Posts Tagged ‘coupe’

Straight Outta Compton – 1965 Plymouth Barracuda

July 25, 2014

Smaller Mopar cars are not terribly popular here, perhaps because for the longest time, you could get stuck behind a smoking one of these doing five under the speed limit. Of course, things are different now, and these cars are mostly survivors that are at least in decent mechanical shape, and driven by young hipsters instead of old grandmas. Both were attracted by some of the key characteristics of these (and the related Valiants), including the distinctive styling and the cockroach-like slant six. The latter is great in terms of its ability to survive adverse conditions, but cockroaches aren’t exactly universally popular. Check out this 1965 Plymouth Barracuda, for sale for $3500 in Mission Hills, CA.

1965 Plymouth Barracuda right front

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No Trouble – 1984 Maserati Biturbo

June 30, 2014

Standing on its own, apart from the history of its marque, the Maserati Biturbo is a pretty neat car. This is especially true when you look at it compared to similar size and class cars of the 1980s – the Biturbo looks a little like an E30 3-series from an alternate universe, with a twin turbocharged V6 instead of the 2.7 eta engine. That’s not to gloss over the issues the Biturbo had, but once one has made it this far without self-combusting or devolving into a sunburned shell with cracked leather and blown headgaskets, you know it’s either had an overindulgent owner, or it’s a good’un. You can find this 1984 Maserati Biturbo for sale for $4200 in Hayward/Castro Valley, CA.

1984 Maserati Biturbo left front

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Not What It Seems – 1991 Buick Reatta

June 20, 2014

In the mid-1980s, when Buick was actually turbocharging their Regal coupe at various levels, they decided to develop their interpretation of a sports car. While they ultimately failed at creating a sports car, they did create a sufficiently attractive luxury coupe powered by the 3800V6. It was built with an unusual level of assembly by hand, where a team would work on one assembly, and robots would then move the car to the next craft station – for 1991, the owner even received a special sleeve containing the manual, signatures from the supervisors at each craft station, and a pen, flashlight, and tire gauge. Early cars also came with an innovative touch screen control for the radio, climate control, trip computer, and and more. However, by the time the car came out, GM had decided Buick was going to focus on older buyers, and as such, the sports never made it into the car, and the touch screen was dropped for the later model years. You can find this one-of-1241-built 1991 Buick Reatta for sale in Fairfield, CA for an unstated price, or a couple of 26″ wheels and “some $$$”.

1991 Buick Reatta right front

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