Where are the Best Salvage Yards in America?

The Concierge’s Corner: Best Salvage Yards in America

July 27, 2011

Wondering where you can find a salvage yard that might have the parts you’re looking for? With Registered membership in the HVA comes the benefit of having your own historic vehicle “answer man” just a phone call or email away. Check out our concierge’s picks for the top three historic vehicle salvage yards in America and become a Registered member today.
 
Of all the thousands of questions HVA concierge, Glenn Arlt, answers for members every year, one of the most common is where to look for parts.

“When searching for any hard to find part, it’s better to play by the numbers,” says Arlt. “In other words, you’re more likely to find what you’re looking for in a salvage yard with thirty thousand cars rather than one that only has thirty.

People asked about how to find parts so frequently that Hagerty prepared a pamphlet about it. Check out the complete guide, Find That Part: Locating Used and New Components For Your Collector Car, by clicking here. In the meantime, here are Glenn’s top three picks for best salvage yards in America:

Windy Hill Auto Parts
Located in New London, Minnesota, Windy Hill Auto Parts is home to approximately 12,000 salvage cars and trucks. Over 8000 of these are pre-1968, sitting on 150 acres, according to Arlt.

“The age range of their vehicles is 1930-1990, approximately,” says Arlt. “Engines and transmissions and interior parts, is what I generally send people to them for. And they’re happy to ship.”

For more information, call Windy Hill Auto Parts at (320) 354-2201. Check out their website www.windyhillautoparts.com.

Hidden Valley Auto Parts
Located in Maricopa, Arizona, Hidden Valley Auto Parts stocks 8000 vehicles on 80 acres. These vehicles range from 1940 to 1989 and includes some foreign cars.
“I usually send people here when they’re looking for exterior sheet metal and trim parts,” says Arlt.
For more information, call Hidden Valley Auto parts at (520) 568-2945. Or to check out their inventory and inquire about parts for shipping, go to www.hiddenvalleyautoparts.com.

Turner’s Auto Wrecking
Located in Fresno, California, Turner’s Auto Wrecking specializes in classic and antique vehicles from 1928 to the present. They have a huge warehouse full of car and truck parts and an over 70-acre lot with more than 10,000 vehicles.

“This is a good, all-around place for all components,” says Arlt. “Plus, they ship worldwide.”
For more information, call (559) 237-0918. Or check out their parts inventory at www.turnersautowrecking.com

Those are three great suggestion. Do you have suggestion of your own? Please let us know by commenting.

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Good for Collectors: The Arizona Emissions Study

Historic Vehicle Association HVA Monthly Newsletter
3/01/11
There’s a common belief among historic vehicle enthusiasts that environmentalists and regulators will continue to find ways to make it seem that we’ve made little progress in cleaning up our air and that things will only get worse unless aggressive new regulatory programs are implemented.

Can well-reasoned arguments backed up by hard data still make a positive difference where stricter emission law threaten historic vehicle ownership? Thankfully, the answer is yes.

Take the case of Arizona. In 2005, the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) conducted an exhaustive study on the impact of “collector vehicles” on carbon emissions and overall air quality. The Arizona report concluded the impact on emissions and air quality was “negligible” and, based on this information, Arizona regulators moved to exempt historic vehicle owners from emissions regulation. This exemption required the federal EPA to review and approve the Arizona findings before the exemption could take effect. In April, 2007, the federal EPA did just that. Click here for copies of the ADEQ study and the EPA approval.

While reasoned debate and compelling data doesn’t guarantee that all regulators will come to their senses and follow Arizona’s lead, it does provide a strong precedent for the future defense of historic vehicle owners elsewhere in the future.

Check out the HVA's Interactive Emissions Laws Map


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Is that Car Classic, Vintage, Historic, Antique or Exotic?

The definitions of Classic, Vintage, Exotic, Historic, Antique cars is a well debated subject matter with no clear winner.


For example The Antique Automobile Club of America (AACA), one of the largest and probably the most stodgiest, noses in the air club, has proclaimed that an antique car is at least 25 years of age or older currently functioning and restored to comply with the manufacturers original specifications. Of course with passing years that definition has been refined to include several classifications of vehicles. So even they can’t make up their minds.


In most circles the term antique is most often used interchangeably with the term classic when talking about older vehicles but some like to point out what they consider to be differences. In some circles it is and in some it isn't.


The Department of Motor Vehicles in most states have their own terms for what they consider an antique vehicle. Most do not agree with AACA in that they issue antique or historic license plates to any vehicle more than 25 years old. The owners of these cars can purchase less expensive insurance than they pay on a new car with mileage limits of course.


Here at "All About Detail Classic Car News" we have our own opinion. We think that all cars are a form of art. Some like the Chevy Chevettes are more like pictures to put on Grandma’s refrigerator where as a Bugatti Type 51 should be on display at the Museum Of Modern Art Exhibits (MOMA). Anything that belongs in an art gallery, for reasons of pure beauty or due to their historical value, are to us  Masterpieces and therefore are Classics. 
 
Unlike AACA we include Exotic, Clones, and Custom within the definition of Classic Car:

1929 Pontiac



1991 Lamborghini Diablo

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1934 Coupe 3 Window