Project Car Hell, Cheapskate Edition: Mercedes or BMW?

This whole "car with engine" thing is so overrated, we say. See, when you get a car with just a gaping void under the hood, you have nothing but opportunity. No limits! And that's what you should keep in mind when you hand over $150 for this 1968 Mercedes sedan. The owner says it's an SL, but it's not; if you squint real hard at the Blur-O-Matic photos you can almost make out some flavor of W114 sedan. Because the photos are something less than informative, you'll have to take the seller's word about the interior and body being "very good." With all the money you'll still have left after spending your behind-the-couch-cushions change on the car itself, you'll then be able to head to the junkyard, grab the correct engine, and do a nice rebuild on it. Or, you could take our advice and find a way to drop a 6.9 V8 in it. With Cherry Bombs! Naturally, there will be some incredibly expensive surprises along the way as you get this classy machine back in shape, but just imagine how you'll feel when you tell everyone you scored it for just $150.

When you see a Craigslist car listing with the title text prefaced by a bunch of dashes, you know you're looking at a deal... but when you see one with 50 asterisks, well, it's time to whip out $150 right away! This 1979 BMW 320i is such a car, and it's worth almost every penny of the asking price. No checks, tire kickers, or people more than 70 miles from Wasilla, Alaska, please! The seller claims (in the standard ALLCAPS style that generally accompanies the mega-asterisk title) that the engine is in good shape, but then there's the somewhat disconcerting statement "FUEL LINES NEED TO BO CHECKED OR SOMETHIN" to make you wonder. There's rust, too. But hey, we already know the V12 fits, so you know what to do!