Never bet against trees when it’s cars vs. trees. Trees always win, as we will show you in these next few images as we celebrate Rustober. For some reason, it just seems like trees are attracted to cars like tornadoes are to trailer parks. They are so infinitely tied together that if a felled tree hasn’t landed on a rusty car trees will grow through it. In rust we trust.

Rust actually promotes tree growth. We’re not kidding. Rust is just iron oxide so unless the soil has a very low ph it won’t harm them and actually helps growth. Iron is good for plants especially if they are dry. But enough botany. Let’s get to this mess of fallen trees and rusty cars.

1948-1950 Dodge pickup

This 1948-1950 Dodge pickup was probably in decent shape until this happened. Now the two are intertwined forever. Somebody got the three stainless grille bars so at least something was salvageable. Beyond that, it will be pretty hard to pry much else off of this hulk. 

1957 Chevy

The tree in and on this 1957 Chevy grew into and around it. The water, dirt, and tree are doing a number on the old sedan but that piece of grille trim is still worth swiping. After that, there will be nothing left. Sometimes car hulks were used to hold back erosion on riverbanks. Whether this is how the ‘57 ended up here we’ll never know. 

1961 Oldsmobile Dynamic 88 sedan

Wow, look at the 1961 Oldsmobile Dynamic 88 with the flat top. You could have the more conventional six-window or these flat tops with the wrapping rear window. The flat tops were the zoomier version of the sedans. The ‘61s had those sloping rear ends and fins down low on the rear quarters. They were the opposite of all the other finned cars of the time. As for the tree, it hasn’t fallen on the Olds so much as it has taken it over. Still, there is a fairly complete car here that could be saved or parts used for a more valuable two-door or convertible. 

1971 Javelin AMX

The AMC Javelins got new bodies in 1971. They had those arches on the fenders and sunken grilles. This one is the AMX version with the parking lights and grille filler. Though an AMX in name only they still could be had with a 401 ci V8. Sadly, this particular AMX won’t get saved, but has lots of trim and surely other goodies that can be used on someone’s project. 

1959 Chevy sedan

Though a bit hard to decipher it looks to be a 1959 Chevy flat top sedan. The top could be any of the 1959 offerings from GM. But the rear door trim, or where the trim was attached, indicates this is a Chevy. In this condition, it hardly matters. It is almost unrecognizable with all of the random tree growth and its mangled state. How and why these cars end up abandoned in these woods might make for a good story if we only knew.

Split-Window VW Beetle

Last up for this week’s Rustober is this split-window VW beetle. Too bad such an early VW was left to rot like this. These split windows were built from the very first sedans until early 1953. The rear window might be able to be torched out. If the instrument panel is still there it might be worth snagging, too. But time and nature won’t allow this hulk to exist much longer. See you next time for Rusty Monday, Rustober edition.