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Yeah, every time I walk out in my garage... [rim shot]
Seriously though, around here most "dismantlers" are closed yards.
Back in the 90's when I was still a proud (and broke) VW owner there was a place called Bry's in West Seattle. You would talk to Bry, who looked like Burt Rutan complete with side burns, and he would suggest a car you could find the parts on. You could even borrow his tools to remove the item.
Once you had it off you would pay him. He made change out of his wallet and no paperwork was involved. Times were good.
The last time I was there it was a closed yard, as are most yards around here now. They pay people minimum wage to take all the parts worth a crap off the vehicle, label them, price them and store them inside.
It's a better business model because you don't loose all the "extra" parts that people shove in their pockets doing it old school, and you don't need to worry about some guy gutting himself like a fish on a rusty fender. The parts are also inside where they last longer and the transaction is much quicker.
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That Lancia Beta Coupe is a cool one (one of my favorite cars from my youth). There was one just down the street that someone had in their driveway. One day it had a for sale sign on it. It hadn't run in years and the guy pretended to know nothing about it. I considered it briefly as a chump car candidate. Happily someone else bought it before I fell victim to my urge to have it.
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I occasionally stumble across the Discovery show "Fast and Loud". I'm STUNNED when I see people willing to pay $3-5K for a completely rusted out hulk of a car with virtually no redeemable parts. That Datsun roadster would be considered a prime candidate for restoration in comparison to what some people start with.
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