Tucked in the rows and rows of E34s, E30s, and mangled E36s, there were a few vintage BMWs. Thankfully no 502s, or 3.0s or anything of that caliber, but more common stuff. As sad as it is, E21s, and even E23s are at the point where gearboxes, and other mechanical bits are dying, thus landing them here. Thankfully, the bodies and interior remain scot-free, though I don't know if that's a good thing. I suppose it means more parts for BMW restoreres, though I don't know where you'd turn for mechanical bits.
Some VW products made in here, too. Tangled amongst the Beetle and Buse corpses, oddities stood out. The Audi was decent; its paint was baked from longtime Idaho sun exposure, the trim was goood, if not a bit worn, and the door handles were gone. Sadly, this vehicle was likely laid to rest because the engine was shot. Sucky, because this Audi could've been a cool car if restored, or at least maintained. The other car is a Porsche 924. Essentially, a gussied up Beetle in terms of performance, the Porsche 924 (and later 944 and eventually 968) had a minimalist Germanic appearance that I'm quite fond of. No cluttered up lines, no random bulges and creases, and most of all, a simplistic design that looked decent for what it was.
Swedish cars were a bit less common in the yard, as I noted two examples worth photographing. The first example is a Saab 900 that's been pretty much picked clean of everything; this would suggest that, like Minnesota's yards, Saabs aren't that common, so when one comes in, it's picked clean pretty quick. I have to wonder, though, what trim this was, what wheels it had, and what kind of life led it to its final resting place. I do like this generation of Saab 900, so seeing one in corpse-like condition was a bit saddening. Next up is this Volvo 242. Like the rest of the 240 series, the coupes are indestructible, as evidenced by the seemingly straight body. Again, with the amount of relatively clean cars, I have wonder what leads good, dry, older cars into this metal-crunching hell. The Volvo seemed to have alot of parts to give, and I'm almost not sure if it's crusher-worthy yet. Although, since these pictures are almost a year old, I'm pretty sure it landed in the crusher by now. RIP brick-coupe, you'll be missed.
Italian cars were much less common in the yard, than even the Swedish cars; maybe it's the fact that not many remain period, or maybe it's because they're still scattered about Boise in hopes of being restored. Sadly, with these two specimens, being restored is out of the question. Lancias are quite rare in the United States, though I wasn't surprised to see a Beta rotting in this Idaho sun-baked automotive graveyard. Cars last forever there. Introduced for US consumption in 1975, the historic marque stuck around on our shores till 1982, when they packed up and went home due to poor sales, and even poorer dealer network. This Beta had a 2.0L 4 and likely weighed in at just under 2400 lbs. Seems to me like it would've been a fun little car to scoot around in.
Next up is the Fiat 124 Spider; brought over here to do battle with the likes of Triumphs and possibly MGs. The 124 Spider first came over to the US in 1966, and promptly won the hearts of people who wanted fun motoring, and stole some sales from Triumph prospects as well. However, during Fiats stay in the US, they encountered "gritboyism", which led to accusation of poor quality vehicles, causing them to leave the market in 1983. The 124 and 2000 Spider was their last successful US market vehicle. Have no fear, Fiat is coming back though, with no sports cars in tow, save for the elite Ferrari brand and Alfa Romeo brand, which are already here as of this writing.
Lastly, I have this Renault Alliance. Suffering the same fate as nieghbor Peugeot, Renaults were vehicles American consumers never "got"; people in the US didn't know what it was, and nor did they care. The people who bought these were likely looking for a cheap car with good gas mileage. Marketed as the Alliance and Encore, these Renaults came as 4 door, 2 door, hatchback, and eventually a convertible. Unlike it's foreign-market cousin Renault 9 and 11, the Alliance was built in the US AMC factory in Kenosha, WI. Due to rising competition, Renault Alliance and Encore sales fell from some 160,000 cars in 1983 all the way to a completely unstaggering 35,000 cars by Chrysler's takeover in 1987. With the Alliance done for, Chrysler concentrated on their own replacement, the Mitsubishi-built Eagle Summit sedan. Sadly, I have seen more Summits than Alliances; quite a shame because I think the Alliance not only is better looking, it also got way better MPG than its replacement.
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