Posts Tagged ‘Feature’

Alfa Romeo Junior Zagato mash-up: 1989 Honda CRX Si and 1978 Alfa Romeo Spider

June 1, 2013

Imagine you always wanted an Alfa Romeo Junior Zagato. And supposing you didn’t have the $25-50,000 to purchase one of those. Supposing you only had $10,000. Well, for a mere $6990, my friend, you too can have both the style and the exotic twincam powertrain of that more expensive car. And what’s more is – get this – you get two whole cars in the deal! Now, you might think I’m suggesting you take the guts from the spider, and put them in the CRX, but that would be crazy. The CRX is a great car in its own right, even if it cribbed its styling from an obscure early 1970s Alfa, and the spider is an underrated classic. The CRX is up in Kent, WA for $3490, and the spider is near LA in Diamond Bar, CA for $3500.

1987 Honda CRX Si right side

(more…)

Be Vewy, Vewy Quiet – 1978 VW Rabbit C

May 31, 2013

Seems I’m always looking to recreate the past or something – yesterday afternoon, while digging through listings for a completely different car, I stumbled upon a car from my past. Ordinarily, I would curse the advertiser for using misleading keywords on their listing, but in this case, it’s a 1978 VW Rabbit C, which is very close to the 1980 VW Rabbit L on which I learned to drive. In a way, it’s quite surprising how rare these have become, given their historical significance. However, they were cheap drivers for most people (including my parents), so most rusted to pieces or cost more to repair than they were worth. Fortunately, that fate didn’t befall this car, a 1978 model in the most basic “C” trim level, available in Tacoma, WA for $2000.

1978 VW Rabbit right front

(more…)

Been There, Done That – 1975 Lancia Beta Sedan

May 26, 2013

Well here’s something you don’t see everyday. Unless you were me a couple of years ago – I owned a 1978 sedan from from 2008 to 2011. And while it was a nice car on one level – sort of an old Italian man’s car, or an Italian version of a Volvo or Mercedes – it was painful to repair and woefully underpowered for a sedan of its size and displacement. Certainly, one of those issues could have been eliminated if it weren’t for the fact the car needed to be smog legal – a popular conversion is to mount twin carbs, which is supposed to give over 100hp. With the 5-speed, that would surely give more competitive performance. Find this conversion-ready example for $2500 in Bellevue, near Seattle, WA.

1975 Lancia Beta sedan right front

(more…)