by classicfan1 » Sun Nov 17, 2013 6:51 am
An early Plymouth Horizon was actually the car that the Henry Ford Museum had the most difficulty trying to find. If they have toruble finding one, you know they're rare. I think many of our K-Cars and K-derivatives will be very rare indeed and the reason is that the originalc lassic cars from the 60s and earlier were literally put out in junkyards. They sat for many years, sometimes decades, and unless they owned a crane or a bulldozer, not much car crushing went on. By the time our K-Cars were built, that way of doing business was on the decline. These older yeards sucumbed to new EPA regulations, HOA's that built neighborhoods nearby and compained, lawsuits, etc. Since the 1980s, auto salvage changed completely. Most yards now keep a car for a couple years at msot, typically only a matter of months. then the car, no matter how complete or how old, is crushed for scrap. Rust free bodies, all that trim GONE.
Its also more difficult to buy junkyard cars now. It used to be some kid in the 60's or 70's could buy a beat up '57 Chevy or '58 Plymouth and just get it titled and fix it up. Not now. Now many yards are required to send in the titles and its a mess to get it back. thats why these haven't survivd, they all got crushed before anybody felt nostalgic about them.