Posts Tagged ‘convertible’

Topless and Hatchless – 1982 VW Rabbit Convertible

August 5, 2014

One of the more underrated convertibles of the last 30-40 years, and in fact one of few convertibles available in the early 1980s, is finally escaping its made-for-cheerleaders stigma. The earlier cars, without all the heavy modernizing embellishments of the late 1980s and early 1990s, are actually pretty smart looking and are great for being able to hold 3 other friends (instead of the usual 1 in a roadster). Fitted with a later GTI powertrain, these could actually be fairly sporting and give an E30 3-series convertible a good run for its money. But perhaps that’s part of the problem right there – a 1988 BMW 325i convertible in decent condition is maybe double the price of a Rabbit convertible, but in fully-depreciated used car terms, that’s a couple grand for vastly more prestige, six-cylinder power, and whatever’s left of the famous BMW handling. Nonetheless, check out this 1982 VW Rabbit Convertible for sale for $1500 in Tucson, AZ.

1982 VW Rabbit Convertible left front

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Rare Charger – 1982 Dodge Charger Convertible

July 25, 2014

Rare does not always mean valuable. That’s great for people with a small classic car budget, as you can still spend a lot of money fixing up a car, but for a low cost of entry, and it will be worth the same when you decide to sell. Rare in this case means the product of one of the many companies that popped up in the early 1980s to take the place of car manufacturers, who abandoned convertibles due to fears they would be legislated out of the market, and to focus on emissions and safety. Most anything was eligible for conversion, with the main focus on sports cars, sporty coupes, and 2-door sedans. Surprisingly, this industry still exists, and Newport Convertible Engineering has most recently done conversions of the Toyota Prius and Subaru WRX STi (why?). You can find this 1982 Dodge Charger convertible for sale for $2000 in North Hollywood, CA.

1982 Dodge Charger convertible left front

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British Parts – 1974 Jensen Healey

July 24, 2014

While it was one of the last gasps of the British sports car industry, Jensen Healey showed how designers were thinking ahead, beyond the sedan-derived sports cars of the 1950s and 1960s, to something with a truly sporting engine and modern creature comforts. And they remain a truly underappreciated classic sports car, perhaps due to generic (though attractive) styling, lack of heritage, or the legacy reputation for 1970s-British-car quality issues, so their values remain comparable to Fiat and Alfa spiders, as well as wedge Triumphs. Today, though, these are among the most modern and usable among the classic, pre-1980s sports cars – and we do want to drive our cars frequently, right? Check out this 1974 Jensen Healey for sale for $3999 in Ridgecrest, CA.

1974 Jensen Healey left front

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