Massive, historic salvage yard for sale in Idaho

Some dare speak of a great and mystical land, a veritable Valhalla, a sacred realm where sheetmetal reigns, across valleys and hills as far as the gaze leads. A brutal land where the wind howls and cuts to the bone, whipping around A-pillars and lidless trunks. A land of ice and snow, from the midnight sun where the hot springs flow. An Avalon without any Avalons.

We speak, of course, of Famous Idaho, home of Scenic Potatoes. Larry Harms has resided in Wendell, Idaho, for over 50 years on an 80-acre property bursting with more than 8,000 cars. He encapsulates the American dream: he started with a body shop and a single tow truck in town, and then just started collecting cars. Eventually the city came knocking and told him to take his cars somewhere else. Harms bought his 80-acre property in 1967, sold the body shop, and has been living the dream ever since.

Harms is retiring, and therefore the land and everything on it is for sale. "It is a piece of American history," says the classified ad on Hemmings. And it is massive -- check it out on Google Maps, and be sure to zoom out. Its winding dirt roads look like a drunkenly carved residential development more than a junkyard. Wandering in here would be a surreal, never-ending affair. "Probably only 75 percent of this yard is actually inventoried since it was started in the 60's," says the ad. Good luck! Some of the first cars from the body shop might still be buried there somewhere, as a matter of fact.

Success, entrepreneurship and bureaucracy -- it's all there. And so are these 8,000 cars that lie fallow in this southern Idaho plain: we spy a Buick Roadmaster in there, some more portholes, possibly a mid-60s Oldsmobile. Is that a Studebaker Commander in there? Chrome still looks good. You could remove its nose, mount it on your wall as a clock. Harms' site lists mostly late-50s, early-60s American cars; this month, a rust-minimal 1966 Buick Skylark can be yours for just $4,500. It's no Lambrecht Chevrolet. It's bigger.

Hemmings
Any guesses to what that split-window might be?

"Give us a call!" the ad mentioned cheerfully, so we did. We spoke with Ron, the laconic manager of the yard for over 22 years. There are no big auctions planned, he told us; a few people have mentioned it since the ad was quietly posted a few days ago, but nobody's flying in from parts unknown. Lambrecht looked like

By Blake Z. Rong