amount of glass (37% of the exterior) further contributed to the extraordinary appearance, as well as the passenger's door being 10 centimeters longer than the door on the driver's side.
Another speciality had originally been planned for the Pacer, but the intended use of a Wankel rotary engine foundered on emission regulations in the USA. Therefore, the only "strange" engine available was a 5.0l V8 introduced in 1978.
Unlike this oversized engine, the versions with six cylinders sold quite well, although they also consumed quite a lot of fuel for the size of the car. This was largely due to AMC attaching importance to safety features causing a high weight.
Today, the AMC Pacer is increasingly popular as a collectors' car. A well preserved example can be seen right below the one in an extremely sorry condition here:

(Photo by 731132)

(Photo by pontfire)

[Multi] Citroën DS

2011-11-19T21:47:00.007+01:00

(Photo taken in Great Britain by St33ly)

This Citroën DS has been abandoned in a barn of a farm in Great Britain, along with many other classic cars. If you want to see cars like a Triumph 1200, two Vanden Plas 1100 or a VW Beetle covered in moss, I recommend a visit to St33ly's Photostream on Flickr. For another photo of the DS shown above, click here.
Update 16.3.13: The cars in the picture above have obviously been vandalized, as you will notice in this picture.
The Citroën DS, famous for its elegant design and the innovative hydropneumatic suspension, is a popular classic nowadays. It has many fans around the world willing to pay high prices for a good example of the "goddess" (from the French pronounciation of the name: "Déesse"). These fans have to be strong now, as not all 1,5 million examples built by Citroën have always been loved by their owners and I have collected some of those that weren't.
As usual, you can click all photos for higher resolutions.

(Photo taken in France by darnoc.fr)

(Photo taken in France by fotogravirus)

(Photo taken in Italy by Maurizio Boi)

(Two Photos taken in Great Britain by cfeddie)

(Photo taken in Germany by gemeiny)

(Photo taken in Australia by kid geezer)

(Two photos taken in France by Deudeuche86. More DS' by this photographer here)

(Photo taken in Sweden by epaves68)

(Photo taken in South Africa by fzeisluft)

All kinds of feedback regarding this type of post is welcome!

Update (26.1.12): Just stumbled upon this one and thought it was a great addition to this post:

(Photo taken in France by RicoFromMars)

VW New Beetle RSi

2011-11-04T18:32:00.002+01:00

(Photo by Danny McL)

It's the second abandoned car from Dubai in a row here, but this one is so special I just had to show it.
This car actually is not an ordinary Volkswagen New Beetle, but one of only 250 RSi-models built in 2001.
Its massive spoiler on the boot lid does not promise too much, as the 3.2l-V6-engine with its 224 bhp is capable of accelerating the car to 100 km/h (62 mph) in 6,4 seconds and makes it reach a topspeed of 225 km/h (140 mph).
I don't know the reason for a car even more rare than the Ferrari Enzo shown previously and still worth at least 30000€ is gathering dust in a parking lot in Dubai, but maybe there is hope that the owner is just enjoying a long holiday trip abroad.
[Update] According to the photographer, the car is still sitting in this spot half a year after he took the photo.

For comparison, here is a cleaner example of the New Beetle RSi:

(Photo by newbeetledriver)

Ferrari Enzo

2011-10-02T14:28:00.001+02:00

(Source of all photos: TopGear)

While abandoned cars in Dubai are nothing uncommon, this one sure is. Unlike most other cars left to rot there, this is not standing on a street, but is gathering dust in a police impound lot. And although even the likes of relatively new Porsches get abandoned in Dubai sometimes, this car is much more valuable than the cars that normally are abandoned there.
Used Ferrari Enzos easily reach 1000000€, as only 399 examples were built between 2002 and 2004. Its 660bhp can accelerate the car to 355km/h (about 220mph).
I'll update this article with any news about the fate of this dream car.

Update 3.5.2012: According to this article, the Enzo is about to be auctioned by police after having stood there for 20 months. Added two new pictures above.

Update 26.5.2012: This article explains the Enzo actually is a piece of evidence in a criminal case and therefore won't be auctioned.

Mercedes-Benz W120 Kombi

2011-09-30T22:13:00.005+02:00

(Photo by Stig Baumeyer)

This Mercedes-Benz W120 Kombi (=estate/station wagon) found in Norway not only is a remarkably rare car, but also has a very interesting story to tell. But more about that later.

The normal W120 was built 171746 times between 1953 and 1961 and therefore was quite a common car in Europe at that time. Many examples survived, so it's still not too rare. In addition to these sedans though, Mercedes-Benz also built 5667 chassis frames including engine and transmission, which were meant to be converted to special versions of the W120 by other companies (to help your imagination, here is a picture).

(Source)

400 of those were exported to South Africa after being turned into pick-ups by Binz.
Some more also went to South Africa, where Morewear Industries converted them to pick-ups.
The remaining chassis stayed in Germany, where different manufacturers turned them into hearses, ambulances and some civil estates.
Only small numbers of hearses were built by Pollmann and Stolle.
Miesen in Bonn mainly built 711 ambulances, but also some hearses.
Most of the rest of the chassis were finished by Binz.
Binz produced a variety of versions, including vans, civil estates (often with a big sunroof by Webasto) and ambulances.
The car in the picture above seems to be such an ambulance by Binz, especially recognizable by the elegant window line which is a result of Binz, unlike Miesen, not using the rear door of the sedan and the roof, which is a bit higher than that of the civil estates.
So, as you see, an extremely rare car ended up rusting away on the streetside here...but did it?
As the photographer points out, the car vanished from where he took the photo shortly after he did. Obviously, someone wanted to save this rarity and brought it to a garage.
However, this garage burnt down a short time later, as you can read here. But, as you can see on the pictures and in the video on the news site, the Mercedes miraculously survived the fire.
Here you see one of the pictures of the rescue:

(Source)
But not enough with one of these unusual cars being abandoned, here is another Binz-ambulance, apparently from Switzerland:

(Source)

As a bonus, here you see the original brochure by Binz:

(Source)

Skoda 1000MB

2011-09-26T20:42:00.002+02:00

(Pictures by Stokpic)

Although more than 400000 Skoda 1000MBs were built in the Eastern Bloc between 1964 and 1969, it is a very rare car now, partly because these cars already left the factory heavily rusting (for having that bad reputation, the abandoned car above looks remarkably good, though).
The rear engine concept also lead to massive cooling problems. The 1000MB even had an extra cooling water reservoir because blown head gaskets made many of them lose this fluid.
Due to the lack of better alternatives east of the Berlin Wall and because of it being considered exceptionally elegant, the 1000MB sold quite well nevertheless.
The car pictured above (which has been found in Berlin, Germany) is an example of the first series, which was produced till 1966 and is, in my opinion, a much more beautiful car than the later models, which got a rectangular grille and lost the lights on the C-pillars.
One of the rare, but still not expensive 1000MBs looking like new is shown below.

(Photo by xavnco2)

Jeep Wagoneer

2011-08-31T20:32:00.001+02:00

(Photos by Hoodicoff)

Being "Styled for beauty, built for duty", the Jeep Wagoneer was the first luxury SUV ever built. Without major technical changes, the Wagoneer was produced from 1963 to 1991.
The body of the example above belongs to the second generation, which was built from 1967 to 1971.
Below is how it looked like when new.

(Photo by XBXG)

BMW 3-series E 46

2011-07-25T19:10:00.001+02:00

(Photo by farvellasberzas)

(Photo by farvellasberzas)

So, finally, here is a new post.
And not only a new post, but also a comparably new car.
Although its current condition seems to be not the best, it is still strange to see such a new and expensive car left on the roadside.
I suspect that this BMW 3-series a photographer found in Spain had been stolen and then left behind, but you are invited to find your own explanation for this sight.

The car in the photos is a pre-facelift E46-model, meaning it was built between 1998 and 2001. According to the photographer, this example is a 320i, so it has 150bhp and once cost about 27000€. Even with very high milage, this model is still worth more than 2000€ today if not left on the roadside.

Holden HJ

2011-05-29T14:37:00.003+02:00

(Photo by salsablue)
This car is probably the one in the most advanced stage of decay on this blog so far.
While HJs in good condition are worth quite much money today, this example with all its missing parts, rust and bullet holes won't be worth anything anymore.
Probably it has been used for spare parts before being too rotten for that.
Sold in three versions called "Belmont", "Kingswood" and "Premier" plus coupe, wagon and different commercial versions between 1974 and 1976, 176202 HJs were produced.
A properly maintained HJ looks like this Premier:

(Picture from Wikipedia)

Abandoned luxury cars

2011-05-15T16:25:00.001+02:00

(Photo by Ackers- Schoolboy Hero!!!!)
While many people would sell their mother-in-law to be able to afford these three cars, someone in Leeds obviously decided to simply not use them any more.
According to the photographer, the 1993 Range Rover is off the road for at least six years and the 1997 E-Class has been standing there ever since at least 2007.
So the current photo of this place you can see in Google Street View was probably taken between 2005 and 2007

The S-Class probably joined the collection in 2010 or 2011.

The first generation of the Range Rover, that was sold between 1970 and 1994, can already be called a classic, the two Mercedes probably are future classics.
The E-Class W124 is often considered "the last real Mercedes-Benz" and is famous for its reliability.