Seen on eBay: 1970 Olds Toronado Limo

Cars have been built for many different reasons over the past 100 years.  Sometimes they’re built for racing, others for cruising, and then there are a few purpose built land yachts that exist strictly to tote around inebriated people when they leave the bars. Hmmm. Yes, this 1970 Toronado 15 passenger wagon limo is definitely one of those vehicles… well, sort of.

It started its life as a massive, 28 foot long, 6 wheeled, 9 door, airport limo also known as a “AQC Jetway 707”.  Sounds exotic right?  Well, it was a pretty big deal at the time, and was intended to be the beginning of a huge line of limos, ambulances, and hearses built by the “American Quality Coach” company.  Sadly, their tooling costs were costing them more than their vehicle sales could handle, and it was game-over before they really even got the business off the ground.  There is some debate over the actual production numbers of these vehicles, but it’s likely somewhere between 52 and 150. That’s still a lot of Detroit steel, considering each one is the length of two Geo Metros, and the metal is probably twice as thick.  One word – “momentum“.

This specific behemoth of a front wheel drive vehicle is being sold as a great project and potential money making opportunity for a “young single slick chick magnet type of guy who can dance/but has great morals/nice friends“.  The seller claims that once you drop a motor in this thing and hit the streets of NYC, it (and you) will be irresistible to bachelorette parties chock full of beautiful women.  I’m not 100% convinced of this theory, but the world is a crazy place, so who really knows. Buy it now, and put it to the Toronado to the test!

The eBay listing Item # 180667647167 is really full of confidence boosting hilarity. Be sure to check it out as well for the full Monday morning entertainment package..

Additional info found here:

http://coachbuilt.com/bui/a/aqc/aqc.htm

Wait, Did This Corvette Just Become More Fun?

They say that less is more, and when it comes to Corvette’s, this saying has got to be true.  This seller on eBay is selling a bodyless, 6-speed, 1999 Corvette that still runs, drives, and stops.  My immediate reaction is that this may be the perfect car.  Add a roll cage, move a little weight toward the back, and BAM, you have a sicknasty rocket ship. Body panels are sooooo 2010. Man, I am full of bad ideas.  Who’s with me?

Anybody? …  echo… echo…

Images borrowed from eBay Item # 310310355884

The DKW-Vemag Munga Candango Carries Cows!

Yes, this is real life. A cow in a Candango.
Yes, this is real life. A cow in a Candango.

I always like to start off the first week after daylight savings time with a little bit o’ DKW-Vemag Munga Candango.  For just 850 bucks, you can grab your very own engineless rolling skeleton of one on eBay.  Oh wait, I forgot, nobody actually knows what the heck a DKW-Vemag Munga Candango is. Let me explain….

From what I understand, DKW was a part of the Auto Union over in Germany, and they came up with this universal vehicle called the “Munga”. For all intents and purposes, it was basically a 2 stroke, 3 cylinder, German Jeep.  It had 4 wheel drive, could carry cows, and wasn’t even afraid to jump into a river from time to time.  They were built in Germany between 1956-68, but that wasn’t the only place.  They were also built in Brazil under a different, but equally fun to say, model name.  The “Candango”.  Fun right?  So DKW hooked up with this Brazilian car company named Vemag, who actually produced these little things under their own name.  The Candango production began in 1958, but after just 5 short years, it fizzled out because nobody really wanted one.  After all, cows do look ridiculous driving around in cars. Read More

Seen on eBay: 2005 or 1957 GMC Bel Air Denali Truck.

There is some weird stuff on eBay today, and this truck is no exception.  It started life as a 2005 GMC Sierra Denali, which is no slouch… and then the body mods began.  Clearly somebody was a 1957 Chevy enthusiast because they decided to graft the quarter panels from a ’57 onto the ’05 pickup.  Then they found a ’57 Chevy wagon tailgate and tossed it on the truck as well.  But wait, there’s more.  To round off the whole theme, the Belair hood gun sights were molded into the Denali hood.  Thoughts? Opinions? I wouldn’t even know where to begin.

eBay # 220742322070

Brand New 2000 Mustang Cobra R and 2003 Cobra SVT on eBay.

2000 Ford SVT Mustang Cobra R
2000 Ford SVT Mustang Cobra R

Wouldn’t it be nice to buy a brand new old car?  Well, if you are a Mustang enthusiast with money burning holes in your pockets, it’s your lucky day!  There is a seller on eBay that had apparently bought some special edition Mustangs back around Y2K and is now selling a couple of them.  Yesterday’s listing was a 2000 Mustang SVT Cobra R with 11 miles.  It was clearly bought as an investment because it has “No Pre-Delivery Inspection” written all over it.  This means that all the plastic crap was left on it from when it was shipped to the dealer, and a technician didn’t go through it to test everything out and top off all the fluids.  No big deal, I’m sure the car is juuuust fine without it.  The real beauty is the fantastically simple combination of big V8, light car, manual transmission, and rear wheel drive. From the factory, they had 385 horsepower on tap, 6 gears, and 265/40/18’s gluing you to the ground.  They also only made 300 of them this year, so it’s a rare bird to say the least.  The eBay price on this car was $70,000, which is honestly not much above the original purchase price of $54,995.  Sadly, it looks like the listing was ended early after receiving offers everywhere from $1 to $60,500. Read More

Seen on eBay: Not Too Sure About This Porsche.

People do strange things.  If you are confused by the  images above, you are in good company.  I am one of those people that hates to see a classic car in good original condition ruined with questionable taste & potentially unsafe customization.  On the other hand, I am all for doing whatever you want with a car that has been left for dead.  I’m not sure what the story is with this car, but seeing it in it’s current state leads to my brain hurting.  It isn’t that I don’t approve of low vehicles, because I certainly do. In fact, I prefer my vehicles that way. Read More

Books: Unsafe At Any Speed?

Unsafe at any speed

 

All politics aside, has anybody actually read this “Unsafe At Any Speed” book by Ralph Nader?  I saw it recently and it had me intrigued as to what was inside.  Typically if a book has cars inside, I’d want to read it.  I think I recall hearing that it was about how dangerous Corvair’s and Pinto’s were or something?  Is it worth the read as long as I don’t drink the juice?  For those that have read it, whats the split of politics vs automotive stuff? Are we talking a 50/50 split?  80/20? 

Image borrowed from eBay item # 330515030196

(Wait: Since when is it ok to sell library books on eBay?  Something ain’t right here.)