Car Hoarders Article

Henry isn’t the classic old car hoarder, claiming he’ll “fix it up one day.” He readily admits his big project days are over. “I’m too old,” he says. Will he ever sell anything? “I don’t want to sell,” he said. “I like looking at them. Sometimes I go walk around just to remember what something looks like.”
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What also makes Henry distinguishable from typical hoarders is that he seems to have most of his treasures sitting up on blocks and not rotting into the ground. If his wife survives Henry she'll likely do the right thing and hold an auction.
 
I don't have any land, or I would probably be a car hoarder myself.

Watch "American Pickers" and you realize that the line between "hoarder" and "collector" is very fine...if it really exists at all. :)
 
A "collector" has one or two.

Anything more than three is "hoarding" in the eyes of far too many people.

Put it this way - had they not "hoarded" it, it probably would not exist today.
 
I live in the inner city, in a small house and on a small plot of land. I currently have 11 cars piled in my backyard. I personally saved almost every one of them from the crusher many years ago. I've had so many people ask why I don't do full restorations on each one, or the try to give me grief for most of them sitting outdoors. You know what? Screw them! If I hadn't worked to be in the right place, at the right time, and willing to spend my hard earned money then these cars simply would not exist today. I get so sick of being called a hoarder for having my cars. Ohh, and my cars are not for sale no matter how much it hurts your feelings that they're being "neglected".
 
:laughing4: Good on you KcImperial!


The town I live in has a "law"...I guess...ordinance..whatever.

You can only have two non-licensed cars on your property.

Ummm...that's because some folks have had a LOT of non-licensed cars parked in their yards in the past? Probably.

I call it one of our "anti-redneck" laws. :)

However, if you want to pay for a license for each one, I guess you can have as many as you can fit on there.

But out in the county, I think you can do about whatever you want.
That's why most "car collectors" around here...live out in the county!
 
There are similar laws in my city too and for the same reasons. I'm not allowed to have any cars on my property that are not licensed. I paved my backyard in concrete and have a 6ft privacy fence so they're not in view from the street. My cars are also fully licensed and insured (total costs is about $30 per year per car). I thought about getting a large place out in the country but who wants to do all that mowing and yard work?? :icon_razz:
 
I have a neighbor who has at least three of his older cars, non-running and I doubt licensed, but he keeps them covered at the end of his driveway. These are not collector cars, but for some reason he is attached to them. Who cares? They are not an eyesore or anything.

Now if people parked a bunch of rust piles in the front yard, OK, that migt be annoying.
But a lot of things can be annoying. People who let their dogs poop in my yard are much more annoying!

Anywat I think the law is ridiculous, and just a way to force people to pay up to the Gov.!
 
KcImperial said:
I live in the inner city, in a small house and on a small plot of land. I currently have 11 cars piled in my backyard. I personally saved almost every one of them from the crusher many years ago. I've had so many people ask why I don't do full restorations on each one, or the try to give me grief for most of them sitting outdoors. You know what? Screw them! If I hadn't worked to be in the right place, at the right time, and willing to spend my hard earned money then these cars simply would not exist today. I get so sick of being called a hoarder for having my cars. Ohh, and my cars are not for sale no matter how much it hurts your feelings that they're being "neglected".
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Sounds familiar. I know this retired Navy Commander who feels that Oldsmobiles were the best engineered cars ever. So he got up to 52 of them by 2003. Had three stashed in his 2 car garage somehow. Most all the others were in the backyard surrounded by a 7' fence you couldn't see through. Would he sell any as I once asked him. He said only to someone he deemed worthy.. How about me and he answered yes. He was a Chief Engineer in the Navy on carriers. He was Chief Engineer on the retired Hornet as a museum. He would only let me do the delicate restoration jobs up in the Island. I wasn't interested but I know his cars weren't junk.

Anyway someone complained to the City of San Diego about his cars. They must have climbed the fence to see them. That led to an investigation by the city and after many months of back and forth the City Attorney notified him that all cars must be moved. If not the city would haul them out and junk them. That led him to move all of them to other location up in the Salinas Valley area. I gather he sold the house, then got married for the first time, and moved into the Hollister area. Last time I saw him 3 years ago he still had them, still had the wife, and was still talking about getting up here to finally paint the F-4S Phantom of ours.

Of course, if we left him to his own devices on the Hornet we would have a dozen F-8 Crusaders and nothing else. Of that he was a hoarder.
 
KcImperial said:
There are similar laws in my city too and for the same reasons. I'm not allowed to have any cars on my property that are not licensed. I paved my backyard in concrete and have a 6ft privacy fence so they're not in view from the street. My cars are also fully licensed and insured (total costs is about $30 per year per car). I thought about getting a large place out in the country but who wants to do all that mowing and yard work?? :icon_razz:
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A concrete backyard just needs to be blown off every now and then.
 
I don't know if anyone else followed it, but there was a link in the posted link to an item about a Mopar "hoarder". Somewhere in NC, buddy with the Petty's, had some of their stuff including "43 Jr." The article showed and talked about a lot of E and B bodies. I really appreciate he and others like him saving these cars from the crusher. It could be said that he showed a great deal of appreciation and foresight. But he just had them sitting on the ground, rotting away. He died and now his widow has them sitting on the ground, rotting away. No mention that he planned to sell at any time. Now no mention of her ever selling. Why not just let the crusher have them in the first place? Isn't it more painful to watch them die a slow death? Thanks to all on this board for working hard to save/preserve these magnificent C bodies.
 
C bodies take up a lot of space, but no matter how poor they are in condition, I would never send one to the crusher.A couple deserve it, but I think about the person that bought it new, and how sad he would be to see the car destroyed. Restore, not recycle!
 
Sadly, there always seems to be someone in every neighborhood who will climb up and peek over your fence, no matter how high it is, just to see if there is something in your yard that they can report you for having. :(

I'm glad he was able to save his cars.
 
Wildaugust said:
Sadly, there always seems to be someone in every neighborhood who will climb up and peek over your fence, no matter how high it is, just to see if there is something in your yard that they can report you for having. :(

I'm glad he was able to save his cars.
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This on the top of your fence does wonders. Problem is the lawyers would have a field day.

smoothedge.jpg

smoothedge.jpg
 
Wildaugust said:
Sadly, there always seems to be someone in every neighborhood who will climb up and peek over your fence, no matter how high it is, just to see if there is something in your yard that they can report you for having. :(

I'm glad he was able to save his cars.
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Yea there called nosey PC bastards
 
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