THE Place for Automotive Oddities
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Citroen-Powered Three-Wheeler: Performance Vehicles Trihawk
We’re big fans of odd layouts, and this certainly qualifies. The TriHawk had a short run in the early to mid 1980s and offered super-light weight, low center of gravity and eye-catching style. Think Slingshot, but way ahead of its time and with the added bonus of being built in Dana Point, California. Add in…
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VW-Powered Weirdness: L’Automobile Ventura
Here’s a rare one. The L’Automobile was a Brazilian-built, VW-powered coupe which allegedly used some parts from the previous VW do Brasil SP2 and, of course, used a VW chassis, engine and transaxle. The seller says this car runs and drives well and only has a few minor needs. The key here is that it…
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1976 Lotus Eclat Project
We’ve always been intrigued by these 70s Lotus Elite and Eclat (sometimes called the Lotus Eclair). These front-engine oddballs were large for Lotus, but still used the “just add lightness” formula and were known as excellent handlers. The Elite, with its shooting brake body type, is more the oddball, while this Eclat has a coupe…
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California-Made 70s Oddball: The Aerocon Boa
This is one of several fiberglass-bodied, kit-type cars sold without engine or trans and designed to accept Porsche or VW goodies. This one’s special, though, as the fiberglass body sits on an aluminum monocoque. That is only now becoming more common, thanks to Jaguar, Audi and a few others; but it was seriously exotic stuff…
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1964 Renault Dauphine and Shop Closing Sale!
Here we have a claimed solid example of the classic Renault Dauphine. That means rear-engine, water-cooled goodness! Well, okay, it’s a rear-engine platform, but there’s no engine in it right now. Well, that’s not entirely true – it looks like the engine is currently sitting where the passenger seat should be. The transaxle is in…
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Salesman’s Hot Rod? 1968 Mercury Montego MX Four Door with 390 and 4-Speed
For those not old enough to remember, and for those who forget, it seemed that no one except salesmen and some realtors drove four-door, US domestic non-luxury cars back in the day. As recently as the late 70s, the best-selling car in the US was the Olds Cutlass, most of which were two-door sedans. The…
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1977 Pinto Cruisin’ Wagon Meets Bronco 4WD System
WWe love Pinto Cruising Wagons in just about any condition or format. This is probably the most heavily modified we’ve seen, as it’s lifted and features a 1974 Bronco 4WD system and 1975 302 V8. The result is beautifully ridiculous. The seller provides a decent amount of info, but it’s not 100% clear how this was…
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“Eco” Ford F-250 Running on Biodiesel
This is an interesting truck, to say the least. The seller made some mods which, in theory, help fuel economy. This is not the usual pitch from the seller of an F-250 diesel, but the bio-diesel/veggie oil crowd is, well, different (and proud of it). We’re not sure whether this truck is a nightmare or…
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Sylvia Gen 1: 1977 Datsun 200SX
Okay, we’ve posted one as UR-Sylvia before. We stand by that. This is where the Sylvia started and it offers light weight and rear wheel drive with a nice, little L-series four cylinder up front. Included is a healthy dose of delightfully odd 70s Japanese styling. The seller claims this example has about 97K miles,…
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“Stoopid” 1990 S10 Blazer with Supercharged SBC Swap and Too Much Yellow
This is not subtle, not understated; but we like the swap. Can it be saved? Someone put a lot of time and money into this truck and the work looks to have been well done. We wonder what it would cost to change this to more of a sleeper look in black or another dark…