DISCOVERIES
1. Imperials have a better than expected survival rate, with far more residing in salvage yards than you would expect. In fact, this is the eighth 1962 example I have photographed, more than double the number of Cadillacs and Lincolns from the same year combined. Why? Because they're so strong that they're banned from demolition derbies! Look at the rust-free bodywork on this Californian example.
2. The Chevrolet Sedan Delivery, which was a converted passenger car, was sold between 1930 and 1960. It was eventually killed off by the arrival of the rear-engined Corvan. This rare 1953 example was photographed in a Texan junkyard.
3. With its opera windows, continental spare tyre boot lid and vinyl roof, the Lincoln Continental
Mk IV (1972-1976) was the epitome of Seventies personal luxury. The car was a runaway sales success, outselling its Cadillac Eldorado rival in every year of production. I found this unloved 1974 example in a Tennessee garden.
4. Here's one of several 1955 Chevrolets I found at South Dakota's Oakleaf Old Cars and Crushing. The yard has some real oddities too, like that Citroen 2CV you can just make out in the background.
5. And here's another one of the Oakleaf ' oddities' I was talking about - a 1950 Crosley. Independent car-maker Crosley, based in Cincinnati, Ohio, built a range of sub-compact vehicles from 1946 to 1952. Roughly 26,000 of these micro sedans found buyers over the eight years they were in production. That bonnet ornament definitely isn't original, and looks to me like it's off a Pontiac.
6. This Texan 1936 Nash has done well to survive this long, but with so few usable parts left on it, I fear its days are numbered.
7. I came across this pitiful pair in Mississippi, close to the Arkansas border. The GMC on the left appears to date from the Second World War, and that's a Diamond T 921 tractor unit next to it.
8. The bodywork is in great shape, but unfortunately it's a very different story inside this ragtop Corvair. You can just make out the two big cracks on the dashboard, which were caused by the elements, and it's a similar story with the seats and door cards. What a shame it wasn't covered up.
9 and 10. Dodge Challengers don't appear very frequently on these pages, quite simply because most have been restored and are sitting under dust covers in garages for most of the year. So, I was surprised to spot this pair sitting in a garden in Pocahuntas, Arkansas. The green car is a 1971 example, while the pale blue one is two years newer.
11. A 1954 Mercury Monterey languishes in a small rural junkyard in Tennessee. New for 1954 was a 161bhp overhead valve VB, and a beefier Merc-o-Matic transmission. Almost 80,000 of these two-door hardtop coupes found buyers.