04-08 Nissan Maxima Right Tail Light on 2040-parts.com

German Parts Pillagers Roam the American Southwest, Sending Treasures Home For Future Car Museum

Quite a few older European cars are purchased in rust-free parts of the United States and then shipped back to the home continent, and this process tends to intensify when the Euro gets stronger versus the dollar. While that's going on, crews of European gearheads also roam the wrecking yards of the Southwest, filling shipping containers with parts to ship back home; I know of a trio of Swedes who come to Colorado every year and ship home tons of parts, but they've got nothing on this pair of Germans. These gentlemen fly to the United States four times each year, spending two or three weeks each trip, and send home cars and shipping containers packed with parts, all as part of a scheme to open up a car collection showcasing "cars from the road." They were kind enough to send me a bunch of photos of their most recent trip, so let's see what their enviable lifestyle looks like.

Lexus LS 600h Landaulet – a definite one-off

Lexus LS 600h Landaulet - fit for a Prince If this had been Audi you’d have expected that a Landaulet would be their next niche model. But thankfully this is Lexus, so they’ve just made a one-off Lexus LS 600h Landaulet to ferry Prince Albert of Monaco around at his upcoming nuptials, rather than using it to herald many more Landaulet models to come. Now if you’re going to be ferried around in anything – as opposed to driving it yourself – cars for the purpose actually don’t come a lot better than a Lexus LS 600h.

Ford gets the 1965 Mustang ready for the racetrack

When a pair of 1965 Ford Mustangs served as pace cars for the 1964 Indianapolis 500, the car -- which had made its debut just a few weeks before -- was kicking off an exciting motorsports career that continues to this day. In the April 25, 1964, issue of Competition Press and Autoweek, we shared news (relayed to us by none other than Lee Iacocca) of the Mustang's racing ambitions. At the time, the competition schedule included the Midnight Sun road rally in Sweden, the Alpine rally in France and Spa-Sofia-Liege rally, which ran between Belgium and Yugoslavia.