The stuff that gets chucked out

[chris288]

In the late 70's, early 80's I worked for a Chrysler/Valiant/Dodge dealership in Melbourne, one of the major opposition parts dealers was a crowd in Stubbs St Kensington (Vic) called Lapco. Anyway I had to go there regually to pickup parts etc and remember an old run down wharehouse next door which was filled with hundereds of pinballs, I have no idea what games but do know (only from reading here) that lots were "wood rails" type machines. I remember asking a bloke there about them and he said they were all going to the tip (of course nobody cared much then).....how many must of been scrapped around the world?

Non related, but for the car nuts...I was still at Chrysler when the Mitsubishi changeover came, the dealer I was with was a "Direct Connection" agent (Mopar/Chryslers equivalent of say HSV or Tickford) and we had crates of hot up bits, hemi parts, tri-power carb setups etc....all this went to the tip, it was not allowed to be sold.

A few years later I did some work for a major Australian brake and clutch company, they had several fully registered brand new left hand drive Corvettes that were bought into the country for evaluation (they supplied Chevrolet with brake parts/technology), when the programme was finished all these cars HAD to be crushed with a goverment supervisor present as they had been brought into Aus under some special tax free scheme and had special left hand drive dispensation)


I remember hearing a similiar thing about all the Americans that worked at the Harold Holt communications base in Exmouth.
The yanks there had Trans Ams, Camaros, and various other speccy Yank cars that were all left hookers and when they all went back home the cars were not taken back because of the expense and would not allow them to be registered here, so they apparently dug a huge hole and drove them all in and covered it up with dirt. What a waste!!

It was the same in WWII when after the war all the aircraft carriers that were not American had to push all the American made planes into the ocean because they were leased and the Yanks didn't want them back because it would then harm the local aircraft building industries.