By Dan Strohl

Hemmings

Knowing how serious Viper owners and Corvette owners get when challenging each other to the title of Ultimate American Sports Car Ever, I probably shouldn’t step right into the middle of it by highlighting this Viper-bodied 1986 Corvette for sale on Hemmings.com. But I’m a sucker for punishment, so here it is. I can imagine the taunts from either side now: “The only way to make a Corvette look good is to rebody it as a Viper!” “The only way to make a Viper run good is to power it with a Corvette engine!” From the seller’s description:

This is a combination 1986 Corvette frame, engine and dash, combined with a 2000 Dodge Viper body. Thus, a VIPERVETTE. The engine is 5.7 liter with a 4 speed manual transmission. The exterior is all Viper and the interior, although color coded Dodge Viper red and black leather, it has Corvette seats and interior. Options on this car include P/S, P/B, P/W, Power Mirrors, Power Antenna, Power Seats, Tilt Wheel, Top Off Feature, Power Trunk and AM/FM stereo with CD changer mounted in the trunk.

See the classified and more images at Hemmings.

By Dan Strohl

Hemmings

One of the best looking Fiats of its era, this 130 Coupe for sale on Hemmings was a delicacy reserved for jet-setting Europeans; Americans would have to content themselves with Fiat’s sports cars and boxy economy sedans. The 130 was introduced as a large (by European standards, anyway) sedan in 1969 as the successor to the long-in-the-tooth 2300 Lusso. It was followed up three years later by the Coupe.

The 130 Coupe was designed by Pininfarina’s Paolo Martin, and it bears a resemblance to his Rolls-Royce Camargue of 1970 – so much so that Fiat and Rolls-Royce might have considered splitting the bill for his services. The 130 was powered by a 2,866cc, 60-degree V-6, designed by Aurelio Lampredi, formerly of Ferrari. With a cast-iron block, aluminum heads and single overhead camshafts, the V-6 was rated at 165 hp at 6,500 RPM.  The only transmission offered was a Borg-Warner three-speed automatic. Continue reading at Hemmings.

By Dan Strohl

Hemmings

If indeed there are only 150 Truckettes like this 1966 Citroën 2CV Truckette  in the United States, then I should count myself lucky: This is the third that I’ve seen in the last month, though the only one that I’ve seen recently in the Hemmings.com classifieds. From the seller’s description:

The Truckette was originally designed to be a commercial version of Citroen’s immensely popular 2CV. Perfect for the streets of urban France (especially Paris) where parking is tight, commercial vehicles are taxed by their size and larger vehicles are restricted from entering specific areas. During the late Fifties and throughout the Sixties and Seventies, the Truckette was the vehicle of choice of most butchers, bakers and candlestick makers throughout France. The Truckette also caught on with small families as the Truckette could be fitted with an extra rear seat and side windows. Very few, if any, Truckettes were imported by Citroen and almost all of the USA Truckettes currently in the USA were imported by Citroen enthusiasts! The Citroen Concours of America notes that there are only between 100 and 150 in the United States now!

More views at Hemmings.

By Dan Strohl

Hemmings

Frank Kurtis built or was responsible for a wide variety of sports and racing cars, and it’s intriguing to see how they evolved over time, eventually into the final form represented by this 1962 Kurtis for sale on Hemmings. Follow the jump for the seller’s description, and see more pics at Hemmings.com.

Continue reading "Hemmings Find of the Day: 1962 Kurtis" »

By Dan Strohl

Hemmings

You know, while it doesn’t take much to make a Colonnade car look like something Homer Simpson and the NHTSA dreamed up, it also doesn’t take much to make a Colonnade car look good. The right front end treatment, the right stance, and a graphics package that highlights rather than detracts from the sculptured body lines does wonders, and this 1975 Buick Century  Free Spirit pace car edition for sale on Hemmings.com combines all three of those elements, along with a little bicentennial fever. From the seller’s description:

Buick had planned on making 1,700 of these cars – but it is rumored (although not proven) they built less than 400 of them. Model name … Century Custom Series Body Style … 2-Door Colonnade Coupe … Model Year … 1975 Engine …. 350ci Carburator 4bbl … Compression Ratio 7.9:1 … Horsepower 175bhp … Transmission … TurboHydramatic 350 (Automatic) … Rear Axle Ratio 3.08 Exhaust …. Single pipe … Seats …. Sport Bucket … console… Exterior Color Graphics … White with Red/Blue Placards, Indy 500 logo above rear quarter, Lettering alongside doors, Blue “BUICK” logo with eagle on hood and trunk lid, Blue “BUICK” logo at far end of either side, White eagle on front fenders,”Free Spirit” white lettering on front fenders, “BUICK” and “Free Spirit” blue lettering on trunk lid … Interior color Glacier Blue … Removable Roof Panels … Hurst Hatches Interior seat material … White Naugahyde .. Stock Tire Size GR70×15 Grille GS Blackout Trim Tail light GS Blackout … Suspension … Higher rate springs, larger stabilizer bars … Wheelbase 112 inches … Overall Length… 209.5 inches … Height 53.3 inches …RUNS AND DRIVES LIKE NEW.

By Dan Strohl

Hemmings

That Hugo90 has done wonders for the Hemmings Nation Flickr pool, bringing us all sorts of weird and exotic cars we’ve never heard of, that I thought it time we repay him, just as Mack and the boys on Cannery Row always feel the need to repay Doc for his generosity. The opportunity recently arose when Hugo90 posted a few photos of a Ghia-looking mystery car that he photographed nearly 30 years ago in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Fortunately, we have an answer for him. Read on…

Continue reading "From The Hemmings Flickr Pool: Non-Ghia Ghia Chrysler" »

By Dan Strohl

Hemmings

Of all the special edition Mustangs that Ford has been trotting out in the last several years and that recall earlier Mustang variants (California Special, Boss 302, all the Shelbys), I don’t think Ford’s ever going to come up with another SVO-type Mustang, even with all the talk nowadays of installing smaller turbocharged engines in place of larger naturally aspirated engines. So will that make the existing Mustang SVOs, such as this 1986 Ford Mustang SVO for sale on Hemmings.com, more desirable? From the seller’s description:

1986 Ford Mustang SVO 86, black ext, grey int., RARE car Comp, prep, 83 made. 39000 km, canadian one, very nice, new tire, origninal car.

By Dan Strohl

Hemmings

When RM Auctions put the Astra coupe up on the auction block at its Arizona event back in January, it had a lot going for it–recent magazine coverage, a recent restoration, and plenty of history to separate it from most other mid-1950s homebuilt cars. Yet it came down from the block a no-sale, bidding up to $120,000 (RM estimated before the auction that it would sell for $150,000 to $250,000). Now we see the 1952 Astra coupe for sale on Hemmings.com, at a price not too far off from that high bid. From the seller’s description:

Metallic Blue with White and Black Interior The Astra Coupe is a stunning custom creation first completed in 1952. Built with aluminum panels on a tubular steel frame, the car was fabricated almost completely from the ground up. The workmanship is remarkable, with aluminum panels countersunk and then screwed or riveted to the frame. The hood alone is made of 16 separate pieces of aluminum, all seamlessly welded together. The powerplant is a 303 CID Oldsmobile Kettering V8, while the gearchange was operated by a modified column shifter which Everett adapted to operate as a floor change.

Continue reading at Hemmings.

By Dan Strohl

Hemmings

Ever since this year’s New England Concours d’Elegance, I’ve had a jonesing for a Corvan, and this 1963 for sale on Hemmings.com isn’t helping much to alleviate that jonesing. Thing is, other than drive it around during the summer, I’m not sure what I’d end up doing with it. Put the stock wheels back on it? Build an AGL-4 clone out of it? Go autocrossing with it? Build Elvair II? From the seller’s description:

144 cid flat six dual carbs, 4-speed manual, custom chrome wheels with spinners, AM/FM stereo, lined cargo compartment, Spyder dash cluster – Super Nice Driver – Runs & Drives Great – Soild & Original Body – Clean Older Paint & Interior

Continue reading at Hemmings.

By Dan Strohl

Hemmings

Well, I never in my life thought I’d be selecting a Pontiac Sunfire for the Hemmings Find of the Day, especially one that looks like it crashed through a Pep Boys on the way to a screening of “The Fast and the Furious,” but hey, it’s Friday, and I’ll play along with the seller’s assertion that GM built this 1997 Pontiac Sunfire as a concept vehicle, even though the only Pontiac Piranha concept vehicle I’ve ever seen mention of looked substantially different than this. From the seller’s description:

This vehicle is one of two GM built concept vehicles. The Piranha features an L850 2.2 Liter supercharged L4 engine that cranks out 212hp and 204lb/ft of torque. The supercharger is a polished GM Performance belt drive unit used for high performance and low maintenance. A 4-speed automatic transmission was used with a steering wheel mounted Tiptonic system. All four corners have independent suspension.

Continue reading at Hemmings.