Photographs reveal overgrown 15-acre junkyard in South Dakota filled with rare 1920s motors

As we move with the times and modern technology, vintage classics lay scattered around the world, and apparently everything good from South Dakota has been collected in this Junkyard full of rare 1920s motors.

With EVs brands like Tesla dominating the roads having seen its Model Y be the best-selling car of 2024, ages gone by are becoming much more of a distant memory.

But in a nugget of inspiration, this junkyard has managed to retain cars nearly 100 years old.

Oakleaf Old Cars of Hartford, South Dakota, now houses a range of classics from rare 1920s motors to some of the best sports cars of recent memory.

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South Dakota Junkyard is a heaven for vintage car lovers

Junkyard finds are as interesting as they are sad, as thousands of cars lie in waste – not scrapped, but not loved either.

Especially in the US, these vintage collections can be found quite frequently, and even serve a hidden purpose in some cases.

But this junkyard at Oakleaf Old Cars hosts some rather unique cars dating nearly 100 years old.

Highlighted by Autocars, but also visible on Google Maps, the massive stretch of land in South Dakota houses thousands of old cars.

The yard originally belonged to Donnas Oakleaf, who owned the state’s first crusher.

But despite smashing down countless cars into scrap aluminum, he also preserved many of his favorite cars to land in his ownership.

Donnas passed back in 1955, but his sons continued the legacy by refusing to let these cars get crushed, and it now serves as an exhibition.

Some of these classics span as far back as rare 1920s motors

The oldest of these cars are rare 1920s motors but have been sat there so long that the rust has claimed them beyond recognition.

One particular timeless classic found was a 1940 Lincoln Zephyr nicknamed the ‘Style Leader’ according to Autocars, whose photographer noted that the car was touted with the strapline of: “New size, power, and beauty it brings to its field.”

Other notable finds in the exhibition include a 1948 Buick, a 1957 Cadillac Sedan DeVille, a 1958 DeSoto Firesweep, a 1964 Dodge Dart convertible, and a 1971-1973 Ford Mustang Mach 1.

Unfortunately, many of these cars remain unsalvageable, having been claimed by nature while residing in the junkyard.

This junkyard was a capsule of reliability and sensible driving, lost in time. Other finds have been known to have some more power and speed that has been claimed by time too.