When Victory Auto Wreckers tows and crushes its last clunker this month after nearly 80 years in business, it will mark the end — thankfully for some — of perhaps the longest-running commercial in the history of Chicago television. For nearly 40 years, the low-budget Victory spot has aired more than a half million times, searing its grainy images and simple “that old car is worth money” tagline into the collective unconscious of a city.
After Saturday, however, the family-owned auto salvage yard in Bensenville near O’Hare will no longer pay “cash on the spot” for your beater. Facing a challenging salvage market, rising interest rates and a dearth of do-it-yourselfers ready to scour a nine-acre junkyard for parts, Kyle Weisner, 54, the third-generation owner of Victory Auto Wreckers, will be the last in his family’s towing line as he heads for semi-retirement in Arizona. “The plan is to close up the yard completely by the end of the year,” Weisner said. “Hopefully, we’re able to make a deal with somebody to buy the propert