CRASHES TO CRASHES

America’s wild west is a land of history and mysteries when it comes to tin-hunting.

- Will Shiers

The typical tourist traps of America’s wild west include the Disney World, the Empire State Building, the Las Vegas strip, the Grand Canyon, Yosemite National Park and Hollywood. It is these places that create the image of America’s wild west for most. Give it a miss however and a different world beacons. It is a world where a history in tin-hunting could be carved out. Lying beyond big cities and interstates, and in the boondocks on two-lane blacktops, the America’s wild west is where abandoned vehicles are found – abandoned trucks are found. In barns, fields, ghost towns, deserts and junkyards. Spread thin and thick through 50 states as an effort is made to explore them without being stung, shot, stabbed and bitten. Photographing such American roadside relics is a revelation. Here’s some of them from a 3000-mile road trip through California, Nevada, Idaho, Washington and Oregon.

This 1944 FWD SuCOE is one of 2700 4x4 6-tonne trucks built for the US Army Ordinance Department by the Four Wheel Drive Auto Company (FWD). Capable of carrying heavy loads over rough terrain, they saw active service in Europe and Russia during WW2. This righthand-drive example, which has a machine gun turret in its roof, resides in a junkyard in Mountain Home, Idaho. Although it hasn’t turned a wheel in two decades, incredibly it still holds air in all four tyres. The engine and radiator have long since gone, but the transmission and drivetrain are still in place. Fancy such an interesting, largely rust-free restoration project, head over to Idaho with USD 3500. (Pic 1.)