Rusty But Trusty

Depending on your perspective, hoards of old cars are either sad or interesting. But they’re also kind of like a car accident – you can’t look away. And here at RustyButTrusty HQ, it’s hard to look away from hoards containing small, sporty, or underdog cars, particularly imported ones. So let’s start off with a selection from a hoard in eastern West Virginia (wait, isn’t that just Virginia?) – this 1970s VW Treehuggers Edition Beetle, for sale in Ranson, WV. And yes, there’s no price, but you know the saying – if you have to ask, you can’t afford it. Thanks to reader Dave for finding this listing.

Here’s three more – it’s kind of like mushrooms growing in the forest. What possessed the owner to hold on to these? The nearest one looks like it caught fire at some point, with the rust pattern. There are also some buses in the immediate area, as well as some W114/115 Mercedes sedans, and some Ponton Mercedes. None of them look particularly usable, except for parts and scrap.

Okay, so Beetles are pretty ubiquitous, and there’s plenty more where that came from, but leaving an Alfa Spider under the trees? Oh wait, there’s a lot of those too… what took this car down? Turbina wheels and glass are still good. You can see a Mercedes sedan in the background, so who knows what else he (let’s face it, it’s always a “he”) has out there. Perhaps there are some 356 remnants for which he can squeeze $50K out of someone who hasn’t heard of the tulip bubble. You can find the Alfa Romeo Spider and Alfa Romeo Alfetta for sale in Ranson, WV, and again, if you have to ask, you can’t afford these fine examples of Italian ferrous oxide.

Saving the worst for last – this Alfa Romeo Alfetta Sedan, clearly a later car with the flush door handles, and probably a 1979 because of the side markers. The seller must have cared more about this car, because it’s free of trees. Perhaps inflating the tires might yield you a roller. This is probably too far gone anyways, but you might get a few useful parts off it. Mercedes ponton sedans, VW buses, and more that’s not easily recognized is in the background.

Tags: alfa romeo, alfetta, beetle, bus, hoarding, mercedes, spider veloce, type 1, type 2, volkswagen, vw

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