I saw a LOT of musclecars sitting in junkyards all over TX. & the SW US from 1984-1992. There are a few that really stick in my memory though. We visited a junkyard in Sierra Vista, AZ. & sitting waaaaaaaay in the back was the badly rusted hulk of a black 71 Cuda 340. I mean there was NOTHING salvageable on that one. It just sat quietly as the wind blew & the Earth reclaimed the rusty metal. Then there was a '70 Cuda 383 convertible in a junkyard in Safford, AZ. Vitamin C, white interior, chrome bumpers, hockey stick stripes. That car had run over a huge rock or something as the entire floorpan, K-member, etc. was ripped open like a tin can & just destroyed. The quarters were a little rusty, but good solid wheel tubs. We reluctantly had the quarters cut off of that car - hell they were going to crush it. We hated to cut that car up. That same yard in Safford had quite a few old musclecar wrecks in it. A 69 SC Rambler, a '70 Torino Cobra Jet, a 69 Cyclone 428 CJ car, quite a few '70 Cudas (hardtops) besides the convertible - the others were 340's & 383's. Hell - I have one of the fender tags still sitting here on my desk just for old time sake. Come to think of it, I have the fender tag from the convertible Cuda here too: BS27N0B170151. The other tag I have is from an In-Violet '70 Cuda 340: BS23H0E123608.

Then there was the big wrecking yard in Yuma, AZ. - Dick's Auto Salvage. In there with two other cars sitting on top of it was a B5 '71 Cuda 383 HT: shaker, front elastomeric, rear window louvers, white interior & automatic with console, & I think a white vinyl top. No billboards. Car was very rusty & very mangled. Mangled front bumper was still intact, but shaker & hood, louvers, etc. all long gone. There was a huge & very well organized wrecking yard in Pampa, TX. that is no longer in business, & was LOADED with all kinds of muscle cars. Probably 45 GTO's, GTO Judge - a 69 red one (yes - red), a Dan Gurney & a Cale Yarborough - 69 Cyclones. Only place I ever saw either one of those wrecked. We got 3 sets of 70-71 Torino rear window louvers out of there & all were nice condition. Lots of great memories. Strange to think that ALL of these cars were brand new, beautiful & shiny at one time! Most of the cars in these yards were probably wrecked in the mid-late 70's. They lived short lives. Man, the red Judge was hit SO hard - looked like it had been going at least 80 & was piled-up in the front. The impact destroyed the roof - the firewall was in the back seat. It hurt to look at it. SO many of these beauties were destroyed from mixing youth, horsepower, & lots of beer together.