Rust is a sometimes mysterious thing.  Aided by natural elements such as water and oxygen, it can reduce anything made from iron into a reddish oxide.  Sometimes rust can eat away at entire pieces of metal.  Protection is available in the form of paints or coatings which can shield a piece and keep it functional.

There’s a great junkyard in Santa Maria, CA called Black Road Auto.  Here, you can rummage around and find most anything you want to.  Their staff is friendly and the boneyard (as they call it) is tidy and organized.  You can reach their website at www.blackroadauto.us.  They carry new and used parts (go and get the used ones yourself except for rims which sit on the top of each car like pairs of shoes), plus they do transmission repairs and towing and have ferrous and non-ferrous metal recycling.   And therein lies a few very interesting stories

Dodge Polara - The hood is missing and the driver’s side door is off.  This one is pretty beat up and rusted under the trunk lid and in a lot of other areas.  It appears to have been two-toned at one time, but perhaps the roof just rusted out more.  The body was yellow.

Ford Mustang ('65 or '66) - This one is almost gone.  It’s right on the ground and the roof has been cut off, the hood and front are missing, but it still has a lot of character.  I could see where the Mustang logo used to be but it’s not there anymore.  Probably stripped for popular parts a long time ago, or even before it was brought to the wrecking yard.

1969 Mercury Cougar - This one is actually in fairly decent shape, and as you can tell, bright metallic blue.  It used to be a prized possession by the look of it.  I always wonder why cars that seem to be in good shape, are not wrecked, and are considered classics end up in a wrecking yard?  I suppose you could trace the history of any vehicle with the VIN.

This International beauty is found in Orcutt, California (just south of Santa Maria), on the Central Coastal area.  The current owner of Orcutt Brewing Company, told me that a few owners ago they wanted to do something with an old ranch truck, so brought it down and placed it outside of their (then) antique collective. This collective is in an old steel Quonset type building, and is now being converted to a local micro-brewery and bar. 

A landscaper saw the truck and wanted to do something interesting with it, so he started planting and the idea took off from there.  You can see various tools, a ladder and an old mower blade attached to the sides, and the International is parked on small gravel for drainage purposes. 

It looks to have been originally painted blue, but you can’t really tell due to the sunlight fading it out.  I’m guessing it looks to be about early 50s, but someone out there may be able to pinpoint it a little better.

Owners Clay, Joanne, Vern & Chris Frick can be reached at www.orcuttbrew.com for more information, or if you just want to stop by and sample the local delicious brew and grab a bite to eat, email them for directions to the place, and check out this International.    

By Susan Hart