YELLOW #1

Cutting and grinding on the most beautiful scrapyard in the world

Klingspor collaborations in the spotlight

“Out in the sticks where the ginseng grows” is how country singer Anthony Smith would characterise the location of the world's most beautiful scrapyard. Well, “beautiful” might be an exaggeration – “unique” is more like it. Or, unusual. While most other scrapyards simply let thin-sheet metal Fiats collect rust, cannibalise vehicles involved in an accident, or allow tattered Golfs to await their recycling, Morlock Motors in Peterslahr, Rhineland-Palatinate, is hard at work and busy as can be. With cult-status US Army vehicles, decommissioned fire truck and tanks – “Dude, Catastrophe”!

Scrapyard with a fan shop and paid tours

One glimpse at their website is enough to realise that their business is different. Not often will you come across a scrapyard that sells their own olive oil, Greek spice blends, and iconic hoodies and offers their visitors the chance to book a guided tour. The latter costs 20 euros and lasts an hour – at present, there are no dates available. Yet, who fancies old piles of sheet metal and, even more curiously, has the willingness to pay money for them? Lots of people for sure. Morlock Motors boasts more than 300,000 followers on Instagram alone. And, the scrapyard documentary soap “Steel Buddies” has been garnering top ratings for ten years straights and is currently in its 12th season. Since November, the successor show “Morlock Motors – Big Deals in the Westerwald region” has been available weekly in an extended version on Kabel Eins.

From insider tip to scrapyard icon

What shall it be: a Hummer, a Willys Jeep, or a Starfighter? The former insider tip for American army vehicles has long since become widely known – beyond the borders of Germany and beyond TV in more than 20 countries. Home to merely 300 inhabitants, the municipality of Peterslahr currently houses 1,000 decommissioned US Army vehicles – deep in the Westerwald forest. On a vast area spanning 22,000 m², Jeeps and buses squeezed together tight next to tanks and other special-purpose vehicles. Whatever you seek, you shall find here: A Willys Jeep from 1956? A 1963 Ford M151 MUTT? A Humvee built in 1985? Or, would you prefer an original firefighter truck, an old US school bus or a Starfighter plane? This place lets fans of extraordinary US vehicles discover nearly everything their hearts desire – and in nearly every condition!

Where does all this scrap come from?

Determining the origins of this seemingly inexhaustible source of truly unique scrap vehicles requires some digging: For many decades, the presence of the US Army in Europe and Germany has also been evident in their vehicles. This long-standing presence encouraged the US Army to outsource the handling of their decommissioned vehicles. Good for Morlock Motors. After all, they were awarded the exclusive contract for vehicle recycling. Scrapyard boss Michael Manousakis founded this Mecca of Army vehicle enthusiasts more than 30 years ago. Since then, Morlock Motors has rapidly evolved into what it is today. Always wearing his signature olive green overalls, Manousakis does more than just recycle army vehicles: he has also managed to establish the documentary soap “Steel Buddies” as a second pillar of his business. Always hunting for the next undiscovered US treasure or for sought-after-spare parts, Julie-Christie Neal from Tennessee hits scrapyards all across the United States for Morlock Motors.

Morlock Motors has cult status for me and offers a perfect opportunity for us to show what our products can do. Always brutally honest, they never gloss over shortcomings. They simply go at it – hammer and tongs.
Dirk Köpsel
Managing Director Sales & Marketing

“I can only yell for real or not at all!"

Michael "Catastrophe" Manousakis is the charismatic, slightly choleric, yet always charming head of the whole show. After founding Morlock Motors, he also laid the groundwork of the successful collaboration with DMAX. Since then, he has been rumbling, scolding, and hammering his way through every episode. Born in Bonn in 1967, the self-taught, hobby pilot and self-confessed scrap fan is known for his pithy remarks and quick-witted comebacks. Since he is using at every turn, the word “catastrophe” has acquired cult status and become the label of choice for anything that does not go as planned or fails to come up to expectation.

Michael Manousakis is an icon

The team: truly one of a kind

At the scrapyard and in the documentary soap, Manousakis is supported by a team of about 40 people, a motley crew that is as varied and unusual as his collection of vehicles. Prime examples are the metalworker Michael "Klotzki" Kurkowski and the over 70-year-old vehicle painter Günter Zschimmer.

Cannibalize, refurbish or discard?

If you are now wondering what this colourful business has to do with Klingspor, you only have to take a quick peek behind its sheet metal scenes. Simply put, Morlock Motors is more than a TV show. From time to time, its protagonists perform actual – hard – work. Just as the banged-up vehicles require, they go to work with all their might and maximum force. There is cutting, grinding, polishing, and brushing everywhere you turn. Depending on their condition, the vehicles are either professionally refurbished and sold again or gutted savagely for reusable parts. Whether their job involves scrapping a tank, ripping out the rocker panel of a Chevrolet Impala or removing rust from a truck: The team can do little to nothing without the right tools.

A true and honest partnership

Klingspor has considered their partnership to be a genuine affair of the heart from the onset. Nowhere else is the vigorous nature of the job at a workshop put on display and celebrated in a way that is as authentic, attractive and appealing to an audience as it is at Morlock Motors. And nowhere else but at a scrapyard is it more important for products to be robust, flexible and powerful, as scrapyards need cutting-off wheels and abrasive discs to go to their limits each and every day. “Morlock Motors has cult status for me and offers a perfect opportunity for us to show what our products can do. Always brutally honest, they never gloss over shortcomings. They simply go at it – hammer and tongs”, explains Dirk Köpsel, Director for Marketing and Sales. As an exclusive partner for abrasives, Klingspor supplies the scrapyard heroes with cutting and grinding discs, abrasive mop discs, and numerous other products. You can also go here to see how they perform in action: