1980 Rover 3500 SD1

I wasn't going to do a post today, but then I saw this car. If you've been reading this blog for awhile, you know that I once owned an SD1 and liked it very much. I can't pass up a chance to write about one.

This one looks to be in nice condition. The seller believes the engine has been rebuilt. The FI has been swapped for a Carter 4-barrel carb. I've seen that done before (sometimes using a Holley), but have never driven one with it. The seller also mentions that the A/C is missing. At least here in the States, the A/C was a Delco unit. With a little research you may find that it was the same as a unit used on a similar year GM car. If so, parts won't be too tough to find.

Rust was an issue with these cars and this car has some "bubbles" in all the usual places. It has been repainted, so checking for badly done rust repair is a must. The headlights on this one have been converted to the super desirable European units.

The interior is very nice. A door panel is loose and the dash has a crack, both of which are common on these cars. There's no chance you'll find a good used dash in the US, so you'll have to figure out a way to cover it or learn to live with it. (The dash is a modular design, meaning the same one is used for both RHD and LHD cars. You might be able to find a good used one in Europe, but the cost of shipping probably makes that an impractical idea.)

This is not a show car, but a very good SD1 that you could (and should) drive everyday.

Located in Langley, WA, click here to see the (informative, well written) eBay listing.

A Few Quick Things For A Friday...

1973 MGB GT - About 20 years ago, some car collector expert (I can't remember which one) predicted that the MGB GT was going to become a collectable car. Fortunately, he was wrong. Nice B GTs can still be found for reasonable prices.

This one is near the top end of the price scale, but it may be worth it.

If I ever decide to buy an MGB again, it will be a GT.

Located in Bozeman, MT, click here to see the Craigslist ad.

A big thanks to JaCG reader, Clint, for sending me the link to this car.

Garage of Awesome- Another very cool car blog / site. I just found this one. I spent far too much time looking at it this morning. An Australian site, it's new and at times slightly irreverent. I love it.

You can find it here.

1992 Subaru SVX - I've always liked these cars. Until recently, Subaru had sort of a Citroen mentality. They built well engineered, quirky, odd, very often fun cars. The SVX is a perfect example of that.

This car appears to be in very, very nice shape. Personally, I'd ditch the gold wheels before I took it anywhere in public.

Located in Plymouth, CT, click here to see the eBay listing.

A big thanks to Tony for sending me the link to this car!

1971 Autodynamics Deserter - You Have To Check This Out (Again)

I wrote about this car back in January, 2010. It's back on eBay.

As I've mentioned in the past, I'm not a huge fan of kit cars. This one however, is so well done and seems like it would be such a blast to drive, that I don't even look at it as a kit car.

I may get flamed a bit here for saying this, but if I had a choice between this and say, a Caterham, I'd choose this.

You can find my original post about this car here.

Check out the seller's website for some good close ups of the build and build quality.

Located in Hopedale, MA, click here to see the eBay listing.

Introducing the All-New "Doug" to Yahoo! Mail Users

I really like the ad unit Yahoo! started last year on their Yahoo! Mail website where a company can purchase the entire login page's background. It has a crisp, generous look and the ad never gets lost in the typical clutter of ad banners, typical of other Yahoo! web properties. Today Ford decided to run a full page unit for the Ford Focus. Or did they? It seems like that was the plan until someone, or is it some thing, decided to takeover the promoting of the all-new Ford Focus.

That "thing" if you haven't heard of it by now is Doug, Ford's Spokespuppet. And yes, "spokespuppet" is not a real word; instead, it is a whole new concept in automotive marketing lingo. Doug and his human sidekick John are bringing some humorous snark to the launch of the Focus. It's almost a little sad that the focus (pun intended) here is an orange puppet when Ford has an amazing new re-introduction of the Focus, having finally brought over to the States the European model that many have been asking for for years.

Back to Yahoo!

Ford's ad unit brought significant awareness not to the car (well indirectly it did), but to a puppet. All of the calls-to-action for the ad unit go to Doug's Facebook Fan page where one can "Like me. Love was not an option." Not one link goes to the Ford Focus website to learn about the car.

It's an interesting decision and perhaps a wise one as one website put it, "Ford Profit Fueled in Part by Social Media".

I can't think of any situation in the almost 4 years I've been writing this blog where a major ad buy from a car company drove entirely to a puppet on Facebook. Sorry, "spokespuppet."

Sporadic Posts For The Next Week

For the next week or so the posts may be a little shorter than usual and a little sporadic. I'm moving my business into a new space at the end of the month (This Saturday).

Here's a little bit about me (I'm demystifying myself here)... I own a record store. Yep, a real live, still surviving, record store. I've owned it for 28 years. It's pretty much all I've ever done. In the 1990s I spent a 6 years as Program Director and afternoon drive guy at a commercial radio station. In 2004 and 2005 I had a small record label, but that went bust after Tower Records went bankrupt and stuck me for a bunch of money. (Thank you, Russ Solomon.) But, even while doing those two things, I kept my record store.

In the late 1980s it became a CD store, records were passe. But, much to my utter amazement, records, actual vinyl records, started to make a comeback 5 or 6 years ago. They now account for 75% of my business.

I've never been involved the the automobile business.

So why am I telling you this? First of all, as the popularity of this blog grows, I'm getting a lot of e-mails asking me if I make money off the cars I write about. I don't. I've also been asked to write about a car or two for a fee. I haven't. So far, I haven't made a dime from this blog. (Although if someone wants to buy an ad, there's plenty of space along the side for me to run it.)

Secondly, moving a record store is a monumental task. If you're a over 40, you might remember what it was like to move 100 or so records from house to house or from your home to college and back again. It was work. Those suckers are heavy. Imagine what it's like to move 100 times that amount, along with 1000 or so CDs, fixtures and all the crap I've accumulated in the past 28 years. It's going to take a ton of time. Time that I would usually spend on this blog.

So, while I'll post a few things as I get some time, I thought I'd mention a few "lesser known" (meaning not as well known as Jalopnik or Bring a Trailer, which I assume everyone reads) blogs that I enjoy:

Rusty But Trusty

Tamerlane's Thoughts

Barnfinder!

JustaCarGal (No relation. Just a similar name to mine.)

By The Numbers

1A Auto Blog (A little tough to navigate, but worth the effort.)

Inzane240 (Chronicles the restoration of a 240Z)

If you haven't read them before, they are well worth checking out. I should be back into the Just a Car Geek "groove" in a week or so.

Nissan Blows Smoke at NYIAS Cars, Even Its Own

Nissan Billboard spews exhaust outside New York Auto Show Javits Center

This is a great out of home billboard from the recent New York International Auto Show (NYIAS) done by TBWA\Chiat\Day LA for Nissan. It's a great way to make a strong selling point for the Nissan LEAF.

The LEAF, of course, is Nissan's all-electric vehicle and while the rest of Nissan's own floor at the auto show blows a lot of smoke around, the billboard still makes an excellent point about what differentiates the LEAF from competitors, including its strongest competitor right now the Chevy Volt. The Volt still has a gasoline engine and is not a full-EV (Electric Vehicle) so the point is still a valid one as these two battle it out.

Nice work here and thanks to AdLand.tv for blogging about it. Credit goes to this post.

1986 Renault Alpine GTA

We came this close (put your thumb and index finger about 1/8 of an inch apart) to officially getting this car in the US. The GTA was designed with the American market in mind. It was to be Renault's flagship in the US.

After some initial encouraging numbers, sales of the Renault Alliance and Encore started to slip, due mainly to reliability concerns. Renault finally had to accept the fact that a public that was reluctant to buy $5,000.00 Renaults, sure as hell weren't going to buy a $30,000.00 Renault, no matter how good it was.

And the Alpine GTA was good... The engine was a 200 HP, turbocharged version of the PRV V6. It could get to 60 MPH in 6.9 seconds. It's top speed was limited to 155 MPH.

As with any car, styling is a matter of personal taste, but I find the Alpine GTA to be drop-dead gorgeous. The interior design is typical French quirky, but everything is where it should be and the GTA is said to be a very comfortable car.

This car is a 42,000 mile car. It appears to be in very nice shape. Being a 1986 model, it's completely legal to import this car into the US. The seller has sold some cars on eBay before and has a 100% feedback rating.

Located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, click here to see the eBay listing.

How close did Renault come to importing the Alpine? Very close. There were several US spec cars sent to the US automotive press for review. A number of grey market cars made their way here, too. The rumor at the time was the Renault was responsible for bringing in some of those grey market cars. That's quite possibly true. I was visiting my parents in Fairfax, VA, back in 1986 or 1987 and decided to go for a drive. I passed an AMC / Renault dealership and spotted a GTA on the showroom floor. I did a quick u-turn, went into the dealership and snapped the picture you see below. If you enlarge the picture and look really closely, you'll see staple holes in the top center portion. This picture hung over my desk for many, many years. It was sort of my motivation for working harder each day. (I guess I never worked hard enough though, as I never got to buy an Alpine GTA!)

-=-=-=-=

Weekend Quickies - Sunday, April 24, 2011

1958 Dual-Ghia - Yesterday I featured a "Frank Sinatra Edition" Chrysler Imperial. I doubt that Sinatra never owned one of those, but he did own one of these.

The Dual-Ghia was based on an early 1950s Virgil Exner design, the Dodge Firebomb/Firearrow show cars. (Can you imagine calling a car a "Firebomb" today?) Dodge chassis' were sent to Italy, where Ghia built and fitted the body. The engine was a Dodge 315ci hemi V8.

Just 117 Dual-Ghias were built. Around 50 are known to exist today. If you want it, this one will cost you a cool quarter-of-a-million-dollars.

Located in Houston, TX, click here to see the eBay listing.

PS - Ronald Reagan owned a Dual-Ghia. Legend has it that he lost it in a poker game to then-president Lyndon Johnson. (Just a little trivia that you'll most likely never see on the History Channel or in a presidential library.)

1967 Rover P5 - Rovers seem to be coming out of the woodwork lately. Chris over at Rusty But Trusty featured one the other day, and now this one just showed up on eBay.

This car is said to run "good" and has no rust. It needs restoration, but starting with a running, rust free car is a huge plus.

Rovers were not very popular in the US, and one in this condition is a rare find.

Located in Tucson, AZ, click here to see the eBay listing.

1969 Peugeot 404 - Do you have $200.00, a ton of time and plenty of ambition? If so, this extremely rough Peugeot 404 station wagon could be your next project.

The 404 was designed by Pininfarina. Although it's tough to tell by looking at this one, they are very cool looking cars.

This car has no floors and a rusted frame. Realistically, it's best use is as a parts car, but someone would earn huge points in my eyes (and most JaCG readers eyes) if they restored it. (I'll make a deal with you... This car is in a town about 1/2 hour north of where I live. If you promise to restore it, I'll meet you there and help you load it on to the trailer. - Hey, free labor is free labor.)

Located in Greenfield, MA, click here to see the eBay listing.

A big thanks to Tony for sending me the link to this car!

1967 Ford Flatbed - This is really just a post for me. I've always wanted to own my own flatbed. A cool old one like this would be perfect.

This is a very well cared for 44 year old truck. It has a 352 V8 and 4 speed transmission. The flatbed hydraulics have recently been rebuilt.

If you live on the west coast and have the same flatbed fantasy that I have, this truck looks like it's well worth checking out.

Located in San Jose East, click here to see the Craigslist ad.

A big thanks to JaCG reader, Tamerlane, for sending me the link to this truck!

Weekend Quickies - Saturday, April 23, 2011

1981 Ferrari 308 GTBi - There seem to be just two types of Ferrari 308s in the world... First there are the gorgeous, impeccably maintained 308s. These, rightly, sell for top dollar when they come up for sale. Then there are the beat up, neglected 308s. These are usually owned by someone who had no business owning a Ferrari in the first place. The seller asks top dollar ("It's a Ferrari!!!"), but usually gets considerably less, if he sells it at all. These are not bargains, as it costs way more than the car is worth to make it right. (If it can be made right at all.)

This car is rare, as it falls somewhere in between. The seller says this is a "good running Ferrari", but not "concourse". He calls it a "perfect example of a 20 foot car".

If it runs as well as the seller says and you're not looking for a show car, but rather a Ferrari you can take to a restaurant and not worry about where it's parked, this car may be worth looking into. The asking price is not cheap, but realistic at $19,000.00.

Located in Rimrock, AZ, click here to see the Craigslist ad.

1981 Frank Sinatra Edition Chrysler Imperial - Frank Sinatra Edition? It makes sense, I guess. Both Sinatra and the Imperial were once great, but both were way past their prime by 1981.

All fs (Chrysler used the lower case) Imperials were painted "Glacier Blue". They had a plaque on the dash stating "Frank Sinatra Signature Edition". They came with 16 Frank Sinatra cassettes in a special Mark Cross case. (I'm not kidding.) Not too surprisingly, just 271 of these cars were built.

This car has just 74,000 miles on it. The seller says it's stock (Who would customize it?) and it looks to be in very nice condition. There's no mention of whether the cassettes are still with the car.

Located in East Valley, AZ, click here to see the Craigslist ad.

1957 Vauxhall Victor - Vauxhall is the British subsidiary of General Motors. That was extremely evident in the original styling of the "F Series" Victor. It looks like a shrunken mid-fifties Chevy. For awhile these were sold in the US through Pontiac dealers.

The Vauxhall was nowhere near as fast as a Chevy... While the Victor's 55 HP engine had a reputation for being tough and reliable, it wasn't powerful. 60 MPH came in 28 seconds and its top speed was around 75 MPH.

The seller calls this car "original". By "original" I assume he means that it's not modified. I can't see any way that the paint job on this car is original. It just shines too nicely. (Not to mention that the Victor rusted badly and almost all survivors have had some rust repair done to them.)

This is not an old car you'd want to drive everyday, but it would be very cool to bring to British cars shows.

Located in Santa Ana, CA, click here to see the Craigslist ad.

Lexus Sponsors YouTube's Indy Film Content

YouTube is making a play for developing custom content or content that can't be found elsewhere online as it defends its competitive video position against rival Hulu. Part of that defense is the YouTube Screening Room which has been around since 2008, but appears to be making a comeback with YouTube finding new sponsors to promote the films.

What is the Screening Room? From the channel's description, it features "top films from around the world to find the audiences they deserve... While the majority of these films have played at international film festivals, occasionally you'll find films that have never before screened for wide audiences."

Today American Express is sponsoring the Screening Room, but last Tuesday Lexus did its marketing sponsorship duty and brought the Screening Room content to the YouTube audience with a front page banner ad, intro commercial before the film played, and some banners promoting the all-new CT200h filled the screen.

2005 Ford Focus Saleen S121

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I like Steve Saleen. I wish I was a bigger fan of Fords. I'd buy some sort of Saleen version.

I met Steve Saleen once. To make a long story short, back in the early nineties a friend of mine had a teenage cousin who was getting himself in all sorts of trouble. She asked me if I would play "big brother" and try and give the kid a bit of guidance. (What the hell was she thinking?). Knowing that this kid was into Mustangs, I took him with me to the Vintage Fall Festival at Lime Rock Park the year Saleen was the featured marque. Steve Saleen was there. My friend's cousin, who very obviously had no money whatsoever and no hope of getting any (legally) in the near future, went up to Steve Saleen and started asking questions. Saleen did not brush him off. In fact, Saleen talked to him for a good 15 minutes, treating him like he was a guy with $100,000.00 in his pocket, ready to put it down on a few Saleens, and not like the penniless kid he was. I was impressed.

This is a rare Saleen Focus. Until tonight, I had no idea that there was such a thing. Saleen built two versions of this car, the S121 and the N20. The N2O came with a nitrous kit that boosted the 150 HP stock engine to a whopping 225 HP. The S121 basically used a free flow exhaust to achieve 160 HP.

This car is an S121. Besides the 10 extra horsepower, you get all the traditional Saleen touches; an improved suspension, Saleen body kit and graphics, different tires and wheels, customized interior components, and upgraded brakes.

The body kit is a bit over the top and I could do without the graphics, but the rest of the stuff most likely makes the Focus a fun to drive car.

This car is #72 of 175 built. It has just over 59,000 miles on it and looks to be in very nice condition.

This is not my type of car, but it's rare and different and I thought I should point it out. The asking price of $10,000 is reasonable if you think about what other "economy" cars are out there for that price. Yes, you could get a newer Civic, stock Focus, Kia, Hyundai, Toyota, etc., etc., but none of those cars would have the exclusivity of the Saleen name. I'm also pretty certain that none would be as fun to drive as this car.

Located in Kansas City, MO, click here to see the eBay listing.

A big thanks to JaCG reader, Russ, for sending me the link to this car!

1993 Mercedes-Benz 300CE Sportline

I've always liked the 300CE. This one is a little bit special. It has the fairly rare Sportline option.

The Sportline package included lower, wider profile tires, quick ratio steering, a lower, stiffer suspension, Sportline badges and a few minor trim pieces. The engine was unchanged.

Very few cars came to the US with the Sportline package. Most were sedans (it was, unfortunately, not available on the station wagon). The seller of this car says that just over 100 Sportline Coupes were sold in the US.

This car looks like it's in nice condition, but the seller leaves very little information in his ad. He does, however, leave a phone number.

Located in Stuart, FL, click here to see the Craigslist ad.

1968 Opel Commodore - Rare Car / Horrible Ad

The Commodore was never officially imported into the US. It was essentially an upscale Opel Rekord.

Somehow this one wound up in what looks like a junkyard in Virginia.

There is no description in the ad and the pictures are poor. The car looks to be in very, very rough shape. Based on the picture of the engine compartment, it looks like this car has the desirable 2.5 liter Opel 6 in it.

At best this is a major project car. At worst it's a parts car.

If you're looking for a rare and unusual Opel, it may be worth calling on this car.

Located in Tidewater, VA, click here to see the Craigslist ad.

1985 BMW 745i Turbo

These were very impressive cars in their day. They're still impressive now.

The 745i Turbo was never officially imported into the US.

The 745i does not have a 4.5 liter engine in it. It has a 3.2 lite turbocharged 6. BMW got a little creative and decided that since a 3.2 liter turbocharged engine has power equivalent of 4.5 liter normally aspirated engine, they could call this car a 745.

This car is a two owner, 219,000 mile car. It's an Arizona car and most likely has little, if any, rust. The seller says it runs well, but "needs just a little TLC". "TLC" is one of those vague terms that makes me cringe when I see it used in a car ad.

This car was super high-tech in its day. That's a problem now. 25 year old high tech stuff - which isn't all that high-tech now - breaks. Finding parts for a grey market 7 Series is not going to be easy. When you do find them, they most likely won't be cheap.

If the "TLC" it needs is upholstery repairs or minor things like that, the asking price of $3000.00 is reasonable. Just set aside some money for the day when something does break.

Located somewhere near Pheonix, AZ, click here to see the Craigslist ad.

1974 Cadillac Eldorado Station Wagon

I'm not suggesting that anyone run out and buy this car, I'm just pointing it out...

A number of coachbuilding companies created Cadillac station wagons back in the 1960s and 1970s. Many were based on Fleetwoods or DeVilles and wound up looking like hearses.

This one is based on an Eldorado and looks nothing like a hearse.

My first thought upon seeing this car was, "Holy crap! That's an incredibly ugly car!" Then I started to imagine it without the vinyl roof, painted a darker green and minus the whitewalls. All of a sudden it went from "incredibly ugly" to just plain ugly... Unique, strangely cool, but ugly.

This car has been mentioned on a number of forums over the years, but I can't find any reference as to who built it. Whoever built it did a nice job. The little jump seat in the back is a nice touch. The roof blends nicely into the body, although the fake spare tire bump looks ridiculous. It looks like the tailgate is one piece and, if it's metal, probably weighs a ton.

I wouldn't spend $16K for this car, but I hope someone nearby does. I'd love to check it out in person.

Located at Frank Corrente Cadillac Corner, click here to see the ad.

While doing a bit of research on this car - or at least trying to - I stumbled on a Flickr site belonging to someone calling himself "That Hartford Guy". He has a number of pictures of this car in his album along with what looks like an ad for it when new. You can find it here.

A big thanks for JaCG reader, Marc W, for sending me the link to this car!

-=-=-=-==-=-=-=

/----_--__-__--

1991 Alfa Romeo Spider V-8

I'm a a bit of a purist, I guess. I am not a huge fan of engine swaps. I am especially not a fan of taking an engine from "Brand A" and dropping it into a car made by "Brand B". But every now and then I see one that is so well engineered and so outrageous, I can't help but to be impressed. This is one of those cars.

This is a 1991 Alfa Romeo Spider with a Ford 302 V-8 in it. The man who built this car is a retired General Motors Senior Engineer. He put his engineering skills to work with this car. The amount of work he did to make it "right" is incredible.

The car is not set up to be "an all-out drag racer". The seller says "With the relatively mild engine, power steering, power brakes, and an easy clutch, it can be driven like a Honda Civic. I take it to the grocery store and hardware store all the time."

I could write more about this car, but all the info you need is in the seller's ad and on a very interesting, very informative Alfa BB thread. (Which you can find here.)

I loved my Alfa Spiders. I loved the 4 cylinder engine that came with them. But, if I had the money for another toy, I'd buy this car in a heartbeat. It's completely outrageous and very well done.

Located in Phoenix, AZ, click here to see the eBay listing.

A big thanks to Jeff for sending me the link to this car!

1954 Swallow Doretti

Some history: The Swallow Sidecar Company was founded by Sir William Lyons in 1922. In 1926 the name was changed to Swallow Sidecar and Coachbuilding Company. In 1927 it became just Swallow Coachbuilding Company. In 1931 Lyons created a series of cars he called "S.S." In 1934 Lyons changed the name of the automobile building part of Swallow's business to S.S. Cars Ltd. After the Second World War, the idea of calling anything SS - the same abbreviation used for Hitler's notorious Schutzstaffel - didn't seem like a good idea. Lyons changed the name yet again, this time to Jaguar Cars Ltd. (Think about it... If business changes and history hadn't intervened, one of the most desired cars in the world could have been called the Swallow E-Type. It just doesn't have the same ring to it.) Lyons sold the Swallow Coachbuilding name to a company called the Helliwell Group.

Fallen asleep yet? There's more...

Tube Investments(TI), a company that supplied steel to the British auto industry, took over the Helliwell Group in 1946. It was TI who resurrected the Swallow name - as a car brand - and created this car.

The Doretti was based on Triumph TR2 running gear. The chassis was designed by Swallow (TI). The body panels are aluminum. The car was quick in its day. 60 MPH came in just over 12 seconds and its top speed was around 100 MPH.

Just 276 of these cars were built between 1954 and 1955. It is said that TI stopped building the car out of fear of losing their contracts with other British car manufacturers.

This car is a basket case, but - being as rare as it is - someone will take it on. The body is rough, but complete. The seller says the chassis has no serious rust. The biggest problem will be finding a grille. It will most likely have to be created (big $$$).

As I write this the car has 15 bids and is up to $7000.00. I hope whoever buys it keeps it on the east coast and brings it to shows. This is a car I've only read about. I'd love to see one in person.

Located in Lynchburg, VA, click here to see the eBay listing.

Below is a picture of a restored Swallow Doretti, courtesy of the Swallow Doretti Owners Club.