It was a cold northern Ohio weekend when a co-worker of mine invited me on a rusty car spotting trip.  Hitting a number of locations, be they closed dealerships, scrap yards, sales lots, or repair shops, there was just a little bit of something for everyone.  To be honest, I was drawn in by the promise of decrepit Porsches, but I kept going to see rotten X1/9s and tattered TR-7s.   

By the way, this article could also be subtitled “: What Ohio does to cars”

While I will let most of these photos speak for themselves, I will say that it was tremendous fun to see these things, even in their current state.  The nostalgia was with us all day, and we certainly had a good time.  If you are ever in the Cuyahoga Falls area, stop in, and I’ll take you on a EuroTrash Adventure with all the mystery and wonderment you could ever ask for.

If I can remember correctly, this was a 505 Turbo sedan, and it made me desire a French car worse than I ever have before.  If only it were brown.

This German Capri didn’t have a lick of paint left anywhere on it.  I still wanted it.

A pontoon fender Benz in this state.  I nearly wept.

I absolutely would have driven this Rabbit GTi in this condition.  Remove the bumpers, rattle-can it a flat sky blue color, and lower it just a little.

Always a soft spot for vintage BMWs.

Yeah, the Brat isn’t exactly European, but it had a bed cap on the back.  How cool is that?

This one almost did seem drivable.    Call me a girl all you want, I still lust for an early Cabriolet.

 

 I used to have a TR-7 just like this one.  It was a fixed head coupe, and it even had the crappy aftermarket lift-out style sunroof.  Of course, mine had slightly less surface rust, and slightly more bass-boat metallic flake in the paint.