Rotten Row

A trip by CM contributor Mike Renaut to Pylle Motor Spares (01749 830448) on the A37 Shepton Mallet in late November turned up a few tired classics.

This Land Rover 88 is a K-registration; it looked to have stood for a number of years before arriving at the yard and had been stripped of a few parts. Both axles were still in place and, from the outside at least, the bulkhead looked okay.

The D-registration Triumph Herald was mechanically complete when we visited and had a large number of parts – including taillights and chrome – still intact. The interior has been partially stripped, though it has suffered from the lack of a door. The rusted bulkhead is likely to be the reason this one ended up in the scrapyard.

It’s not often you find a Maserati at the local breakers, this one appears to be a Biturbo 228 and we can only assume it was a mechanical fault that took it off the road since the bodywork – other than the severe roof damage done by the yard’s crane – looks okay. Someone, somewhere is probably in need of those lights and trim pieces, but there’s likely not much more to salvage now.

If you’re looking for Range Rovers then here’s a treasure trove, Pylle’s had no less than six Classic models that we could see, most heavily damaged. The complete chassis has been sold out of at least one of them, but at the time these photos were taken all but one still had its engine in place.

The Land Rover and Herald are at the back of the yard and are probably safe for a while, but the others will only stay until the next lot of scrap comes in the door, then they’ll be crushed. So if you see a part you need – act soon.