Junkyard Discoveries of Rohners Auto Parts, Willmar, Minnesota

To be honest, it didn't look like much from the outside, with no visual hints that it specializes in classic cars. We almost didn't stop, and that would have been a huge mistake, as you’ll see…

Established in 1950, Rohner’s boasts an 80-acre site filled with thousands of fascinating US, European, and Japanese cars, along with the occasional school bus.

During our September visit, vast areas of Rohner’s Auto Parts were overgrown, with row upon row of cars engulfed by the undergrowth. In some parts of the yard, where double stacking was in operation, only the top layer of vehicles was visible. That’s a 1985 Towncar on the top, but we can’t tell how old the Lincoln is beneath it.

This is the first time we have managed to photograph the front and rear of a car at the same time. It’s a 1966 Plymouth Fury, but just how it ended up in such a sorry state is a mystery. Note the pile of crushed cars in the distance. With so few useable parts left on it, we suspect that this mangled mess will soon also be put out of its misery.

Here’s one of three Gremlins we found at Rohner’s. Although this example is beyond saving, it is relatively rust-free and retains several usable panels. Despite the seemingly haphazard arrangement of some cars, the yard is well organized, with vehicles of the same make generally parked near each other. We counted at least 20 AMCs in the same area.

Here’s another AMC, this time a 1974 Matador X coupe. This was the first year for the stylish fastback, with 62,629 units sold. The Matador replaced the Rebel and remained in production from 1970 to 1978, spanning two generations. According to the license plate, this particular vehicle was retired in 1991 at a respectable 17 years of age.

It looks as though someone has taken a giant can opener to this 1962 Oldsmobile Cutlass F85 Club Coupe’s roof, leaving it ripped apart. With only 7909 built, it’s a relatively rare car, but it's in terrible condition. The underside is completely rotten, likely explaining the detached rear axle. Does anyone recognize what it’s sitting on?

Launched in 1989, the Plymouth Laser was the first car produced under a joint venture between Chrysler and Mitsubishi. It’s a sibling to the Mitsubishi Eclipse. The car closest to the camera is an RS (Rallye Sport), which added a host of extras, including power mirrors and power steering.

Look what we found while rambling around Rohner’s. That’s a late 1950s Rambler Cross Country on the left, and we believe the blue one to its right is a 1965 Rambler Classic. As for what it’s sitting on, that’s anyone’s guess.

It's hard to believe that the Cadillac Eldorado has been out of production for 22 years. The very last one, which rolled off the line on April 22, 2002, was donated to the Cadillac Museum. This late 12th-generation car is less fortunate and will see out its days at Rohner’s. It has lost its hood but still retains the Northstar V8 that was once under it.

Vinyl roofs typically start to deteriorate after about a decade, and this one has had more than 40 years to do so. It belongs to an early 1980s Oldsmobile Toronado, which is suffering from rust issues. It’s a third-generation car, which was built between 1978 and 1985.

Can you see what we mean about the vast areas of Rohner’s Auto Parts being overgrown? There are at least five cars in this picture, but the only one we can easily identify is the second-generation Buick Regal. In hindsight, maybe we should have visited in the winter when most of the undergrowth would have died off. The Buick Regal is a 1980 coupe, one of the 214,735 built that year.

Sold between 1978 and 1983, the AMC Concord replaced the Hornet and was succeeded by the Renault Alliance. It was the company’s best-selling model, with over 400,000 units produced. This particular four-door sedan is a DL, which was the mid-level trim offering.

Close to half a million first generation (1976 to 1980) Pontiac Sunbirds were built, but the vast majority have long since been crushed. It’s certainly been a long time since we’ve seen this many of them in one place. 

The car was based on the GM H-body platform and was Pontiac’s counterpart to the Chevrolet Monza.

A whole section of the yard is reserved for hundreds of European and Japanese cars, but it was rather overgrown, limiting our camera's view. The US market was crucial for Triumph, which launched its TR7 fixed-head coupe there in early 1975, over a year before its UK release.

Although a convertible version wouldn’t arrive until 1979, models with a full-length Webasto sunroof were available. That’s a Saab 99 parked next to it.

While Triumph’s TR7 was criticized for its wedge styling, the same design did not harm the Fiat X1/9 at all. The Italian sports car was the first to market, debuting at the 1972 Turin Motor Show.

The US was a massive market for the mid-engined sports car, absorbing two-thirds of the 160,000 units produced between 1972 and 1982. This particular model is a fuel-injected version, dating to either 1980 or 1981.

On the topic of wedge-shaped cars, here's the Subaru XT. Manufactured between 1985 and 1991, it was the most aerodynamic car in the US at the time of its launch. This streamlined design was achieved thanks to Subaru's boxer engine, which features a flat, horizontally opposed cylinder configuration. The interior was equally radical, boasting a digital dashboard and an instrument cluster that moved with the adjustable steering column.

With its 7.0-liter V8 working hard, and all 360 horses harnessed, a 1969 Buick Electra 225 could manage 60mph in a fraction over 7sec. A quarter mile appeared in 15.7sec, while the claimed top speed was 127mph. Those aren’t bad statistics for a car that weighed in at 4497lbs. This one gets slightly lighter every year as the bodywork rusts away.

International Harvester Scouts are increasing in popularity and were this late 1970s example not so rusty, it would likely have been saved by now. It does however have a plethora of great parts to offer, including all of its glass.

Rohner’s, like many other yards, insists customers pay for windows prior to attempting to remove them, which seems like a sensible business decision to us.

The Peugeot 504 is renowned as being one of the most reliable cars ever built, with tens of thousands still in use across parts of Africa. Its ruggedness also led to numerous rally victories. Sold in the US throughout much of the 1970s, it was available with either a gasoline or diesel engine. As for this particular wagon, we are unsure what, if anything, is under its hood.

This seventh generation (1980 to 1986) Ford F150 truck only came off the road in 2019 and still holds air in three of its four tires. This is an upmarket XLT version, with XLT standing for eXtra Luxurious Truck.

With over 41 million F-150s sold to date, it has been the best-selling vehicle of any kind in the US since the early 1980s.

Rumor has it that on a quiet night, you can hear this 1974 Pontiac Grand Prix rusting. Despite its appalling bodywork condition, it still boasts plenty of useful trim, including what at the time were newly mandated 5mph bumpers and revised taillights. This was the second year of the fourth-generation Grand Prix, with sales dipping to 99,817 compared with 153,899 in the previous year.

The 140 series was the first Volvo to feature the manufacturer’s renowned boxy styling, having replaced the Amazon.  It was sold as a 142, 144 or 145, the last digit representing how many doors it had.

This is a 144 S, the ‘S’ indicating that it was fitted with the most powerful 1.8-liter engine, although long since gone from this example. They sold well in the US, paving the way for the success of their 240 replacements in 1975. 

The Tredia was one of the first Mitsubishis to be sold in the US without the help of its partner Chrysler. These cars have little to no interest amongst classic car enthusiasts, which explains why most have long since been crushed. If however, you happen to have one, and are in need of hard-to-find spares, you know who to call.

The oval side marker lights immediately identify this car as being built between 1997 and 2002. This is the Daimler-badged and trimmed version of the long-wheelbase Jaguar X308, powered by a choice of naturally aspirated or supercharged V8 engines. It appears to be in remarkably good condition, making it even more unfortunate that it has ended up here.

Rohner’s Auto Parts boasts an impressive collection of Mercury Montereys. The cream-colored example at the top left hails from 1969, and it appears to be resting on a 1971 model. We believe the two-door Monterey in the top right is a 1970, though identifying the year of the car beneath it is challenging.

The Monterey name was discontinued in 1975, but it made a brief return in 2004 on a Mercury minivan.

As is often the case in an overgrown yard like this, we took care to cover up well, protecting ourselves from the various critters living in the undergrowth. There were plenty of mosquitoes and ticks to contend with, and even the occasional hornet.

Speaking of hornets, the AMC Hornet was launched in 1970, effectively consigning the Rambler marque to the history books. This car's platform would go on to form the basis of numerous other AMC models, including the Gremlin, Spirit, and Eagle.

Before launching the Pinto, Ford had a period of importing its British-made Cortina, available in both Mk1 and Mk2 versions. Sales were slow, and finding another Mk1 wagon in a salvage yard would take considerable effort. This one not only appears to be free of rust but also looks complete.

The Mitsubishi Sapporo was sold in the US as both a Dodge Colt Challenger and as seen here, a Plymouth Sapporo. While both cars had the same running gear, the Dodge version was marketed as a performance vehicle, while the Plymouth was all about luxury. This is a first generation two-door coupe and ended up in Rohner’s following a serious rear end shunt.  

This 1963 Rambler Classic station wagon, abandoned in a remote corner of the yard, now rests in a picturesque setting. Its condition is deplorable, with the vehicle appearing completely misshapen. It’s difficult to find any compelling reasons why this car shouldn’t be fed to the crusher.

Named after the brightest star in the Lyra constellation, the Chevrolet Vega shone brightly at the start of its seven-year run (1970 to 1977). However, its reputation was soon tarnished by issues with rust and reliability. Despite these problems, the Vega found over 2 million buyers, with the Kammback two-door station wagon being the second most popular body style, following the hatchback.

This appears to be a 1974 car, one of 115,337 Kammbacks built that year.

In the 1980s, while Chrysler's minivans achieved phenomenal success, Toyota offered an alternative with its own unique flair. Sold in the US between 1983 and 1989, the Toyota Van (also known as the Space Cruiser in Europe) may not have matched the popularity of its competitors, but it excelled in reliability. The LE trim of these distinctive people carriers even came equipped with a refrigerator and ice maker. This model was eventually replaced by the Previa, an example of which you can see on the right in this picture.

Despite suffering from severe rust issues, the first generation of the Honda Civic sold remarkably well in the US. Its debut in 1972 proved opportune, just preceding the 1973 oil crisis. This one, remarkably free of corrosion, likely dates to around 1979, representing a late first-generation model.

The Pontiac Catalina was set to get a major redesign for the 1971 model year, which negatively impacted sales of the 1970 models. Production dropped to 194,000 units, marking the lowest figure for this generation of the Catalina. The 1970 models featured a V-nose grille and horn ports, one of which is missing from this car.

The Malibu made headlines in spring 2024 when it was announced that production of Chevrolet’s last sedan would cease later in the year. Except for a break between 1983 and 1997, the car had been in production since 1964, amassing 10 million sales over the decades. This one is a Malibu Estate, one of 45,332 built in 1983.

There can’t be many Nissan Pulsar NXs around these days, yet Rohner’s has a pair of them. These cars featured a T-top, and both roof panels are still intact on this example. Note those distinctive taillights, with a pattern that was replicated on the interior speaker grilles.

There are miles of dirt tracks crisscrossing this vast yard, so make sure you’re wearing comfortable boots. While Rohner’s encourages people to pull their own parts, it’s forbidden to take your own vehicle into the yard. If the part you’ve removed is too big to carry, they’ll happily retrieve it with a truck.

Anything you want off this 1963 Buick Special?

The flora has fully taken advantage of an open door, transforming the interior of this 1963 Ford into a greenhouse. This car is one of 1.5 million Fords built that year, though it fell short of the top spot held by Chevrolet with 2.2 million. Pontiac secured third place with 590,000 vehicles produced.

The Austin 1100/1300 (and its Morris, MG, Vanden Plas, Riley and Wolseley badge-engineered siblings) might have been the UK’s best-selling cars for most of the 1960s, but it was a different story in the US. Even giving them the Austin America name wasn’t enough to persuade the public to buy one of these small and  underpowered rust buckets.

Incredibly we spotted four of them at Rohner’s, this being the straightest and latest of the bunch.

Here’s another patriotic sounding car name. However, unlike the Austin America, the Rambler American was a big seller. Of course, it helped that it was consistently the cheapest domestically manufactured car.

This is a 1961 example, one of 377,900 built that year.

If you’re looking for parts for a 1972 Chevrolet Chevelle, or indeed any of the other cars seen here, then pick up the phone to Rohner’s Auto Parts. If you’re planning to visit in person, which we highly recommend, you’ll find this incredible yard on Highway 12, approximately 100 miles west of the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St Paul.

We suspect that the aesthetically challenged Pontiac Aztek is on the verge of gaining collectible status, much like the equally ungainly AMC Gremlin and Pacer. These vehicles are fast disappearing from the roads, so now might be a good time to snap one up before values start to increase. Ignoring the dent in the rear fender, this particular Aztek appears to be in remarkably good condition, with a particularly clean interior.