The junkyard gems of Desert Valley Auto Parts, Arizona

The main one has all the US-built vintage cars (which we’ll be taking a look at soon), but half a mile up a dirt track is another really interesting one. It’s here that you’ll find all the European and Japanese cars, with a few American classics thrown in for good measure.

In 2022 we were given permission to browse this hidden yard, and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. Here’s just a small selection of what we found.

A Yugo would be an unusual spot in Europe, but they’re even rarer in the US. Built in former Yugoslavia by Zastava Motors, incredibly 140,000 of them were sold in America between 1985 and 1992; it helped that they were among the cheapest cars you could buy.

But they had an appalling reliability record, and the vast majority had been crushed by the end of the 1990s.

In the 1940s DeSoto claimed that its cars had rustproof bodies, and it clearly wasn’t lying. This four-door Custom is 73 years old, and is still incredibly solid. Then again, the climate in this part of the world helps.

Casa Grande, Arizona gets 234 millimetres of rainfall per year, compared with a national average of 767 millimetres.

The wedge-shaped styling of the TR7 certainly wasn’t to everyone’s taste, and the car wasn’t the success parent company British Leyland had hoped. Between 1975 and 1981 some 115,000 were built, the US being its largest market by far.

This parts car was manufactured in 1975, a year before it was even offered for sale back in the United Kingdom where it was built.

Like Triumph’s similarly styled TR7, the Italian-built mid-engined Fiat X1/9 was designed primarily as an export car. Indeed, of the 160,000 examples built between 1972 and 1989, roughly two-thirds of them ended up in the US.

This example was built in 1975, the second year it was offered Stateside, and was priced at just $950.

With its American styling, the British-built Hillman Minx sold relatively well across the Atlantic, with 19,000 arriving in 1958 alone. In fact these small family cars continued to find buyers until the US manufacturers introduced their own compacts.

They’ve pretty much all disappeared now though, which made this pair a very unusual sight. Both appear to have been fire damaged, and surely had very little value.

The Toyota Corolla was launched in 1966, and by the time this one rolled off the line in 1974, it was already the world’s best-selling car. This very late second generation example is not for sale, with Desert Valley Auto Parts opting to make it a parts donor instead.

Despite the Arizona license plates, judging by that massive rust hole in the bottom of the rear wing, it probably spent much of its earlier life in a state with a less favourable climate. The Toyota Corolla is the most popular car of all time, having notched up more than 50 million sales over 12 generations.

In the 1970s General Motors imported the Mk1 Manta. These two-door coupes were built by its German subsidiary Opel, and were sold through Buick dealerships. However, changing exchange rates and price increases ended that by the mid-1970s, and the General started importing Japanese-built Isuzus instead.

Although the Opel name would never reappear in the US, the Cadillac Catera (1996-2001) was a rebadged Opel Omega. 

In direct competition to the Manta was the German-built and British-designed Capri, which first arrived in the US in 1970. They were sold through Lincoln-Mercury dealerships, so unlike in Europe, didn’t wear Ford badges.

The car was a success, and in some years was the second best-selling import, behind the Volkswagen Beetle.

The Ford Capri MkII, known simply as Capri II in the US, was again sold through Lincoln-Mercury dealerships. Like its predecessor, the car was very similar to the European offering, the most significant changes being quad-headlamps and larger bumpers.

Between 1976 and 1978, more than 56,000 of these sporty hatchbacks were sold, but there aren’t many left now.

This retired cab certainly adds a bit of colour to the yard. It’s a Chevrolet Malibu, and other than the Ford wheel trims, appears to be complete. Some 1.5 million of these fourth generation Malibus were sold, including 13,000 that were purchased by the Iraqi government. This four-door sedan is one of 145,634 to be built in 1980.

According to the note on the windshield, this 1971 Jaguar XJ6’s 4.2-litre six-cylinder engine had been replaced by a Chevrolet small-block. It’s a Series 1 car, one of 98,227 examples built in England between 1968 and 1973, and was being sold as a project car. It was one of seven Jaguars we spotted in this yard.

This 1976 Honda Civic two-door certainly wasn’t the most desirable car at the yard, although the yard owners were hopeful it would be worth $1500 to someone.

These first-generation cars were built from 1972 to 1979, and sold well in America. They received a significant boost in popularity during the 1973 oil crisis, with money-conscious consumers appreciating their economical four-cylinder engines.

Judging by its ugly steel-reinforced black rubber bumpers, which were introduced to comply with American impact regulations, this British-built MG MGB was manufactured after 1974. In fact, it looks considerably later than that, and probably hails from 1979 or 1980.

Between 1962 and 1980 more than half a million of these were built, with 298,052 ending up in America. Until the arrival of the Mazda Miata it was the best-selling sports car of all time.

Although the Triumph Spitfire (1962-1980) played second fiddle to the MG MGB in terms of production volumes, it was still a strong seller, with a total of 314,000 being built.

The car survived for five generations, and this 1965 parts car is a Mk2. Manufactured between 1965 and 1967, just 37,409 of them were sold. Thanks to its 67bhp engine, which took the car to 100 km/h in about 15 seconds, performance did not match its sporty appearance.

Seeing as the official XJ-S convertible wasn’t launched until 1988, and the yard tells us that this is a 1987 car, it must be one of the estimated 2100 examples converted by Ohio-based coachbuilder Hess & Eisenhardt. During its 20-year production run, 115,413 XJ-Ss were built.

This lovely example, which sadly was not available to purchase as a project car, had the 5.3-litre V12 engine. Instead, it was set to be stripped for parts.

Jaguar and Mercedes-Benz had their XJ-S and SL, but Cadillac was lacking an aspirational, luxury roadster of its own. In the 1980s it decided it was time to do something about it. The answer was the Pininfarina-designed Allanté. Not only was it designed in Italy, but it was built there too, with bodies being flown from Turin to Detroit.

They were very expensive, and didn’t sell particularly well. In fact only 21,000 were sold during its seven-year (1987 and 1993) production run.

Here’s one of the greatest hatchbacks of all time, parked next to a Chevrolet Chevette… Despite being a bit boring, the Chevette certainly sold well during its 12-year (1975 to 1987) production run, with a staggering 2.8 million of them finding buyers.

Despite once being so common, Chevettes are few and far between these days. The Chevette outsold the Mk1 Volkswagen Rabbit at a rate of two-to-one.

Built by Opel between 1965 and 1973, the Kadett B was offered in a variety of body styles, including this coupe.

The cars were sold through Buick dealerships, and were supposed to battle it out with the growing number of Japanese and European imports. They did pretty well too, managing 430,000 sales between 1966 and 1972.

Although it had a little rust in the lower quarter panels and trunk floor, overall this 1964 Pontiac Grand Prix two-door hardtop’s bodywork was really solid.

Almost 64,000 of these cars found buyers that year, some 9000 less than in the previous year. This one was fitted with Washington license plates, so it was a long way from home.

Between 1967 and 1970 some 60,000 British-designed and built Mk2 Ford Cortinas made their way to the US. The car was effectively killed off by the launch of the US-made Ford Pinto in 1971, and would be the last UK-built Ford to cross the Atlantic.

This four-door sedan is a Cortina 1600GT, which was fitted with a 1.6-liter, four-cylinder engine. It generated 92bhp, and powered the car to a top speed of 153 km/h.

There was such an eclectic mix of vehicles in this wonderful yard, as demonstrated by this 1985 Chevrolet Corvette.

Ignoring its headlights, the car appeared to be in rather good condition, and what’s more, according to the scribbling on the windshield, the car even ran. All in all it appeared to be a lot of car for the $3500 asking price.

The Datsun 280ZX was a complete redesign of the 280Z it replaced. It was bigger, heavier, and more comfortable too, and despite some early reservations, American car-buyers embraced it. The 280ZX was replaced by the 300ZX in 1984.

As you can see, Desert Valley Auto Parts had two Austin Americas. These family cars were the best-sellers in England for most of the 1960s.

Despite its name, the America didn’t capture American affections, and only 60,000 were sold between 1968 and 1972. This one was offered for sale at $2500, while the brown one in the distance was an additional $1000.

While the US and Australian markets knew this car as an Audi Fox, to the rest of the world it was an Audi 80.

This was one of the first Audis to be developed under Volkswagen ownership, and was based on a Passat. More than 1.1 million were sold worldwide, with roughly 10% ending up in the US. In 1974, 26,453 were sold that year.

We counted more than 20 Mercedes-Benzes of various ages in the yard, including this attractive 1964 220S.

There was very little rust on the car, and other than some light collision damage at the front, it looked as though it wouldn’t have taken much to get it back on the road. However, the yard unfortunately decided it was worth more to them as a parts car.

Here’s another rare Benz, which was gradually being stripped of its parts. It appears to be a 1958 Mercedes 190 (W121) ‘ponton’ sedan, one of 172,000 built. The car was powered by a 1.9-liter, four-cylinder engine, rated at 75bhp.

The first Fiat 850 Spiders were powered by an 843 cm3 engine, and with a 0-100 km/h time of 18.2 seconds, was one of the slowest sportscars on the market. In 1970 it changed its name to ‘Sport’ Spider when a 903 cm3 unit was introduced. This shaved 2.5 seconds off its time, and increased the top speed from  138 km/h to 146 km/h.

But what it lacked in performance, it more than made up for in looks. Desert Valley Auto Parts had a pair of near-identical 1972 Sport Spiders, which were both for sale.

The Datsun B210, which was known as a Sunny/120Y elsewhere in the world, was built between 1973 and 1978. The car arrived in America at just the right time. Americans were queuing at the pumps in their muscle cars, and this import offered up to 4.7 litres/100 km.

The Jaguar XJ40 was built between 1986 and 1994 and was definitely more evolution than revolution in terms of design. This was a conscious decision, with Jaguar not wanting to risk damaging sales amongst its traditional customers. It was however significantly more aerodynamic than the Series 3, so slightly less thirsty.

In spite of early cars being plagued with build quality problems, it sold well, achieving a total of 208,733 sales. US cars, like this 1988 example, were fitted with a 3.6-litre engine, until the arrival of the 4-litre in 1990.

It says 1959 on this British-built Ford Consul’s windscreen, but these Mk1 cars were only made between 1951 and 1956. In total 227,732 were built, with a decent number heading to America.

The car was frugal by US standards, but the downside to its 1.5-litre engine, was the 28 seconds it took to reach 100 km/h.

Oldsmobile’s Ninety-Eight was first introduced in the 1930s, its name referring to its series number and amount of cylinders – series 90 and eight cylinders.

This one is a 98 four-door Holiday Hardtop, which was one of five 1960 Oldsmobiles the yard had in stock. It was one of four body styles offered that year, and with 27,257 buyers, was easily the most popular.

The Corona, which survived for 11 generations (1957-2001), played a huge part in Toyota’s early success in the USA. This two-door sedan is a fifth generation car, and was built in 1973. They don’t have a huge following, and for this reason they’re scarce these days. This would definitely have made an interesting restoration project for someone.

In 1980 AMC introduced its four-wheel-drive Eagle. Of the three body styles offered, the station wagon was the most popular, finding 25,807 buyers in its first year alone.

It was undoubtedly years ahead of its time, being the first 4x4 crossover. Unfortunately this was a parts car, so it won’t have been saved.  

Just $2750 was all that was needed to rescue this 1975 AMC Pacer X from Desert Valley Auto Parts. While the exterior was pretty good, the interior was definitely in need of some work. Thankfully, the yard also had an abundance of Pacer spare parts in stock, too.

The sporty X package, which was available from 1975 to 1978, added features like bucket seats, a sports steering wheel and a floor-mounted gear shift.

There were still plenty of good parts left on this 1962 Triumph Herald convertible. The British-built Herald, which was manufactured from 1959 to 1971, was designed by Italian designer Giovanni Michelotti.

Its angular appearance wasn’t to everyone’s taste, but it sold reasonably well in its domestic market. Almost 24,000 were sold in the US, with the vast majority being convertibles.

This 1973 Buick Riviera, while originally listed as a project car, was unfortunately starting to be stripped for parts during our visit.

1973 marked the final year for the third generation Riviera, with its distinctive boat-tail styling.

Although it looked great from the rear, this 1990 Cadillac Eldorado ended up here after being involved in a collision, and the front had some moderate damage.

The car’s 4.5-litre V8 generated 180bhp, taking the two-door coupe to 100 km/h in 9.5 seconds.

Launched in 1934, the Suburban is the longest continually used car name. This is a second generation car, and was built in 1946. It was one of the most expensive project cars in the yard, having a $10,500 price tag.

The Datsun 510, which was known as the Datsun 1600 outside America, was sold between 1968 and 1973. There were four body styles on offer, including this five-door station wagon. They developed a good reputation for reliability, and helped the Japanese manufacturer to secure a future in the all-important USA market. This early example definitely deserved to be saved.

Despite being highly collectable, there are still thousands of Volkswagen Transporter T2s languishing in yards the length and breadth of the US. Desert Valley Auto Parts deemed this rust-free 1978 bus to be a parts vehicle, and indeed it did have plenty of great bits and pieces left on it.

Unlike some of the more unusual parts cars featured here, we know this one will have been well and truly cannibalized.

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British automotive journalist Will Shiers has been photographing abandoned American cars for 35 years. He has visited all 50 states on his tin-hunting trips, exploring barns, fields, deserts, ghost towns and salvage yards, while searching for hidden treasures. 

Will has been contributing to car magazines for three decades, and is the author of Roadside Relics - America’s Abandoned Automobiles.