To be on time, you must arrive 15 minutes early. In life, you learn pretty quickly that it’s important to make an effort and show people respect, but nowhere in the world is this more crucial than Japan. “I’ve actually got to drop the latest issue of Top Gear off to the family as their feature has just come out.” What a perfect excuse for a five-hour road trip. But before I’d even replied he was translating an email to ask permission for a follow-up visit. Knowing my passion for not sleeping and shooting features after dark, Mark looked at me and said, “ Would you like to go tomorrow night?” That’s not even really a question, I think. Some will never see the road again, but the majority will as the shop is responsible for many restorations.”įast-forward two months and I’m with Riccioni somewhere an hour or so south of Tokyo when the world’s weirdest car collection/graveyard comes up in conversation. Most of these cars weren’t that rare when they first turned up. “Some have been forgotten from both customers and the shop owners, but they’ve been operating for more than 50 years. “They’re all used stock, donor vehicles or on the to-do list,” Mark explained. In fact, I sent Mark a text to ask him a few questions about the trip and he confirmed it was as utterly bonkers as you might imagine. I said exactly the same when I saw this story on Top Gear’s website back in October, that Ricci shot and Rowan Horncastle wrote. ‘WTF’ I hear you cry at the madness that is these photos. Because, even if they weren’t, there would be one hell of a story to uncover. With limited information around, there was no guarantee any of the cars first pictured would still be there, but that didn’t matter to him. Only after all of this, was a visit arranged late last year. Cue him registering for several Japanese blogs, speaking his very best ‘fluent’ Google Translate, and pestering multiple friends who live within a few hours of it. Riccioni, having seen grainy photos from here a few years back, used his incessant need for information to dig out the shop owners’ details. Finding this place, though, took a little bit of extra research. What is really fun to witness, though, is Mark’s absolute obsession with hunting out a certain car or shop to shoot, all whilst trying to put the many broken parts on his GT-R or RX-7 to the back of his mind. But I’ve been fortunate to work with him for over 10 years, and his tenacity and commitment to doing things properly is really quite admirable. These appear to be the late 1960s to early 1970s models, judging by the size of the taillights and the smaller bumper size.Mark won’t like what I am about to type, because he’s incredibly modest and finds praise awkward. They were hand-built by the German coachbuilders, Karmann. These cars are essentially a Type 1 Beetle chassis and mechanicals with body styling by Italian designers Carrozzeria Ghia. There are also several Volkswagen Karmann Ghia, in ivory and brown paint jobs. As well as VW Beetles and VW Campervans, there are also several VW Golfs, including a Rabbit LS model from the early 1980s. There are also piles of doors, organized by model and neatly arranged into rows leaning against trees. They appear to be missing only a few parts that have presumably been cannibalized for spares over the years. Most of the cars in the VW Beetle Car Graveyard remain complete. Furthermore, every colour seems represented in this rusting rainbow-coloured fleet. The business must have ceased trading some years ago. This was a junkyard specializing in the German-built bugs and buses. The treasures of the VW Beetle Car Graveyard These photographs were taken in the spring of 2018, during the first half of our USA Road Trip 2018. After tracking down the owner, he kindly granted us permission to enter the property. We visited this location on a rainy afternoon. Hundreds of Volkswagen Beetles and Bus Campervans are organized into rows and clusters, seemingly based on age and model.
Deep in the woods lies an abandoned VW Beetle Car Graveyard.
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