Discoveries

Our intrepid salvage yard explorer brings you junkyard jewels from across North America.

LOCATED in rural Oregon, Wildcat Auto Wrecking is the only all-Mopar wrecking yard in the North West, and claims to be one of the largest in the universe. And with more than 800 classic Chrysler, Plymouth, Dodge and DeSoto cars and trucks, I don’t doubt the claim.

This month I’m going to show you my pick of the restoration projects, and in the next instalment we’ll take a closer look at some of the parts cars that grabbed my attention.

1. Could you give a home to a 1979 twodoor Plymouth Volare Duster? This one, which apparently still runs, is available for a very reasonable $1200.

2. Here’s another one that was running when it first arrived at Wildcat. It’s a 1961 Dodge Lancer 770, and it wouldn’t take much to coax its six-cylinder engine back to life. It’s yours for $2000.

3 and inset. How sad that a rare car like this 1962 Chrysler Imperial convertible should end up in a salvage yard. What’s even more incredible is that it underwent a full restoration just 20 years ago. Although the body is incredibly solid, it’s a non-runner, and the interior is completely weather-beaten. This project car has a $9500 price tag.

4 The brainchild of Lee Iacocca, the K-platform K cars quite literally saved Chrysler. C Between 1981 and 1995, some 3.5 3 million K cars (including the Plymouth Reliant, R Dodge Aries and Chrysler New Yorker), Y found buyers. The platform was even e used for the company’s popular minivans m and ritzy Imperial. Although officially o classed as classic cars now, th hey certainly aren’t sought after, hence th his 1983 Chrysler LeBaron ragtop being offered o for sale at just $850.

5 According to its licence plates, this 1966 Dodge Dart convertible was last on the road in 2017. It’s relatively rust-free and complete, but is definitely going to need a new roof.

6. The day before my visit to Wildcat, somebody purchased this tidy 1972 Chrysler New Yorker two-door for the bargain price of $1000.

7. Built on Chrysler’s J platform, the Dodge Mirada was marketed as a sporty personal luxury car. Only 53,000 examples found buyers between 1980 and 1983, and th hey are incredibly scarce today. Wildcat A Auto Wrecking wants just $800 for this 1 980 example, one of three in its yard.

8 Underneath all this dirt and grime is an in ncredibly solid 1976 Dodge Dart, which wouldn’t w require the most challenging of o restorations. It’s an ex-Government vehicle, v and is surely worth every cent of th he $1200 asking price.

9 Not only does this rust-free 1960 Plymouth P Fury four-door sedan look fa antastic, but it runs great too. With an a asking price of just $3500, I’m not surprised s to learn that it has since been b sold.

10. Can I tempt you with this 1970 Plymouth Fury convertible? It’s got the 383cu in Super Commando V8 under the bonnet! At $2995, this seems like a bargain to me.

11. I spotted more than a dozen mid-to-late-Sixties Dodge vans and minibuses, all realistically priced between $900 and $2000. For more details, take a look at the inventory on Wildcat’s website: www.wildcatmopars.com