Gurgel was a fascinating Brazilian company that, in the late 1960s, began building its own dune buggy-like cars based on the Volkswagen Beetle platform and powertrain. Later, things got more exciting when Gurgel built machines with bold-looking bodies made of a material called Plasteel, which was a blend of fiberglass…
The Dodge Viper in its final form sits next to a Chevrolet Corvette C8 development car in the parking lot of the Concours d’Elegance of America in Plymouth, Michigan. The snake may seem primitive compared to the dual-clutch, mid-engine ’vette, but there’s something alluring about its simplicity.
The natural place for an S-10 is of course on the beach.
This 1973 Mohs Safarikar is among the strangest automobiles I’ve ever seen. Featured at the Concours of America in Plymouth, Michigan in late July, this aluminum-bodied beast’s panels are covered in vinyl, which has been stretched over the contours and held in place with stainless steel staples. The V8 brute, with its…
What you’re looking at are the innards of an ISO Rivolta, a 5.4-liter Corvette small-block V8-powered sports coupe built in the 1960s by the same Italian company that brought the world the Isetta microcar (and its truck variants) in the 1950s. This particular 1962 Rivolta can be had with either 296 or 335 horsepower…
Before the “Blazer” badge ever adorned the SUV variant of the Chevy S-10 or the new crossover that everyone’s so disappointed by these days, it graced the sheetmetal of the boxy Chevy K Series. The yellow 1979 two-tone one above is drop-dead gorgeous.
Sometimes you’ve just got to head to your local junkyard and have a seat in an Austin-Healey. This particular 1962 Sprite’s floor was so rusted-out that I could barely find a place to sit. My co-worker Jason Torchinsky has suggested that I step through the floor and attach some suspenders to the lightweight car and jus…
You cannot deny that the Chevette S was a car. Happy Friday.
If your reoccurring nightmare ever actually comes true (that nightmare being, of course, traveling back in time and being forced to purchase a General Motors product during the company’s Roger Smith Era), don’t fret. Just buy a truck. 1980s-era Chevy and GMC pickups are awesome.
I will never tire of a third-generation Accord.
I’ve recently become obsessed with the DKW Munga, the little 980cc four-wheel drive off-road machine that was the grandfather of the legendary Audi Quattro rally car. The Munga was also the basis for the equally-as-cool VW Iltis military SUV.
Last week, I spotted this Munga for sale in Germany, and now I can’t stop…
Behold one of the most fascinating and beautiful SUVs of all time: The International Harvester Scout-based Monteverdi Safari. It was essentially a Scout with a body built by Italian company Carrozzeria Fissore for the Swiss boutique automaker Monteverdi. The base and top-line engines were from Chrysler—a 318 V8 and a…
This late 1960s Bedford Beagle wagon was built by British vehicle conversion company Dormobile (the coachbuilding arm of Martin Walter Ltd of Folkestone, Kent) using a Vauxhall Viva HA platform. During its production between ~1964 and ~1973, engine options were four cylinders with either 1057cc, 1159cc, or 1256cc, all…
A company called Armbruster-Stageway out of Fort Smith, Arkansas has quite a long history of building funeral coaches and limos. Back in the ’70s, it built this 454 cubic-inch, fifteen-passenger monster Chevrolet Suburban. I love the look of all those doors.
Before the little rear-engine, air-cooled runabout that came to define Italy’s car culture for decades—the Fiat 500 “Nuova”—came onto the scene in the late 1950s, there was the Fiat 500 Topolino. This ~1951 Fiat 500C had a liquid-cooled 569cc inline-four mounted ahead of the front axle, and made only about 16…
What you’re looking at is one of the strangest production cars of this millennium: the Renault Avantime (meaning “ahead of its time”). It was a B-pillar-less, panoramic glass roof-having, two-door luxury coupé based on the Renault Espace minivan, and built in low quantities (total production was under 9,000) between…
Here’s a cool old sports car that doesn’t get enough love: the Jensen-Healey Mk. II. It’s not only beautiful, but it seems like a whole lot of fun. Under the hood is a 140 horsepower, 45-degree, dual overhead cam, four-valve per cylinder Lotus-designed “907” engine. Dubbed the “Torqueless Wonder,” the slanted four-pot…
The U.S. is going gaga over mid-size pickup trucks right now, and VW, Ford, and Hyundai may bring some compact trucks into the fold soon. And while that’s exciting in its own right, what I want to know is: When are the utes making a comeback? This 1973 GMC Sprint is basically a rebadged Chevy El Camino, with both cars…
This is the thirteenth generation of the Chrysler New Yorker. Rest in peace the Chrysler New Yorker; long live the Chrysler New Yorker. The Fifth Avenue version was indeed a candy bar.
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