Posts Tagged ‘coupe’

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Pretty Coupe – 1981 Lancia Beta

November 5, 2013

As has been lamented before on these pages, there are very few companies selling a light, compact sports coupe any more. Of course there’s the Scionbaru FR-Z, and with some liberal interpretation you might also look at the BMW 1-series and some hot hatches like the Abarth 500, but aside from that, this genre is courting extinction. Back in the 1970s and 1980s, most manufacturers – Toyota, Datsun, Fiat, VW, Opel, Mitsubishi and more, all had entries in this slot. One of the rarer and more luxurious competitors in the category was Lancia, with its Beta range. You can find this 1981 Lancia Beta 2000 Coupe for sale in Los Gatos, CA for $2800.

1981 Lancia Beta Coupe left front for sale

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Sightseeing – Borgward Isabella Coupe and TS Sedan

November 4, 2013

Some makes and models of older cars are so obscure that the most common way to find them is as a sun-baked hulk in someone’s yard. Such is often the case with Borgward, a Bremen, Germany-based manufacturer of upper-middle-class luxury cars that slotted in the gap between Mercedes and VW/Opel. With a top speed of over 80mph, 4-wheel independent suspension, a hydraulic clutch, and more competitive features, it was quite a nice car in its day, and fairly successful with production of just over 200,000 cars. Unfortunately, the parent company failed to take advantage of economies of scale across its four divisions (Borgward, Hansa, Goliath, and Lloyd), and thanks to this and a slump in demand at home and abroad, went bankrupt in 1961. The current seller of this Borgward Isabella coupe, for sale for $900 in East Los Angeles, CA, will probably also not be clearing a profit on his car.

1958 Borgward Isabella coupe for sale

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Scoop! 1981 Porsche 928S

October 31, 2013

People always carp about how the 928 is complex, how it needs a lot of service, etc. But what if you take the perspective that the demise of the car is already a forgone perspective (sacrilege!), and that you’re just here to help it enjoy its golden years? Sort of like a hospice nurse for a terminal patient. Anyhow, with thousands of Porsche 928s made, and many at the lower end of the market that are probably not worth repairing, you might try that with this car. The first question you might be asking as you read this is, should this be in the Bad Ideas subgroup? Well, it’s possible, but this car seems to have many things going for it. You can find this grey market 1981 Porsche 928S for sale for $3000 in San Francisco, CA.

1981 Porsche 928S right front

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