1980-2000
If you found yourself in the position of being forced to drive a convertible with a Chevrolet LT1 V8, I can imagine you could say no to the ’96 Roadmaster with the “custom” chop-top or the ’95 TTrans Am without a title…but this next car has a title and is an original Vette Convertible with a low 42k miles on it. Find this 1990 Chevrolet Corvette Convertible offered for $12,500 in Pleasant Hill, CA via craigslist. Tip from Rock On!
The Jaguar XJS was one of the prettiest things to ever grace the roads in the 20th century. Sure, it wasn’t as drop-dead gorgeous as the E-Type it replaced, but it conformed to safety and crash standards that mutilated the good looks of many other vehicles and the XJS survived with only a few changes over an impressive 21 year lifespan. Production of the Malcolm Sayer and Doug Thorpe designed 2+2 started in 1975, had a minor makeover in 1982, and a more significant re-design in 1992 and the last cars left the factory in 1996. Today’s example is one of the last of the pre-Ford takeover cars and is even more ANTI-Ford with an injection of Chevy’s LT1 V8 under the hood. Seems like a lot of car for the asking price if you ask me…and you did ask, right? Find this 1990 Jaguar XJS offered for $7900 in Stoughton, WI via craigslist.
Back in 2006 when the 24 Hours of LeMons first launched the world’s craziest racing series, you could actually buy a running car for $500. It wasn’t easy and you didn’t have your pick of the best stuff around, but for 500 smackeroos you could get something that just needed a roll cage and some new wheels to make it to the race track. But inflation marches ever forward…and Cash for Clunkers decimated the population of really cheap stuff on craigslist. Add the fact that anybody can get “cheap” loan money combined with the effect of un-ending random stimulus checks from multiple economic crises, the same amount of cash won’t buy you much. Today, the $500 on craigslist costs $2000, but every once in a full moon, you find something with frozen rear brakes, bald tires, dead battery, and various other problems for under that magical, mythical, and arbitrary $500 price. Time to go racing. Find this 1985 Renault Fuego offered for $500 in Binghamton, NY (or PA?) via craigslist. Tip from ME.
The 2nd generation Celica was great little rear-drive coupe from the makers of our favorite appliances, Toyota. It was built in Japan from 1978 to 1981 as a 2 door coupe or 3 door liftback, but it was not available from the factory as a convertible version. US dealers complained enough that Toyota outsourced the hacking of the roof off to the Griffith Company which installed a targa-style top with folding rear convertible back to roughly 2000 examples to make the Sunchaser. Find this 1980 Toyota Celica GT Sunchaser offered for $6,850 in Vancouver, WA via craigslist. Tip from Rock On!
The Saab 9000 was built on the Type Four platform, which Saab shared with Alfa Romeo, Fiat, and Lancia on the 164, Croma, and Thema, respectively. It was not, however, shared with Subaru, so the addition of a rhino horn 2004 STI hood scoop is somewhat jarring at first glance, but maybe makes more sense when you consider that Subaru did later partner with Saab to make the 9-2X. The scoop can be removed, but those wheels need to stay. Find this 1994 Saab 9000 CDE Turbo offered for $6000 in Broomfield, CO via craigslist. Tip from Zach.
Parts availability for the Saab 900 platform isn’t as plentiful as it was back when ever other college professor drove one of these things, but it isn’t bad for vintage Scandinavian oddball. But if you were really concerned that you couldn’t find some diaphragm or hard-line used in one of those early Bosch fuel injection systems, you could consider upgrading to something more common, like an entire Ford Mustang drivetrain. Say what? Yeah, this next car might look like a Saab 900, but it has been competely transformed from front-wheel-drive backwards-engine Saab rally machine into a Weld Wheel shod supercharged 5.0h V8 powered drag strip speed machine. And the interior (and engine bay) is a treat for the LSU or classic LA Kings fan. Find this 1986 Saab 900 offered for $22,500 in Henderson, NC via faceswap marketbash.
With the basic, non-special, rough-running, daily-driven, mid-80s Porsche 911 going for something North of $35k it is just about silly to even consider buying a classic 911 unless you’ve got extra money sitting around…which could be the case if you’ve recently sold any number of other classic cars that have seen ludicrous appreciation in the past few years. However, if you are a working man, a sensible collector, or someone who enjoys rummaging through a thrift store more than an antique store…then a 944 Turbo is for you. Find this 1986 Porsche 944 Turbo 951 offered for $14,000 in Phoenix, AZ via craigslist. Tip from FuelTruck.
We love all kinds of cars on Daily Turismo. Old cars. New cars. El Caminos. El Caminoized things. But the purpose that binds them all together like Sauron’s ring is the price-to-value ratio. And this next car comes with a pretty high price tag for a Geo Metro…absolutely…but it is the nicest three-cylinder powered piece of junk you’ll ever see, and perhaps it does answer the age old question; Can you polish a Geo? Find this 1991 Geo Metro Convertible offered for $6,500 in Phoenix, AZ via craigslist. Tip from FuelTruck.
This next car is a strange mix of stuff to have in one vehicle, but before we get into the specifics, I learned something from this vehicle. The seller stated that it started life as a turbo-4 powered Mustang…and I thought, but the SVO didn’t come out until 1984 and it wasn’t a notchback, but I learned that Ford introduced a turbo-4 version of the Fox body in 1979 (or 1980) that made 132 horsepower. This might seem like a paltry amount of power to push around a Mustang, but the 255 cubic inch V8 from the same year made only 120 horsepower in stock trim…so nobody was going anywhere fast. But somewhere along the way this next car had all of that junk removed and it is powered by a tri-power (like what’d you find on an old Pontiac) carb fed small block Chevrolet V8. Find this 1980 Ford Mustang offered for $11,000 in North Jersey via craigslist. Tip from Cory.
The Honda Beat might not be the first car styled by Pininfarina to be featured on Daily Turismo…in fact, it is the second Pinin car featured today, but it does have the dubious crown of being the smallest car to ever come from the legendary Turin based design house (at just under 11 feet long). Today’s Beat is covered with some crazy looking anime wrap, but it can be removed to expose decent looking red paint. Find this 1991 Honda Beat offered for $9,999 in Pittsburg, PA via craiglist. Tip from Rock On!