Welcome to our second and final visit to Rohner’s Auto Parts, one of Minnesota’s best-kept secrets.
This 80-acre yard features miles of dirt tracks lined with thousands of cars.
INTRODUCTION
While many vehicles date back to the 1990s and 2000s, as you can see from this collection of images, there is an impressive array of older domestic, European, and Japanese autos as well.
LINCOLN TOWNCAR LIMOUSINE
We were hoping to cruise around Rohner’s Auto Parts in this 1990s stretched Lincoln Towncar, until we noticed the ‘Not for Hire’ sticker and a ‘No Drinking’ sign. Talk about ruining our fun…
Its last ride is likely to be a suitably sombre one – straight to the crusher…
AMC PACER
One of the AMC Pacer’s many nicknames was the ‘Flying Goldfish Bowl’, on account of all that glass. Unfortunately, the fish seem to have all escaped through this one’s smashed front windshield.
Produced from 1975 to 1980, in total 280,000 of these three-door compacts were sold.
VOLKSWAGEN SCIROCCO
Launched in the mid-1970s, the Volkswagen Scirocco replaced the Karmann Ghia Coupé. This model is a Scirocco II, identified by its elongated wedge-shaped body, softer lines, and a rear spoiler above the rear windshield. While US sales ceased in 1988, the Scirocco continued in Europe into the early 1990s, with a total of 795,734 units sold worldwide.
Though the Scirocco made a long-awaited return in 2008 with a third generation, these models never made their way across the Atlantic.
PONTIAC GRANDVILLE – 1972
The Pontiac Grand Ville, a trim package for the Bonneville, was only available from 1971 to 1975. Over the five years, 290,327 of these luxury liners were built, but fewer than 20,000 were 1972 coupes like this one.
Although this particular car still boasts plenty of useful trim, its bruised and battered body panels are beyond salvageable.
OLDSMOBILE JETSTAR 88 – 1964
In 1964, only 19,325 Oldsmobile Jetstar four-door Holiday Hardtops were built, and just a tiny fraction has survived. This one has long since lost its Jetfire Rocket V8, which, when pushed hard, could take the Jetstar to 60mph in about 9 seconds and on to a claimed top speed of 115mph.
RENAULT FUEGO
If scarcity equated to value, Rohners would be sitting on a fortune with its collection of four rare Renault Fuego hatchbacks. Between 1982 and 1986, 94,000 were sold through AMC dealers.
However, that isn’t the case; instead, it has four French cars that nobody wants. These models were also assembled in South America, where production continued into the 1990s.
CHEVROLET VEGA KAMMBACKS
And while we’re on the subject of undesirability, Rohners has more Chevrolet Vega Kammback wagons than you can shake a stick at. What they lack in appeal, they more than make up for in color. Though nothing in this lineup looks restorable, it offers a treasure trove of rare spare parts.