When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
Well, went to Richard's Classic Auto Salvage yesterday in Denton, NC and snapped some pics to share. I've been there a few times and I always see something I hadn't seen before. Honestly, the place is very much picked over and overgrown with brush but there is still something satisfying about prowling the yard for a couple hours in search of something your heart says you won't find . Besides it's scenic up on that hillside....and HOT!
Richards has been in that location about 30 years. The site sits on 40 acres of beautiful contryside and is for sale... http://www.richardsclassiccars.com/ . According to Richard, he had around 5,000 cars at one time but is down to around 1,500 presently. As mentioned, it's pretty picked over but there are still things to be had. I saw an entire car being pulled from the weeds yesterday that looked really solid. It was an old wagon of some type with an 'Explorer' emblem on the side. Any ideas what that could have been?
On the Oldsmobile side, he has about 12 - 15 68-72 Cutlasses. One of them has an entire set of SSI's still mounted. I was going to buy them but changed my mind at the last minute. I also found a 71 455 already pulled sitting in the yard looking for a new home.
Anyway, enjoy the pics and keep Richards in mind if you're passing through. Btw, I am not affiliated with Richard or getting anything for this little promo, I just enjoy going there and wanted to share the experience with fellow Olds enthusiasts.
This set has a pic of the 71 455. Also, a pic of a Plymouth hood...not sure what it's from. It has 383 emblems but also has turn signal indicators in the middle of the hood...never seen that before. Maybe a Roadrunner of Satellite hood. Richard also has some inventory in a couple warehouses...saw a nice set of A-body buckets in there for $275.
So he is still in business. That place has been for sale when i went down there 7 or 8 years ago. Thanks for posting the a-body pics. It's a shame the place down the road got sold. That place was perfect he had everything lined up by years and makes. All the way from 30s to the 70s. I see you in Raleigh. What part of raleigh you in?
Yeah, I remember the other yard you're referring to...didn't they have a 65 Mustang up on top of the pole in front of the yard? You're right, that place seemed to be more organized than Richard's but I think Richard is just trying to retire. Anyway, he is still there...last I heard I think he was asking 1 million for the business and property....could be why it's still for sale 7/8 yrs later. I'm in Clayton. Are you driving an Olds?
Yeah Bingham's, that's it. Definately was a good place with good guys. I wasn't able to get back before they went home, so I paid for a car and they left it outside the gate where you couldn't really see it, so we could go back at get it later that night.
I was there when they where selling off there cars before they shut down. I think it was like 250 for a car, I could not believe. They was about 10 or so cars, I wanted to grab.
Yeah Im in arizona right now, I purchased a 73 toronado. Im trying to get some money together so I can get back her and myself back home. I stay in Garner.
Hi, thanks for sharing those shots, love to look at old cars in junk yards where weeds and trees are growing out of them. They usually don't have any usable parts left, but it's nice to imagine finding a lost treasure. Just north of Atlanta there is a similar place called "Old City Car", they claim to be the Worlds Largest Classic Car Junkyard. Here's their website: http://www.oldcarcity.com/?page_id=2
Happy hunting through the yards.
Don
Never could figure why Richard put all the BOP-Cad stuff at the very bottom of that damn hill. It could be an adventure hauling big stuff out from down there.
Long as I could deal with Richard himself, I did pretty good. I could not deal with his counter flunkies and yard help though. They wanted to sell gold-plated rust.
Used to make a run down there about twice a year. We'd hit Bingham's first and then do Richard's in the afternoon. I was buying a pile of stuff from Jim Bingham one day and another guy was settling up. "What's the damage Jim?" "Oh, 'bout twenty dollar." "Jim, you done twenty-dollared me to death the last five years!" "Come on back next week, it'll be twenty dollar then too."
Olds Club went down there as a group one Saturday morning and he'd just gotten in a 67 Ninety Eight sedan. There were three guys doing 67 Ninety Eights at that time and they circled that poor car like a bunch of buzzards. It was pretty well picked over when they finished, and one of them went back and bought the whole car a couple weeks later.
I sure hated to see Jim close his place up. When scrap prices skyrocketed, he crushed it all. Last time I went thru there, you couldn't tell there'd ever been a junkyard there.
I thought the county wanted Jim's property. I know when I was down there they where trying to sell everything in site and to tell everyone I knew to come down and pick up a parts car. He wanted 250 for what every car no matter how much or little of the car was there and there was some cars down there that would of had brought for in scrap price, then what he was asking for them.
Ok Craig here are two that I frequent often.
1) Cars and Parts Auto Recycling. 1261 Victoria Ave. Fenwick,On.
905-892-6844. He only has about 700 cars and trucks as well as tractors.
2) Jacksons Auto wreckers. 61959 Victoria Ave. Fenwick,On. 905-899-3006. He isn,t as large as the first guy.
There is a few others although they are closer to Fort Erie.One guy is so far down a dead end dirt road I'd have to drive you there over a hundred cars and trucks starting from 1928.Hell even his boom truck is a 1936 Chevrolet that would take little effort to put back on the road.
Ok Craig here are two that I frequent often.
1) Cars and Parts Auto Recycling. 1261 Victoria Ave. Fenwick,On.
905-892-6844. He only has about 700 cars and trucks as well as tractors.
2) Jacksons Auto wreckers. 61959 Victoria Ave. Fenwick,On. 905-899-3006. He isn,t as large as the first guy.
There is a few others although they are closer to Fort Erie.One guy is so far down a dead end dirt road I'd have to drive you there over a hundred cars and trucks starting from 1928.Hell even his boom truck is a 1936 Chevrolet that would take little effort to put back on the road.
I bought a P/U box for my '71 Chebby from Kitchingmans...he's not that far out in the woods......as for that wagon on the trailer, it's about a '58 Dodge or Plymouth (De Soto?)
Just shoot out Highway 64 West to Asheboro and then pick up NC 49 South for a few miles. Get out towards Denton where 49 goes four-lane and you'll see Richard's on the right.
I'd love to go down there for a few hours just for old time's sake, but I doubt I'd find anything. It was a good day trip- couple hours down there, goof off in there a few hours, couple hours home. Hard to go when you work Mon-Fri though. Not sure if he's open on Saturdays now- at one time he wasn't.
Wow I guess it's been almost 20 years since me and my best buddy from school would make trips out to these two yards during the summer scrounging up parts at good deals. Binghams also had a nice private collection that they would let us walk through, but not touch lol. The last time we went was several years ago when we heard he was crushing/ selling it all. The other yard down the road was okay, but all the good stuff seemed to be at Binghams. Good times.
I travel from Raleigh to Charlotte quite a bit and always try and make a point of driving by Richard's to see what is going on. I know he has been trying to sell forever but I stopped in last Spring and he was 'OPEN' and fact talked about ramping things up. Seems like his grandkids have gotten involved and they were there cleaning up and taking inventory of the parts in the out buildings. Sadly, most of the cars themselves that were down over the hill as shown in the original pics are gone! Guess he stripped what he could and crushed the rest. Actually, the place was even starting to look 'organized'.
At one point last year, he was hosting cruise-in's at the yard on Saturday with live music and free hot dogs! Not sure how that went as I never made it there while that was going on but it sounded encouraging. He still had barns full of motors, rare parts and a decent selection of whole cars up in the front.
Anyway, something made me revisit this post today and I wanted to provide an update to all the Carolinians with fond memories of Richards! I will say my last time there he was super energetic and looking forward to a revival of sorts.
I'm not sure if it was Davidson County wanted Jim's land or Jim had an angle on selling it to them. He was a County Commissioner for years so if there'd been a way to make a buck off it he'd have figured it out. I still miss it.
I might have to make me a run to Richard's sometime this year. I haven't been since I moved off shift work 11 years ago.
I was at Richards around 93 or so and there was a 66 W30 in the yard ,it was an ex race car. It was picked pretty clean but my buddy did get the original battery cable from it and I beleive a couple other trinkets.
UPDATE: Richard has finally retired from the salvage business and the place is under new ownership. The business is currently being operated/managed by 2 brothers. I've been there on a few occasions looking for parts and have found them to be very accommodating and easy to deal with.... unlike Richard was on most occasions. There are several out buildings full of parts that you can browse and there are still some classic cars in the yard. The current owners have plans to bring in more parts cars and they are also selling late model vehicles. They have cleared most of the overgrown brush that had pretty much taken over the lower lot and are getting the remaining classic cars organized. It's nice to see the resurrection of Richards' under-way! Keep them in mind if you're out that way looking for parts. I'm attaching a couple pics of the progress from over the weekend. There are more cars not shown and others up on the upper lot. They also have a FB presence at https://www.facebook.com/richardautosalvage.
Thanks for the updates. These old yards are falling to the way side. We are becoming older everyday. Kids these days with interest in old cars are becoming fewer and fewer. I hope people can find some usable stuff in there still.
Good to know. I never did get back there, maybe it's time. The running joke in NC car community was every time Richard and his wife had a fight the place went up for sale.
Keller and I got along well. He had a soft spot for big Oldsmobiles. He had a 67 buckets/console Delta Custom in one of the pole barns that I really should have bought from him.
Another NC yard that still has a lot of old stuff is White's Auto Salvage in Germanton, north of Winston-Salem. Out in the boonies but not hard to find. Go junkyarding and then come back thru W-S and eat barbecue at Real Que. Rode thru there last winter before covid sent everything to hell and saw a lot of stuff from the road. Haven't got back there to root either.😠
I was at Richards around 93 or so and there was a 66 W30 in the yard ,it was an ex race car. It was picked pretty clean but my buddy did get the original battery cable from it and I beleive a couple other trinkets.
Greg
I think you may mean Bingham’s just down Highway 49. That car was named the “Rapid Rocket”. It was a Track Pack, and not a factory original w30, owned by the late Bill Rowland from Wake Forest, N.C. It had a bounty on its head at a local track for C stock. I saw it race many times. I still have a Polaroid picture that I can post in which it was racing a black 66. I cannot remember if that was Mr Black or another car. I tried to buy the car from Bingham’s but the co-owners, Jim and his brother who was at the time a state Senator, would never state an asking price.
The ram air shroud on that car was numbered in the mid 70s. There is an interesting story behind how the car got the 3 deuce set up and the track pack.
Last edited by Tri-Carb; December 31st, 2020 at 08:19 AM.
I think you may mean Bingham’s just down Highway 49. That car was named the “Rapid Rocket”. It was a Track Pack, and not a factory original w30, owned by the late Bill Rowland from Wake Forest, N.C. It had a bounty on its head at a local track for C stock. I saw it race many times. I still have a Polaroid picture that I can post in which it was racing a black 66. I cannot remember if that was Mr Black or another car. I tried to buy the car from Bingham’s but the co-owners, Jim and his brother who was at the time a state Senator, would never state an asking price.
The ram air shroud on that car was stamped in the mid 70s. There is an interesting story behind how the car got the 3 deuce set up and the track pack.
This car was at Prices auto parts in Knightdale before it ended up in Denton. I got the original fuel bowl from the tri carb set up from it. It was owned by Bill Rowland and Jimmy Croy .I used to work for Jimmy Croy at Jimmys auto service . Back in about 1988 I was working at a corvette restoration shop an Bill Rowland came by the shop and I had my first 1966 Olds cutlass there . He struck up a conservation about the car and said that he had a tri carb setup off his old car and was going to give it to me. After several weeks of waiting he came back by and said that someone must have taken it from his garage but he did have the air cleaner from it. He pulls it out of his car and said that I could have it . I had never seen or heard of a ram air cleaner at the time .
So way back on the original post 2010 the thread starter asked if anyone could identify the Explorer (pre Ford SUV )
I don't believe it was ever answered, Damn I must be bored !!!! I think this is a possible match
June 13th, 2010, 06:33 AM
. Besides it's scenic up on that hillside....and HOT!
