Junkyard Discoveries of Mitchell, South Dakota

And that’s exactly why we paid them a visit. The only problem was that we arrived at 11.45am one Saturday morning, just 15 minutes before the yard closed for the day. As a result we ran around this wonderful place at breakneck speed. 

Hopefully you’ll agree that we photographed some fantastic cars, but it still haunts us how many treasures we must have missed on our whistle-stop tour. Since our visit the yard has changed hands, and now belongs to H&R Salvage. We wonder if any of the old cars survived.

Although it’s a bit rough around the edges, this 1971 Chrysler Newport Custom two-door hardtop is a solid car, and will hopefully have been saved. These fuselage-styled cars had plenty of engine options, but the most desirable of the lot had the 7.2-litre 335bhp V8, which took the car to 60mph in just 7.2sec. 

This Ford has '48-9' written on it, indicating that the painter can't decide whether it was built in 1948 or 1949. This is a bit odd considering that these two cars looked completely different. It would make more sense if it read '49-50', after all, Fords hailing from these two years were almost identical.

As you’ve probably already guessed, this isn't an ultra-rare four-door convertible – the roof has simply been cut off and sold as a spare part. The 1949 Ford range was unveiled in June 1948, the first all-new full-size postwar Ford; it proved a sales smash.

Judging by the minimalist amount of chrome on this 1960 Chevrolet, it's a budget Biscayne model. But the Biscayne wasn't the cheapest in the line-up that year, as General Motors also sold a stripped-down poverty-spec Fleetmaster version. This was sparsely trimmed, and didn't even have door armrests or a passenger sun visor. It was easily identified from the exterior by the many parts that were painted rather than chrome-plated.

Here’s a rare car – a 1958 Studebaker President. The President had been the company's flagship model from 1926 through to 1942. The name was then revived in 1955, and lasted until 1958, by which time Studebaker was concentrating its efforts on the compact Lark. Despite impressive fins and an abundance of chrome, less than 5000 Presidents found buyers in its final year.

Not so pretty in pink – this 1956 Plymouth Belvedere hasn't been on the road since the mid 1980s. 

The car is equipped with the two-speed PowerFlite transmission, which was offered in Plymouths and Dodges from 1954 to 1961. Initially it was controlled by a lever mounted on the steering column, but this moved to the dashboard in 1955. A year later it changed again, this time to push-button controls.

Between 1985 and 1989, German-built Fords were sold in the US under the short lived Merkur brand. The only two models offered were the XR4Ti (a slightly modified Ford Sierra XR4i), and the Scorpio (a Ford Granada Mk3). Like the Edsel brand three decades earlier, Merkur was a flop, with just 26,000 XR4Ti’s and 22,000 Scorpios finding buyers.

Judging by the rear licence plate light, this Jaguar XJ6 is a series 2. Built between 1972 and 1977, the series 2 featured a redesigned front end, with a higher bumper and smaller grille. This was implemented to comply with US crash safety regulations, which was imperative seeing as this was its largest export market. In total, slightly more than 91,227 series 2s were sold. Prominent in this photo is one of the model’s somewhat unique features: twin fuel tanks.

The trunk lid and off-side rear door are the only two straight panels on this 1953 Nash. 

We didn't have the time to venture any deeper into the yard than this, which is a huge pity as it's the kind of place we would have loved to have spent the day wandering around. We wonder what gems are lurking in the background.

It says '53' on the boot, but we’re pretty sure this Packard Clipper is actually a year later than that. It almost looks as if someone decided to crush it, and then changed their minds at the last minute. Either way, its days are definitely numbered. 

This was the year that Packard purchased its larger rival Studebaker, forming Studebaker-Packard.

Here's another rare Packard with roof issues, and judging by the lack of chrome on the rear, we believe it’s probably a 1951 200 Deluxe. The 200s were Packard’s entry-level model in 1951 and 1952, so were the shortest and least powerful in the range. They would be renamed Clipper in 1953. 

Packard achieved about 100,000 sales in 1951, making it the US’s 16th best-selling marque, with only Henry J, Lincoln, Frazer and Crosley behind it. By 1956 sales had dropped to 10,000 units. The plug was pulled in 1958.

We’re going to take their word that this is indeed a 1937 Buick, but without the beautiful Art Deco grille and distinctive headlights, it’s difficult to be sure.  We would love to have thoroughly explored this section of the yard, where all the oldest residents were laid up, but with the yard owner threatening to lock us in for the weekend if we weren’t out in time, we thought better of it.

The Volvo Amazon was in production from 1956 to 1970, although it wasn’t introduced in the US until 1959. Of the three body styles offered, the rarest was the station wagon, with its distinctive two-piece tailgate. It accounted for 73,220 of the car’s 667,791 total sales. Some 60% of Amazons were exported, a healthy proportion of which ended up in the US.

This one appears to be in great condition, and still holds air in all four tires.

This Jeep CJ-5 is so rotten that it appears to be in the process of snapping. We are going to hazard a guess that it was built somewhere between 1970 and 1975. It’s certainly not any earlier than that anyway, as the fuel tank is located at the rear, rather than under the driver’s seat.

If this was a 1957 Chevrolet instead of a 1957 Pontiac it would no doubt have been saved by now, or at the very least stripped of all its useful parts. Contributing to its undesirability is the fact that it’s a lowly Chieftain. In total, 35,671 of these four-door sedans found buyers.

1959 Pontiacs, like this four-door Catalina, featured a distinctive split grille. The design was well received, and the styling cue would appear on the front of Pontiacs for decades to come. Registering 383,320 sales that year, for the first time in its history Pontiac became the fourth best-selling marque in the US (behind Chevrolet, Ford and Plymouth). There were even better times ahead, with it taking third position from 1962 to 1969. 

Like the Oldsmobile Vista Cruiser, the 1968 Buick 400 Sport Wagon featured a raised roof with skylights over the second row of seats and cargo area.  Although it’s long gone, this car used to have a 340bhp 6.5-litre V8 under its hood. It would have propelled it to 60mph in about 8sec, and on to a top speed of 124mph.  

Although this one wears a GS badge on its fender, Buick didn’t actually make a GS version of the Sport Wagon in 1968.

A Cadillac Sedan DeVille would have cost the best part of $5000 back in 1958, when this one rolled off the line. To put this figure into perspective, an average family income was $5100 at the time. But this didn’t stop 23,989 from buying one.

Judging by the badly corroded parcel shelf and rear seats, the rear windshield must have been missing for a long time.

Mindless vandals have smashed almost all of this 1960 Ford Galaxie Town Victoria’s glass. The only window to escape was in the front passenger door, which was open at the time of the attack. There also appears to be a couple of bullet holes in the hood. 

There were five Galaxie body styles offered in 1960, and this four-door hardtop was the fourth most popular, with 39,215 finding buyers.

Unfortunately this 1950 Buick Special’s hood is worthless, on account of it having several bullet holes in it. This car’s distinctive toothy grille appears to have been saved, so presumably escaped the target practice. On the subject of holes, Buick’s portholes (or VentiPorts as they were officially known), had been introduced a year earlier.

The 1941 Fords featured an all-new design, with a wide body that almost covered the running boards. The design would actually last until 1948, albeit with a three-year production gap for World War 2. In an attempt to appeal to economy conscious buyers, a six-cylinder engine was added to the line-up this year. It would be the first Ford with a straight-six since the 1906 Model K.

British automotive journalist Will Shiers has been photographing abandoned American cars for 35 years. He has visited all 50 states on his tin-hunting trips, exploring barns, fields, deserts, ghost towns and salvage yards, while searching for hidden treasures. 

Will has been contributing to car magazines for three decades, and is the author of Roadside Relics - America’s Abandoned Automobiles.