The Junkyard Discoveries of Black Canyon, Arizona

This incredible place has more than 1000 classic cars, mostly from the 1960s and 1970s. In addition to an abundance of rare parts cars, we found a fine selection of project vehicles which were crying out for a new home.

Although most American marques can be found at the yard, there appeared to be a particularly high concentration of Cadillacs during our visit. 

Desert Valley Auto Parts also has another site in Casa Grande, Arizona, which concentrates on the older vehicles, and we’ll be posting a full report from there at a later date.

How’s this for a nice view? It’s a 1973 Oldsmobile Ninety-Eight two-door hardtop, and it was the first car that greeted us as we walked towards the yard’s entrance. It certainly gave a taster of what we could expect to find inside.

The Ninety-Eight was Oldsmobile’s flagship from the 1940s through to 1996.

Here’s a 1960s convertible that was worth saving, and Desert Valley Auto Parts obviously agreed with us. They put a $7500 price tag on this 1966 Plymouth Satellite.

It was in pretty good condition, although a close inspection of the floor revealed a few holes. Unfortunately the interior had been subjected to the weather for a long time, and had suffered as a consequence.

Ford might have sold over 3 million Pintos between 1971 and 1980, but they didn’t have a great survival rate, and by the late 1980s junkyards were overflowing with them.

Today their appeal is increasing, but it’s getting harder to find decent ones. This station wagon appeared to be 100% complete, right down to its wheel trims and tailgate spoiler. 

The climate in this part of the world ensures a wide selection of rust-free vehicles, like this 1970 Pontiac Catalina parts car that was a Desert Valley Auto Parts resident.

Welcome to Cadillac corner, where we found close to 100 examples of the marque in various stages of disrepair and decay.

This, a 1968 Eldorado, was one of 24,528 of the front-wheel drive ‘personal luxury’ cars built. It’s an eighth generation car, which shared the E-body with the original Oldsmobile Toronado.

Presumably the ‘NO’ scrawled over this car was an instruction not to break it for parts. That was just as well too, as it’s a desirable 1967 Chrysler New Yorker two-door.

Back in the day this car was quite a mover, its 7.2-litre V8 was good for 350bhp, propelling it to 100 km/h in just 8.5 seconds, and on to a top speed of 208 km/h.

This part of Arizona gets just 23 centimetres of rain per annum, compared with a US average of 97 centimetres. With this in mind, it’s easy to see why so many of the cars at Desert Valley Auto Parts are rust-free, and why parts are sold to collectors from all over the world.

This 1967 Dodge Polara four-door hardtop was a great example of the rust-free classic parts cars that you can find at Desert Valley Auto Parts.

Taking centre stage was this rather battered 1967 Ford Galaxie convertible. Just 19,068 of these were built, making it something of a rarity. Whilst it still had some great parts, unfortunately the interior had been exposed to the sun for far too long, and was totally ruined.

You could have been the proud owner of this 1972 Cadillac Coupe DeVille for the bargain price of $4500. It was in pretty good shape, and by the looks of things it even came with a spare hood.

The car was supplied new by Rickenbaugh Cadillac of Denver, Colorado. The dealership was already 28 years old when this car was sold, and is still going strong today.

Judging by its rusty sills, this 1967 Plymouth Fury III four-door sedan had probably spent a number of years out of state. It appears to have had a tough life, and just about every panel is dented. That said, there were still plenty of great parts up for grabs.

The writing on this car made it clear that it was not to be crushed. That was a sensible decision, because even in poor condition, an early Ford Mustang is a desirable car. The grille, with its horizontal bars, identifies it as a 1966 model, one of 607,578 built.

This 1970 Cadillac Sedan DeVille hardtop had few redeeming features, but 50-plus years ago it would have been a very different story. This distinguished car came with a host of creature comforts as standard, and could even be specified with automatic climate control.

The car was powered by an 8.2-litre V8, which according to the sales literature, offered “a responsiveness that leaves the sixties far behind, yet speaks quietly about its remarkable performance”.

The Pontiac Custom S, which was a replacement for the Tempest Custom, was only built in 1969. The following year it was replaced by a base model LeMans. Some 84,500 were produced, but they’re scarce today.

It is rumoured that it’s possible to land a light aircraft on the trunk lid of a 1971 Cadillac, such are its huge dimensions. However, on this occasion it looked like someone attempted to land one on its roof…

Needless to say this wasn’t a restoration project. It still had plenty of great parts to offer, including, rather incredibly, that rear offside window.

Here’s one that probably won’t get too many people excited, a 1975 Plymouth Valiant four-door sedan. That said, it was in remarkably good condition, and deserves to be saved.

While they weren’t overly exciting, they certainly sold well, and remained in production from 1959 to 1976. This is a fourth generation car.

Desert Valley Auto Parts thought that this 1973 rusted-out Pontiac Firebird had restoration potential, as they were selling it as a project car. However, the only thing it appeared to have going for it was the Esprit badge on the B-pillar.

Offered between 1970 and 1981, these were the top-of-the-range luxury models. In 1973 the Esprit was actually the top-selling model, finding 17,249 buyers.

There were a handful of cars parked-up outside the entrance, including this 1971 Cadillac Series 75 Fleetwood. Looking at this sorry parts car, it’s hard to imagine a time when it wafted down the highway, transporting its occupants in the ultimate of opulence.

It might have weighed in at 2545 kg, but thanks to its 7.7-liter V8 engine, this 6.3 metre long luxury cruiser could still mange 100 km/h in about 11sec.

This 1968 Bel Air was being offered as a project, so it may have lived to see another day. It was a very different story for the parts cars in the background though, which all faced a far less pleasant fate.

Launched in 1950, the Bel Air was Chevrolet’s top trim car for a quarter of a century.

With its two-tone red and white paintwork, this 1976 Chrysler Town & Country certainly stood out against the desert backdrop. Chrysler used the Town & Country name from the 1940s all the way through to 1988.

Then, when station wagons fell out of favour with US cay buyers, the name reappeared on the back of a luxury rebadged Dodge Caravan people carrier.

This 1971 Lincoln Continental was another car parked up outside the entrance, welcoming visitors to this incredible yard, and giving them a taste of what they could expect to find inside.

When launched in 1970, the restyled Continental wasn’t particularly well received. So needless to say, when only minor tweaks were made the following year, sales weren’t much better.

It looked as though someone had purchased the front wing from this 1973 Oldsmobile Delta 88, and it was awaiting removal and shipping. In 1973 Oldsmobile sold 922,771 cars, making them the third best-selling marque (behind Chevrolet and Ford) for the second year running.

In 1983 (916,583) and 1985 (1.17 million), Oldsmobile would actually overtake Ford to take second place in the market. But things were about to take a turn for the worst, and by 2000 it couldn’t even manage 250,000 sales per annum. America’s oldest surviving car manufacturer was closed down in 2004.

Desert Valley Auto Parts had more than its fair share of convertibles, including this 1972 Pontiac Catalina project car. Although, structurally, it appeared to be sound, some significant expense was certainly required to coax it back to life – not least because of the interior, which needed to be completely replaced.

In contrast to some of the well picked over parts cars, this 1974 Chevrolet El Camino looked like it could have been driven straight out of the yard. It clearly hadn’t been a resident for long, as it still held air in all four tires.

The El Camino was launched in 1959, two years after its Ford Ranchero rival. However, the first coupe utility vehicles were actually built in Australia in the early 1930s.

Oldsmobile Starfires were few and far between in the 1970s, and have all but disappeared today. Built between 1975 and 1980, they were no more than badge-engineered Chevrolet Monzas, but sold in significantly fewer numbers (125,188 in six years).

Some 58,325 buyers drove a new Grand Prix out of Pontiac showrooms in 1971, which was several thousand fewer than the previous year. In fact it proved to be the worst seller of all the third generation (1969 to 1972) cars. Grand Prix badges appeared on Pontiacs from 1962 all the way through to 2008.

Just why someone placed a picture frame against this Chrysler, perfectly framing the Imperial badge, is anyone’s guess. It's a 1974 two-door hardtop, and although it appeared to be in sound condition, it was not deemed a suitable project car. It certainly had plenty of great parts on it, including its hidden headlights.

It took more than 17 seconds for the 7.2-litre V8 to propel the Imperial to 100 km/h, but then it did weigh in at close to 2300 kg.

This 1973 Eldorado convertible was in the process of being stripped for parts. By the early 1970s the number of American-built convertibles on the market was dwindling, and three years after this one rolled off the line, the 1976 Eldorado was officially billed as the “last American convertible”.

This encouraged a number of people to buy them as investments, but they were none too pleased when Cadillac reintroduced a soft top Eldorado in 1984.

Up until a few years ago, we wouldn’t have considered pointing our camera at anything as modern as a Pontiac Sunbird. However, even the newest examples of these first generation cars are now well over 40 years old, and they don’t appear to have had a particularly good survival rate.

This two-door sedan is one of 52,031 built in 1976, and could be purchased as a complete car.

Desert Valley Auto Parts was definitely one of the most organised yards we’ve come across, and everything was well catalogued. All cars had a six-digit code scrawled somewhere on the vehicle, the first two digits identifying the year of manufacture, and the last four being a unique identification number.

Knowing what year the cars were made certainly makes the task of identifying them that much easier. That said, the ‘73’ written on this Chrysler Imperial LeBaron four-door hardtop’s windshield somewhat confused us, because it appears to be a 1971 model.

The best years of this Lincoln, were, unfortunately, far behind it. Judging by the faded paint, peeling roof and sunken wheels, it probably hadn’t moved for a long while, like many of the other cars at the site.

What a beauty this 1964 Ford Thunderbird was. With a bit of love, four new tyres and a fresh vinyl roof, it wouldn’t have looked out of place at a classic car show. It was certainly far too good to be languishing in a salvage yard.

1964 was the first year for the fourth generation Thunderbirds, and it was also its best year in terms of production volumes, with 93,465 rolling off the line.

According to its Desert Valley Auto Parts’ in-house stock number, this Ford Maverick was built in 1977, its final year of production. Some 58,420 of these four-door saloons were built that year, out of an impressive total of 2.1 million throughout the model’s nine-year production run.

We’d love to know what condition this 1966 Buick Electra 225 convertible was in when it arrived at the yard, and why it was deemed to be a parts car and not a potential restoration project. It’s quite desirable, and with just 7175 being built, a rarity too.

A 1971 Mercury Marquis Colony Park station wagon sat by the yard’s entrance, hoping to be spotted, purchased, rescued, returned to its former glory and hopefully taken on another family vacation.

Although a bit tatty, it was pretty much complete - wheel trims aside.

Desert Valley Auto Parts had a pair of 1971 Pontiac Catalina two-door hardtops in stock; a project car and a parts vehicle. While the latter would have no doubt proved a great source of spares for whoever bought this one, unfortunately it also had a smashed windshield.

1968 Chrysler Town & Country station wagons were given simulated walnut grain panelling as standard. But genuine wood was still available as an option on wagons, as well as on coupes and convertibles. One of this car’s previous owners clearly wasn’t a fan of the fake wood, choosing to hand-paint it pink.

There were three instructions on the blue 1976 Dodge Aspen’s windshield – ‘Clean out’, ‘Save good stuff in trunk’ and ‘Put in yard’. We wonder what the good stuff was. Yard owners must find some great bits and pieces, and presumably a fair bit of loose change too, when they rummage through car interiors. The yellow Aspen on top also appears to be a 1976 model.

While we wouldn’t bet any money on it, our best guess is that both of these Pontiac Firebirds are from 1980. The original wire wheel covers on the bottom car had done well to survive. A total of 107,340 were built that year.

Considering that the front half of the car was missing, it was safe to assume that this 1968 Buick Skylark Sport Wagon wouldn’t ever be driving again. It did however still have some hard-to find parts. While the skylight over the second seat area was long gone, the side windows in the raised roof were still intact.

Nearly 23,000 Sport Wagons found buyers, compared with 36,143 Oldsmobile Vista Cruisers in the same year.

Here’s one that looked far too good to break for parts, but that’s what was happening to it. It’s a 1966 Chrysler 300 four-door hard top, and it was very solid.

Meanwhile, in the background, there was also a pair of Firebirds.

British automotive journalist Will Shiers has been photographing abandoned American cars for 35 years. He has visited all 50 states on his tin-hunting trips, exploring barns, fields, deserts, ghost towns and salvage yards, while searching for hidden treasures. 

Will has been contributing to car magazines for three decades, and is the author of Roadside Relics - America’s Abandoned Automobiles. 

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