It’s a holiday weekend, which means it’s time to kick back and spend three whole days poring over your favorite list of listings — Dopest Cars, as picked out by yours truly.
With three full days, you need some variety to keep you interested. So how about off-roaders, rotary sports cars, economical commuters, and purpose-built beer-dispensing vehicles? If that sounds like your kind of party, you’re in the right place.
This seller doesn’t seem picky about what they receive on trade for this Tacoma. Car, truck, land, house, doesn’t matter, as long as it’s worth approximately five thousand U.S. dollars. Got anything you think might be interesting?
If so, you’ll be treated to one of the more beaten-up Tacos on Craigslist. But it’s got chunky tires, a lift to make them fit, and a manual transmission. What more do you want in an off-road rig?
This RX-7 is, like all early RX-7s, imperfect. The speedometer doesn’t work, and the passenger mirror seems all but useless. But it’s rust-free, has strong compression, and includes oil for premixing. It’s been cared for.
The first-generation RX-7 may be the least loved, but it grows on me every time I see it. There’s something unassuming, unpretentious, about a car that neither Takahashi sibling ever owned. Do I want one of these? Do I want this one?
Manual gearbox, drop top, and a turbocharged engine. What more could you want? Maybe some aeronautical heritage? Well, friend, we’ve got you covered.
This 9-3 Viggen puts all of those together, with all the sleek looks and windshield-wiped headlights that denote the finest Swedish engineering. Who doesn’t love a good Swedish performance convertible?
This VR-4's been restored, built up, and modified by the owner. Cosmetic parts retrofitted from later models, performance parts taken from every shelf in sight. It seems nothing’s gone untouched in this car.
Of course, those parts don’t come cheap. The seller is asking $28,000, and to their credit, true VR-4s are rare — but are they this rare? Mods may add value to the current owner, but do they add value for you?
ZN6 owners will tell you their car is “built for the track,” when all it has is brake pads and semi-nice tires wrapped around RPF1s. It’s me, I’m ZN6 owners. This seller, however, is not.
This FR-S seems properly built, with little in the way of power mods but a lot of thought given to track reliability. Lightweight wheels and grippy tires, coolers and catch cans to address the engine’s oil issues. Harnesses and Recaro seats add safety, and a cage keeps it all together. This thing looks like a blast.
I know, I know, 30 grand is a lot for an old Bug. But this isn’t any old bug — this is a full restomod, with a meticulously rebuilt (and fuel-injected) engine sandwiched between a sandblasted frame and a repainted body. And did I mention it’s turbocharged?
This is the ideal Bug, the apex of what the platform can be. Not so purpose-built for racing that it loses its daily charm, but not so beholden to originality that it suffers in performance.
This Chevelle is neither resto nor mod. The seller claims it’s all original, from chrome bumper to, uh, chrome bumper. Lotta chrome back in the late ‘60s, I guess.
Back then, a power convertible top and AC were true luxuries. All that, and nearly one horsepower per cubic inch of displacement? How spoiled we all were, truly.
I had no idea that Volkswagen Busses were sold as single-cabs from the factory. But, like the Chevelle before it, the seller here claims this is an all-original, stock car. I looked into it, and who knew — Volkswagen sold these, just as this one sits.
This is, in fact, the perfect pickup truck. Tons of cargo room, a low load floor, and high walls to keep all your stuff in place. Modern trucks don’t look like this out of cowardice, I’ve decided. I can think of no other reason.
You might recognize this as a Lexus SC300, but you would be wrong — it’s a Soarer, the car’s Japanese equivalent. That means the steering wheel’s on the right, the badges are all Ts, and... what else?
Well, that’s a good question, because the ad doesn’t say much. The seller is concerned about time-wasters, so they’ve ensured that they put no details in the ad — anyone even vaguely interested has to reach out. Seems like a good way to guarantee your time gets wasted, no?
This Land Cruiser is no museum piece, no picture-perfect restomod. It just is, an old car that has survived every year time has thrown at it. It’s a little rusted, a little battered, but it’s a Toyota — of course it still works.
The seller claims that the truck needs a fuel pump, but that’s a wear item on a car this old. Eventually, everything gives out, doesn’t it? Throw a pump in it, and ride it the next 150,000 miles.
Generally, it’s inadvisable to mix alcohol and vehicles. This is a position we can all agree on.
I’ll make an exception, however, for this little Piaggio. It’s not meant for drinking while driving, but for dispensing drinks while parked. It was most likely built for a brewery, to take their wares to food truck rodeos, but who says you can’t load it up with Pacifico and head to the beach? You could easily make this thing pay for itself.
Is there anyone who doesn’t love an S2000? It’s a beautiful car with a fantastic driving experience, all backed up with Honda reliability. Is there any better combination of things under one convertible roof?
S2000s have gone up a bit in price over the past few years — not to Porsche levels, but high enough that we’re all kicking ourselves for not picking one up when they were in low-double-digit thousands. Will we all feel like we missed this one at $24,000? Who knows?
The R32 is arguably the peak GT-R, simply for its name: 32. You often see Nissans running around Japan with 23 on their license plates, as a way to represent the brand — ni san.
Nissan San Ni seems wonderfully palindromic to me. It’s just fun to say — it rolls nicely off the tongue. For that reason, and that reason alone, I posit that the R32 is the ideal Skyline GT-R.
Dopeness isn’t always luxury, speed, or rarity. Sometimes dopeness is accessibility, practicality, a means of getting from A to B. Dopeness can just be a vehicle that does the job.
And you know what always does the job? A Civic. Cheap, dependable, reliable. Sure, it’s got some off-color panels, but I’m sure it fires right up every time. Why wouldn’t it?