Welcome to Project Car Hell, where you choose your eternity by selecting the project that's the coolest... and the most hellish! Yesterday, we found a way for a Citroën SM to lose a PCH challenge: set up a pretty nice example as a clay pigeon to be blasted to dust by a heap of vaguely Ferrari-ish parts. No, it wasn't fair, but it proves the point that the SM still reigns as the King Of Project Car Hell. Now that we're in an upset sort of mood, let's see if it's possible for a German project to take on one of the Big Three PCH Superpowers and win!
What the hell is a Glas? Glas was the company that built the beloved Goggomobil, but it got gobbled up by mean ol' BMW and the marque disappeared after 1968. Before BMW axed Glas, however, you could buy the sporty 1700 GT from BMW dealers as a sort of Glas/BMW branding mashup, and that appears to be what this 1967 Glas is. The top bid of $260.55 failed to meet the reserve price, so we're pretty sure the seller will be willing to listen to reason, were you to come calling with an offer a couple hundred bucks above that figure. The car is in Minnesota, so the seller's mention of "the usual rust issues" can't be good news, the interior is completely shot, and the engine and transmission are long gone. Don't think of those things as hurdles, though- they're opportunities! See, now you have the whole world to choose from when engine shopping, from tried-and-true choices like the small-block Chevy all the way out to Soviet tractor engines or turbines that run on paint thinner. As for the interior, that's what Tijuana is for! We suggest some nice diamond-tuck Naugahyde in the colors of the German flag. The rust… well, how hard can it be to fix? Thanks to about a dozen of you for the tip!
How much does a running Lotus Elite sell for these days? Plenty! To get down to a price range competitive with that Glas, you need to make some compromises. Say, a car that might not be exactly complete, like this 'early 70s' Lotus Elite (go here if the ad disappears), which could drive- well, be towed- into your life for one thin grand in American dollars. The seller used it as a parts car for his Eclat, but don't let that scare you off; the seller says "most parts i have available." Does that mean they come with the car as part of the deal? And, while we're talking about stuff that comes with the car, is some sort of engine included in the package? How about the suspension- what was left over after the Eclat snacked on this car? Those are small-minded questions, my friends, the nagging of a hand-wringer! Here's a chance to get a smog-exempt Lotus basket case project for a thousand bucks! You constantly almost never see opportunities like this! Thanks to W1ngnut for the tip.