American Pickers

[ray70]

Hi there,

Just wondering if any of you guys watch American pickers, I think its on the history chanel anyway I was watching it last night and the two guys on there came across an Opel GT in a barn and it looked in quite good shape too. I thought I would just throw it out there to see if anybody eles spotted it?

ray70.

[opelmantagsi]

yeah I saw that episode, was on down under too...those guys are pretty good, they come across some real bizarre people, I kind of like the chick that works back at base...she looks naughty

[steve price]

yeah on tv last night

[mantajock]

yip i spotted the gt

[399Road]

yeah I saw that episode, was on down under too...those guys are pretty good, they come across some real bizarre people, I kind of like the chick that works back at base...she looks naughty

Ha Ha... I agree..... You're right about the Bizarre people too. There's a place near where I used to work called Hope Valley, where there's loads of people/farmers like the weirdos on American Pickers. The best one I found was near a place called Bradwell, where there's a derelict farm with loads of old Cars, Tractors, Buses and knackered Machinery all sunk up to its axles in mud. This place looks like the field on the Wrong Turn film where those Hillbillies have dumped all the cars that belong to the people they've murdered, tortured and then eaten. ( Good film) . A lad from work lived in the Valley and told me about three places nearby like this. I drove past this place every other day for about 6 weeks and never saw any sign of life, but didn't want to go snooping around without asking first as nobody can outrun the Farm dog or even worse, the Shotgun.... Eventually, one day there was an old bloke sat in a scruffy Fiesta in the enterance to the farm so I pulled in and asked him if he knew the owner. " You're looking at him Ceri" he replied. Who's Ceri? Anyway, I told him that I'd been wondering what he'd got planned for all these old cars and asked him what was in the other field behind the farm buildings, where I could see the roofs of quite a few more old cars, sticking up above a dry stone wall. He said that he's now in his 80's and every car he's owned since he started driving was in that field! After a few more minutes, I'd blagged my way onto the farm, with the farmers permission and trudged through about 6 inches of mud whilst dodging the biggest Meat flies ( nearly an inch long ) I've ever seen!

On the front of the farm were several old Tractors, A Forson Major, a Dexter, the remains of a grey Ferguson, an old 80's JCB and an 80's Ford tractor. There's also a Lada Riva estate, Triumph 2000, Austin Marina estate, Sierra estate, Nova hatchback and Mk2 Escort estate to name a few. Most of these were full of junk and probably too far gone to restore.

As I walked onto the back field, there was a sheep's skull on the floor which still has some kind of skin attatched to it as I kicked it over ( Yuk ) Then as I looked up I couldn't believe my eyes... I'd struck gold... In front of me was a yellow Mk1 Escort 2 door. It had the black infill panel around the back lights and chrome trim around the windows, suggesting it might have been an XL model. As I walked around the front of the car, I realised that is was more a case of striking Brown rather than gold, as the front of the car was knackered and both front struts were laid flat, on the ground where the inner wings had rusted away years ago. The bonnet's skin was missing and had rotted away leaving only the frame. I looked around again and there's around 40 to 50 other cars there. A Mini was the next one I looked around and was a rare Pick up. The whole body had rusted into the floor and the top of the roof now stood about 3 inches higher than the engine's rocker cover. I've never seen anything rust like this before ( Not even Manta chassis rails! ) Then, as I looked around again, I spotted a 2 door Mk2 Cortina in what looked like Ermine white ( underneath the thick green moss growing all over it ) sat in a corner under some trees. My heart stopped again... Lotus? I thought.... Nope, just a 1500 when I got closer and a really rough one too.

Next came a Marina Coupe, 2 Dolomite Sprints ( still with engines fitted ) 3 Triumph 2500 PI's, 2 Mk2 Escort Estates ( one with a tree growing through it that's pushed the windscreen out ) , A MK1 Escort Estate, Mk1 Renault Five, MK1 Transit Twin wheeled pick up with V4 engine, A Moskevitch panel van that looked like a Triumph Herald, about 12 Marinas/ Itals, 3 Austin Maxis, 3 Morris Minors, 2 Triumph 2000's, Mg Magnette, Riley 1500, Mk2 Mini,Lancia Beta coupe with no bodywork left at all! LWB land rover 109, and several other cars, further up the field that were unrecognisable. Some of these were just an Engine, box, prop, axle and body glass laid on the floor. There's even an old coach that looks like the one on the Italian Job that goes off the cliff. It's sign written with the name of a local fishing club and has some of the best Patina I've ever seen, The Rat look Vw kids would love it.

The only Opel there is a 2 door Kadett C2 with a C1 front end. It's a white hatchback and doesn't look too bad really and the tax disk in the window shows it was last used in '93. This is the best car on the farm.. Everything else is knackered and only good for parts. I think this car being in a barn has saved it, but it's still up to it's axle in straw and mud.

I went back to the old bloke and guess what... Nothing's for sale... Since then I've been back a couple of times, but never with a camera. I've also been in this farmer's house, but I'll go into details later. Those American Pickers would love this place, or it would make a really good Film set for a horror film. In his porch he had a dead pheasent hanging up complete with spiralling bluebottles and the calender on his wall was from 1988. .Luke.

Edited November 8, 2011 by 399Road

[opelmantagsi]

wow that must have been an experience, if your old enough to remember Bruce Forsyth's Generation Game, I bet you would have scored all the prizes at the end of the show with a memory like you have, but you missed the cuddly toy

jokes aside, there are a few places like that in the back of beyond in NZ as well, will see if I can did out some pics for ya" all

[opelmantagsi]

bit of a vauxhall grave yard in the back of beyond somewhere in New Zealand

[adz the stig]

i love storys like that. i know if a mk2 escort mexico dress like a rs rotten to the core! the whole side of the car come off when you open the door ha ha. but again all good for parts!

[opelmantagsi]

I am looking at the Manta pics and just about crying

[adz the stig]

that white car i think is free to a good home lol.

[rayman]

I would kill for one of them front crossmembers of the chevettes,mine has more holes in it than a tea bag

[399Road]

That poor old Manta.... And I thought my old Red GTE was a rough one. What's happened to the door around the door handle? I wonder why it ended up being parked up? There's a road near me in Sheffield where theres a Mk1 Escort RS1600 in this condition... and it's still got it's BDA engine fitted! You can see it through the bonnet as the skin's rusted away. Until last year, there was also a Black Manta Coupe on a V plate with all the GTE bits fitted, just up the road from this Escort. This was the first Manta I'd ever seen when I was a kid, and used to be Orange with four spoke Revolutions in about 1986. Back then, I was running a Blue and Yellow Mag Burner! I knocked on the door where this really scabby Manta was and asked if it was for sale and this woman told me it was her brother's car, and that it wasn't for sale as he was planning on doing it up. When I asked her if it used to be Orange in the Eighties, she laughed and said it was the same car and that I'd got a good memory. I told her that this was the car that got me into Mantas when I was about 8 years old. I hope it ended up being restored but from looking at its condition, it has probably been scrapped................... Luke.

[adz the stig]

them manta's got parked up after the mot failed. along with 6 or 7 others after it. one even only had 17,000miles on it lol. he is selling the lot.

[manta3000]

i presume there up ur neck o the woods

colin

[biffy1984]

I can't see any rust on the grey hatch the bit around the washer jet on the bootlid could just be a lump of bird shit, maybe theres a minter under all those nettles!

[adz the stig]

the gray hatch was the best looking one out of the lot i think its nose had rotten off but i cant remember. there is a coupe with a non sunroof roof. but again you need to take the whole car. aye they are all up my way. not to far away in my eye's for what you get.

[opelmantagsi]

I would kill for one of them front crossmembers of the chevettes,mine has more holes in it than a tea bag

could be arranged, just means sending it back. no salt on our roads so every cross member I have seen over here has been covered in engine oil and still shiny original paint under all the oil / dirt / crud off the road / bottom end of the engine.

Edited November 13, 2011 by opelmantagsi