Volkswagen began selling Transporter vans in the United States during the early 1950s, with sales continuing through three generations and through the 1991 model year. There are those who will tell you that VW Transporters are now much too sought-after by enthusiasts to ever appear in the big self-service car graveyards I frequent, but they [...]read moreJunkyard Gem: 1982 Volkswagen Vanagon
With all the junkyard Saab history we’ve seen here, the Saab products born of the alliance between Trollhättan and Turin haven’t gotten their due. Shoehorned between— and among— the Triumph-engined 900 Classics and the GM-era Saabs, a Saab developed in partnership with Fiat was built. This was the 9000, and I’ve found a late-production example [...]read moreJunkyard Gem: 1997 Saab 9000 CS
Alfa Romeo departed our shores after the final 164s and Spider Veloces were sold here as 1995 models, then returned for the 2015 model year with the 4C. Thanks to its position in the mighty Stellantis Empire, the current American-market Alfa Romeo lineup looks quite a bit like the Italian-market one, but we missed out [...]read moreJunkyard Gem: 2008 Alfa Romeo Spider 2.2 JTS
After General Motors bought the rights to the Hummer brand from AM General in 1999, it continued to sell the civilianized versions of the military HMMWV that was made famous after appearing in the heavily televised Operation Desert Storm. The Hummer H1 (as it became known) never sold in large numbers, but The General decided [...]read moreJunkyard Gem: 2006 Hummer H3 SUV
Honda was the first of the Japanese car manufacturers to bring a separate luxury brand to the United States, with the (Civic-derived) Integra and (Rover-related) Legend appearing as 1986 models. By the early 1990s, Infiniti and Lexus had muscled in with their own gadget-laden luxury machines, with even Mitsubishi and Mazda offering legitimate competition for [...]read moreJunkyard Gem: 1992 Acura Vigor
General Motors created the Geo brand in order to sell cars built in partnership with Suzuki, Isuzu and Toyota in the United States, and Geo-badged machinery was sold from the 1989 through 1997 model years. Today’s Junkyard Gem, found in a New Orleans self-service boneyard recently, is one of the very last Geos ever built. [...]read moreJunkyard Gem: 1997 Geo Metro LSi
Chrysler began selling Mitsubishi Triton pickups with Dodge D-50 and Plymouth Arrow badging in the 1979 model year, followed by the Mitsubishi Pajero aka Montero with Dodge Raider badges for 1987 through 1989. That Raider name sounded so good that Mitsubishi Motors decided to revive it when they began selling a new pickup based on the [...]read moreJunkyard Gem: 2006 Mitsubishi Raider DuroCross 4WD
Quick, what’s the most controversial American car ever built? Was it the Edsel? The Pontiac Fiero? The Chrysler Airflow? That wasn’t a serious question, because all of us know the answer already: the Chevrolet Corvair. Today’s Junkyard Gem was built during the last gasps of Corvair production and now resides in a self-service car graveyard [...]read moreJunkyard Gem: 1968 Chevrolet Corvair 500 Sport Coupe
The first new Subarus sold in the United States were microscopic kei cars brought over by Malcolm Bricklin in 1968, and they were followed by slightly larger (but still comically tiny) Leones a few years later. Bigger and better-equipped Leones followed during the 1980s, along with the sleek XT sports car. When the XT’s successor [...]read moreJunkyard Gem: 1992 Subaru SVX
Just over a month before filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in June 2009, General Motors announced that the 83-year-old Pontiac Division would be “phased out” by the end of 2010. Only three Pontiac vehicles were sold as 2010 models in the United States: the Solstice, Vibe and G6 (new G3s were sold here during 2010 [...]read moreJunkyard Gem: 2010 Pontiac Vibe