The great automobile is one of man’s finest achievements. From the first horseless carriages well over a century ago, to the vast array of makes and models of all shapes and sizes today, vehicles remain a wonder to behold. The fact that these machines all turn into junk at some point in time does barely anything to dampen the awe that we all feel when pondering this great work of engineering and mastery.
But the fact remains that these fine machines do reach a so called “end of life” at the car wreckers in Auckland. But the truth behind this end of life is a little more ambiguous than it seems, as a lot of the parts can go on to have further life helping cars, trucks and vans that haven’t yet deceased to live on for a few more years.
Welcome to the world of used car parts. Without them society would surely crumble. We owe an amazing debt to the humble used car part. The fact that religions haven’t yet sprung up all over the world worshipping these marvels is one the many travesties that make getting through each day that much harder for all of us.
The amazing thing about second hand car parts in Auckland, or anywhere for that matter, is that they can be used for more than the jobs that they were made for.
The scrap metal that is salvaged form a junk car is a prime example of this. The possibilities surrounding its re-use are limitless. Reprocessed scrap metal can be used to make any other part of the vehicle that is made out of metal.
Plastic tubes can be re-used in a vast variety of ways, from conducting chemistry experiments to simply transporting liquid from one container to another in a Rube Goldberg machine.
Spark plugs can be fashioned into chess pieces or fishing weights. Metal Coils can be used as paper holders of placed on their side. Hubcaps can be painted and turned into artwork. The list just goes on and on. The only limit is your imagination. And this only adds to the majesty that is the greatest of all humanity’s inventions: the automobile!
