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French Lake Auto Parts, Allandale MN - good day in the boneyard!
Happened upon an eBay ad for these guys a couple of weeks ago and found it’s an hour or so west of Minneapolis, MN where my daughter goes to school. Took a morning out to get some trim & miscellaneous parts. Fun morning.
Here’s the scoop: It’s somewhere between a self service yard (if you pull your own parts, they cost less. If they pull, parts cost more), but they also have full service remote ordering directly and sell select parts on ebay. It’s a well organized yard with crushing facilities onsite, but they’re mining the old cars for parts probably until just a hulk remains. Their Olds Row was right next to the Pontiac row and just past the Cadillac row, all organized from oldest to newest going from one end to the other. I read the vintage range from roughly 1955 to 1977, at least for the Oldsmobiles. They have a bunch of 1st generation Toronados and bunch of Cutlasses, but I was surprised to see 10-12 65 - 68 Big Olds cars. About the same number from 60-54 too.
Being the Midwest, I wasn’t looking for body parts, but there were definitely some good doors. Most of the floorboards I checked out were shot. Understandable. Most of the big Olds I checked out had long lost their big block engines. None of the plastic parts got my attention much either. It was eye opening for a west coast guy to see patterns of rust common in this region. No wonder you guys get good at welding!
As far as interesting parts I noticed: ‘65 98 4 door with rear defroster, and power antenna; 67 (I think) Delta custom with buckets and a console shifter (console gone). I checked out a few front door glass parts, but didn’t see any that were obviously better than what I’ve got. Toward the front of the yard, off from the rest, was a ‘67 Cutlass with boxed rear arms and rear sway bar. I had the impression that it’s spoken for.
My big score was interior and exterior stainless trim for my 2 door ‘66 98. I was very happy to find 15 or so straight pieces that just need polishing up. I grabbed a few misc pieces too like good diecast rear ashtrays from a Toro and that elusive front left wheel hub that drives my speedometers. I’m rolling the dice on a convertible 88 left rear window for my 98, but ready to be disappointed.
I walked the pieces to the front, paid a few hundred for parts I can’t find anywhere else and we arranged shipping back to my house in CA. Only downside was I pulled a few parts they’d prefer to sell as part of a higher priced unit - like bench seat trim and the turn signal stalk from a tilt column. They’ll do much better selling the seat complete, same for the ‘65 tilt column, so I can’t blame them. It was really more a case of me being ignorant of how they run things. I left those parts with them, but not with any bad feelings.
They seem to have most of their inventory photographed and stored on computer in the office, so calling in and looking for Part X from Car Y in Year Z seems very doable. I did in-person because I’m in the area to pickup my daughter. Pricing is a personal thing, but I felt the value was there.
Anyway, if you’re looking for a 60’s big olds (or maybe any 55 -77 parts?) give them a call.
They’ve figured out the demographic piece of the old car puzzle: There’s no profit in storing cars from the 1920’s and 1930’s when most all the people who care about them have gone.
I’m 58, but I don’t think the age / valuation lesson will change. At some point in the 2030’s or 2040’s, with a few exceptions, no one will care about 60’s muscle cars anymore.
Not least because electric cars can do 0-60 in under 2 seconds. Today.
Not to offend, but drag racing with internal combustion is probably already obsolete.
Anyone here care about steam locomotive or chariot races?
...drag racing with internal combustion is probably already obsolete.
I hadn't thought about this since the 80s, but back then I was in an active psychic group. In one exercise we looked into the future (about year 2200).
* A future child asked us why houses were in rows so far apart, we told him there used to be roads, which confused him.
* The name given to our current time was The Internal Combustion Age.
* The top-fuel dragster was the icon of The Internal Combustion Age for over 200 years. People marveled at the SMELLS, FLAME, and NOISE. It was like standing next to lightning and thunder.
Today we can understand how those visions may come to be.
French Lake is still a great yard for old car parts. But sadly, they don't have the inventory they used to have. They liquidated a good 20 acres of cars a couple yrs ago. And, I can't begin to tell you how many cars they've crushed over they years while rotating their stock with new arrivals. Another lesser known yard about 40 miles west of French Lake Auto is Rohner's Auto just outside of Willmar, MN. They have an even larger inventory of 60's/70's Oldsmobiles (among all the other makes). Unfortunately, much of the 100 acres of cars are not as easily accessed due to overgrowth of weeds and many are stacked one on top of the other. Been a regular at both yards for the past 20 yrs and have harvested many, many parts over those years. Their cars are, for the most part, less picked over due to their added distance from French Lake and the Twin Cities. Bonus is that they are even more reasonable than French Lake on parts if you pull them yourself. This yard is best visited in early Spring or Fall.
It’s a little sad the old cars wind up in the crusher, but if not for that side of the business, I suspect we would have been out of parts long, long ago. I was surprised to see classic cars still coming _in_. For example, they have an early 70’s Torino which looked restorable to me, but I didn’t check out the floors.
Many thanks for the Rohner’s reference. I was guessing there are a few more old car yards way out in the country somewhere, but they can be hard to hear about / find unless you’re a local.
I’ll probably be back in Fall again. If it works out, I’ll put it on my list to visit. May have to pack some tools!
I scored a great 65 rust free wheel well from them for a decent price even with shipping from them.
Seem to be good folks.
Not to offend, but drag racing with internal combustion is probably already obsolete.
Not sure it’s quite obsolete yet…if they only let electric cars into drag strips, they’d go out of business tomorrow.
I bet less than 1% of cars at the strip are electric.
Now…as for the future, a lot of things have to come to fruition to make electric that pervasive to even give them a chance at outnumbering combustion engines.
Plus…they still race horses don’t they?
French Lake is still a great yard for old car parts. But sadly, they don't have the inventory they used to have. They liquidated a good 20 acres of cars a couple yrs ago. And, I can't begin to tell you how many cars they've crushed over they years while rotating their stock with new arrivals. Another lesser known yard about 40 miles west of French Lake Auto is Rohner's Auto just outside of Willmar, MN. They have an even larger inventory of 60's/70's Oldsmobiles (among all the other makes). Unfortunately, much of the 100 acres of cars are not as easily accessed due to overgrowth of weeds and many are stacked one on top of the other. Been a regular at both yards for the past 20 yrs and have harvested many, many parts over those years. Their cars are, for the most part, less picked over due to their added distance from French Lake and the Twin Cities. Bonus is that they are even more reasonable than French Lake on parts if you pull them yourself. This yard is best visited in early Spring or Fall.
Does Rohner's remove parts that are needed and ship them as@crimsoncolby and do they have a e-bay store?
Crushing cars and scrap metal is a large part of French Lake's business. Should have seen that yard humming during the Cash for Clunkers debacle. Brought tears to my eyes watching so many nice vehicles being destroyed...a few of which were 60's-70's era cars who's owners were lured into the dealerships with the cash offer.
There are some stark contrasts to how French Lake and Rohner's yards are run. French Lake has been very active over the years in searching out and buying old cars...many of which come from outside the Rust Belt; whereas Rohner's has done very little in adding old cars to their stock and have basically been sitting on decades-old inventory. Rohner's seems to concentrate on buying later model vehicles. As previously mentioned, the layout and presentation of the yards couldn't be more different. French Lake is a well-groomed dirt/gravel yard with their cars all neatly lined up according to make. Rohner's cars are sitting in a pasture full of weeds. The older cars are, for the most part, arranged in rows according to make...but, they are also scattered about. Making it more difficult to navigate and search is that they have many of them stacked two-high; which I detest. But, I have considered myself fortunate to even have these yards in my backyard. And, the owners of both businesses have treated me like family over the years.
One last yard worth an honorable mention is Windy Hill...located between Willmar and Paynesville. This also used to be a crown jewel of old car parts until the owner decided to retire and the yard was to be passed on to the kids. As I heard it, the decision was made to change their focus to later model parts and most all of the older stuff was crushed. In all fairness, the yard was so well known that those old cars were pretty well picked, anyway. I think they soon realized that may have been a mistake and have been trying to rebuild their inventory with older cars. As you can imagine, that's a painfully slow process with lack of availability anymore. IMO, this yard isn't worth a special trip.
It’s always funny what threads get people’s attention.
Gents, many thanks for the tips on the yards out your way. I look at it like a nationwide treasure hunt.
Reciprocally, here in CA, for Olds, there are just a few: Hess Brothers has a few mid-60’s Oldses way up north, There’s GM Sport Salvage which used to be in San Jose, CA, until the land got so valuable they decided to move to Stockton, then there’s Turners down south which has the best stock in the state. Kind of equivalent to French Lake, but less rust. (No Midwest knock intended, we just don’t have to salt the roads here.) Honorable mention to Larry Camuso who has dealt in generally rust free good quality sheet metal for the past few decades. If you want to go horizontal across GM lines there are a couple of Cadillac yards in SoCal, but I’ve never visited either. Near me, there’s apparently a CaddyDaddy in/near Napa/Sonoma somewhere.
Further afield, there are the yards in Phoenix, which I’ve never visited. But they seem to have some interesting mid-60’s big olds stock. Long ago on a business trip (1990’s) I checked out CTC auto ranch somewhere near Dallas. I think I bought something, but don’t really remember. Either way I came away with a good feeling about the place.
After that, for me, it’s eBay, but mostly for small stuff. Trim & the like. Plus reproduction vendors to the degree that Cutlass/442 parts can be used in my ‘66 big cars. Which is slim, but not none.
If you guys are like me, you have a hoard somewhere just as accident insurance & for consumable parts. I’m keeping spare stainless & chrome trim since fenders & quarters can be banged out, bondo’ed & repainted, but you can’t really repair trim too easily after an accident. I’m also storing stuff like spare brake drums, rotors, carbs and stuff that generally wears over time too.
Anyway, with luck, these references may help some of you down the proverbial & literal road.
By the way, I’m delighted to hear drag strips are letting electrics in.
Sets one helluva a bar for the internal combustion folks. Hoping that’s good for the sport.
And good on the electric / Tesla people for linking up with those of us who still burn hydrocarbons to spin wheels. It suggests they have open minds which can’t hurt in this day & age.
French Lake Auto Parts, Allandale MN - good day in the boneyard! Reply Subscribed
I love this junkyard thread, and love going to junkyards because I am a junkyard man ,there is a junkyard just south of me in Chabanse, Illinois the next town west of Kankakee, Thompsons Auto wreckers in Chabanse Illinois phone # 815-693-2233 and is run by the son Glenn, his father started the business long ago but died several years ago, he also was a great guy to deal with , he does have another 2 yards that I have never been to, Glen stated he closed one down to the public around when COVID hit, Glenn also drives and services a dirt late model stock car, and the yard man is Kevin, both are great to deal with, most of the cars are 1950's 1960's 1970's , but a few in the 40's and of course newer cars. I asked Glenn one time when I was looking for a car if they crushed it, he said I don't crush old cars just newer model cars for the money, I have seen about 10 modified series stock car frames in his yard. Most of the yard is over run by weeds and trees and has a dirt road around the outside and if I ask Kevin he will let me use his service vehicle to drive around, I try not to abuse using his service vehicle, lot of rust on most of the cars, but I did see a 1958 Roadmaster left rear quarter panel stainless trim is like new. there are some paths between the bushes and trees in between the cars , a ton of unmolested mechanical parts here.
Bob
Last edited by BobsFiftyEight; June 8th, 2022 at 07:36 AM.
Reason: Add pics
June 6th, 2022, 03:55 PM
