The story behind a very old wrecked car found in the forest

Photographing a crashed old car in the woods, I had imagined the worst

While hiking in the woods I discovered a very old wrecked car which had been rolled down a steep hill and smashed into a tree. Because of the age of the rusty antique car, and the size of the trees that have since grown up behind it, I estimated the wreck may have occurred nearly 60 years ago. Based on the mileage that can still be read on the odometer, I estimated that it was probably crashed in the late 1950s, or possibly the late 1960s. (Watch the video below to see how I determined that estimate).

Curious about how this crash occurred (especially since there's no longer a road at the top of the hill), and the fate of the driver, I checked with locals and this is the story I heard.

The supposedly true legend behind the car crash

We were told that the car is a 1952 Plymouth (although our research indicates that it's a '53 Plymouth Cranbrook), and it belonged to a family who lived not far from the accident site. Their former property is now part of a golf course. A path that runs above the hill is actually set on top of an old road bed that has since been removed. As the legend goes, the car was parked atop the hill by an old gas station, now long gone. Two teenage brothers were left alone in the car by their father (or perhaps they were actually driving the car since one of them was 16 — on this the story is unclear). Without supervision, the boys had a wrestling match in the front seat of the car. During the tussle, they knocked the car out of gear, sending it crashing into the tree where it can still be seen today.

While this story is a little odd, I feel better knowing it wasn't some type of horrible outcome and that everyone walked away from it OK.

Fine art black and white photographs

Fine black and white prints of this beautiful piece of wrecked "rusty gold" are for sale below. Or, you can see more of my photos of antique American cars here.

Wrecked Antique Car Found in the Woods: Black and White Photograph by Keith Dotson. Click to buy a photograph. 

Wrecked Classic Car Abandoned in the Forest: Black and White Photograph by Keith Dotson. Buy a fine art print of this photograph.

Behind-the-scenes video 

Walk with Keith to explore this old wrecked Plymouth. This video was made on his second visit to the wrecked car, where he wanted to return and see what condition the car was in after three years.