Not that long ago one of the most interesting and bazaar automotive cultures in the world had a small toehold in the US market. Unfortunately, the strange styling and questionable reliability forced the last of these manufactures from our shores in the early 1990′s. I am of course talking about the French.
The French car manufactures have always had a panache for making small, odd looking people movers. And what we have here may be one of the finest examples. A 1981 Renault Le Car (or 5 in Europe) was an honest, simple vehicle. Motivated by a 1.4L pushrod inline four cylinder and styled as either a three or five door hatchback these vehicles were nothing terribly special in there day, but now they are never seen.
This particular Le Car seems to have a fairly solid body, though we don’t get to see the rear hatch. Le Cars were very prone to rust in the fender wells, but nothing too terrible seems to be showing. The vehicle apparently has a newish clutch and runs, but needs brake work, tires and some carburator work.
Though not nearly as exciting as its big brother the Renault Turbo or as sexy as a Citroen DS, this little Le Car would certainly be a fun run city car, and for $500 a cheap one at that. Find it on KSL.com in Bountiful, Utah.
I’ve always thought the MG GT was an underrated machine. It has the classic lines of the tear drop 2+2, almost a miniature E-Type. Not quite but almost. Plus it has the utility of a ‘real’ car. I could be used for real life; going to the grocery store, hauling the kids around etc. Not to say you would, but you could. The MGC GT is all the regular GT is and more. The ‘C’ stands for the motor, a ‘C’ type motor from British Leyland. The more common ‘B’ type motor from the MGBGT was a 4 cylinder while the ‘C’ was a six cylinder. In the MGC GT it displaced 3.0 liters and was similar to the six found in other British products of the era. The ‘C’ type motor produced roughly 50% more horsepower than the ‘B’ and with mild tuning could be pushing 190 HP making the MGC quick indeed.
Most of the perceived failings of the MGC have been remedied by suspension adjustments and improvements in tire technology, making the MGC a fun little car to scoot the twisties in. The MGC was only made for two model years, 1968 and 1969, and GT production amounted to only 4400 units or so, making it a rare bird to boot. This example is far from perfect, but it’s not a complete basket case either. With some honest work to the rocker panel rust and some luck regarding the engine, this could turn into a great weekend run about. It may have some appreciation potential to boot.
This is for sale in Pleasant Grove, Utah and is currently posted on Ebay.
This wagon has been on the market for a while and can probably be had for a bit less than the asking price of $1,000. The body and paint entirely adequate, they’re not so perfect that you’d worry about parking it in a public lot but nothing to be ashamed of either. Just a good looking car. The interior looks to be in great shape. The leather appears solid without any tears or even the extensive cracking that you’ll commonly see on older cars. The interior color scheme is one in a million. If you’ve seen more than one Volvo from the 60’s or 70’s chances are one of them had seat colors similar to this wagon. Volvo has recently been going back to its roots and offering this kind of brownish reddish interior in its new cars. Other than those vintage bricks and the contemporary offerings, I have never seen this color anywhere else. As someone who grew up in 60’s and 70’s Volvo’s you may say I’m prejudiced but I think the combo looks great. Motors for this car are plentiful and fairly inexpensive. An engine from any turbo RWD Volvo will bolt right in. Most motors will go 250k+ miles with out breaking a sweat. Displacement, turbo’s, and associated sensors for the EFI system may differ but can be fiddled to fit.
While returning to stock would be the simplest and probably the cheapest, the slick and trick route would be to get a Ross Converse V-8 conversion. For the uneducated, Ross Converse made a kit that plugs a Ford 5.0 V-8 into a 200 or 700 series Volvo. It can be fully DIY or Converse can do the whole conversion for you. The basic kit includes motor mounts and a nifty wiring harness that allows the Ford motor and EFI system to work with the Volvo main harness. Think of it as an English/Swedish interpreter. With the basic kit the owner would need to supply the engine/transmission and EFI system. With the Detroit muscle this wagon would seriously scoot.
Either returned to stock or seriously modded, this is a great platform for a car that would last for a long time.
Find it on KSL.com in Bountiful, Utah.
See additional photos from the seller here.
Not even remotely as loved as its predecessor the TR6, the TR7 and its V8 brother the TR8 are quite literally the ugly step children of the long line of beautiful Triumph sports cars. Marketed as “The Wedge” and hailed by British Leyland as a revolution in sports car design it was either a vehicle far ahead of its time or the height of Malaise Era horror depending on your perspective. As far as I am concerned, I think the TR7 is a unique vehicle and an opportunity to buy an interesting, if relatively unloved, vehicle for dirt cheap and just have fun.
This particular Wedge is apparently pretty well sorted out mechanically, but could enjoy a little refresh of the interior. The bright yellow screams late seventies, early eighties awesomeness and I will personally guarantee that no one else on your street has something quite so ugly/beautiful.
Find it here for a stellar $1,200 on KSL.com.
It seems like everyone’s family has owned one of these doobie mobiles at some point. We called ours the Magic Bus… I’m not sure I want to know why. This is a great example of the peak of Flower Power engineering. But seriously, this van is not far from being a nice little machine for not much coin. A little elbow grease to prep and your friend Earl Schieb will make the outside shine, or you can make your own Magic Bus. The two tone back seats are a blast from the past and in pretty good shape. Spend a couple hundred getting the fronts to match or maybe just find some Indian blanket seat covers and roll with it. Wheel bearings and new wiper switches should be simple fixes. The seller may even throw in a peace sign for ya!
$1800 will buy you smiles by the miles in this one. Find if here on eBay in Salt Lake City.
When most people think about and British car stuffed with a big American V8 they think of a Cobra. The Jensen Interceptor was a similar idea, but a slightly different concoction. Rather than making a stripped down road car, Jensen Motors decided to build a refined GT car. The body was designed by Italian firm Carrozzeria Touring and built in West Bromwich, England with a massive Chrysler 7212cc V8. These are gorgeous cars and very true to the spirt of a GT with their plush interiors and smooth handling.
This particular car is a little rough around the edges but apparently runs. From the pictures it looks complete and relatively straight. It is in need of some new paint and some interior love, but other than that this looks to be a great deal at $3,900. You can find it here in Murray, Utah.
Never heard of a Toyota Trekker? You’re not alone. These are rare birds indeed. A partnership between Toyota and Winnebago to create a small SUV for the North American market created these. Basically, Toyota shipped over Hilux pickups with no bed to Winnebago where they built fiberglass tub, bed sides, canopy and hatch. This is, more or less, the predecesor to the venerable 4Runner.
This example is for sale in St. George, Utah and appears to be pretty straight. The seller claims that the fiberglass is in great shape, it has a working rear hatch and the back seat is there (though we don’t know what condition). The pictures show that there seems to be no rust on the front end and the interior looks decent for the age. The downsides being a bad motor, missing rear 3rd member and driveline and no title, although the VIN has been run, and its not stolen.
Having been based on the Hilux, it would be pretty simple to swap a later 22RE motor into it and the missing 3rd member is begging to be replaced with a Toyota selectable E-Locker 3rd out of a Tacoma or 4Runner. This would make a unique vehicle for light off-road/overland use and you’d certainly get a lot of questions about what it is. For $1200, its a steal too!
Find it in the Classifieds section over at Rocky Mountain Extreme.
This 145e is an odd duck to be sure. It’s located in the cradle of all things Volvo… the Pacific Northwest. Specifically it’s just outside of Seattle. The 145, which is a 1 series 4 cylinder 5 door in Volvo speak is possibly the most unloved of all Volvo’s. To the unitiated it looks just like early 2 series wagons or 245′s but older. Usually these are ridden hard and put away wet, which usually leads to sad unfortunate endings. Regrettably this one is on its way to just that kind of ending. Being in the Northwest it appears this one has avoided the body rot that reduces many 140′s to dust long before the nearly bullet-proof mechanicals give in to the ravages of time and abuse. A previous owner has remedied the one Achille’s Heel the 140′s had; D-Jet electronic fuel injection. This first generation electronic fuel injection was complicated, fickle and expensive to fix. A previous owner has converted this one from the pushrod 4cylinder to the later overhead cam engine. They also upgraded the frightening D-Jet to the nearly bullet proof K-Jet fuel injection. This conversion wouldn’t have been easy, but would make quite a durable runner. This one has been for sale at a dealership for a while w/ the asking price of $695 and could probably be aquired for a bit less. Pictures that have since been removed show this is a manual car and has the super retro scrolling speedo. This one here should be saved. In addition to being cheap, with the conversion and the manual transmission it would be a fun brick to tool around in for the next 40 years.
Find it here on Craigslist in Everett, WA.
