It’s a classic featuring a clunker.
You never had to set foot at the Bensenville-based business. Many Chicago-area residents just became familiar with Victory Auto Wreckers by its iconic, bare bones TV commercial starring the exasperated young man whose green car door falls off and plops down on the pavement.
The ad, shot in 1985, may be a bit dated but it still draws laughter, and the catchphrase — “That old car is worth money” — will always be quoted by nostalgic Chicagoans and suburbanites of a certain age.
Clever promotions aside, the wrecking yard did follow through on its promise to make a bit of lemonade off lemons for many locals, including one member of the Sun-Times Editorial Board who made a beeline there with his old vehicle every time he was ready to buy a new set of wheels.
The nearly 80-year-old Victory Auto Wreckers, will soon join its popular commercial as a beacon of the past when its closes for good by the month’s end.
Kyle Weisner, whose family owned the company since 1967, said his twin sons are in the entertainment industry out west.
They aren’t interested in dilapidated cars and usable parts. Many of their peers also would rather arrange used car and component transactions online rather than trek to a junkyard and scrounge through inventory, Weisner told Sun-Times reporter Stefano Esposito.
The harsh writing on the wall, once again, has driven another suburban Chicago institution to say goodbye, crushing hearts like the thousands of stripped jalopies Victory Auto Wreckers flattened into slabs of metal. That waste was eventually recycled. Memories perhaps will similarly salvage the dampened spirits.
Motorists who are looking to get rid of their run-down cars and make $200 to $500 at Victory Auto Wreckers have until Saturday. The auto parts will be available for the public to purchase until Nov. 30.
Bob Zajdel became a celebrity when Weisner’s dad hand picked the then Victory Auto Wreckers tow truck driver to appear in beloved TV spot alongside the faulty, doomed door.
Together, Zajdel’s acting and the door’s comical crash landing raised more publicity for a business that had gotten off the ground after the end of World War II.
Sad as it is for Victory Auto Wreckers to shutter, its doors are closing with grace, leaving behind not only an unforgettable commercial but a solid reputation and longevity many business owners can only hope to emulate.
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