Showing posts with label Hwy 467. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hwy 467. Show all posts

Friday, January 22, 2010

The Volkswagen Disposal Yard, Raymond, Mississippi

Volkswagen junk yard
Raymond is a handsome little town southwest of Jackson, Mississippi. It features an elegant courthouse, historical buildings, and Hinds Junior College. But northwest of town on state Highway 467 is something just as unique: the place where old Volkswagens come to rest (maybe forever). To find it, drive west out of town on Main Street, and just after the Raymond-Bolton Road leads off to the right, look to the right and you will see a field full of mid-century examples of the people's car.
Volkswagen junk yard


I have never seen anyone there, but a coworker said he occasionally sees a gent fixing a car. Also, every now and then a slightly less beat-up example appears on the grass near the mobile home, so there clearly is some sort of flux of parts and bodies.

Volkswagen Beetles are fun and plenty of folks have a fondness for them. But I'm not sure how many of these examples will ever go to good homes. This is a humid environment, so rust takes its toll.

Volkswagen junk yard



Look at the Type 412 (the red body) in the third picture. I remember these things. They were introduced around 1973 and only came with automatic transmission for the US market. Volkswagen was ahead of its time with gauging the American public's ineptness to manage complex technology like a clutch pedal (or gauging its laziness). The 412s did not last long in the market.

Volkswagen Rabbit

In the fourth photograph you can see a US-made first generation Rabbit. I never knew why they changed the name from Golf, which was used in the European versions. The Rabbit was pretty crummy because it had been Americanized with a softer suspension, softer seats, and other compromises that took away the fun factor. Unreliability and a tendency to rust didn't help its reputation. But the diesels got 50 mpg in the 1980s.

Update: Please click the link to see a similar Volkswagen yard in Moab, Utah.

Update September 2020: The VW yard has fewer cars in it than before. I do not know if the repair business is still operating. While driving by, I saw only beetles, with no busses or other models.
Volkswagen Beetles