Heart of the Nation: Dairymans Plains 2630
On this block outside Cooma more than 3000 cars — many of them covetable old classics — sit in the long grass. What is this place?
On the Snowy Mountains Highway outside Cooma is a sign that reads Flynn’s Wrecking Yard. Enter the front gate here and you’ll feel a warm glow of nostalgia: on this 8ha plot (a portion of which is shown in this aerial photo) more than 3000 vehicles sit in the long grass, in various stages of dismemberment. There are rows of ’60s Fords – XLs, XMs, XPs – and classic ’70s Holdens like the HQ; there are VW Beetles galore, Morrises and Austins, Chrysler Royals, fleets of Japanese sedans from the ’80s and ’90s, panel vans and buses, Ford Zephyrs, Customlines and Mainline utes, to name just a few. “We’ve got a 1948 Jowett Javelin, which is a very unusual Pommy car,” says owner Wayne Flynn. “But that’s not the oldest – we have some cars from the early 1930s, driven to the area by people who came to work on the Snowy Scheme. It’s a dry climate here so they’re all pretty well preserved.”
Flynn’s Wrecking Yard is a business that started by accident, literally. In 1955 Flynn’s father skidded his car off the Dalgety Bridge, miraculously survived, then discovered there was good money in selling parts stripped from the wreck. Flynn, 64, inherited the business and for years has been the go-to man for anyone around Australia seeking hard-to-come-by parts – headlights, body panels and bumper bars, mainly – while restoring an old car or mending it after a prang. He’ll sell whole cars, too; a few years ago filmmakers bought a few old classics that, fantastically pimped-up, appeared in Mad Max: Fury Road.
The place is for sale, incidentally – Flynn and his wife want to retire to the NSW South Coast for a life of warmth, golf and fishing. “Hopefully I can sell to someone who’ll keep it going,” he says. “I wouldn’t want the cars to end up in a crusher.” So, what are his favourites? “I’ve always loved Japanese cars, especially old Toyotas,” he says. But 18 months ago he switched loyalties, bought a new Ford Ranger Wildtrak. “It’s the first new car I’ve ever had,” he chuckles, “and my mates won’t let up about it.”