PT Cruiser Ute, Chevrolet Caravan, Drag-Prepped Toyota Starlet: The Dopest Cars I Found For Sale Online

Let’s start things out right this week. No beating around the bush, no stringing you along with Civics until the main event. Today, you get the beauty that is utedom right up at the top. You’re welcome.

This PT Cruiser has, inexplicably, been turned into a ute. It leaks, it’s got A-pillar gauges, there’s a CB whip out back and a radio between the front seats. If there was ever a more perfect vehicle, I haven’t seen it.

Cars like this Tiburon are firmly out of fashion, which is why I’m so glad this one is still around. It’s nice to have a living record of another era for car modification, for two big reasons. First, as an archive, to preserve what once was. Second, to remind us that this era of car mods actually kind of rocked.

I’m not going to defend the wheels or the radio antenna, but look at this body kit! Look at the graphics, forming a full livery without sponsor logos! I’m glad this style is coming back into vogue, with drift inspiration, because it rocks.

Have you ever heard of Consulier? I hadn’t either, but the company made a damn neat car — one that you can now own, despite their rarity. The Consulier eventually became the Mosler Raptor, but this one here is the original, genuine article.

Can you get parts for these any more? Who knows, almost certainly not. Does that matter, though, when you’re behind the wheel of a genuine ‘90s supercar? Yeah, I didn’t think so.

Sometimes, when putting together Dopest, I include a slide that’s just for someone on staff. More often than not that’s Andy, and today Andy gets a slide in this show. Hey, Andy — buy this Moto Guzzi. I know you want it.

The thing is, readers, Andy wants a Guzzi. He wants one so bad, yet he hasn’t gone and bought one yet. Folks, if you could shame him in the comments here into buying a bike, that’d be a great help to me personally. I’m an enabler first and foremost.

Something about this 3 Series seems deeply familiar, like I’ve featured it in these slides before, but the listing is less than a week old and I can’t find any evidence of previous listings in previous slideshows. I think it might be new.

That’s convenient, because it means you get a track car from someone really knows everything about it. Wheel fitment, camber specs, engine, rollcage — you’ve got the contact who knows how it all goes together. If it breaks, you know who to call.

Have you ever heard of a Chevy Caravan? Not a Dodge Caravan, not even a minivan, but something entirely different: A Brazil-manufactured, South American–market Chevy shooting brake.

That’s right, look closely. The body length might suggest this is a five-door wagon, but the body length lies. This is a shooting brake if ever I’ve seen one, and it absolutely rules. This needs to be put on bags stat.

Speaking of fun little two-doors, here’s a two-door that’s much more little and likely much more fun, at least, until its 13B falls apart on you. Again. Thanks, apex seals.

That’s right, a 13B — this RX-2 was apparently swapped at some point for a more modern twin-rotor unit than it would’ve originally had. Also, in typing this section, I learned that you could get the RX-2 from the factory with a regular old four-cylinder? Wild.

The weather’s cooling down, so you know what that means: Time to bundle yourself up in motorcycle armor and learn to ride. And, of course, what better vehicle to learn to ride on than an ex-MSF bike?

Okay, sure, MSF bikes aren’t always the best maintained — my old instructors referred to the missing mirrors and lights as “modified by prior students” — but they’ll always run. The TU250x, particularly, is a stylish way to get your feet under you on two wheels. Get your two wheels under you. We’ll workshop the saying.

For our second shooting brake of the day, let’s take our eyes away from South America and turn them somewhere a little more Italian: Italy. This Lancia Beta is a more traditional shooting brake shape, a little shorter in the body than our earlier Chevy, but no less pretty in its design.

Teh tail end here is a bit rusty, but you can handle that, can’t you? It just looks like surface rust. There’s likely nothing lurking under that initial thin layer. You could just hit that with a wire wheel and it’d be good as new. Don’t think about the rust.

Is a Toyota Starlet a shooting brake? I don’t think so, personally. I think it’s a two-door hatch, like GTIs back when they were good. This Starlet, though, has some much more interesting things going on than a simply number of doors. Click through the photos. I’ll give you a second.

Yes, that’s an enormous nitrous bottle. Yes, that’s a drag-prepped rear end. Yes, that’s a thin metal seat. This Starlet is a full-on drag car, and I can’t say I’ve ever seen a single Starlet quite like it. Don’t ask me why no other car in any of the photos seems to have U.S. plates. I have no answers for you.

I can, however, offer you something incredibly American: A ‘55 Chevy with an LS and a surfeit of chrome. the wheels, the grille surround, the hood ornament, even the interior here is full of chrome.

What gets me about this particular car, though, is the paint. It’s webbed with cracks through the thin finish, almost like the checking on an old nitrocellulose lacquer guitar. That’s a real thing that happens, I promise.

I love when cars are owned by clear enthusiasts for the brand. This Element may not be a Civic Type R, but there’s no reason a Honda loyalist can’t make it feel like one. Or, at least, look like one. Cosplay one a little.

The white exterior is a wrap, and the car’s original five-speed manual has been upgraded to a six-speed with a JDM motor. It seems well-maintained, well-loved, and clearly owned by someone who loves Honda. And is selling the Element to make room for a Sprinter van. Don’t think about it too hard.

Listen, you don’t need a broken old diesel Mercedes wagon. You need two broken old diesel Mercedes wagons — one with a title, and one for parts. The seller claims both run, but you’ll only get paperwork for the silver car. Hopefully that body’s in the better shape of the two.

At $1,250/car, though, these TDs would be a hard deal to beat in any condition. These diesel wagons are sought after, either by folks who want to live in them as nomads or folks who want to look like they do, so you may as well snatch these up before someone else does.

This Elise’s ad is short and to the point, a sign of a seller who actually knows what they have. The ad says, in full:

57,725 miles. Clean title no accidents/damage

What more do you need to know about the car? It’s an Elise, if you’re shopping for one you know what you’re getting yourself into. Make sure there are no cracks in the clamshell and send it.

You see this, motorcycle manufacturers? Do you see this motorcycle with then-modern construction and a flat bench seat? Please do more of this. Bring back bench seats on modern bikes. I’m begging you, we need these in the world today.

This Thunderbird looks to be in great shape, given the recent maintenance listed, and would likely be a fantastic way to just cruise around before it gets too cold out. Picture yourself on either side of that tank. It feels right, doesn’t it?