Craigslist Crapshoot

By Robert Emslie May 4, 2016

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. 
The rotary engine may not have ever caught on the way Felix Wankel had hoped, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t have its fans keeping the flame alive and the wankels a-wankelin.’ We’ll see which rotary most got our heads spinning in a sec, but first this week’s challenge.
Hey, how do you roll? If you said old school then we have much to discuss. This week we want to find the best pre-war (that’s WWII to you young-uns) cars and trucks the classifieds have to offer. Now, he only rule here is that we want to stay out of the classic car sites—OldCars.com and the like. They’re great and all, but what’s the challenge in that?
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, let’s hum a few bars.


You know when you go looking for Wankel-power  two names are inevitably going to show up: Mazda and NSU. They both made an appearance last week, Mazda in spades, and NSU in the form of a 1969 Ro 80 “Restaurationsobjekt” found by Engineerd.
Notable Mazdas included a nice looking brown Cosmo located by LEROOOY, a proper REPU  unearthed by GTXcellent and our winner, a three-rotor Eunos Cosmo that Joram offered up, and which I think I’d rock every which way ’til Sunday.
Thanks to all for participating, and congrats to Joram for the big win. Okay, now let’s get pre-historic!
EUNOS EUNOS COSMO 20B TYPE-E CCS | 1994 | BLACK M | 53,000 km | details.- Japanese used cars.Goo-net Exchange

64 thoughts on “Craigslist Crapshoot”
    1. Hey, I’ve seen that car!

      The PTO-esque removable steering wheel scared me more than the missing transmission tunnel.

      Anything Straight-8 is still amazing, though.

  1. Ok,I’ve got one serious entry and two irrelevant crazy oddlings that I just have to share with the crowd here.
    A 1936 Studebaker Dictator. Send this to a friend this morning who will love the model designation. It’s actually a nice deal at 21-25000$ (some odd conditions), and the seller is so confident, he’ll throw in a six month warranty. Sold new to some CEO here in Norway.
    http://m.finn.no/car/used/ad.html?finnkode=74527866
    https://finncdn.global.ssl.fastly.net/dynamic/1280w/2016/4/vertical-3/19/6/745/278/66_1373785473.jpg
    So…this is a Chinese “JM Star” electric convertible with a 40km range. Look at the speedometer – 80km/h is really in the red. About 3000$ is okay for a toy like this, isn’t it?
    http://m.finn.no/car/used/ad.html?finnkode=72678424
    https://finncdn.global.ssl.fastly.net/dynamic/960w/2016/3/vertical-3/16/4/726/784/24_33742996.jpg
    A Škoda 120 for wheelchair users, with 200+hp Volvo engine “dog”-trans based on a Beetle of all things!? Strange, but it looks like fun. Mr Bigglesworth might know this one?
    http://m.finn.no/car/used/ad.html?finnkode=74638095
    https://finncdn.global.ssl.fastly.net/dynamic/960w/2016/4/vertical-3/21/5/746/380/95_1956772157.jpg

    1. Wow, very nice. I remember a driveReport article on the ’35 Dictator in Hemmings Special Interest Autos, years back.

      1. Studebaker is a brand that really had some fantastic cars, all the way to the Avanti.

    1. Growing up, Dad had a non running 37 Ford 4 door that he always intended to restore, but never got to it. It sat in the garage since I was born in 1967 until sometime in the early 80s when he sold it to a guy who did finally restore it.

    1. Saw that name, recognized it, Wikipedia-d my way to confirmation: Yes, Knute Rockne was born an hour’s drive from where I am residing.

      1. Wasn’t it a very short-lived brand? I think there was an article in Hemmings awhile back.

        1. I believe so, because they don’t pop up often, even around here.

          The local museum has one (Canadian red, of course), but I can’t remember much about it.

    1. The only thing I don’t like with this one is that I can smell the pictures.

    2. From the ad: “As far as we know this was a one-owner vehicle.”
      Unless it’s still awaiting its first sale, that’s always a true statement.

    1. Okay, let me change my answer: THIS should be your college ride! VW Bug parts are easy to find and cheap, so you should be able to keep it on the road (all VW bugs need regular “fettling”).

      1. This one is a little out of my price range, but I definitely would not be opposed to a kit car.

        Tangentially related: Why does nobody make kit car bodies for pre-Tacoma Toyota trucks?

        It’s a simple, cheap, reliable chassis, and all of the existing bodies have disintegrated, making a body swap that much easier/harder.

        1. Are there any classics that have about the same wheelbase & track that you can drop on the Toyota running gear? That’d make a good shop class project, kind of like people taking old Jeep pickup bodies and fitting them on Chevy S10 chassis/running gear.

          1. Hmm… That’s a good idea.

            It’d be no hot rod, but should make a decent highway cruiser, providing you could massage the engine a bit and fight a light enough body.

    1. This one does look like a excellent project, pre-war wise.

      I’m used to seeing cars like this rotting in a field or immaculate at shows, so it’s a bit of a treat to see a clean, straight, unrestored one.

      1. Partially restored. All you have to do is pay the freight to the US, which would double the cost.

        1. Actually, shipping to Canada, which should make the cost even higher do to a less favourable exchange rate, as well as the fact that shipping to Canada is usually just a bit more than shipping to the US.

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