Mercury Cougar Villager, Mazda 323 GTX, Mercedes-Benz Unimog: The Dopest Cars for Sale Online This Week

This car is local to me and I’m glad that all of my parking spaces are filled because it sounds seriously fun.

The Mazda 323 GTX was the normal car-turned-rally-inspired road racer before the Evo and the WRX popularized the idea in America. In the 1980s, Mazda was deep in motorsport from Le Mans to Group A. The automaker’s Group A entry was the 323 GTX and of course, that meant that the public got a homologation special.

For just two short years between 1988 and 1989, the United States got just 1,243 of these cars. There’s a turbocharged 1.6-liter four under the hood delivering 132 hp to all four wheels through a manual transmission. That’s a healthy bump over the max 103 hp found in the standard 323 and these are known to be able to make more power with a tune and increased boost.

It seems that these haven’t quite reached collector status yet, and that means that you can still get them for cheap. It’s $7,500 on Facebook Marketplace in Elburn, Illinois with 74,000 miles.

Here’s military chic on a budget. The Mercedes-Benz Unimog has been conquering the off-road world since 1948. These trucks have portal axles, insane crawler gear ratios, and a frankly silly number of levers to control the thing. You’ll find Unimogs serving as farm equipment, emergency equipment, and in military service. And that name actually means something: It’s an acronym for Universal-Motor-Gerät or Universal Motorized Machine. Fitting.

This 1963 Unimog 404 has spent time as a military troop carrier and has documentation to back it up. It’s powered by a gasoline straight-six, but the seller doesn’t indicate which. This Unimog either has a 2.2-liter M180 making 80 hp or a 2.8-liter M130 making 110 hp. Either way, it comes in at $12,000 on Facebook Marketplace in Norfolk, Virginia with 22,000 miles.

The Champion was one of the cars that saved Studebaker from going to the scrapheap in the Great Depression. The marque kept the nameplate going a little longer, giving it a short second-generation in 1942 before a complete redesign in 1947. That redesign was a huge step forward in car design, The Mercury News notes. It had curved glass, no running boards, and illuminated instrumentation.

This 1949 Champion presents in what appears to be good condition with an overhauled engine and leather interior in good shape. Power comes from a 2.8-liter inline-six making 80 hp. It’s $12,500 on Facebook Marketplace in Green Bay, Wisconsin with 100,000 miles.

General Motors of the aughts was known for its rebadges, but if you knew where to look you could find some real strange performance cars. One of them is the HHR SS. The General took its answer to the Chrysler PT Cruiser and stuffed its Ecotec LNF turbo four under the hood. This engine is the same found in the Pontiac Solstice GXP, Saturn Sky Red Line, Cobalt SS and more.

You get 260 hp and 260 lb-ft torque turning front tires into smoke through a manual transmission, all in a package that some people mocked back when it was new.

The best version of the HHR can be had for $5,000 on Facebook Marketplace in Akron, New York. The seller notes imperfect paintwork and 160,000 miles on the odometer.

Prices on used Porsches can often be mind-bogglingly high. Even a lowly Porsche 912 can set you back more than the price of a new car. But if you want a rear-engine Porsche and don’t have tons of cash, the 986 Boxster can still be found for cheap. Tons of these were made and as our Rob Emslie notes, the support community for these is huge.

So these are bargains that still look and drive great, even today. Of course, any Porsche fan will tell you to watch out for its intermediate shaft bearing. When its bearing fails, tons of damage can occur in the engine basically all at once. While the failure rate is just eight percent, you’ll want to make sure the IMS bearing is taken care of.

The seller for this one just says that it runs and drives well. Ask about the IMS before parting ways with $6,800 for it on Facebook Marketplace in Fresh Meadows, New York with 128,330 miles.

In the 1960s, the Birmingham Small Arms Company (BSA) planned to hit the United States market with a sports-oriented big displacement all-rounder to complement its lineup.

As Hagerty notes, motorcycles of the era were becoming more simplified and Lucas Electrics switched its production of motorcycle electrics from magnetos and dynamos to alternators and coils.

BSA followed the trends and hit the road with new motorcycles featuring simplified engines that were supposed to be more reliable and didn’t leak as much. One of them was the BSA A65 Lightning. Back then, riders got the new electrical tech along with a transmission integrated with the engine. Power was 52 horses from a 654cc parallel twin.

This 1965 Lightning has a more modern electronic ignition and custom pipes. It’s $6,000 on Facebook Marketplace in Trevor, Wisconsin.

Here’s a vehicle built to take on the American road trip in style. This 1977 Mercury Cougar Villager is green woody wagon that was produced for just one year. As Curbside Classic notes, the Cougar replaced the Montego in 1977 and was slotted right into the middle of Mercury’s lineup. The Cougar Villager wagon sports a new face plastered upon the familiar Montego wagon’s body.

A 5.8-liter V8 sits under the hood making 150 hp delivered to the rears through an automatic. The seller notes that a lot of work has been done, including new shocks all-around.

It’s $13,999 on Facebook Marketplace in Traverse City, Michigan with 79,453 miles. Listing Courtesy of Obscure Cars for Sale.

When the Subaru XT launched in America in 1985, it was a huge departure from what the company was known for. Much of Subaru’s lineup at the time was practical and had designs to match. The XT was such a departure that the New York Times called it “the ultimate in jazzy design.”

Amazingly, this was the only XT that I found in the entirety of the United States that runs and drives, and this one is still somewhat a project. The seller states that it has an oil and coolant leak but fails to mention what engine is under the hood. From the lack of badging it may be the 1.8-liter EA82 flat four making 97 hp delivered to the front wheels from the front wheels. There was a turbo model that made 112 hp and the cars had optional part-time four-wheel-drive.

These featured fuel injection and options like digital gauges and even air suspension. Turbo models got an aircraft-inspired digital horizon.

This XT is $2,500 on Facebook Marketplace in Acton, California with 140,000 miles.

Let’s finish with something more than a bit wild. The Volkswagen Touareg V10 TDI is an SUV that turns even the kindest drivers into hooligans on the interstate. But these things are pretty great off-road, too. Clearly, the owner of this one was thinking about that because they added chunky tires, a lift kit, and skid plates. Then they had low-hanging parts like the intercoolers moved forward for even more clearance. This particular V10 TDI also has a rear-locking differential, a feature known to be rare for Touaregs in general, let alone a V10.

Of course, getting service on a V10 TDI is a nightmare often requiring dropping the drivetrain. But when it works right you’ll go places some other 4x4s can’t.

It’s $18,500 on Facebook Marketplace in Bloomington, Illinois with 215,000 miles.

If you know of a unique car for sale online in North America, drop it down in the comments or send it along in an email! If the car’s still for sale, I may feature it in a future post.