I was taking a walk through the affluent Jakarta neighborhood of Pantai Mutiara when I came across a collection of cars, mostly Mercedes, that were in various states of disrepair. Under tarps along the side of the road were a number of engines, transmissions, random car parts. An old Chevy peeking out behind some old oil drums was the only American car in the lot.
A 1959 Opel Kapitan with more rust than sheet metal was also parked among the Mercedes and golf carts. I wondered how there could be a "junkyard" across from 20,000 sq ft homes in a neighborhood where most people have a yacht docked behind their house. It turns out that the owner of these cars owns the home across the street as well as this lot, and he is one of the largest collectors of Mercedes-Benz cars in Indonesia (according to the locals I spoke to). Sadly I could not set up a time to talk to him or see his collection of restored cars, but perhaps on another trip.
Check out the rest of the photos below.
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| This gives you an idea of the kind of neighborhood that this field of classic cars is sitting in. |
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