Car Graveyards

A real place of sorrow among the enthusiasts world of cars. An international phenomenon created by an abundance of metal which some think can be left out to rot. But with this, questions are raised. Where are they? How big are they? Will these things ever be saved? Car graveyards can be found in any area of the world, even if some graveyards aren't big. Several examples for car graveyards include a forest in Belgium near the town of Chatillon, the Swiss car graveyard in Kaufdorf, the triumph graveyard in Cheshire, UK. The list goes on and on.

There are several destinies for these cars, they could with be scrapped, stripped for parts or restored. Most of these cars however have already been sitting around for decades under the natural elements, meaning they have more than just a few electrolytic corrosion lines. Only the brave ever really dare take on a project like this. To restore one to it's previous form of glory. But before one can do that, one must find the right project, and in these cases that could take hours taking into account the sheer volume of metal which has been collected over time.

Some of these graveyards are a result of enthusiasts lust of ownership such as the one shown on the right, in Kaufdorf, Switzerland. Although this graveyard has now been mostly scrapped and partly auctioned off. It was started in roughly 1933, by Walter Messerli, and when he retired, he passed the collection onto his son who added yet more to their valuable collection. Before it was ordered by Swiss court to remove them from their location, it had roughly 1,000 vintage cars, almost matching the population of Kaufdorf itself at the time. This graveyard is now remembered in photographs as well as in youtube videos as can be seen below. There are of course also countless other stories of graveyards such as this one in different parts of the globe.

The cars that are collected in graveyards aren't necessarily only vintage, they can also be new cars, or motorcycles, and in some cases in tanks or other vehicles such as trams. But from an eye of a true enthusiast, I believe that it is not only just, but a deed that needs to be done for the current community of classic car motorists, as well as car manufacturers who once produced these astonishing vehicles but also for the future generations who want to know what life was like decades ago, how their grandparents and great-grandparents lived.

Furthermore, I believe, from the vast amount of metal that has been collected and documented, and from seeing these graveyards for myself, that they should be given a second chance, a new piece of life to make them as great, as they once were.

Below are images of even more unfortunate, ownerless, cars who's souls can be saved and turned back into the gems they once were:

Videos of car graveyards: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5714CXNXb4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2dnVKlalls https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pmdn7uSqxQ8

Reference list:

• 10 Abandoned Car & Vehicle Graveyards of the World - Urban Ghosts Media. (2015). Retrieved March 10, 2016, from http://www.urbanghostsmedia.com/2015/07/abandoned-car-cemeteries-vehicle-graveyards-world/

• Category:Autofriedhof Kaufdorf. (n.d.). Retrieved March 10, 2016, from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Autofriedhof_Kaufdorf

• Deze spookachtige file stond bijna 70 jaar lang stil in de Belgische Ardennen. (2014). Retrieved March 10, 2016, from http://www.flabber.nl/linkdump/plaatjes/deze-spookachtige-file-stond-bijna-70-jaar-lang-stil-in-de-b

• Oldsmobile Dynamic 88 in "Desert Car Kings" (n.d.). Retrieved March 10, 2016, from http://www.imcdb.org/vehicle_576083-Oldsmobile-Dynamic-88-1961.html

• This Collection Of Abandoned Race Cars Is Difficult To Comprehend - Turnology. (2015). Retrieved March 10, 2016, from http://www.turnology.com/news/this-collection-of-abandoned-race-cars-is-difficult-to-comprehend/

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