Tom_Spangler wrote: Just an FYI for anyone considering these cars, I would just assume that none of them have floors. Michigan + sitting outside in the grass for untold years = rust city, probably. And a nice variety of critters calling them home, as well.
I was going to make a joke about Michigan "liquidating" old cars, but I felt it was implied by the foliage in the video. :P
In reply to AngryCorvair:
Here's your Pepsi...
I went to your schools, your churches, your institutional learning facilities.
Came out the other side with a willingness to help others thin their car hoards while adding to mine. NOW whose best interest is it motherberkeleyer?
Saw an interesting thing today. I use a "storage lot" to park my trailer and PU truck as I don't have the room at home. I've been using the lot for 10+ years. As I was leaving the lot today I saw the owner talking to some guys and as they were leaving I stopped to talk to him. I asked about a car that appeared in his lot a few weeks ago. Get this, sitting outside under some trees is a Lincoln Continental Mark II. It's white with what looks like a light blue interior.
The owner said it's owned by one of his space renters, like me, and he thinks it's for sale. Well I love those cars but it's the kind of car that I can only dream of owning. They are so expensive to restore and while valuable the cost to restore can exceed the value. One can dream though.
Anyone looking for a TR7? There's one there, I park my truck right next to it.
This story made Jalopnik: http://jalopnik.com/a-michigan-town-is-forcing-this-man-to-sell-20-old-cars-1797608865
Aw man, the words out now. Prices are going to go up. I need to get there and see if he has volvo stuff for me.
From the Jalopnik article I got the idea that he wanted what he paid for them. Yeah, no. Seems like a really nice gent but that won't help him out of his predicament with the man no matter how petty and small the man is. 
BTW I tried googling best place/state to have a car hoard and came up with bupkis but I'll bet something desert like with an airstream to live in. 
In reply to nutherjrfan :
Best place for a car hoard is northern nevada. Nice dry air, no one out there to bug you, and it's not too hot to totally fry the cars.
I wouldn't be surprised if they go after him for being an unlicensed dealer, after ordering him to get rid of 20 cars per month..
I feel for the guy, where was the city when he was collecting the cars in the first place? They had plenty of time to give him reasonable warning, but instead waited until he had 200 cars and said ~sell 25 cars a month or we will take your cars, sell them at auction and line the city's pockets with the profits~ (pretty sure that's theft if anyone but a lawyer explains it)
shame they were let to rot.
if you're gonna hoard stuff, at least take care of it.
Clearly, the guy is a bit of a hoarder. And if he wants what he paid for cars that have been sitting in a field for years and years, that's not gonna happen. And given that he's 74 and already has health problems, he really does need to start getting rid of this stuff. I've seen what happens when relatives need to deal with the aftermath of a hoarder when they pass, and it's not very pretty. So, court order or not, selling these cars is probably in the best interest of him and his family.
Having said that, I still think it's BS that the township is making him do this on his own private property. Something tells me a busybody neighbor complained. I get that it's against the law, but some laws are stupid. He's not hurting anyone.
It's too bad that he's being forced into the issue, but I think it's a problem he created all on his own...By all appearances it is a junkyard, whether he wants to call it one or not. The cars in the photos look to be in halfway decent shape but we all know what happens when you park a car out in the weeds for years, they rot out underneath. I wonder how his pricing is as well (he mentions people wanting to pay $500 for a $5000 car) - I didn't see anything in there that looked like it was worth $5k. If it were up to me I'd probably leave him alone, but at least make sure the cars are drained of fluids to prevent any oil or gas leaks into the groundwater. Sadly, I suspect he may end up having to get the bulk of the hoard crushed.
And now the story is on the local TV news: https://www.clickondetroit.com/news/car-collector-in-northfield-township-ordered-to-scrap-or-sell-his-cars
Tom_Spangler said:Having said that, I still think it's BS that the township is making him do this on his own private property. Something tells me a busybody neighbor complained. I get that it's against the law, but some laws are stupid. He's not hurting anyone.
I don't think I agree. He IS hurting other people.
If you owned the property across the street from an illegal junkyard, would you be happy with how it affected your property value?
Public health impact? Snakes, rats, insects, vermin....
How about the water table? Oil, fuel, fluids, seeping into the water runoff?
This is why zoning ordinances exist.
In reply to SVreX :
I think they mainly exist because so and so doesnt want to look at their neighbors boat in the driveway. (Even though in this case the guys cars are concealed from all but some rich guys private helicopter or something....).
Having some cars parked in a field doesn't generate rats, snakes and bugs. Anyway the snakes would take care of the rats 
Maybe you have a point about the water table but who's to say the cars are leaking at all?
This whole thing is probably about some cranky old lady neighbor that knows the mayor and just doesn't like the old guy
In reply to Jere :
They're mostly neglected European cars... of course they're leaking stuff
SVreX said:Tom_Spangler said:Having said that, I still think it's BS that the township is making him do this on his own private property. Something tells me a busybody neighbor complained. I get that it's against the law, but some laws are stupid. He's not hurting anyone.
I don't think I agree. He IS hurting other people.
If you owned the property across the street from an illegal junkyard, would you be happy with how it affected your property value?
Public health impact? Snakes, rats, insects, vermin....
How about the water table? Oil, fuel, fluids, seeping into the water runoff?
This is why zoning ordinances exist.
Well, considering that HE owns the property across the street and there's nothing around him but vacant land and trees, I'll stand by my assertion that he should be left alone. As for the rest of it, that may be true about pollution and vermin, but I haven't heard it mentioned in any of the myriad stories that have appeared about this so far.
Also, he's been hoarding these things for 15+ years, and now all of a sudden it's an issue? Something happened.
Jere said:In reply to SVreX :
I think they mainly exist because so and so doesnt want to look at their neighbors boat in the driveway. (Even though in this case the guys cars are concealed from all but some rich guys private helicopter or something....).
Having some cars parked in a field doesn't generate rats, snakes and bugs. Anyway the snakes would take care of the rats
Maybe you have a point about the water table but who's to say the cars are leaking at all?
This whole thing is probably about some cranky old lady neighbor that knows the mayor and just doesn't like the old guy
This wouldn't apply to a boat in a driveway as long as it's registered. He could register all these cars and be exempt too.
It's a junkyard. Is it junk to people like us? Nope. But it is to 99% of the population.
In reply to Tom_Spangler :
Those things are ALWAYS an issue in a situation like this, and his property certainly borders SOMEONE'S.
Jere said;Maybe you have a point about the water table but who's to say the cars are leaking at all?
Who's to say they are not? Doesn't really matter.
So, I guess you'd be OK with my former boss putting a chemical processing plant in a residential subdivision, just because he owns the property, and the government shouldn't tell him what to do with his property?
Umm.... No.
Guy admitted he's in violation of a standing ordinance. He's in the woods so no one much notices until one day an inspector happens by and calls him out on it. He cut his own deal on disposal, although I'd bet if they gave him too much time nothing would happen.
Perhaps he could have requested a variance at the beginning but that ship has sailed. I feel bad for the personal issues he's had, but from the city/county perspective he's flat wrong and they're being generous in providing any time for disposition of the cars.
I guess he's started scrapping cars now to stay ahead of the township: https://jalopnik.com/michigan-man-forced-to-sell-20-cars-a-month-has-resorte-1821435005
I can't help but feel like he was holding too firm on the prices of some of these things. If they were cheap enough, they'd move. Letting them go for $500 or less still has to be better than paying to get them hauled to the scrappers.
NEALSMO saidThis wouldn't apply to a boat in a driveway as long as it's registered. He could register all these cars and be exempt too.
It's a junkyard. Is it junk to people like us? Nope. But it is to 99% of the population.
Here on the S. FL. coast where it seems like every other person has a boat they aren't allowed in a driveway, along with car trailers which I found out the hard way shortly after moving here.
Seems like a local auction company would jump at the chance to help him liquidate. No they're not high dollar cars but I'm sure there's money to be made selling them to guys like us to haul home and let rust in our yards.
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