Craigslist Crapshoot

By Robert Emslie Sep 2, 2015

The World’s Worst Car Is For Sale On Craigslist
Welcome to Craigslist Crapshoot, our weekly search for the most bizarre, awesome, and/or terrible vehicles that the online classifieds has to offer. 
In Great Britain – and maybe elsewhere – they have a phrase “Get Yer Kit Off” which means to get nekkid. How ironic it is then that the UK has long been one of the leading purveyors of cars that you have to put together. Last week we went looking for kit cars – of any nationality – that were completed and not requiring that new owners “get their kit on” so to speak. We’ll see the most attractive of those in a sec, but first this week’s task.
We’re just two weeks from the start of fall which means it’s going to be blazing hot for another month or so. It’s also the time when we start dreaming about driving with the top down and enjoying some cooler climes like these guys in the classic VW commercial. That of course will require a drop top, and since we want to be sociable, this week let’s have a look for the best-valued four- or five-seat convertibles we can find for sale.
As always, we want your finds to go down in infamy and not in the site’s spam filter. Since we’ve changed commenting systems, you may need to update your commenter account. Make sure you have a Disqus account – they’re free and easy to get – and then comment away.

Got that? Good, now get our kit on!


I have to be honest with you, I was expecting a flood of ’32 Ford and Cobras after last week’s request. Instead, you brought a slew of amazing – and eclectic – cars spanning both category and credulity.
I’d like to acknowledge Manic_King for all the amazing Euro-finds, including a Carlton Carrera that looks to be an awesome hole into which to throw money, and KAC, who found the most comical faux Porsche 930 imaginable (hint, it’s really a VW Type 3).
Taking the crown however, is Lokki who found this Bugatti T35B that was once sought after by our own Alff. This car wins the week for its unflagging dedication to deception. There’s no way this is a real Bugatti, not with VW’s iconic torsion bar front suspension loud and proud and bare in the air, but its builder went to great lengths to keep the illusion alive.
Congrats to Lokki, and thanks as always to you all for making this one of the week’s most interesting collaborations week after week!
1927 BUGATTI T-35B replica

67 thoughts on “Craigslist Crapshoot”
  1. So for best value, we mean bang-for-our-buck 4- or 5-seater convertibles, yes? No money requirement to hit, so long as we see it as a good value.

  2. http://philadelphia.craigslist.org/cto/5196280799.html
    How much of a pain in the ass are you willing to deal with for the car?
    http://images.craigslist.org/00000_94TIyiJfvE9_600x450.jpg
    2009 pontiac g6 convertible coupe ($2000) low mileage
    2009 Pontiac g6 convertible coupe
    75,XXX miles on it
    $2000 !!! $2000!!! $2000!!!
    Price so low because CAR HAS NO TITLE !!!
    Nothing wrong with the car what so ever, just needs an oil change and a new owner

    Yep… no title.

    1. Perhaps I am naive, or at least unworldly but how does a 2009 model car come to be legitimately for sale with no title?

      1. I bought one after the owner died and didn’t leave enough of an estate to pay for probate. Technically, his daughter gave me the title, but it wasn’t signed over, and it was advertised as not having a title.
        Occasionally, people will advertise late model cars as no title when they really mean they can’t find the physical piece of paper, but the car is still registered to them.

      2. There can be a lien against the title that the owner never finished paying, so the title can’t transfer. In the world of bankruptcies that’s actually not unheard of. In fact I feel like this would be the case here.
        So you buy it, and either figure out a way to pay the lien to the bank, or don’t buy it, tell the bank where to pick it up and then get access (by Dealer License or Proxy) to the auction it will be sold at.
        Older cars are one thing as they may just be sitting in a field and there is simply no way to track down a previous owner, new cars it’s often a unresolved dispute with a bank or insurance company.

  3. http://newjersey.craigslist.org/cto/5161014074.html
    1996 SAAB 2000 SE CONVERTIBLE–Drives well and looks good! – $1800 (North Jersey)
    109k miles, 4-cyl. turbo engine. Transmission and interior are very good. Body and paint not perfect, but overall car looks good. Top works fine. Well maintained. Just passed inspection. Problem with AC/Heater-fan will not turn off. Took out fuse so it’s not running all the time. Needs fan speed controller. AC does not work-needs Freon. Easy DIY fixes. Otherwise you can drop the top and go. All reasonable offers considered. Text preferred
    If those truly are the fixes, that’s a cheap car for what it is.

  4. 1985 Chrysler LeBaron convertible with only 31,xxx miles on the clock. They are asking the low, paltry sum of $11,000 for it.
    How is this a good bargain, you ask? Well, I’ll tell you. According to NADAGuides, the LeBaron would have stickered for approximately $9460 in 1985. Adjusted for inflation, that’s nearly $21,000! So, for basically half off a low mile car, you could be driving in top down wood grained style!
    http://detroit.craigslist.org/mcb/cto/5200219954.html
    *Drugs and brain damage required to pay this much for a K Car not included

  5. Sitting here trying to get the kids to sleep, a little compilation of Swedish crazy:
    http://cdn.blocket.com/static/0/original/77/7747304965.jpg
    http://cdn.blocket.com/static/2/original/77/7707564191.jpg
    Hard to tell, but what you see here is actually a wild hot rod based on a Volvo Duett: 9000$.
    http://cdn.blocket.com/static/0/images_full/54/5449132150.jpg
    Without the spoilers, this would be pretty neat: ’86 “742”, 2500$.
    http://cdn.blocket.com/static/2/original/57/5707407500.jpg
    http://cdn.blocket.com/static/0/original/57/5754091902.jpg
    Amazon custom convertible with a Ford 2.2 V6 and the classic owner-insight of “haven’t seen any rust”, a deal at 2500$.

    1. The Amazon has beautiful lines, but the fact that it doesn’t have any doors might limit the customer base…

      1. Could be worse. When me and my sister were very young, we’d ride in the alcove behind the seats of my dad’s ’63 Austin-Healey Sprite Mk II while mom & dad occupied the only two actual seats.

    1. “…just put them together and you can have a 1963 convertible impala.”
      I’m sure that’s what he told his wife when he was buying this heap of scrap metal.

      1. It seems he’s got a coupe and thinks the hunks in the yard would enable a convertible retrofit. The pics of the coupe make it look like it might roll with a few hundred dollars invested, but he led with the pic I used, so I’m going with that and hoping for a disputable win here. Perhaps by “minor” he refers to well trained child labor.

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