What Abandoned Car Still Haunts You to This Day?
As a kid, I used to see the same wrecked International Scout behind a service station all the time.
Derelict cars, barn-finds, and abandoned but mostly recognizable vehicles have a strange appeal to those of us tragically addicted to cars. It's part "I can fix it" energy, part latent inspiration, and ultimately intrigue over a car's aesthetic. There are a few cars that meet this criteria that I still think about sometimes. How about you?
When I was a kid, I lived near Massachusetts' Cape Ann and often passed a dilapidated International Scout on my route between home and school. Before I knew what a Scout was, I just thought it looked simultaneously cool and sad rotting away next to the train tracks. This image was burned so deeply into my brain that it spawned a deep love of Scouts later on, and I've got one of my own now—which even runs sometimes!
I still think about that wreck occasionally, but I didn't have a photo of it. Luckily, my mom was willing to brave a 10-degree day to go check on it and snap a photo for me. It turns out that it is still in the spot I remember, but it looks like it's risen from the dead and returned to duty as a parking lot plow rig. Maybe it never logged off and has been moving snow all this time. Regardless, I was stoked to see it fighting on decades after so many other Scouts have returned to the Earth. And thanks again for the picture, Mother Dear.
When this idea of derelict car memories came up in conversation in the office, some of my colleagues had had similar experiences; memories of a car's carcass that for whatever reason got lodged deeply in their minds. I bet some of you have those too. I want to hear about them! Is there an abandoned car you saw and still think about?
Share it in the comments.
