Archive for December, 2015

Arbitrage Opportunity – 1981 Toyota Pickup

December 17, 2015

Anybody who’s spent time in San Francisco will have noticed the night-time recyclers, driving around in trucks overloaded with cardboard, bottles, and cans, making a racket sifting through people’s recycle bins for the choice pieces. Their vehicle of choice is often a 25-30 year-old Toyota pickup. Or you might have noticed that building contractors and maintenance workers prefer smaller vehicles to carry their tools and supplies. Their vehicle of choice is often a 25-30 year-old Toyota pickup or van. That puts a higher than normal pressure on the market for these vehicles, which brings us to an interesting opportunity – say you lived in another nearby city but had frequent business in San Francisco – could you make a small amount of money buying a nearby truck, driving it down, and flipping it to a small-truck-loving San Franciscan? Now all we need is a truck – check out this 1981 Toyota Pickup for sale for $1700 in Vancouver, WA.

1981 Toyota Pickup left rear

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Lingering – 1975 BMW 2002

December 16, 2015

BMW’s 2002 is certainly a cult favorite, right up there with the VW Beetle, Volvo 122, and more in terms of its recognition among classic car enthusiasts. While it’s not the lowest-maintenance classic you can get, its issues are well-documented, and you could fairly say it’s a good starter classic for someone who would consider one of the above cars, or something in the same price bracket, like an MGB or Triumph TR6. While the engine isn’t quite as thrilling as some of its contemporaries, it’s certainly a fun car to drive with decent power and safe handling. So it’s surprising to see one linger on the market, especially when the price is on the fair side – check out this 1975 BMW 2002 for sale for $4000 in McMinnville, OR.

1975 BMW 2002 2 right front

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Back to Normal – 1979 Alfa Romeo Alfetta GT and 1977 Alfa Romeo Alfetta GT Mario Andretti

December 15, 2015

After a solid run of some interesting wagons, it’s time to focus back on our primary mission – find unusual, sporty cars for short money! And as usual, the classic car gods provide, in this case a pair of Alfa Romeo Alfetta GTs. If you’re a regular reader, you know about the great shape that shares cues with various exotics and other sports coupes of the period, the sweet four-cylinder that keeps telling you to wind it out, and the nicely balanced transaxle chassis. First up is this 1979 Alfa Romeo Alfetta GT for sale for $1500 in Berkeley, CA.

1979 Alfa Romeo Alfetta GT 3 right front

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