Autocar has been around forever- since 1895, in fact- and even has the distinction of having fired James May (for inserting a secret message in an issue reading "So you think it's really good yeah you should try making the bloody thing up it's a real pain in the arse"). I'm definitely looking forward to some enjoyable reading with this haul; just a quick flip through the stack produced this sextet of PCH Gold machines, including the 1951 Hillman Minx Magnificent, the 1950 Vauxhalls, the 1962 Triumph Herald, the 1951 Singer 1000, the 1957 Daimler One-O-Four, and the 1961 Wolseley Hornet. Whoa, it's a red-letter day for Wolseley Hornet aficionados! Enjoy:

Admittedly, the 290-horse 318 Poly engine with the twin 4-barrel carbs was a $320 option (the 301 was standard), but what kind of clueless car buyer wouldn't have wanted that setup on a new Mopar wagon? Plymouth Dealer Quick!

The Martin family has the usual quota of car legends, including the '49 Cadillac named for John Dillinger, the '67 Ford Custom with three-on-the-floor and overdrive, and- of course- the '73 Chevy Beauville van that shrugged off a high-speed rollover wreck on its initial cross-country voyage and went on to serve another 15 years as an indestructible family road-trip machine. Fine machines, all, but it's Uncle Dirty Duck's outlaw '57 Plymouth Savoy that really gets my respect.

The Savoy met a rusty Minnesota fate before I was old enough to know what a car was, so I never met it in person. However, I grew up hearing so many tales of its adventures from my late uncle (whose Upper Midwest accent and old-time biker tales may be heard in all their glory in The Legend Of Hoot's Panhead) that I have no problem imagining the roar of that 301 as it hauls ass away from the San Ysidro border crossing with 800 pounds of Mexican mota stashed and maybe some Link Wray cranking on the AM.

You see, back in the early 1960s, Los Angeles THC aficionados- and we're talking pretty much just jazz musicians and surfers here, in the pre-hippie era- couldn't get any Humboldt County weed; you had to go south of the border to buy the stuff. One of the Duck's Minnesota bike club buddies had gone out in early '61 and was making good profits doing the Tijuana-San Fernando Valley run in the most unlikely dope-smuggling vehicle imaginable: an Austin-Healey 100. The whole deal seemed like a combined business opportunity and chance to get away from Minnesota's weather to my uncle, so in 1961 he put the Savoy up on the lift, welded up some moonshine-runner-style secret compartments, reinforced the springs, hopped up the engine, and headed out to the West Coast. Back then, the border guards weren't using sniffer dogs, so all you had to do was look semi-clean-cut and drive a wholesome-looking late-model Chrysler product and- most of the time- they'd just wave you right past. "That Plymouth was like a gold mine, ya know," Uncle D.D. would chuckle, savoring the thought of all those outlaw bucks he earned, "But then we started making runs all the way to Minnesota with it, the salt got to her, and that's all she wrote!" Later, he became a factory-trained Jaguar mechanic and permitted only British cars- which he believed were genuinely superior machines- to get close to his automotive heart, but he made an exception for the memory of the Outlaw Savoy.

The $45,000 AMX came close to getting a Nice Price rating from the voters, but fell short by 5%. Today we'll be checking out a totally different car with the same lofty price: what the seller claims is the finest unrestored '57 Triumph TR3 in the world. It's rust free, the original interior is still there, and it looks pretty good (considering the photos are blurry and badly framed). We wish the seller had substituted more info about the car for the keyword spam, but he or she knows that Ford and BMW shoppers are actually looking for a Triumph! It's a car most of us would love to own, but what do you think of that price tag?
[Craigslist New York, go here when the listing gets flagged out of existence for the keyword spammage. Thanks to Monsterajr for the tip!]

The global economic meltdown doesn't mean you have to take a break from Hell Projects. In fact, it's more important than ever that you break out your Hell Project skills in order to give you and your'n an edge when it comes time to hit the road in search of work, handouts, escape from rampaging urban mobs, etc… and that means building a vehicle that can haul you, your loved ones, and a large percentage of your personal possessions around the land. We're talking pots and pans, crates of squawking chickens, and mattresses strapped to the outside of the vehicle here, with maybe Grandma lashing down the spare engine with bungee cords as you horse-trade some crafty yokel for a sack of cornmeal to feed your white liquor still. Sure, you could just buy a diesel Econoline and be done with it, but it's not just enough to survive, like rats or roaches. You need to roam the land in style!

The 1957 Cadillac is one fine-looking car, no doubt about it, and Cadillac built bulletproof forged-crank engines back in those days, but even a Fleetwood wouldn't be voluminous enough for your Joad-style peregrinations. Time to go Winnebago shopping? Hell no, not when you could have this 1957 Cadillac camper, which is now sitting on eBay with a price tag just barely into four figures, no reserve, and an auction end time just hours away. It doesn't run at the moment, but as the seller says: "IT MIGHT FIRE UP WITH A FRESH BATTERY AND SOME FRESH GAS." Even if it doesn't, the junkyards are full of Cadillac 472s, and even a smogified 425 will get the job done. Check out that luxurious interior- plenty of room for everyone! Thanks to Ian for the tip.

That Cadillac camper is great, but you and your fellow Joads would be forced to panhandle twice as hard to keep it fueled up (or, even worse, you'd be forced to use your whiskey still to make 200-proof to burn in the engine). What you need is a vehicle with space for family members, pets, livestock, weapons, etc., yet doesn't go through gas the way the Federal Reserve is currently going through banknote-printing ink. You could get one of those Toyota truck-based campers, but living in one of those isn't really living. Instead, this 1985 VW Rabbit six-door limo will do the job. It's got plenty of space, an economical four-cylinder engine, and will show all those other losers at the hobo jungle that you've got class! The engine isn't in the car- something about an attempted VR6 swap- but the seller will include it in the deal. You might even consider grafting the bed from a VW pickup onto the back, for more carrying capacity. You might need a running start to get up hills, but that's no big hardship! Thanks to Nitroracer for the tip.

I haven't had time to do many Project Car Hells lately, due to all the work caused by my personal Hell Project (which has been fully redecorated and looks far more evil than it did the last time you saw it). Last time we were here, the Mazda 323 GTX edged out the Shelby Dodge by a 55:45 ratio. Today we're going to reminisce about the good ol' days of the late 1950s, when recession coupled with the Big Three relentlessly crushing all competition resulted in rough times for marques such as Kaiser, Nash, Hudson, Packard, Frazer… well, you get the idea. Today we're going to take a look at a couple of projects that hail from their makers' final gasps for corporate breath: Hudson and Packard!

Packard purists tend to frown on the "Packardbaker" era, when Studebaker- itself on the financial ropes, though with nearly a decade of body blows left to absorb- badge-engineered its cars with Packard emblems. A painful fate for the once-upscale Packard brand, to have a buggy manufacturer owning its name, but a half-century has softened the blow, and the Packardbakers are actually considered pretty cool-looking machines nowadays. Why, even a diamond in the rough like this 1957 Packard Clipper could be made into a stunning machine, whether you take the restomod or numbers-matching restoration approach. For only 600 bucks, you get quite a bit… quite a bit of iron oxide, that is. But don't stress about that, because the seller states "the motor seems to be all there." We'd suggest setting it up with the supercharged 289 out of an Avanti; we suggest not putting a small-block Chevy in it, because some engine swaps are just plain wrong.

The Hudson story differs from Packard's in that the case could be made that all the mergers that eventually formed AMC from the corpses of several dead automakers eventually led to Renault and Chrysler, which still exist today. Still, 1956 and 1957 was really the final gasp for true Hudsons, and owning one from that era would give you, like, this totally ironic commentary on the current state of the American auto industry (of course, by the time you finished the project, there might not be an American auto industry, but we have no choice but to think positive thoughts when the flames of the Hell Garage are all around us). You figure it's tough to find a Hudson at anywhere near the same price as that Packard, but check it out: this 1956 Hudson Hornet, also priced at $600. Don't let the fact that this project is so hellish that it's already destroyed at least one marriage ("lost the house and the wife. needs to go now") scare you off, and the fact that it sat unpainted through three rainy NorCal winters shouldn't cause you the least bit of worry. It's still got the 308 flathead- yes, the same engine that owned NASCAR in the early 50s, so all you need to do is… well, OK, everything.

[Hemmings Motor News]

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Did you look at the '57 Cadillac down on the Alameda street and think "Man, I'd love to get me one of those... but who's got that kind of cash these days?" You could buy a somewhat rough one, but then the cost of parts will keep you poor for years. Don't give up on those Caddy dreams so easily, we say, because we've found a project '57 that comes with a parts car (go here if the ad disappears). Tune out the squawks of those can't-do-ers and never-happen-ers trying to tell you that both of those Cads barely qualify for parts-car status, because: 600 bucks. Really! Just six Benjamins and 9,000 pounds of rust luxury automobile will be all yours! And hey, you stand to make a profit on this deal, according to the seller: "Enough parts to build a complete car, and sell the remaining Vintage Parts to pay for your project, and then some!" You can't lose! Thanks to Scout_II_4x4 in Iraq for the tip!

A '57 Cadillac is a great car... if you're Vito Genovese, heading to the Apalachin Meeting, that is. If you're not a mob boss, however, you might consider heading to Kenosha for your 1957 project. Nash and Hudson joined to form AMC back in '54, so by purchasing this 1957 Nash/1957 Hudson combo (go here if the ad disappears), you'd be able to laugh at those noob Marlin owners who think they've got old AMCs. The seller doesn't think you need to know what models he's selling, but the cars appear to be a Nash Ambassador and a Hudson Hornet sedan. Since both are based on the same platform, you probably won't should be able to swap parts from one to the other with abandon. Just pick the nicest one and get busy! You get two AMC 327 V8s (one conveniently located in the trunk) and both cars are "pretty straight," with the interiors allegedly in good condition. Did we say you could use one as a parts car? Forget that- fix 'em both!

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These pics date back a year or two, but this yard in Phoenix is a car nut's dream (Desert Valley Auto Parts). With the absolute lack of rust (except on obviously Midwestern cars), the parts are nearly pristine. The crown jewel, in my book, is the 1957 Dodge Sweptside pickup. Yes, that's the limited production version with DeSoto wagon panels stuck to the bed. For $3500 I almost bit, but we all tell the same story with a different make/model. Here's info on the super-rare Sweptsides, which were stepside pickups with DeSoto station wagon fenders stuck on intended for the Lincoln Blackwood/Mark LT/Chevy Cameo crowd.

Ah, the custom stretch limo! Conjures up treasured memories of projectile-vomiting Bacardi 151 all over your prom date's Very Expensive Dress, don't it? Keep in mind, however, that renting a custom stretch is one thing... but owning one takes the whole Limo Experience to a new, even classier level. But stretched Town Cars or even Hummers are a dime-a-dozen; you need something as cool as the Toronado Limowagon if you want to haul your entourage in the style to which they're no doubt totally unaccustomed. Something with fins. Something like this 1957 Chrysler Windsor 8-door airport limo (go here if the ad disappears), which is priced at a get-your-eyes-checked $4,500! The seller figures there's no need to waste time listing everything wrong with this car; instead, he or she has posted a single hazy photograph and included the following two sentences of description: "Looks like Christine, the killer car. Needs complete restoration." There you have it! So many questions unanswered (and, by the way, wasn't Christine a '58? And a Plymouth?), but we're pretty sure you can count on any question involving synonyms for "iron oxide" being answered in the affirmative. But put on your triple-thickness rose-colored glasses and picture yourself behind the wheel of this car after a full bank account and sanity depleting restoration, trying to see around that enormous blower you'll have perched on top of a gasser-style 392 Hemi!

An 8-71-blown Hemi '57 Chrysler limo would be the bee's nuts indeed, but what if you rumble up to Wet T-Shirt Night at Rohypnol Ron's and, just as your betuxed homies pop open all those doors and get ready for a truly grand entrance, a dissenting voice from the awestruck crowd cries out "But that's an airport limo!" and then the spell is broken? What then? Well, you could play the trump card of a series of hemi-powered Limo Donuts in the parking lot... but what if you'd taken on a different stretch limo project? What if you'd purchased a custom stretch Ferrari? And not some Fiero-based "Ferrari" but the real deal? You'd think such a thing would be impossible to find, but just check out this 1981 Ferrari 400i stretch limo (go here if the ad disappears) and then try to tell us that the American Dream isn't alive and well! That's right, a stretch V12-powered Ferrari! It's a lot more expensive than the Chrysler, and the seller says it's "mechanically sound, clean but can use some minor cosmetic work." But come on, a 27-year-old Italian car that's been hacked up and then driven at 12MPH while the interior gets hosed down with every bodily fluid that Newport Beach promgoers and 4th-tier celebrities can emit? Hell!

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After a little research, Kevin began to suspect the car was equipped with the ultra-rare RPO 684 and RPO 579E "airbox" options packages. After a bit more work, and a trip to see some Corvette experts, it was determined that the car they had was indeed a diamond in the rough and very rare. A full restoration was called for, but not one which would bring it to concourse standards. Nope, the maverick brothers decided to rebuild the car in the image of a vintage racer. Very cool story and definitely worth a read over at Vette - more pics too.

In the postwar era, Cadillac was a dominant force in the world of luxury automobile, outpacing its previous rival, Packard, with styling innovations such as the famous tail fins, as well as myriad luxury options. Cadillac in the 1950s proudly proclaimed its "Standard of the World" slogan. In order to truly own that idea though, Cadillac needed to build something with unsurpassed luxury, besting even its peers from across the pond.

Originally shown as a concept at the 1955 L.A. Auto Show, the Cadillac Eldorado Brougham was put into production in 1957 and was at the time the pinnacle of luxury and innovation. It featured numerous options, some of which are still not available today. The engine was a 365 cubic-inch V8, breathing though twin four-barrel carburetors and running through a 4-speed automatic transmission. The body was long, low and extravagant, with a pillarless four-door design and the rear doors opening suicide style (and you know how much we love suicide doors). At the behest of GM styling guru Harley Earl, the car recived a slick stainless-steel roof and road-adjusting quad headlights for better illumination. The suspension was as advanced as anything GM had in it's arsenal at the time: a centrally controlled, self-leveling and auto-adjusting air suspension which provided an uncompromisingly smooth ride.

Where the Caddy really shimmered was in the amenities. Independent of each other, they seem underwhelming, but that all of the features lived in one car in 1957 is incredible. On the inside, drivers were greeted with power seats that included memory settings, remote-adjustable side mirrors and an auto-adjusting rear-view mirror, an all-transistor automatic-station-seeking radio with twin speakers, all-electric windows, a power locking system, and a power open AND close trunk lid. Now that's just the normal stuff. Here's where things get crazy. The designers also saw fit to throw in a stainless steel drinking set for the glove box, a cigarette dispenser, various vanity elements for the ladies, and a perfume dispenser filled with Arpege Extrait de Lanvin perfume. Say what?!

Of course, anything can be built when money is not option, and here's where the Eldorado Brougham took no prisoners. The base retail price in 1957 was $13,074, exceeding even the most pricey Rolls of the time. Toss that number into the Federal Reserve consumer price index calculator and that tally in 2008 dollars rings the bell at $100,311. Only the Cadillac XLR-V has ever commanded a sum so high, and that Caddy merely goes fast and has a lovely Eucalyptus wood interior. The Brougham was offered for only two years; total production of the princely luxo-yachts was 704 vehicles. After the initial run, production was farmed out to Pininfarina, where a redesign was executed, but the quality in craftsmanship just wasn't the same.

The '57 Eldorado Brougham was probably the finest post-war Cadillac produced to date. Peerless in its design and attention to detail, it was the pinnacle of what an American boulevardier could ever be. Smooth, technically savvy, staggeringly handsome and cranking out as much power as the average Eisenhower Era captain of industry would ever need. It's not difficult to imagine driving this car on a lazy, cross-country summer roadtrip, dusk creeping across the sky, the calm glow of an old dashboard and a crackly radio serving as background noise. Not all of the best driving is done at the limit of grip. [image credits to Eldorado Brougham]

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The Jalopnik Fantasy Garage:
1978 Aston Martin V8 Vantage | Honda 1300 Coupe 9 | 1931 Daimler Double Six 50 Corsica Drophead Coupe | Ferrari 288 GTO | Chevrolet Corvette ZR-1 | 1970 Buick GSX 455 | First Generation BMW M Coupe | Bugatti Veyron 16.4 | Ford GT | Citroen SM | Porsche 928 | Jensen FF | DeTomaso Vallelunga | Audi Quattro S1 | Buick GNX | Nissan Skyline R34 GT-R | Honorary Fantasy Garager: The LS1 Powered Rotus | Lamborghini LM002 | Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe | Ferrari 250 GTO | Bentley Speed Six | Talbot-Lago T150C SS Figoni et Falaschi Raindrop/Teardrop Coupe | Porsche 917 | Audi RS4 Avant | Lamborghini Miura | Mercedes-Benz 450SEL 6.9 | BMW E39 M5 | Jaguar E-type | Mercedes-Benz 300 SL | Dodge Charger/Challenger R/T | Toyota 2000GT | Facel Vega HK500 | Voisin C28 Aerosport | Bugatti Type 41 Royale | McLaren F1 | Maserati Bora | Continental MK II | Tucker 48 | Aston Martin DB4 GT Zagato | BMW 507 | Porsche 959 | 1925 Rolls-Royce Phantom 1 Jonckheere Coupe | Land Rover Defender | Lotus Eleven

The '59 Cadillac is the one everyone thinks of when they imagine a hyper-ornamented befinned Cad, but the '57 was no slouch in the Tons-O-Chrome department. Check out this space-age taillight and bumper treatment!


The twin-blade hood ornament is a winner, too. You got a 300-horse 365 under the hood of this baby.


The fins were to get bigger every year until '59, and then shrink as the 60s progressed. They're still somewhat restrained here.


Later front-wheel-drive Eldorados had a variation on the side-trim theme you see here. This is the car driven by mid-level mob attorneys back in the day, although it's likely many of them would have selected the Coupe de Ville.

You just know any nation that considers Frank Zappa the greatest American who ever lived is going to produce some seriously cool cars, and the Czechs don't disappoint with the Tatra 603. Face it, no car freak worth his or her salt can resist a machine with a rear-mounted, air-cooled, hemi-head V8. And for just 60,000 CZK (about $3000), you could have this '71! Since these cars were available only to Commie officials, the bureacracy figured they'd just issue new ones every few years; hence, no rust-proofing! But you're in luck here- maybe- because this Tatra's seller claims the body is in good shape. The brakes, not so good, but don't worry- brake parts should be easy to find (well, actually, Bobash says they're made from pure Unobtanium even in the Czech Republic). But it runs! It drives! It comes with spare doors and an extra brake booster!

For those who want to go Czech with their rides but feel the legacy of oppressive Iron Curtain secret-police bureaucrats is just too much taint on the Tatra, how about a nice '57 Skoda 1201? It's priced to move at a mere 35,000 CZK ($1750), leaving you enough money left over to get staggeringly drunk on quality Czech beer... which you'll probably feel like doing once you realize that even the most insignificant components are going to require fabrication from scratch back in the USA. But banish such thoughts! The seller doesn't waste our time with excessive description; all we get is "I sell a 1957 Skoda 1201, with title." There's probably rust. It probably doesn't run. But so what? With its mighty 45-horse 1221cc engine, this was not only the car of choice for Czechoslovakian traffic cops but the biggest car the common man could buy back in the day. Imagine this thing slammed down low, with big fat tires and a Tatra V8! Stastnou Cestu!

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Old station wagons with great big engines just seem so right, of course, especially when you see one dishing out a 12-second run down at the dragstrip. And what could be more right than a '57 Ford Ranch Wagon? Why, this '57 Ford Ranch Wagon, which comes complete with a 498-cube stroker 460 and some nice engine goodies? The nice thing about this project is that you really wouldn't have to change the exterior if you didn't feel like it, since it already looks good and mean... and you wouldn't have time nor money to fix up the body, anyway, because you'd be so busy (and broke) trying to beef up the drivetrain, suspension, and brakes enough to handle all the torque of that monster hunk of blue-painted iron you'd be dropping in. But don't look at the process, look at the goal- that's what keeps you toiling in Project Car Hell!

That Ford looks sweet, all right, but it's just too damn heavy! If you want to reach the goal of a 12-second station wagon without breaking your heart and bank, you might be better off getting something with just as much character, but 1,000 fewer pound. Say, this 1965 Dodge Dart wagon, for example. It comes with a Slant Six, which starts all kinds of mental gears turning; imagine bolting a big ol' turbocharger and some Megasquirtage on that Leaning Tower of Power! Then there's always the tried-and-true route of grabbing a 360 and building it up using tried-and-true off-the-shelf power upgrades. Don't be scared off by what's certain to be a completely screwed electrical system and who knows what else; those things are to be expected when a Mopar sits for ten years and shouldn't deter you from your quest for Wagon Glory. The choice is yours, and the Dart is the same price as the Ford: $2500!

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This lovely pink wagon lives on the same block as the Datsun 610 we saw a while back.


They just knew, back in the day, that space travelers would have taillights like this on their interstellar craft. How could it be otherwise?

Everyone talks about the Nomad, but the plain ol' 210 family wagon for '57 was a mighty good-looking machine as well. This one's got a bit of rust-through, but nothing too bad.


You could get the 210 with a six or a 283 small-block, but the junkyard-sourced console-mount shifter indicates that this car has had a drivetrain swap at some sort. Most likely combo: 350/TH350.


It's easy to get bored with the '57, just since we've seen so many of them. But the wagon makes us look at the design anew.


Future space travelers would also be sure to have hood ornaments like this on their ships. Who knows, maybe they will.