Here we are at Project Car Hell #100, and it even comes on a Friday! Yesterday we saw the Katrina-soaked '63 Bentley edge out a hairsbreadth victory over the not-so-complete '52 Benz, and today we're going to shift gears in the theme department and pick two cars referenced by Jalopnik-Approved™ musician Tom Waits. This idea comes courtesy of my brother-in-law, the owner of the deathless Toyota truck we saw a while back, so I guess I'll need to give him a PCH Tipster T-shirt in spite of the fact that he isn't even a Jalopnik commenter. I wasn't able to find a 1958 monkeyshit brown Buick Super, the Duster "trying to change my tune" has no year specified, and everyone thinks "Ol' 55" is an Eagles song... but not to worry- plenty of good choices left, including these two:
In Waits' song "Romeo Is Bleeding" (see above), we get the lines:
Well it was just another night,
but now they're huddled in the brake lights of a 58 Bel Air
and listenin' to how Romeo killed a sheriff with his knife.
The condition of the 1958 Chevrolet in question isn't stated in the song, but it very well could have looked just like this '58 Bel Air 2-door, available for just $1,500 (and a trip to Alaska). It needs "some metal work" (iron + oxygen = fun), but it's reasonably complete and even comes with a 283/Powerglide combo sitting nearby.
But maybe you're looking for a somewhat more sporty project. Perhaps a car that gets a shout-out in Waits' excellent "Gun Street Girl" (see above) is a better fit for your lifestyle:
He took a hundred dollars off a slaughterhouse joe
Brought a brand new michigan twenty-gauge
He got all liquored up on that road house corn
Blew a hole in the hood of a yellow Corvette
A hole in the hood of a yellow Corvette
There's no birdshot damage on the hood of this yellow '87 Corvette, and in fact it doesn't look bad at all… in the four not-very-illustrative photos we get in the listing. The seller claims this $3,700 Vette "runs and drives great," but the smog-check problems aren't so encouraging. But come on- a running Corvette for under four grand?
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