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In 1986, I went to work for a local junkyard in Petersburg, WV.
At that time scrap was up and the owner was crushing everything.The boy who was helping me and I were pulling backseats
and checking for money and the such, when we noticed an orange and black Chevy Vega headed for the crusher.
Crusher Flattened the Vega Just as I Realized It's Rarity We started looking at it -- the outside door handles, emblems, door panels, seats and dash
had emblems which said one millionth chevy vega. We knew it was something special, but went on with our job as we were told
to do.
I picked the Vega up and put it on the crusher and then the other guy ran
it forward into the belly of the beast. Just as the crusher came down on that orange Chevy Vega, I realized that it
had to be the only one left on the planet. The bad part is that by the time this
hit me, it was too late to do anything about it.
One Millionth Vega Haunts Me StillTo this
day that little orange chevy vega haunts me as it is always right there every time I or someone else talk about old cars.
It just will not leave my mind for some reason. I guess that I am destined to be haunted with it throughout eternity.
Now when I clean out junkyards I check out everything first. I now have a 1928
ACE Wooden schoolbus even though none are supposed to exist. I saved this one, and still that Vega haunts me. --end--
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Comments from visitors
I just saw a picture (see photo above) of the vega the guy mentioned in the
story. I was at a friends house a couple weeks ago and he was showing me some pictures of cars he had owned over the years.
He had a picture of that same vega. He said that his mom used to own it and had wondered why it said one millionth
on the door panels, and said he should of kept it. I was fasinated with his story so I thought I would google it. So
that little orange car will haunt you some more. I'm sure I could get a copy of it. It had a large white decal or stripes
on it also. The picture was from the 80's so the car still looked good. Not sure if he had it in IA or CA. -- Troy Ball
Another Comment
It is fun to read these stories. The “millionth Vega” pictured below
was my first car in the late 70’s. My dad bought it new in 1973, when each Chevy dealer was given one by Chevrolet,
so there were quite a few of them, at least a few hundred, I suppose, all identically equipped, with the door handle stickers
and the white stripe.
As a high school geek in the late 70’s, I was a little embarrassed about the BRIGHT orange color. It ended
up (as did several other aluminum block Vegas) burning almost as much oil as gas, and eventually threw a rod circa 1980
This picture was actually taken after it stopped running, when I had already swapped its cooler-looking-than-these wheels
with its replacement – a ’74 Vega wagon! (Two Vegas in a row; yeah, I suppose I really was a geek. -- anonymous
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| and brace yourself |
We've seen far too many project cars and trucks
taken to the Crusher. Sure these classic autos have seen better days, but these cars are history, our
history and no matter the condition they are too good to crush.
It would be better to make business signs out of them or flower garden
decorations than to crush them into iron pancakes. I don't go as far as turning them into furniture unless it is garage furniture.
Maybe it's just me. I am especially sentimental
about old cars and trucks made before World War II. If the car made it into the 21st century, it deserves to live
proudly as a decor art, not suffer the humiliating death by a crusher.
No, I don't have a line of old "junk" cars cluttering up my place.
Susan won't allow it. But we both collect pictures of old cars and we call them rust buckets. See
our collection of rust buckets -- Larry
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