More Junkyard Discoveries of Windy Hill Auto Parts, New London, Minnesota

Scattered over a hillside near New London, Minnesota are literally thousands of classic vehicles in varying states of disrepair. While the bulk of the stock dates to the 1950s and 1960s, search hard enough and you’ll find 100-year-old cars here.

Windy Hill Auto Parts prides itself on being open 365 days a year, but if you don’t want to travel to Minnesota, just give yard owner Willie Bajari a call on (320) 354-2201 or (800) 398-0566. They ship to the lower 48 states. 

This 1953 Mercury Custom two-door sedan was parked by the roadside at the yard’s entrance, and acted as a great teaser for what we could expect to see inside the premises. The car arrived at Windy Hill Auto Parts in August 2023, and like most of the yard’s inventory, is going to be parted out.

You would be searching for a long time before you found another Alfa Romeo Giulietta Spider in a salvage yard. In pristine condition these Pininfarina-styled Italian sportscars command serious money. Clearly this one is well beyond saving, but it does still have a handful of spares on it. In total 14,300 were built, with the US being a big export market.

Manufactured in the US by AMC, the Renault Alliance and its Encore hatchback sibling were relatively big sellers. In fact, between 1983 and 1987, more than 600,000 examples rolled out of the Kenosha, Wisconsin plant. The convertible arrived on the scene in 1985, and this is an upmarket DL derivative. Note the snapped Mazda truck in the background.

We’ll be honest – were it not for the writing on the roof we’d have struggled to identify this 1934 Pontiac. Located in a quiet corner of the vast yard, it’s reminiscent of the skeletal remains of an unfortunate animal killed in the African savanna, stripped of its flesh by scavengers. While we hate to see any classic cars being fed to the crusher, you must wonder whether there are any useful parts left on it.

The third generation Toyota Corolla (1975 to 1981) was a huge seller in the US, appealing to frugal motorists looking to cut their gas bills. This example is an SR5 sport coupe, and probably dates from around 1976. Although it looks pretty good from this angle, its highway days were cut short by a massive rear-end shunt.

The Oldsmobile Vista Cruiser was nearing the end of its life in 1974, when this example was built. First introduced in 1964, the wagon consistently found 20,000-plus buyers per annum throughout the 1960s and early 1970s. But by the time the third-generation cars arrived (1973 to 1977), demand had dwindled. Just over 11,000 were sold in 1974, a mix of six- and eight-passenger cars.

Between 1946 and 1948 the Chevrolet Stylemaster Sedan Delivery barely changed, the key alterations being different grilles. With a complete lack of brightwork on this one, it’s hard to pinpoint its exact year of manufacture.

Chevrolet built its first Sedan Delivery in 1928, and the last example rolled off the line in 1960.

As the yard’s name implies, the wind can howl through this place. There was only a light breeze during our visit, but it made an eerie sound as it past under this 1956 Oldsmobile 88’s hood. Sadly, that’s the only noise that will ever come from its engine bay, having lost its Rocket V8 a long time ago.

The Morris Minor was a huge success story, notching -up more than 1.6 million sales between 1948 and 1971. However, while it was incredibly popular in its native Britain, it had limited appeal to US car buyers. During the 20 years it was available, just 56,640 were sold, the bulk of which left the showrooms between 1957 and 1961. The biggest concentration of sales was on the east and west coasts, and not in Minnesota, so this is something of a unicorn in these parts.

This 1959 Chevrolet Bel Air four-door sedan looks like it was just completing a Dukes of Hazzard-style jump, when somebody pressed pause on the TV remote just at the moment of impact.

In the 1990s this yard was far bigger than it is now, with tens of thousands of vehicles lined up next to each other. Unfortunately, a lot of them have since been crushed, leaving an awful lot of empty space.

Windy Hill Auto Parts might have been crush-happy in the past, but these days cars hang around until they have been well and truly stripped of all useful parts. This 1949 Plymouth Special Deluxe still has an abundance of great spares to offer, so is likely to be a long-term resident.

This Chevrolet El Camino still sports its grille, which gave the vehicle a fresh new look for 1975. It also received suspension upgrades, and cruise control appeared on the options list for the first time.

Check out the other retired workhorse in the background, which appears to hail from the 1930s. Case traces its origins to 1842 and built its first combustion-engined tractor way back in 1895.

According to its license plate tags, this once desirable 1964 Pontiac Bonneville convertible was only eight years old when it last turned a wheel. It doesn’t appear to have been involved in a serious collision, so we wonder what mechanical defect deemed it uneconomical to repair.

Somebody probably stored it in their garage for decades, with all the good intentions of one day restoring it to its former glory. Sadly, it’s too late for that now.

This Pontiac Catalina four-door sedan had a slightly longer working life, having been on the road from 1968 to 1980. That’s not bad at all, considering that the average age of a vehicle at scrap point is currently 11 years, and it was a lot less in the 1960s and 1970s when cars were less durable. Back then the bulk of cars reached their end-of-life at about 100,000 miles. 

There are miles of dirt tracks zigzagging around this incredible yard, and you never know what you’re going to find around the next corner. Fortunately, yard-owner Willie Bajari knows exactly where everything is, and will happily point you in the right direction. That’s his truck in the background. It was parked there as he was about to remove a spare part from this 1964 Chevrolet for a customer. 

We reckon this mangled mess used to be a 1950 Dodge Wayfarer business coupe. If we’re correct then it’s quite a rarity, seeing as only 7500 coupes were sold that year. Production wasn’t helped by a 104-day strike at Chrysler early in the year. The Wayfarer was only part of the car maker’s line-up from 1949 to 1952. 

While the ‘boattail’ models of the early 1970s are the most legendary of all the Buick Rivieras, they weren’t the best sellers. That accolade went to the downsized, front-wheel-drive, sixth generation (1979 to 1985) cars. Sales reached an all-time high in 1985, when 63,305 were sold. 

Exactly 20 years separate these two unloved Cadillacs. Closest to the camera is a 1977 Eldorado, as identified by the unique fine crosshatch pattern on its grille and the new rectangular side marker lights. But perhaps the biggest change that year saw the old 8.2-liter V8 engine being swapped for a 180hp 7-litre V8.

This 1996 Ford Thunderbird survived on Minnesota’s roads for 25 years, before finding its way to Windy Hill Auto Parts. The car’s bodywork is in exceptionally good condition, without any corrosion. The interior is still in great shape too, although that will soon change now that the driver’s door glass has been removed.

Around 85,000 found buyers in 1996, which was a far cry from the 352,000 sold in 1978, the model’s most successful year ever. 

Here’s one that has passed its sell-by date. You might not recognise it in this sorry state, but it’s a two-door 1939 Chevrolet Master DeLuxe Town Sedan. Unlike the cheaper (by $60) Master 85, the DeLuxe received independent front suspension. It was a big seller, and helped Chevrolet beat rival Ford by 90,000 units that year.

This 1956 Chevrolet 210 two-door sedan is one of 206,434 built, making it the third best-selling model in the range that year, behind the Bel Air four-door sedan (282,476) and the 210 four-door sedan (298,935). Close to 5 million Tri Five Chevrolets were built between 1955 and 1957, with production falling gradually year-on-year.

It looks like someone has tried to pick up this example by its front bumper.

Windy Hill Auto Parts was founded in 1964, and we reckon some of the older vehicles have probably been in residence since then. Most of the pre-war cars, some of which are approaching 100 years in age, can be found in a secluded area at the top of the hill. While most are little more than anonymous rusting shells today, this is still recognizable as a 1937 Dodge.

AM General is perhaps best known for its civilian Hummer and military Humvee production. However, in the 1970s when it was owned by AMC, it built right-hand-drive Jeep DJ delivery vans for the United States Postal Service. Also known as Dispatcher, these two-wheel-drive CJ derivatives were in production from 1955 to 1984. This is a 1975 example.  

According to this car’s VIN plate, it’s a 1939 Buick Special Eight Model 41 Touring Sedan. Although you’d never guess by looking at it today, when it left Flint, Michigan it was painted in Carlsbad Black. Likewise, nothing remains of its Novelty Bedford cord tan interior.

By the mid 1960s it was clear that Chevrolet needed an import-busting, fuel-efficient subcompact car, and quickly too. Development work began, and in mid-1970 the all-new Vega burst onto the scene. The car had been rushed into production and wasn’t without its problems. Still, during its seven-year production run more than 2 million were sold, including this early 1970s GT Kammback station wagon.

This 1956 Ford is not so pretty in pink. It probably looked alright when it first arrived at Windy Hill Auto Parts, but since then it has been blinded in one eye and stripped of its engine. And now someone has unceremoniously dumped half of the interior in its engine bay. But despite all the abuse, its grille still shines in the Minnesota sunshine.

We can only assume that this 1974 Dodge hasn’t been a resident for very long, as it has barely been touched by parts scavengers. According to the note on the windshield, it even retains its 5.9-liter V8 engine, and it’s a good runner too.

If this RV could be rented out, we’d be the first to book it.

While the 1957 Chevrolet is widely considered to be one of the most iconic classic cars of all time, back in the day it was outsold by Ford. This 1957 Galaxie four-door sedan is one of 1.5 million Fords built that year, helping the blue oval to take the top production spot.

Although the front fender tops have rotted out, the rest of this car’s bodywork is relatively solid. In fact, other than the missing engine, it’s pretty much complete. It even retains its glass, so hopefully has a presentable interior too.

It’s a 1961 Chevrolet Impala four-door Hardtop Sport Sedan, which depending on whether it left the factory with a 6-cylinder or V8 engine, would have cost either $2662 or $2769. 

When did you last see a pre-war Nash Ambassador Eight languishing in a junkyard? We believe it’s a 1939 example, which is the year that the flush-fitting headlights, and distinctive slim vertical front grilles (all missing from this example) first appeared.

The Nash Ambassador was built from 1927 to 1957, but the model name outlived the Nash marque, surviving until 1974 as an AMC.

Ford used the Courier name for its sedan deliveries throughout most of the 1950s, including 1955 when this one was built. Like rival Chevrolet’s Sedan Delivery, the Courier was a two-door wagon with no rear seats, and steel panels replacing its side windows.

The 1950s were the heyday for this type of vehicle, but they gradually disappeared when manufacturers dropped full-size two-door wagons from their product line-ups.

Chrysler Newport buyers were faced with a choice of three engine options in 1966, including a new 7.2-liter V8. It produced 365hp and took the 4010lb car to 60mph in 6.9sec. This tidy example is one of 24,966 four-door hardtops sold that year, but we don’t know what’s under the hood.

Ford Thunderbird sales dipped to 63,313 in 1963, which was the third and final year for the third-generation cars.  This one is a Landau, which in addition to a vinyl roof with S-bars on the rear pillars, featured wood grain interior trim. The model had only been introduced a year earlier, but was already proving popular, accounting for 12,193 sales in 1963.

Another salvage yard and another burned-out Corvette... We have no evidence that C4s are more likely to spontaneously combust than other cars, but we have certainly found a lot of burned-out examples during our travels. Unfortunately, there’s very little of this one left.

This seems to be the ‘exotic’ corner of the yard, which is where you’ll also find Firebirds, Camaros, Nissan Z cars and even the odd Porsche.

There were some small differences between the 1973 and 1974 Ford Galaxie 500, but they’re too subtle for us to spot. Seeing as sales slumped from 233,554 to 117,801, the odds are that this is an earlier car. All 1973 full-size Fords came with a 5.8-liter V8 engine as standard.

Of the 35,473 Chrysler Windsors built in 1959, fewer than 7000 were two-door hardtop coupes, making this example quite an oddity. These cars had a $3290 asking price, which to put into perspective, was roughly $1700 less than an average annual family income.

With its 6.3-liter V8 engine working hard, fuel economy would have struggled to make double figures. Just as well gasoline was 25 cents a gallon at the time…

The International Harvester Scout burst onto the scene in 1960 for the 1961 model year. With its four-wheel-drive, removable roof and fold-down windshield, this recreational vehicle was a true Jeep competitor. This early 1960s Scout 80 still has a few bits and pieces worth rehoming. 

Over the years we’ve found a lot of unusual things sitting in the trunks of salvage yard cars, including a dead cayote, a bees’ nest and even a rattlesnake. But this is the first time we’ve spotted a turntable. Somehow, we don’t think this was standard audio equipment.

This Galaxie was built in 1959, which was a big year for Ford, which celebrated building its 50 millionth car. 

A bit of elbow grease, and you’d soon have this looking as good as new again…

1968 Oldsmobile 88 convertibles have something of a following, but certainly not when they look like this. In fact, one headlight and a couple of bits of trim seem to be the only bits worth saving.

In contrast to most of the cars at Windy Hill, this is pretty much complete, and looks saveable. Too bad that there isn’t a queue of car enthusiasts looking to plough money into restoring a 1979 Chrysler LeBaron.

A total of 113,863 of these were built in 1979, a mix of station wagons, coupes and four-door sedans like this.

Windy Hill Auto Parts prides itself on being open 365 days a year, but if you don’t want to travel to Minnesota, just give yard owner Willie Bajari a call on (320) 354-2201 or (800) 398-0566. They ship to the lower 48 states.