Hi everyone,
I just returned from LKQ Pick Your Park auto yard in Blue Island. Behind the chain link fence, I noticed a 67 (or 68?) Sedan Deville. I was curious so I went over and looked at it. It had no wheels, no skirts, however it appeared to be absolutely flawless! From what I could see the interior was also in perfect condition. One of the workers was behind the fence and I asked about it. He said what he had heard was that there was a problem with the car's paperwork, so it couldn't be sold. I asked a manager in the office what they planned to do with it, and he said they would be putting it in the yard for parts. Unbelievable! I don't know how something like this could happen to such a beautiful car. Didn't appear to have a speck of rust on it!
Mike Shawgo
That looks like a VERY nice car. Try to save it!! In Kaliforrnia, the paperwork has to be OK before the car is set. Press the guy to sell it to you. Good luck, Bob
I don't see how the salvage yard can sell parts off of it unless they have a clear title—something doesn't add up in this situation. If you are really interested in buying the car, get the license plate number and check with the Department of Licensing to see who is listed as the owner and what the status of the car is.
Daryl Chesterman
I wonder if it was stolen and recovered? The whole situation sounds fishy.
Wow and dang Mike! You GOTTA get more info on this.
Could it possibly be the owner passed with no living relatives to pass it onto? Happens more often than you'd think with estates.
No way to buy a car from LKQ, they buy 'em at auction & if they can turn a buck on the carcass, the parts go flying!
It's not listed under their online inventory - yet. I also checked under 1967 Cadillac:
https://www.lkqpickyourpart.com/inventory/blue-island-1582/?search=de+ville
I can't buy it, I just think it's a shame. It is not in the scrapyard yet, it's in the area behind fencing. I don't know what they do with the cars back there. But the manager said that it would probably end up there. Maybe there is no title for it. It doesn't have license plates.
I just did a couple of searches to see what they had, and in the Prices Department, all the engines were the same price, and each one even had a Wheelbarrow for sale.
Didn't know when Wheelbarrows were any part of a car. Is it a new accessory that is only available in America?
Bruce. >:D
Guys,
First, let me tell you , I've saved more cars from junk yards, tow lots, lien sales, storage problems, ETC, than all the members on this board combined!!! And I didn't do it by being shy.
So... my dire prediction in that car is gonna get scrapped!!! Why??? Because no local guy is gonna get off the dime & buy it. How about you Mike?? A $100 under the table to that manager may go a long way!! Wink!! If someone wants to email me directly at bobscads@comcast.net. please do.
Bob
Bob is 100% right. I have also done the same thing and saved many cars. Money talks, these guys are in business to make money. Scrap on this car is $300 or $400, it's not much.
Thanks Garrett,
Chicagoland is a big area. Somebody has to save it.
Bob
God it was not in ATL I'd be all over it.
Quote from: Mike Shawgo on July 27, 2022, 09:22:24 PMI can't buy it, I just think it's a shame. It is not in the scrapyard yet, it's in the area behind fencing. I don't know what they do with the cars back there. But the manager said that it would probably end up there. Maybe there is no title for it. It doesn't have license plates.
Great find Mike, I also go to the same U-Pull-IT in Blue Island and Chicago Heights, I have not been there in a year because of health issues, but usually go there about 4 times per year, will be going soon to check it out. 10 years ago they had a 1962 Buick Electra, but smashed in the right front area.
Bob
The dealer plate says Rickenbaugh Cadillac Denver. That dealership is still in operation selling Cadillacs and Volvos, and the only car dealer left downtown. It's definitely a 1967. Somebody save this car! I would if I had room for it.
Quote from: The Tassie Devil(le) on July 27, 2022, 09:34:56 PMI just did a couple of searches to see what they had, and in the Prices Department, all the engines were the same price, and each one even had a Wheelbarrow for sale.
Didn't know when Wheelbarrows were any part of a car. Is it a new accessory that is only available in America?
Bruce. >:D
Bruce,
Some of the yards allow you to borrow a wheelbarrow. Some also have sales where it's a set price for all you can carry out by yourself. It's possible that there's a wheelbarrow version of that type of sale as well.
Scott
That car is worth saving. The Vin number is important. The VIN number can be researched by a police department. If they won't help due to privacy issues, there are people who can do it. It's a matter of cost. Some attorneys can or will get someone they know to do it. Try entering the vin number into car fax or just plain google and see what you get. From the description I'll bet on the death scenario and the heirs had no idea what they had.
Guys,
Bantering about how the car arrived there is irrelevant!!! The fact is the car IS there. What are we gonna do about it?? If someone gets me the managers phone # & what days he works, I'll call him myself. I need someone to tell me exactly where the VIN is stamped on the frame. Before it's too late. Is there a local that's willing to buy the car?? Even if you don't want to keep it, there's money to be made. Mike Shawgo, are to putting out the word on the car???
Bob
A friend and I saved a car from that exact yard a few years back. There was a title but let's just say it wasn't in good order. We had an in at another yard that helped us. I won't say it wasn't a pain, but we were able to get it done.
I called Glenn Brown and he is looking into it. (He is an attorney.)
Barry,
What's he looking into??? As Bill pointed out & I've been trying to convey... someone go down & buy the car. It's that simple!!! Time IS of the essence!!!
Bob
Buy that car and bring it to California. Fill out a statement of facts and pay the fee. They'll mail you a title in about 4 weeks.
Tom,
You're close. You need a verification , brake & light & smog if required. Been there lots of times. LOL!!
Bob
Bob, I called him because he has a good relationship with many of the dealers in the area, and quite candidly, I don't believe you can do much over a weekend. I doubt that the "boss" is going to be there on a Sunday, even if the place is open.
And, if he starts getting calls from all over the country about the car, he's going to start seeing $$$ signs himself. Or, get annoyed and trash the car.
(Just for the record, I think the car is lovely, would love to have it myself, and agree most whole heartedly that the car should be rescued -by someone- if at all possible.)
What kind of dealers?? And how are they gonna help?? Those kind of yards work 7 days a week.
Are the members in the Chicagoland area aware of the car??
I'd like to talk to the manager. Can anyone supply his name and phone #??
Thanks, Bob
Bob, I called Glenn as he knows many of the local (junk yard) dealers. As I said above, you go calling the owner/manager from LA he is either going to up the price to a level that the car won't be worth it, or he will be PO'd that the car is now a "problem child" to him and his staff, and he'll either part it out, or damage the car out of spite. Unless you're going to buy the car for yourself, I'd suggest you relax and let the members in Chicagoland do their best to rescue the car. Getting a phone call from 2,000 miles away about a junk car that he could care less about is not going to make the owner/manager's morning any brighter.
Glenn and his friends managed some time ago to save a '76 Talisman from a similar fate, but it took a while and the task was difficult. I imagine by now the local CLC members are aware of the car, where it is, and will do their best to save it.
(Just got off the phone with Glenn. He has a friend on it, the yard is a corporate owned one, extremely difficult to deal with in cases like this, and Glenn is going to let me know what transpires.)
Okay, "based on information and belief, the car is spoken for", and it will be saved (not by me).
Can't say any more at this time.
Glenn
I bought a salvage caddy with no title.
At the DMV, I did a lost title application and said the paperwork and title were lost. Which was true.
It worked!
I really think examples like this beg this question. "How good are our laws concerning examples like this?" Not very apparently Maybe the way forward for someone looking to buy this is to actually get the advice from the title office. I think titles get signed off and the owner dies without designating a "new owner".
The main problem is that nearly all concerned think that we're crazy!
Item: The junk dealers could care less unless they are car collectors too, and then, they sit on the car for twenty years thinking that "one day, a sucker is going to show up and I'll get $15,000 for the car. (He decided on that price the day it came in, and won't budge from it over the years (while the car deteriorates each year.))
Item: The BMV could care less as making more paper work for them is not something they would like to do.
Item: Car dealers only want to sell new cars, and they could care less about a sale yesterday, much less twenty years ago. If they get an older car in, they either price it to the moon, (see Item 1) or someone in the shop gets it for a song. (This happened on my first trade in, a '78 Eldo, and one of the mechanics bought it for a low three figure price.)
Item: Getting 50 state BMVs to agree on something like this would be nearly impossible.
Hi everyone, I was just out at the LKQ Pick Your Park yard this afternoon, and the Sedan DeVille is still there, behind the fenced in area. I tried to talk to a manager, but no one was there except the kids who check people in and out (I was also upset about that because I wanted to get a Bose radio out of a 2001 Seville, but you have to remove the shifter bezel, and to do that the shifter needs to be in neutral, and you need a key to turn the ignition to unlock the shifter. The kids said they didn't think there were keys to any of the cars. I find that hard to believe).
Mike
#20545
Hi everyone. I was down at the LKQ PickYourPart in Blue Island again yesterday. The 67 Deville is still there. There was a manager there that I asked to speak to. He told me that the car was going to be put "in the yard" for parts. I asked about buying it, and he said "No, we don't sell cars." My response: "That's absolutely criminal!"
Mike
#20545
Hi Mike,
Thanks for the report even if it's bad news. I KNEW that was gonna happen!!! I guess Mr. Browns "help" didn't work. Of all the car collector guys in the greater Chicago area, not ONE of them could save it. REAL SAD!!!
Bob
Just tell him you need all the parts from that car. He can't argue with that.
Tim,
That's really not a good comment.....
Bob
See post 6.
Mike,
You seem pretty adamant that it can't be done. Can you share your experience of why you feel that way. What yard was it? What state? How long ago?
Thanks, Bob
Bob,
I'm not quite sure I understand your question. If you have read the history of this post, you would see that it is in the LKQ Pick Your Park in Blue Island, IL, a suburb of Chicago. And this is current (September 2022), not something from the past. I inquired about purchasing the car (although I wouldn't have the funds to do so), and was told that they would not sell it and that it would be placed in the parts yard. I posted my experience in the hopes that someone in the club might have some other ideas.
Mike
#20545
Hi Mike Shawgo,
Too many Mikes. LOL! I was directing my comment to Mike Snodgrass. I'd still like to see his response.
Thanks, Bob
I would love parts from this '67 should it come to that sad state. Please keep this post alive!
You'd better join the Club so as to make friends with someone in Chicago that could get parts for you. A firm like this may, or may not ship parts. And, with the fanfare that has surrounded this car, management may really sock it to prospective purchasers.
(Remember that these guys think we're all rich and crazy.)
(One of the perks of membership is a Directory that is available on line that lists all members by state and also lists the cars they own.) Hard copies may also still be available.
Best of luck.
Barry,
How are you & Glenn doing on saving that car??? Who's the mysteries person that is spoken for?? BTW, those yards have set prices. If fenders are $40, they don't care what is was removed from. It's $40.
If I still lived in Lemont, I'd have my brother in Elkhart bring a tow truck up there & we'd get it.
Bob
By chance, I asked Glenn about that the other day, and while I am still bound by Glenn's not being able to say what's going on, let's just say that the prospective purchaser had a closer tie to the business than usual, and they still won't sell it. For further clarification, you might want to go back to my post that told what happened to my first trade-in while I was selling cars. (The 1978 Eldorado.) Ditto.
Sounds like it is in limbo for now. They will not
sell it, but they are not taking off parts either.
In past decades I did wander some yards, when cars
like mine could be found there. If I found a
switch pitch trans (like 65-67 had), I would not
leave without it. Bruce Roe
OK guys,
What ever happened to that car?? Mike Shawgo, are you able to check it out? If you do, and it's still there, get me the top managers name & phone #. Send it to me directly at bobscads@comcast.net.
Thanks, Bob
Just thought about this and checked the LKQ Pick Your Part website. This 67 Deville is now in the parts yard in Blue Island.
Mike Shawgo
#20545
Hi Mike,
Are there any pics of the carcass now??
Bob