1/13/18: John Findra makes what he calls “handmade junker car art,” and I promise you’re going to fall in love with at least one of them. While these roughed-up scale models of classic cars may look like they came from a junkyard, there’s definitely nothing junky about them. These beautiful old girls are so believable, they make me want to build a diorama around them.

Findra’s love for model cars started when he was growing up in the 1950s. In those days, car model contests were pretty common, and the young man tried his hand at one or two. Then life happened, and he only rarely could find the time to pursue his passion. Decades later when he retired, he decided to return to his hobby. Findra told Tested.com that after a few false starts, he completed a perfect 1:18 scale model of a ’59 Buick he’d loved as a kid. But instead of throwing out the earlier, less successful attempts, he decided to turn them into junkers. And thus was born Classic Wrecks. Findra loved the result so much, he even went back and turned all his earlier models into wrecks!

You can see all of Findra’s beautiful creations in his Etsy shop. And we have his antique collector wife to thank for turning him onto Etsy, so go check out her shop when you have a chance.

All images property of Classic Wrecks/John Findra, used with permission.