Abandoned Auto - Saxon Motors - Elk River, MN

Hey Saxon... 


No...

You weren't!


Wait, it was Sunday... 

Blue laws... My bad...

I was in Minnesota for a little over a week in November last year. One of the days I was free, my friend Trav asked what I wanted to do...

"Take me to something abandoned!"

He suggested a drive out highway 10, west to Elk River, for Saxon Motors. A large automobile dealer, located roughly at the junction of highways 10 and 169. On the way, there were several abandoned gas stations worth stopping and checking out, as we forged our path to Saxon...


Once we got on the frontage road leading to Saxon, we found that access was blocked by this impenetrable gate... We would need to find another way onto the property...


Driving around to the far corner of the parking lot, past the ironic Saxon Motors sign...

Which has some strange sort of optical illusion going on with how the bottom is angled. 

I haven't quite figured out what they were going for here...


Where Trav made a fresh trade-in, going from standard to 4-Wheel Drive in the freshest of fashions!


He then made a B-Line across the Saxon Lot, towards the southeast. The pavement had those great overgrown weed lines growing through the cracks. I love that in an abandoned property!


Our plan was the hide the vehicle in the Body Shop area of Saxon's, then walk around the building, starting from the back.


Yeah... Behind the Collision Center...

 Quick! Before anyone sees us! 

We'll come back and talk about the cool graffiti here later...


Staircase leading up to the second floor, above the garage doors of the Service Center. I don't think there was any electricity powering that camera near the roof. That may or may not have been watching us...


Apparently the city of Elk River has relocated their city dump to behind Saxon Motors. 

Seriously people... Have some class...


The lone garage door in the back of the service center. This door was behind our parking spot.


Some amateur taggers are using the back of Saxon Motors to practice their tagging. 

Watch out for Flar!

The Nature Boy Ric Flar?


More tagging practice...


Dert had a little bit of trouble figuring out the D...


Over the mattresses and through the woods, you can see the mighty Mississippi River!


Flar and Dert mixed up their style a bit on this door. Which was barricaded shut by a large cement block. I don't think the even combined powers of Flar and Dert could budge a cement block this huge....

Or did they put it there?


I mean clearly, Flar and Dert have the power to destroy refrigerators, televisions, couches and tires...

Just look at the path of destruction they've left in their wake...


Pink Dert!


Blue Flar!


Destroyed Printer!


I'd like to think the printer was thrown through this window in a fit of rage... Like it ran out of toner at a really bad time, and the anger management drop out hurled it through the glass. Which broke in a great and almost cartoonish way...


The printer and other computer parts seemed to eject a series of small children's clothing upon impact...


Trav! Give me a boost, I think I can get inside...


Is this Flar or Dert's shoe?


As we move to the left, past a non-barricaded -but still locked- door, 
We find that Flar is now experimenting with bubble letters...


Also in bubble letters... "Solid 420". 

Oh boy... 

I don't know if I find this cute or really sad and stupid... Yes tagger kid from Elk River, Minnesota, you are most certainly down with the 420... I would never dream of questioning your credentials...

And trust me, after living in the land of the legal weed, it's not the utopia you may believe it to be... So grow up, put down the Krylon and read a god damned book...


Big Blue-Green Block Flar! Need to finish that R, Flar...

Finish what you start...

Some of the laziest... Half-assed gangsters...

You are an embarrassment to your suburb...


Flar and Dert can at least unite to call upon the power of their mysterious ally, 2 Canz $! 

He's always OT!!! He'll take your bitch!!!

You can tell when 2 Canz$ has been and left, by his signature 1 can of paint left behind. 

So why isn't he called 1 Canz $? 

Well, why do you think he's so mysterious dog?


Oh 2 Canz $... You left your roller behind... So disappointing....

No self respecting Elk River gangsta uses a roller... 

Now those fuckers in Big Lake are just going to laugh at you...


We've now safely walked through the wrong side of the tracks, all the way to the southwest corner of Saxon Motors. Looking across a very spacious parking lot, towards where we entered the property.


Even more garage doors were on this side of the building. I know nothing about Saxon Motors, but they had quite the huge service department...


Coming around the corner to the front, are some more doors behind the show room in front of the building.


More doors, weeds and a broken piece of vent on the ground...


I would like to apply for early bird service, but it appears you are out of forms... 

Should I talk to Dert or Flar in regards to this matter?


I bet this door hasn't been opened in a while...


If you want your Direct TV to have improved reception, you need to aim the satellite towards the southwest. Aiming it straight down and broken off will likely result in a snowey picture...


This broken pipe is causing the ornamental plywood door covering to begin to rot. That's not going to leave a favorable impression on your customers...


Looking straight across the front showroom windows, which have been boarded up for an unknown amount of time.


Trav pointed out that the only indication that the Saxon Motors building is available is the spraypainted "For Lease" on the front of the building. But there are no phone numbers anywhere to call. If you wanted to lease the property, how would them know? Who are they?

And Beach Boyz? 

I bet that's the name of Dert, Flar and 2 Canz $'s gang!

It's all starting to come together....


Looking out across the south end of Saxon Motors. The other two buildings that can be seen in this photo are still open businesses.

Though they were closed because it was Sunday afternoon...


A corner of Saxon...


Yup that terrible threesome must be the Beach Boyz... And we were on their turf... Trav and I were just lucky they were taking Sunday off from gangstering... Likely taking all the Elk River Girls on a Mississippi River Surfin' Safari, or there could have been trouble for us...


The weed cracked pavement went up an incline in the south corner of Saxon.


Service Arrow... More weeds and garage doors... More Beach Boyz... 

Way down in Elkomo!


I do like these lamp posts...


Shipping and Receiving seems rather underwhelming when cast against the immense size of this building...


The Saxon Collision Center has something to say... I haven't yet cracked the code to figure out just what that message is...


See! I knew the Beach Boyz were a gang! There's irrefutable proof spraypainted on that door!!


You can't fool me Beach Boyz...


This was my favorite graffiti on the entire Saxon Property... 

A hard to read "I Aint Sorry" in yellow... That's a statement!


Hey Beach Boyz! You forgot to tag this door!


A Make Art Not War...

Hmmm... As I ponder that profound statement, I have to think that is the work of 2 Canz $. This speaks more to 2 Canz $'s poetic existentialist-realist style of communicating in the medium of Rust-O-Leum on Aluminum...

Classic 2 Canz $!


One last look across the south Saxon Motors lot...


And up the weedy cracked incline...


Back into Trav's car and away from Saxon Motors...


And into Anoka, for lunch at Jellybean & Julia's BBQ!


Goodbye Saxon motors... 

And for next time, when you promise to be somewhere, you need to be there!

Comments

  1. NJGFebruary 10, 2019 at 7:35 PM

    Saxon Motors was a great dealership to deal with until GM canceled their franchise in 09 during the big automaker crisis/bailout. GM tried canceling the franchise of Main Motors just down the road in Anoka, but thanks partially to the efforts of the owners' daughter Gretchen Carlson, who was then on Fox and Friends they were able to keep it.

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