Shortly after I received my driver’s license at age 16, back in 1972, I became fascinated with junkyards.
Before the EPA got all in a huff about the toxic liabilities of aging junked cars, a visit to the junk yard was for me, like visiting an auto museum.
Spending my summer months on Cape Cod, I had the occasion to visit several area salvage yards regularly.
One yard in particular that I frequently visited, was Marcelline’s in Harwich, MA.
There were two brothers, (whose names I’ve now forgotten), who ran the yard. In order to have full roaming access to the yard, one had to be there when the nicer of the 2 brothers was on duty. The unpleasant brother felt individuals like myself, would be tossing valuable parts over the fence to retrieve later...free of charge...if you know what I mean. The nicer of the two brothers saw me as no threat and told me what days he was working so I could peruse the yard hassle free.
Marcelline’s was an interesting yard and it appeared that they destroyed few of their cars. As one walked farther back into the yard, the cars got older. I remember seeing many 1920’s and 30’s era cars including Ford Model A’s as well as Chevrolets and Buicks standing idly by as they had for many years, complete with their ancient Massachusetts license plates still attached...waiting for someone to rescue them.
I also remember seeing at Marcelline's, a RARE 1947 Hudson pickup truck, a 1956 Cadillac hearse in pretty good shape, an ancient, late 1930's General Motors dump truck and a 1958 Cadillac with a stainless steel top...just to name a few.
Unfortunately, Marcelline's has become a victim of the times and no longer has the vast assortment of collectible vehicles it once had. Very few now survive as most were crushed per EPA regulations.
In future posts I will write about other intriguing Cape Cod junkyards.
If any of you have interesting junkyard stories, feel free to post them here.
