DERELICT CARS

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XXII, Issue 89, 30 March 1932, Page 11

DERELICT CARS

SALVAGING OPERATIONS SMALL PARTS USED AGAIN. METAL WORK TO “JUNK HEAP.” Each year in New Zealand many mo-tor-cars, American and English, are sold, trade m or exchanged, but tn of the number of different owners a car may have, there is the constant element of wear and tear always present. Sooner or later a car must reach the end of its economic life, and the often-asked, but little answered, question arises, What happens to this fleet of derelicts?

Cars go out of commission either because they become obsolete, and can no longer be run economically, or because they are wrecked in a smash or burned. There are only two ways of disposing of them, either to leave them where they stand or to have them dismantled and all the useful parts salvaged. Motorists have most likely observed occasional abandoned cars by the roadside during a tour, but the proportion of cars which are left in this way is not very large. The salvage of the useful parts in old and disused cars is a highly-specialised business. USING SALVAGED PARTS. Car wrecking is practically the only outlet for a car which has served its useful purpose. In a wrecking establishment, cars of all makes and models are completely dismantled aud the parts which might be of use as spares for motorists and garages are washed, tested and stored away in various classified bins and racks for future service.

A firm undertaking business of this description must of necessity hold thousands of pounds worth of parts in order to be able to meet the smallest inquiry. In some cases, bodies can bi used again but these are usually smashed and sent away with the remainder of the “junk,” and used for reclamation fillings. The chassis are stripped of brackets and cross members, and the rest of the steelwork goes to the same desination as the bodies. If there were a market for metal in New Zealand the discarded portion of the chassis would be worth about £lO.

Regarding a < ar from a salvage point of view, in the dismantling process about half of it is immediately consigned to the “junk heap,” and about one-third of the useful parts remaininf are finally requisitioned for service in a new lease of life.

PURCHASE FROM GARAGES. Throughout New Zealand about 600 cars a vear are taken off the roads by one firm. In the Auckland district alone, the same firm has removed about 300 cars since it commenced opera l ions over two years ago. In normal times the majority of cars are purchased from garages, but with the present bad times, many cars reach the wreckers prematurely, the owners being unable to stand eithe- the costs of upkeep or repairs. Of the total number of cars wrecked about 50 per cent., are the ones which have finished their useful span of life from an economic standpoint; 30 per cent., are ones which have been burned: and the remaining 20 per cent., are those wrecked through smashes or mechanical failures.

The fact that so many old cars are constantly being taken off the roads by car-wrecking firms is to a very large extent responsible for the new cars continually being sold in New Zealand. It must be added that New Zealand has one of the highest proportions of cars to the total population, and were it not for tho fact that an outlet of this nature has been provided, saturaation point must very soon be reached. Among the old cars which come in to the wrecking firms, there are some interesting specimens which make their appearance occasionally. The oldest which has been produced up to the present is an 1895 Benz motor buggy, with a 6| horse-power engine driven by a belt on to the back axle. A CHRISTCHURCH PIONEER. This pioneer in the realms of motor transport made its appearance in Christchurch, where it had been discovered in a good state of preservation in a stable. In fact, so well preserved was the buggy, that it was decided not to dismantle it, but to preserve it as an object of interest.

The next oldest car bought fo> breaking-up purposes was a 1906 sixcylinder Ford, from Auckland, which was dismantled, but only the engine retained as being of use. A 1909 Rolls Boyce was bought in Christchurch recently, and many parts were sold. In one instance a car was bought in Auckland bearing a well-known name plate on its radiator, but op being dismantled it was found that it had un dergone so many constructional changes that nothing but the bare chassis and tho radiator remained of the original make. In many cases, cars have had different radiators subsisted for the original one.

In England the method of wrecking cars is to salvage large units, such as the engine, gear-box and rear-end, and then dispose of the remainder as refuse. If a smaller part is wanted by a customer it is taken off one of these large units as required. The methods of disposing of old cars in America is totally different. Large wrecking firms are established which purchase cars solely for the amount of metal contained. These firms buy cars by the weight, the cars being run on to weighbridges and the owner paid so much a hundredweight. There is a market for all scrap metal there, including steel, and this is the main reason why cars arc dealt with whole instead of in small parts as in New Zealand, where no such metal market exists.