Is the Humble Scrap Yard a Thing of the Past?

I always drive the same way to the airport. I could use the motorways but I prefer the back roads. The scenery is way better and the roads are a lot more fun than multiple lanes of boring, straight tarmac. Granted, there’s less chance to pull over for fuel and a snack but I can fill up with the old motion lotion before setting off (at a far better price I might add) and I’d rather go hungry than have to pay for an overpriced and under-flavoured service station sanger. Another advantage of taking this route, and the reason for this article, is the opportunity it affords me to ogle at the various cars parked up in a certain scrap yard along the way.

Stocked to the gills with myriad old classics – mainly Renaults, Peugeots and Citroëns – it’s a highlight of the journey as I try to pick out things I haven’t seen before, slowing to a crawl and ambling past, craning my neck to take in as much as I can before the scene fades from view. Was that an SM poking out from behind that shed?! It’s a sight that never ceases to arouse in me nostalgic feelings of wistful reminiscence for times gone by. You see, back when I were a lad, when all of this was just fields, the humble scrap yard was a mainstay of many an industrial estate or more bucolic farm yard and you would never have to travel too far to indulge in a good old bit of parts hunting.

They were a place of wonder where you had pretty much free reign to wander around all of the old cars, often stacked three or more high, in your search for that missing part for your build or piece of replacement trim that your ham-fisted friend accidentally knocked off as they over-exuberantly jumped out of the passenger door having arrived famished at McDonald’s after a particularly heavy night out. Ask us how we know.

I clearly recall my first visit as a teenager to one of these hallowed bastions of the banger, successfully locating a replacement gear knob for my Mark III Vauxhall Cavalier but also unintentionally coming away with a steering wheel from an SRi. I distinctly remember the feeling of pure joy that “upgrading” my car gave me and it’s a feeling – the intensity of which has not diminished one iota – that I still get today whenever I strap an upgraded part onto whichever car I happen to be playing with. The scrap yard facilitated that initial delight, inadvertently greasing the wheels and setting in motion my predilection for tinkering with and modifying old cars.

Of course we have the Internet now where you can immediately search for countless parts, all to be displayed at the click of a button, but for me it just isn’t the same. Don’t get me wrong, it’s incredibly useful to be able to instantly locate the parts you need, having them delivered directly to your door, and I’m not a Luddite, far from it, but visiting a physical place and being able to fully inspect, touch and scrutinise what you’re buying definitely has its merits. Not only that but there is the joy of the browse, too.

Let’s say you’re after a replacement suspension strut, for instance. You can search the various auction and parts sites online and you will be presented with, you guessed it, suspension struts. Think about the same process at a scrap yard though. The gaffer isn’t going to go and collect all of the struts available, line them up in front of you and ask you to take your pick. You have to go hunting, and chances are you’ll no doubt get distracted, finding other things that catch your eye along the way and perhaps even spy another potential project to take on.

Their number has diminished with the advent and proliferation of the Internet but they are still out there, hiding in plain sight. You just have to seek them out. Generally speaking they don’t advertise, instead relying predominantly on word of mouth or happily flogging their wares behind a monitor screen but there could very well be a scrap yard not too far from you, tucked away. Yes, it’s likely that they transact online but you won’t know that they have a physical location until you go and pick up that part you just overpaid for because some other joker thought it would be funny to push the bids up at the virtual auction – a problem absent from the scrap yard. Find part, pay for part. Simple.

A case in point: I recently bought a replacement engine for my Volvo 940 Turbo estate via an online auction site. It was the only item they had listed and so I naturally assumed it was a private seller who had a spare motor lying around in the garage. It wasn’t until I went to collect the thing that it became apparent that it was a huge physical scrap yard stocked to the gills with various cars, parts, bits and bobs, all of which were for sale.

We’re sure it’s the same the world over so wherever you happen to be, get out there and embrace the scrap yard. In today’s modern, disconnected world we need to make more effort to venture forth and actually speak to people in the flesh. You never know, you just might find that elusive part you’ve been searching for, along with various other bits and bobs you didn’t even know you needed. Admit it, that old steering wheel could do with an upgrade now couldn’t it…