What is this thing/heap of junk?

Someone on my Facebook took this picture of whatever this is parked on the side of the road. Does anyone have any rational explanation for this thing? Now I understand the term “found on road dead”.

Once upon a time it was a late-70’s to early-80’s El Camino. Now it’s a pile of scrap metal.

One of my “coworkers” has a blue El Camino of the same vintage

Also NOT running, as it so happens

I used parentheses because he’s there as often as he’s not . . . flip a coin to decide if he’ll come in or not. And the excuses could be pulled from a hat.

Someone replied that it might be some type of art project. Either way the have the front end up on stands. How did it get here? On a dolly?

The rear wheel also looks cambered out. I would assume that this was a solid rear axle so maybe something failed in that area and it was left on the side of the road for dead.

I can’t imagine the cops when they come across something like this which I am sure it more often than we realize.

How could it be an art project?

I can’t imagine the county giving anybody permission to leave that on the side of the road and call it an art project

This is not car henge. It’s merely one rusted out car

The art project was just something a person replied with. If do I don’t think any governmental authority would give permission to leave this on the side of the road. It would just happen.

Then there was the scrap metal comment… It is something to be sent to China and reprocessed and returned to us as a washing machine or other appliance.

Doesn’t look like anybody really sacrificed anything of significant value

The remaining visible rim is a plain jane stamped steel rim, and those jack stands look like the cheapo 2 ton jack stands which I would NEVER use and/or trust

I wonder if the guy who dumped it ground off or torched off the vin number, so that it would be harder to determine the last known owner

Yep, El Camino. My FIL had one, a 72 I think. We sold it to my nephew and he put a 350 in it and a new trans, etc. I put a new headliner in that thing too. I’m sure this one was just being towed to the junk yard with a load of other scrap when something broke down. Yeah, regular axle with the differential. RWD and too light in the rear for winter. It was meant to ride like a car but have the towing capacity of a pick up or close to it.

No, metal value looks like the only value here… It probably cost more in time and fuel to get it to where it is at than the metal is worth. Sometimes old junk cars sit around in people’s yards for decades before they do anything with them. Maybe they decided to get rid of this heap and it fell apart on the way to the junkyard.

Around here there are a couple people that actually try to survive by picking up old sheet metal and other scrap to sell to the recyclers. Can’t imagine they make much money but if they could get a whole car at one time, they’d seize the moment.

I once scrapped out a Geo Metro that was bought for parts only and it was pretty stylish as well before it went in for scrap metal. I need to find those pictures and post them here. I didn’t apply for the proper title to scrap that one and the state came after me. The quickly dropped the issue and fined me $6.34 although they spent a lot more coming after me in worker time once I sent them the photos. It was basically the same as this car and had no value but the metal which was basically worthless compared to the time and gas getting rid of it.

I scraped our pop up camper and wished I had never started that one. I would have been better off just taking the $100 the dealer would have given me for it. I’m sure when all was said and done I made $1 an hour on it.

This is how someone gets rid of scrap steel that no one wants. Just drag it out to the side of the road and run away fast. Let the highway department get rid of it, and then complain about high taxes.

…which is why I cannot for the life of me understand how schemes like the ones certain EU nations play, where you have to PAY an environmental fee to “scrap” your car, work. It must be a cultural difference. Here, there’s just too much forest and desert: somebody would grind off the VIN, drive/tow it to The Middle of Nowhere, and torch it. Either that, or take a Sawzall to it, and cash it in, one piece at a time.

What is this thing/heap of junk?
Have you ever seen any of the Back To The Future movies? :

Either DeLoreans are getting harder and harder to find or this is a “poor man’s” Back To The Future time traveler. It could have made a hard re-entry.
CSA

Kind of a reverse version of Johnny Cash’s “One Piece At A Time”. LOL

In Denmark, you pay around extra 30 dollar +/- a year (mandatory) on your car insurance. Then when the car is ready for the eternal highways, you take it to a certified junkyard or scrap metal facility where you’ll get payed a minimum of +/- 300 dollar, minus a fee of around 40 dollar for giving it the environmental treatment. If metal prices are high, you can get considerable more than 300 dollar for a car. Some other countries in Europe has a system like this, but how it works/are financed, I’m not sure. I believe the Germans also use the insurance companies to collect the money. Since the system started, we’ve had a hell of a lot less cars dumped stupid places.

Edit. Checked my insurance, it’s close to 17 dollar a year.

TMG (Too Much Government). I’m not in the fan club, nor do I admire Denmark.

I keep my cars too long. I’d lose money. My money would transfer to somebody else, just one more government redistribution of my wealth program (like the buck charge on every single phone bill for low income folks).

Reminds me of the genius EO (Energy Optimization) surcharge (spelled TAX) on every one of my electric bills. Our last “progressive” governor started it to teach me how to save energy using my money.

I get tips on replacing bulbs with CFLs and LEDs, like I’ve been doing for a decade or two (before they were readily available) and educating me that sealing air leaks in my house can save energy. Arrrgh. I get $30 (of my own $$$) for having old refrigerators picked up.

One problem… I called for a P/U and they were out of funds (my money went to others) for the year! Beautiful! I had to haul the damn thing to the salvage yard in my trailer.

I have an idea. I’ll pay for my stuff and everybody else pays for their’s.

I’m from the government and I’m here to help!
Get out of my face and off my lawn! :smile:
CSA

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