Oppo Rally: Stop

"CaptDale - is secretly British" (captdale) 08/08/2018 at 00:54 • Filed to: Oppo Rally CA, Oppo rally, Tom Merkel's Cuyama Car Garden

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The Tom Merkel’s Cuyama Car Garden

I heard about it from Barn Find Hunter’s on Youtube

I thought what a weird and neat place I could add to the Caifornia Oppo Rally depending on where exactly I take all of you fools lovely people. As I looked into it more and found it on Google maps I was very saddened

Google said permanently closed and the satellite mage explains why. The cars are nearly all gone. A !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! about going to see the Car Garden explains that the caregiver, after Tom Merkel’s death had started selling everything off. As sad as it is to see cars rotting away, I am heartbroken to see a man’s life work disappear because people had deep enough pockets to temp the sale of these vehicles . Sure some may be back on the road or have been used to help others finish restorations, but that will never be as special as there were sitting on a mountainside. They meant something to a Mr. Merkel and they should have been left there to be shown to future generations.

I am so disappointed I will never get to experience something that disappeared almost with no acknowledgment   at all.  

Spridget > CaptDale - is secretly British 08/08/2018 at 01:13

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I have to disagree with you. These cars were rotting away onto a mountainside. Now they’re being used as they were intended to: as cars. It will be far more special for someone to be able to restore or drive a car they brought back from almost nothing.

E39, K5. Whatever it takes. > CaptDale - is secretly British 08/08/2018 at 02:35

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During the 8 years I lived in SLO, a road trip there was often discussed,  never executed.  

facw > CaptDale - is secretly British 08/08/2018 at 09:19

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I’m sure it didn’t take much to prompt a sale. Most people are going to consider this a junkyard, not a work of art. And more importantly, a junkyard that costs money to maintain, instead of making money. Really the only way I can imagine something like this continuing long term would be setting up some non-profit specifically to care for it once the creator died.

CaptDale - is secretly British > Spridget 08/08/2018 at 11:07

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I agree with that too, but I don’t know. Just a neat thing that is gone. 

Dusty Ventures > CaptDale - is secretly British 08/08/2018 at 12:23

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Bummer, that looks like it would have been a great stop

CaptDale - is secretly British > Dusty Ventures 08/08/2018 at 12:57

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I agree

RallyWrench > CaptDale - is secretly British 08/08/2018 at 18:53

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Hey, if you hang around me long enough I’ll start stashing cars out in the country. 

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > CaptDale - is secretly British 08/08/2018 at 19:00

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Dang, that would have been really cool! I'm sure there is more neat stuff like this out in the desert. 

CaptDale - is secretly British > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) 08/08/2018 at 19:09

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Yeah but a lot of that stuff isn’t very well advertised, but I am looking

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > CaptDale - is secretly British 08/09/2018 at 11:35

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Lemme know if you need anything checked out down my way. I will gladly make a trip out of trying to find some random place to confirm it’s actually there. I will also look into some these oddball things. I should be able to come up with a couple of neat ones.

CaptDale - is secretly British > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) 08/09/2018 at 11:41

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Yeah let me know if you have any good ideas your way and email me or text either way.