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In Campinas, The King of Scrap Transformed a Scrap Yard Into a Scrap City Full of Old Planes, Rare Parts, and Thousands of Items Negotiated on the Spot.
In Campinas, in the interior of São Paulo, a king of scrap built something that goes far beyond a common junkyard. On an area of about 110,000 square meters, Mr. Vitório scattered planes, helicopters, old TVs, giant toys, fuel pumps, furniture, machines, and thousands of objects that seem to have come out of a museum, an amusement park, and a movie at the same time.
Among the aircraft carcasses, children’s party toys, and relics that no longer exist in Brazilian homes, the place was dubbed “scrap city” by visitors. And it’s no exaggeration. The king of scrap transformed a yard into a true city of rare parts, where practically everything is for sale and where every corner holds a story, a memory, or a business opportunity.
The Scrap City in Campinas
The We Found It in Brazil team arrives at the address of the king of scrap and the opening scene says it all. Before even meeting Mr. Vitório, the team passes by a whole airplane, then a helicopter, and continues walking among aircraft carcasses that, in any other place, would be forgotten or dismantled.
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Not here. Here they become a backdrop, showcase, and raw material. There are over 20 airplane carcasses scattered across the lot, some intact, others dismantled, with windows, doors, and landing gear in plain sight.
Climbing a typical boarding ladder, the reporter finds Mr. Vitório inside an airplane, smiling, ready to present his world as if he were welcoming guests at home.
He explains that many people take, for example, airplane windows to use as decoration, simulating aircraft interiors in homes, offices, themed bars, and diners.
In one of those windows, the king of scrap casually quotes the price, as if he knows the value of everything by heart: if a new part costs thousands in the aviation sector, the one right there gets a new function and a new value, much more accessible for anyone who just wants to decorate.
Planes, Helicopters, and Childhood Memories
The feeling of walking through “scrap city” is like being in a theme park of memories. The king of scrap collects not only planes and helicopters but also objects that evoke decades gone by.
Amid organized piles, old televisions emerge, the kind where you switched channels by hand, with a rotary knob, metal antenna, and even a makeshift steel wool at the tip to “get a better signal”.
The reporter holds one of these TV fronts, with volume, brightness, and contrast knobs, as if she were flipping through a photo album of her own childhood.
Right next to her, a giant party toy, a kind of capsule reminiscent of “Xuxa’s spaceship,” still resists the test of time. It no longer seems ready to work, but it continues to catch attention for its shape and the memories it evokes.
The king of scrap transforms these toys into opportunities, whether for those who want to restore them or for those who simply want a striking piece to complete a themed space.
Everything Has a Price with the King of Scrap
If there’s one thing that defines Mr. Vitório, it’s his nose for business. In scrap city, everything has a price, and he knows the values by heart.
The area of about 110,000 square meters, equivalent to many football fields, is filled with small, medium, large, and giant pieces.
At one point, he speaks of tens of thousands of different pieces. At another, he negotiates prices ranging from a few hundred reais to hundreds of thousands, depending on the size and rarity of the object.
The king of scrap is always ready to negotiate, whether it’s an airplane window, an old TV, a dentist’s chair, or a large amusement park toy.
When the reporter asks for the price of a giant toy, he responds without hesitation, a figure in the tens of thousands.
For an old fuel pump, one of those that become decorative pieces in bars, garages, and private collections, he mentions a few thousand reais.
And for a whole airplane, ready to become a diner, bar, or a fixed attraction in a business, the speech changes to “promotion” with a hundred thousand reais discount from the initial value.
It is in this game between memory, rarity, and creative use that the business sustains itself. The king of scrap is not just selling junk; he’s selling stories, backdrops, and possibilities.
From The “End of The Line” to a New Beginning Elsewhere
On a sign and in his own speech, Mr. Vitório sums up the philosophy of scrap city: “What is the end for you is just the beginning for us.”
What comes out of companies, industries, shops, parties, hospitals, gas stations, and old businesses as scrap finds a second destination there.
This look at the “end of the line” is what transforms the king of scrap’s yard into a kind of hub for reuse, buying, and reselling.
Companies that exchange equipment send entire lots. Business owners who close their doors or renovate spaces also find in Mr. Vitório someone willing to absorb what, in another context, would end up in a landfill.
In the “odds and ends” sector, as he himself calls it, it’s possible to find dentist chairs, school desks, hot tubs, microphones, furniture pieces, and various equipment.
Some can still be used with minor repairs, others become decoration, filming sets, collections for collectors, or bases for creative architecture and design projects.
A Lifetime Among Iron, Parts, and Stories
At 73, the king of scrap has a trajectory that merges with the scrap itself. He grew up in the used materials trade, watching his father work in this field and learning early on to see value where others only saw weight and waste.
For about 35 years, he has been at the same address in Campinas, consolidating the place as a reference for those looking for rare parts, relics, large structures, and unique buying opportunities.
Everything is supervised by him and his daughter, who helps him in the organization and management of this true city of scrap.
Between one negotiation and another, Mr. Vitório also has fun. He climbs on toys, tests a hot tub, picks up a microphone, improvises as a presenter, and joins the TV crew’s fun.
At one point, he even tries to take on the role of reporter, eliciting laughter from everyone and proving that the king of scrap is also the king of banter.
In the end, it becomes clear that the place is not just a giant yard. It is a mosaic of objects that share pieces of the history of consumption and technology in Brazil, gathered by someone who refuses to let all this be forgotten.
The king of scrap built, piece by piece, a city where the past gets a chance to become a future in another home, another business, or another idea.
And you, if you could choose a piece in the king of scrap’s city to take home, would you prefer a plane to turn into a bar, an old TV to decorate your living room, or some other curious find that no one else would have?
Sensacional unir o útil ao agradável, parabéns Sr Vitório 👏👏👏👏👏