The Junkyard Hunter (2026)

17/02/2022

I think this is another first for the Junkyard Hunter page. A Junkyard Car of the Day that, in all likelyhood, will not be seeing a junkyard anytime in the near future. This is a 1957 Cadillac Miller-Meteor Ambulance.

One of the tow yards that I buy cars from here in California's Central Valley got this car, as well as a 1949 Hudson Hornet out of a property where they had both been hidden for some time. The Hudson, unfortunately, is much the worse for wear, missing nearly everything but its body and frame. I will not be doing a post on that car, as it is too far gone.

But... we can talk about this rather awesome Cadillac. It is still sporting its hand painted lettering, what is believed to be original paint, original AMBULANCE etching in the rear windows, red lights, most notably the Federal Sign and Signal Corporation Model 173 Beacon Ray, and its original stretcher in the, um... "cargo area" this is about as original a find as you will ever see. Someone, probably in the 1970's, took some liberty and installed KC Daylighter covers on the forward facing red lights. I find it kind of interesting. Maybe someone was driving this thing back then. The mileage shows an almost believable 91,284, but who knows? The car is 65 years old.

I looked up the name Dunlap, and while there is a city with that name locally, there is no mention of a Dunlap Ambulance Company. It would have been cool to maybe find an old newspaper with a picture and story, but no such luck.

As for the story of Miller-Meteor, in 1954, Wayne Works of Richmond, Indiana - a large school bus producer - purchased the Meteor Motor Car Co of Piqua, Ohio and on March 19, 1956 Wayne announced the acquisition of another Ohio professional car builder, the A.J. Miller Company of Bellefontaine, Ohio. Under this new conglomerate, the company would now be called Miller-Meteor. A.J. Miller's Bellefontaine plant was sold and manufacturing was consolidated at Meteor's Piqua, Ohio plant which was located at 125 Clark Avenue.

From day one, Miller-Meteor built exclusively on the Cadillac commercial chassis and the first Miller-Meteor coaches debuted in 1957. The new firm was an immediate success and had captured 50% of the professional car market by 1962.

So essentially, this is a holy grail of ambulances. A first year Miller-Meteor is a highly prized and much sought after vehicle. With a little more research, who knows what could be found out. I have said it before and I'll say it again... if cars could only talk.

15/02/2022

Every once in awhile, I get to purchase something for the yard that I have never come across in a self-service yard before. Of course, that doesn't mean that I am the first to purchase one for a self-service junkyard, but I have never seen, or even heard of today's Junkyard Car of the Day in a yard. This is a 2016 Chevrolet Caprice PPV.

Ahh... but wait, you say. Chevy stopped building the Caprice in 1996. Well, that is technically true. In the United States, they did, in fact, stop making the Caprice and all of G.M.'s versions that platform. But... in Australia, it was a different story. The Caprice lived on for another 18 years over two additional generations under the Holden Caprice label and it was sold in Australia, New Zealand and in the Middle East.

The United States wouldn't get this car, at least not for civilians. On October 5, 2009, General Motors announced the Chevrolet Caprice Police Patrol Vehicle, or PPV. It would be sold only to law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and was not available in the Canadian market until 2011. G.M. would not sell a Caprice PPV to the general public, however, some were purchased by individuals. Those vehicles were usually dealer demo vehicles, unsold dealer inventory and purchases by law enforcement upfitters for demonstration purposes.

Available with two engines, this particular Caprice came with the 6.0L V8 option, and there was a 3.6L V6 available as standard equipment. This car has the 6.0L as well as the unusual for police vehicles keyless entry, 6.5 inch full-color LCD audio system with auxilary audio input and single CD player, dual zone temperature controls and power bucket seats.

It is very unusual, especially in California, for a department to leave their graphics on the car, but they never got around to removing them before we picked it up. They did remove the radio equipment, but left the cage and the lightbar, although, that isn't as uncommon as you'd think, especially if the department is switching to different type of vehicle, say like the Ford Explorer, as this department did.

The other unusual thing about this car is its accident. This car crashed into another of this cities police vehicles in an intersection. What makes it so unusual is that neither officer was going to a call of any sort, and neither was in pursuit. It was just an ordinary, run of the mill car accident.

The department I bought this car from told me that they didn't have any luck with the two Caprice PPV's they purchased. Although the officers loved the cars, they were both involved in crashes that totaled them.

I believe that the car is still in our Fresno yard, but it has been pretty well stripped of just about everything of value. The engine, transmission and ECU were gone the first day, so unfortunately, if any of you are looking for parts for one of these, you will need to keep looking.

So, how about it? Have any of you seen a Chevy Caprice PPV in any of your local yards? Let me know in the comments.

14/02/2022

What's up Junkyard Hunter Fans! Good Lord, I didn't realize that it had been so long since I have done a Junkyard Car of the Day. I just don't have the time like I used to, to keep the page going on a daily basis, but that doesn't mean that I don't have a LOT of cars to post. Let's start off again with this 1964 Ford Falcon Wagon that just came into the yard this past week.

I didn't buy this car. Someone brought it to us and what reason they had, I don't know. And since it is a customer turn-in, how much we paid for it is a mystery as well. I am sure the company is happy that I didn't buy it though, because I would have paid a LOT more than what a customer price would have been.

With a starting price in 1964 of $2,349, this Falcon has an inline 6 cylinder engine with a manual transmission on the floor. Some versions of the wagon, when new, offered a "three-on-the-tree" manual which would have been mated to that same engine.

This car is pretty basic with only a radio, heater and roof rack as options. That said, I don't think that this was a "base" model. I believe that this was a Falcon Deluxe 4 door. I put in "4-door" because there was a two-door wagon version available. The main clue that this was a "Deluxe" was the roll-down rear window.

The running condition is unknown. The battery was dead. I did notice that the clutch was extremely difficult to depress and I couldn't get the gear lever to move. If it does need a new transmission, I found a rebuilt 4 speed on eBay for $1200. All it may need is a change of fluids, belts and hoses, a check of the brakes and it may be good to go, as-is.

This car is going to be offered for sale as a complete vehicle once the DMV paperwork has been completed. I don't know as yet what the asking price will be. If it is anything like a couple of other cars we have had for sale lately, it is likely to start a bidding war. It will have to be titled as "Salvage", due to California law, but at this age, I don't think that will deter too many people.

Drive it, restore it or restomod it. This is a neat car that we don't get to see too often in a self service yard.

13/07/2021

I am kind of proud of today’s Junkyard Car of the Day, this 2002 Ford Thunderbird which I bought this from Insurance Auto Auctions for my Fresno, California Pick-N-Pull junkyard. I have personally never seen an eleventh-generation Thunderbird in a junkyard, let alone a self-service yard.

The journey began a couple weeks ago when I found this car while doing my pre-bidding. I pre-bid the car and waited until auction day to try to get it. Now it’s kind of important to note that I buy anywhere from 10 to 30 vehicles from IAA and another 10-30 cars from Copart every week, and that is only a small part of my job. So, trying to keep track of a specific car when you are busy watching 2, 3 or even 4 auctions at a time isn’t always the easiest.

I ended up being the top bidder for the car, but it was on a reserve, so I had to wait until the seller decided if they wanted to let it go, or to make a counter-offer to me. The car was owned by GEICO, and it was listed as a runner, but not as a driver. At the end of the auction, the seller, GEICO, did indeed make a counteroffer to my bid. I have a lot of leeway in how much I can spend on vehicles and our company has a computer system where we can input a VIN and it will tell me, as the buyer, a price, a rating as to how well the car does selling parts in the yard, and a suggested price guideline. Of course, I can go up or down depending on the market and the vehicles condition. Well, I felt as though I had slightly over-reached on what I did bid and with auction fees, I did not feel comfortable moving my price up to what they were asking. So… it was a “no-sale”.

The following week, I was doing my pre-bidding and noticed that the T-bird was available again. There was even a “Buy It Now” offer on the listing which was more than what they offered me the car for the week before. I put the car on my watch list for the upcoming auction and pre-bid it with a lower number to see what would happen. Well, the car came up and I won it again, but… at about half of what I won it for the week before. “Here we go again”, I thought and completed the auction without giving it too much more thought. I mean, if they wouldn’t sell it to me the week before at a much higher price, what chance did I have this week? Turns out, a great one! I go to my “pending bids” tab after the auction was over hoping that they would lower their reserve to a point that I felt comfortable completing the purchase. I opened the tab and saw that the item (the car) was “Closed”. “Great”, I thought, but wasn’t too disappointed because if we were too far apart before, we were miles apart now. But, as you can guess if you’ve been paying attention, they accepted my bid. I got it for half what I bid on it the prior week and GEICO left a ton of money on the table.

That is a great example of why I love what I do! No, not to rip the insurance companies off, but to get a specialty car into our yard at a price that makes sense… especially for us! That drives business and brings people into the yard. All that said, let’s take a closer look at this car.

The eleventh generation Ford Thunderbird was built from June 5, 2001, to July 1, 2005 in the Wixom, Michigan Assembly Plant and shared its platform and mechanicals with the Lincoln LS and Jaguar S-Type as well as the Jaguar XF, all of which were built on the DEW (or DEW98) platform with a front engine, rear-wheel-drive layout and powered by a 3.9-liter (240 cubic inch) V8 mated to a five-speed automatic transmission.

The car was part of the retro-styling boom of the late 1990’s and early 2000’s with a design intended to invoke memories of the first-generation 1955-1957 T-birds. They were introduced as a concept car in 1999 to replace the tenth-generation Thunderbird that was discontinued in 1997. The production model debuted two years later to critical acclaim, winning Motor Trend’s Car of the Year award for 2002. Despite this auspicious introduction, it struggled in sales after its first year and Ford discontinued production in 2005 after introducing several concept cars to improve it, including the Lincoln MK9. The Thunderbird has failed to find its twelfth generation thus far, and with Ford focusing all its attention on SUV’s and trucks, a successor is unlikely at this point. In total, 68,098 Thunderbirds were produced from 2002 until 2005 with one Special Edition produced each year, namely:

2002: Neiman Marcus Edition with total production of 200 units.
2003: James Bond 007 Edition with total production of 700 units.
2004: Pacific Coast Roadster Edition with 1,000 examples made and,
2005: 50th Anniversary Cashmere Special Edition with 1,500 produced.

As an editorial comment, it seems that as each year passed, each “special edition” became a lot less special.

Decoding the VIN was easy thanks to portholeauthority.com. The VIN decodes as follows:

1 = USA
FA = Thunderbird production line
H = Passenger restraint
P = Passenger car
60 = Normal production Thunderbird
A = Engine – 3.9L EFI-DOHC V8
(9th digit) = Check digit
2 = 2002 model year
Y = Wixom Assembly
Last 6 = Consecutive Unit ORDER NUMBER

Order number is the number assigned to the dealer’s order when Ford RECEIVED the order, not the order that the car was built in. Thus, you will find the order number’s slightly out fo order from the date they were actually built and with other units ordered.

Continuing with the Door Tag,

EXT PNT = Exterior Paint UA = Evening Black
BRK = 4 = 4 Wheel Disc
INT TR = Interior Trim A= Leather, W= Midnight Black
TP/PS = not applicable
R = Radio X= AM/FM Stereo with 6-disc in dash CD Changer
AXLE = 53= 3.58 Conventional
TR = Transmission A= 5-speed automatic (5R55N)

It is not certain what exactly is going to happen with this car yet. It may end up as a “Builder” and be sold complete, or it may be set aside for an upcoming “Fabulous Five” sale. Then again, it may simply be put out as an end-cap car. The car does have some minor right front damage which includes the suspension, but it appears to be an easy fix. It’s up to the store manager what ultimately happens to the car.

So, my fellow readers, have any of you seen an eleventh generation T-bird in any of your local yards? Would you restore it or let it go for parts? I’m really interested in knowing what you all think of this car. Let me know in the comments.

02/06/2021

We haven’t done a Wrecked Car Wednesday on The Junkyard Hunter page for a long time and yesterday while out buying cars for Pick-N-Pull’s Fresno yard, I found a prime candidate. Our Junkyard Car of the Day is this 2005 Hyundai Accent.
Now, this story isn’t going to be anywhere near as long as a typical JCotD because, well, it’s a run of the mill ’05 Hyundai Accent, for one, and two, Wrecked Car Wednesdays aren’t necessarily so much about the car itself, but about how badly the vehicle got mangled. I put a couple of images into the gallery to show what a 2005 Accent *should* look like.
I was told by the tow yard owner that this is the result of a driver going over a set of railroad tracks at an estimated speed of nearly 100 miles per hour, going airborne, and while rotating, hitting a telephone pole broadside.
The passenger seat, as seen in the photos is literally nearly fully behind the driver seat. The impact to the frame rail is pushed inboard nearly a full 4 feet. The roof was pushed upwards over 20 inches. The impact knocked both taillights out of the car. This is one of the worst side-impacts I have seen in my 30+ years of working in this industry.
Fun fact: The driver survived with cuts, bruises, and a broken right arm. The tow yard owner said that he came into to see his car a day or two after the accident and his first remark was “that car is f**ked up”. Which leads me to have to wonder how effed up the driver was when the wreck happened? It never ceases to amaze me that truly little to anything physically happens to impaired drivers, especially in wrecks like this. Imagine what would have happened if there had been ANY passengers in the car, or worse yet, if this guy would have hit another car. Frickin’ idiot.
I never preach on my page, but if you drink or do drugs when you drive, stop. It’s 2021 and if you haven’t figured out that driving impaired can kill you or someone else, especially with all of the options available to you if you do over indulge, then I will say it out – you are a selfish, du***ss and deserve whatever you get if you cause injury or death to yourself, your passengers or God forbid, some innocent person who happens to be on the road at the same time you run out of luck. And you are hereby, cordially invited to excuse yourself from my page.
That’s it sermon is over.
Let me know in the comments if you would like me to continue to do Wrecked Car Wednesday’s.

01/06/2021

Here is a car you don’t see every day. I have a suspicion that many of the younger readers of the page have never even heard of this car. The Junkyard Car of the Day is this 1978 Mercury Bobcat.

This car was sitting out in the weeds at the same tow yard as the Porsche 928 from a few days ago. Originally a color code 83, Light Chamois (Tan), it was completely repainted brown at some point in its life, and not to a tremendously high standard. The tan interior was standard fare and beaten to death by the sun.

While lacking air conditioning, this Bobcat did sport the optional gauge package which included a tach to watch the rev’s while shifting the standard 4-speed manual transmission, and a set of three extra gauges mounted in the center of the dashboard. A factory sunroof and an aftermarket AM/FM 8-track stereo round out the noteworthy options on the car.

From the license plate frame, we learn that the car was sold at some point by Drew Ford in La Mesa, California. La Mesa sits just outside of San Diego, so ending up in California’s Central Valley is not a great feat. Looking at the car’s original six-digit blue and yellow plates, we learn that this car has been out of action for a LONG time; it hasn’t been registered since 1983!! Meaning that it was only about 5 years old when it was parked. The hood latch was broken, which has been a common problem the past couple of weeks, so I wasn’t able to see what shape the engine was in.

The Mercury Bobcat was the corporate twin to the Ford Pinto. It was Mercury’s first compact car, first showing up for some reason in Canada in 1974, a year ahead of its 1975 American debut. As a Mercury, it was slightly more upscale than the Pinto, with its own grille and exterior trim including the “extra” set of taillights mounted inboard of regular Pinto taillights.

As the Bobcat and the Pinto were essentially the same cars, all of the information applies to both vehicles, but for the sake of this story, I’ll just refer to the Bobcat although it applies to the Pinto as well.

Smaller than the Ford Maverick and Mercury Comet, but larger than the Beetle or Corolla, the Bobcat was offered in a three-door hatchback and two, 2-door wagon styles. Mechanically, the rear-wheel-drive Bobcat used unibody construction with a live rear axle suspension and a 2.3 L inline 4-cylinder OHC engine. The engine’s horsepower rating changed every year, from slight improvements to the engine itself and from big changes in how horsepower ratings were measured, changing from gross horsepower ratings to net horsepower. Even when offered with an optional 2.8 L V-6, the horsepower rating had never gone above 88.

The Bobcats main competitors were the Chevy Vega and AMC’s Gremlin, but the real competition was emerging from Europe and especially Japan. A super stripped-down version of the Pinto and later the Bobcat could be bought new for less than $2000, although the Bobcat was not as innovative as the Vega, its smaller engines won praise from the press. That praise later turned to scrutiny, as the Pinto’s biggest claim to fame would be the safety scandal that emerged in 1974. The rear mounted gas tanks of many Pintos were exploding when impacted. It was later found that Ford knew of the problem and did nothing about it. The strange way that the Pinto was designed with separate interior and exterior teams working separate from each other may have been the cause, but it was determined that Ford’s design was not safe from the beginning and that the company was interested in profits over safety, according to Ralph Nader. Contrary to what the media implied with the deaths of hundreds, in reality, only 27 people died as a result of fires resulting from rear-end collisions in Pinto and Bobcat automobiles.

Strangely, in a gangster like move of defiance, Ford never officially recalled any Pintos, Bobcats or any other Ford vehicle that had similar problems and despite all the hoopla about exploding gas tanks, sales remained good throughout the Bobcat’s life cycle, mostly because sales of the Bobcat were significantly less than those of the Pinto.

The Bobcats fastback shape and compact size made it a favorite in the American market (for a while anyway), but the competition was much better and slowly sales fell off until the end in 1981. Ford, realizing that it’s compact offering was slipping began to supplement its small car offerings with the smaller German sourced Fiesta. In 1981, the new Ford Es**rt (Mercury Lynx), replaced the Pinto/Bobcat and Fiesta. The Pinto and the Bobcat will forever live with the distinction of being one of America’s most notorious cars from its worst automotive decade.

When was the last time you saw a Bobcat (or a Pinto, for that matter) roaming the streets in your hometown? Let me know in the comments.

30/05/2021

To those brave men and women who courageously gave their lives and to those have served or are currently serving our country, both in war and in peace time, Thank you.

As we celebrate Memorial Day this weekend, I thought that a car from American Motors would be appropriate. I mean, it has “American” right in the name, so that fits. The company went out of business in 1988, so that makes a memorial appropriate as well.

1973 spelled the end of fighting in Vietnam when troops were finally withdrawn from this… ahem… “military conflict”. Since today we are talking about a 1973 AMC, this post will be dedicated to who gave their life in that conflict. God speed soldiers.

The 1973 model year for American Motors was a busy one. Total production came in at 392,105 vehicles and was under the leadership of Roy D. Chapin. Dick Teague, greatly helped AMC with his designs which included notable cars such as the Gremlin, Javelin, AMX, Hornet, Eagle, Pacer as well as the Jeep Cherokee (XJ model).

AMC was building on the success from 1972 by enhancing their factory warranties to 12 months and 12,000 miles of what would be called today a “bumper to bumper” warranty. They covered literally everything except for the tires on the car.

Beginning with the Gremlin, AMC had a car for just about everyone. The Hornet, in coupe, sedan and ‘Sportabout’ wagon versions was the next step up the ladder which was then followed by the Javelin and the AMX pony-cars. The Matador was the company’s intermediate model which was available in coupe, sedan and wagon variations and was made, if not exactly popular, at least more recognizable from the television show Adam-12. (Yes, yes, I know, I know they used both 1972 and 1973 models) And all of that leads us to today’s Junkyard Car of the Day, the Top-of-the-Line AMC Ambassador Brougham.

You couldn’t buy a more loaded up AMC for 1973 than the Ambassador. Like the Matador, it was also available as a coupe, sedan and as a wagon. Unlike the Matador, there were only a small handful of options available for the company flagship luxury sedan.

“Think of the ’73 Ambassador in terms of what you don’t have to ask for. You don’t have to ask for air conditioning.
Or a 304 V-8 engine.
Or automatic transmission.
Or power steering.
Or power front disc brakes.
Or an AM radio.
Or tinted glass.
Or whitewall tires.
Or undercoating.
Or a lot of other luxuries.
Because they’re all standard equipment. Yours without asking.
Also yours without asking is our Buyer Protection Plan – a piece of standard equipment no competitor offers.
’73 Ambassador. It’s what you don’t have to pay extra for that’s important”.

So says the AMC full-line brochure. I wrote it just as it was written, and the grammar-check on my computer was having a meltdown!

AMC utilized the Ambassador name over eight generations. It was a full-size car from 1957-1961 and 1967 to 1974 and classified as a mid-size from 1962-1966.

When discontinued, the Ambassador nameplate had been used from 1927-1974, the longest continuously used car nameplate up to that time.

Kenosha, Wisconsin was the primary birthplace for the Ambassador, however, they were also built at AMC’s Brampton Assembly in Brampton, Ontario, Canada from 1963-1966. You learn something new every day.

Today’s specific car is waiting it’s time out on earth at our Pick-N-Pull yard in Merced, California. Finished in E4, Tallyho Green, its interior has been pretty well stripped out. Well, that may be a bit of hyperbole, as basically only the seats are gone.

Decode of the VIN was straightforward and supplied by allpar.com.

First digit:
A = AMC

Second digit:
3 = 1973

Third digit:
A = Transmission – Automatic, column shift, 3-speed

Fourth digit:
8 = Series – Ambassador, Matador 4-door

Fifth digit:
5 = Body type – 4-door sedan

Sixth digit:
7 = Group – SST, AMX, Hornet, Javelin, Matador, Ambassador, Pacer, Sprint, Concord

Seventh digit:
H = Engine – 304 V8 2V

Eight to thirteen:
261003 – Sequential serial number, beginning with 2.

I thought that I would end today’s story with something a little different. I decided to look at IMCDB.com (Internet Movie Car DataBase.com. If you have never seen the sight, it is remarkably interesting to car lovers!) to see how many credits the 1973 Ambassador had chalked up. Turns out, not many. Only eight 1973 Ambassadors were credited in movies and television shows. The Fall Guy, The A-Team and Adam-12 for television shows and Hijack (1974), Smokey and the Bandit II (1980), Invasion from Inner Earth (1974), Apocalypse Domani (1980) and Dark August (1976). And that is it.

I hope you are all enjoying your weekend, but please keep in mind that this is not about BBQ’s and three-day-weekends, its about honoring those who gave their lives for the freedoms we enjoy in this country. If you know a Vet, thank a Vet. And to those Veteran’s who read my page, Thank You for your Service.

29/05/2021

With an original MSRP of $18,670 ($38,150 in 2021 dollars) this 1990 Volkswagen Vanagon Carat today’s Junkyard Car of the Day and is at Pick-N-Pull’s yard in Merced, California. It’s currently slated to be a “Builder” and should be available for sale within the next couple of weeks, as soon as the paperwork clears on it.

The VW Type 2 (T3) was the third generation of the Volkswagen Transporter and was marketed under various nameplates worldwide – including Transporter or Caravelle in Europe, Microbus in South Africa, and Vanagon in North and South America.

It was heavier, larger and more angular in its styling than its predecessor, the T2.

The T3 was manufactured in Germany from 1979 until 1991. Production of the Syncro (mostly for official use, like postal service or German army) continued until 1992 at Puch in Graz/Austria, where all 4WDs were built. A limited number of 2WD models were also produced at the Graz factory after German production had come to an end in 1990. South African production of the T3 continued, for that market only, until 2002. The T3 was final generation of rear-engine Volkswagens.

In the U.S., the T3 was sold as the Vanagon, which is a portmanteau of “van” and “station wagon”. The name Vanagon was coined by Volkswagen to highlight their claim that the T3 had the room of a van but drove like a station wagon. U.S. Vanagon model variations included the Vanagon, featuring vinyl seats and a spartan interior; the Vanagon L with optional cloth seats, more upscale interior panels, and an optional dashboard blower; the Vanagon GL with more equipment like a padded steering wheel and front armrests; and the Westfalia pop-top camper Vanagons, which came in two versions. A camper version known as the “Campmobile” with integrated kitchen, complete with refrigerator (which ran on propane, 110 V or 12 V), a two-burner stove, and stainless-steel sink with onboard water supply. A fold-down rear bench seat converted to a bed and the pop-top included a fold-out bed; these models could sleep four adults. There was also the “Weekender” version that lacked the refrigerator, propane stove, and sink of the full ‘camper’ versions but did offer an optional removable cabinet with a 12-volt cooler and self-contained sink. In 1984, the Wolfsburg edition was configured with a rear bench seat and two forward-facing middle seats. Under the bench seat, which also folded down to make a full-size bed, was a storage compartment and a rear heater.

Syncro models were manufactured in limited numbers from 1984 through 1992, with the four-wheel-drive system added by Steyr-Daimler-Puch Works in Graz, Austria, with a short wheelbase and 48/52 front/rear weight distribution.

Model years 1980 through 1985 featured round sealed beam headlights. Subsequent models for North American and European markets featured round sealed beam headlights or smaller square headlights, with the primary lights outboard and high beams inboard. Later models from South Africa returned to round headlight housings for both the primary headlights and high beams. This is known to VW enthusiasts as the "South African look," and swapping the square headlights to round headlights is a popular conversion by van owners with non-South African vehicles.

The T3 was replaced by the T4 Eurovan in the U.S. market in 1993 (1992 saw no Volkswagen vans imported to the U.S. market, aside from custom campers sold by companies other than Volkswagen). Top-of-the-line Wolfsburg Edition Westfalia Campers, which had all options, were at the top of the price range. In addition to the camper models, a Carat trim level was available for 1990 and 1991 model years.
This model included all options available for the Transporter configuration. Some models featured optional aluminum alloy wheels.

The 1990 Vanagon Carat was powered by a 2.1 liter, water-cooled, horizontally opposed engine with Digifant fuel injection. It produced 90 horsepower @ 4800 RPM and 117 lbft of torque @ 3200 RPM. You could opt for a 4-speed manual transmission or a 3-speed automatic at no additional charge.

For color choices, there was the Pastel White of our feature vehicle, Orly Blue Metallic and Bordeau Red Metallic. As for exterior standard features, there were power heated side rear-view mirrors with body color paint, a sliding side door, sliding side windows, wing windows, electric rear window defogger, intermittent front windshield wipers and rear window wiper/washer with intermittent feature, Metallic grey aero-style bumpers and rocker panels and a front spoiler with brake cooling inlets.

Standard interior features included: seven seats, padded instrument panel, speedometer with trip odometer, tachometer, digital LCD clock, deluxe front bucket seats with fold-down armrests, two rear-facing removable seats behind the front seats, storage trays, three passenger rear bench seat, radio prep with 4 speakers and antenna, cruise control, folding side table and full carpeting.

The only options on a Carat were the 3-speed automatic at no charge, an AM/FM cassette radio with anti-theft feature for $350 and California emissions at $95.

EPA ratings weren’t too terrible for a vehicle like this at 18 city/19 highway.

With 169,868 miles on the odometer, I would say this Vanagon had been enjoyed for quite a while. It is still in respectable condition, although, it appears that it was last owned by someone who took the ‘camper’ thing a little too far and was perhaps living out of it. The body is in fair condition and it’s unknown by me at this time if it actually runs. I think that most of the work required to making it respectable again will be on the interior. But… I know that there is a following for Vanagon’s and this one might make someone a nice project.

The price hasn’t been set on it as yet and it will be a couple of weeks before it hits the Builder sales lot. If anyone has any interest in purchasing it, let me know and I will direct you to whom you have to speak with at the yard.

Monday	08:00 - 17:00
Tuesday	08:00 - 17:00
Wednesday	08:00 - 17:00
Thursday	08:00 - 17:00
Friday	08:00 - 17:00
Saturday	09:00 - 14:00

The Junkyard Hunter

17/02/2022

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