Craigslist Crapshoot

By Robert Emslie May 11, 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. 
You know, there’s been so many global conflicts of late that the previously commonly understood term “Pre-War” could presently be taken as meaning something from 1998. We were looking for cars embracing the traditional form of the term and you came through in spades. We’ll what’s old in just a sec, but first this week’s quest.
I don’t know about you, but I could sure go for some cheap fun. Let’s say you have $1,500 burning a hole in your pocket – that one, RIGHT THERE! You’ll want to do something with that, so pick out what YOU would spend that $1500 on. It could be a car or a car part, I’m easy.
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 turn back the hands of time.


Pre-War cars and trucks generally lack the sort of acceleration, braking, and handling imbued in their modern counterparts. That makes the thought of driving one a bit daunting. That doesn’t mean however that I wouldn’t give a go to any one of a number of the cool old rides you all found last week.
Let’s start with the 1932 Studebaker Rockne found by Inliner which definitely would win one for the Gipper. If that one is too far gone for you then the Europe-located Dictator located by Sjalabais might prove more your fascist leader-themed cup of Studebaker. Going even farther back, mdharrell got is all hot and bothered with a pre-WWI Stanley Steamer, while oldcarjunkie found the coolest hot rod of the bunch.
The most desirable of all—at least for me—was the 1930 Oldsmobile turned up by I_Borgward. That car is want-worthy owning to its seemingly all-original condition, the fact that it’s claimed to have been left in an honest to goodness barn since 1959, and for the cool OLDSMOBILE stamped into the access plate on the side of the head. I don’t know if I’d clean it up, or just drive it as is and soak up all the history and mouse pee it likely maintains.
Congrats to I_Borgward, and thank you all as always for your most excellent contributions. Now, let’s go spend some cash we don’t have.
1930 Oldsmobile F-30 Special
 

84 thoughts on “Craigslist Crapshoot”
  1. A cheap Astrovan camper takes care of a lot of needs. Just look past the fact that it needs a fuel primer. He’s going to get that fixed this week.
    95 AWD Astro van imperial. low top camper edition. Reposting due to having to repair a couple issues with it that popped up. $1500. Obo. runs good. inspection good until 2 / 17. has tv, mood lighting, rear seat folds out to a bed. Curtains on all the windows. Nice little bedroom on wheels.
    **Or trade for a 4 cylinder car.
    **There is a push button hooked up to the fuel pump prime side, sometimes the fuel pump doesn’t prime when key is turned to on position, so sometimes just have to hold the button in for 5 seconds to prime fuel system before starting. Previous owner replaced fuel pump and relay last year. Fuel gage is off by 1/4 tank or so. When gage says 1/4 it’s on E. 1/2 = 1/4, 3/4 = 1/2.
    ****Fuel prime button will be fixed within the week.***
    http://reading.craigslist.org/cto/5555264143.html

    1. May I recommend the “Bad Asstro”?

      It’s been kicking around my local classifieds for a while, and my 13 year old brother is hopelessly infatuated with it. (He likes anything with stacks, or light bars, or flat black paint. I’m not really sure if we’re related, actually.)

      Also, seriously, read the ad. It’s… interesting, to say the least.

      http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/ODAwWDQ1MA==/z/jVIAAOSwShJXLTor/$_27.JPG

      http://www.kijiji.ca/v-classic-cars/st-albert/bad-asstro-need-gone/1162887604?enableSearchNavigationFlag=true

      1. So it’s the kind of van where a Harley rider will ask you to tone it down a bit.

        1. Exactly! Even the “rolling coal” crowd are bound to be a bit afraid of this thing.

      2. I like the fact that the exhaust stack blocks the sliding door. That was really well thought out…

        1. Most likely a four speed but the lever near the top of the shifter is, what I think is called, a two speed in that it is like an overdrive.

  2. Cheap classics are both cool and scary at the same time. For $1500 this seems to be to good to be true. Of course this one is because of a missing title. Since this is a runner there is still that question about whether you should roll the dice or not.
    http://reading.craigslist.org/cto/5573599346.html
    1962 Buick skylark 2 door, v8 aluminium block, auto transmission will run $1500 will run. Bill of sale only no title

    1. Seriously. If someone handed me $1500 bucks and said buy something car related, thanks to you, it would be this. I’d buy it just to look at, title be damned.

      1. I need to research what it takes to get a missing title in Pennsylvania because now this has my interest.

      2. Hey there! I was told that you know a few things about Scouts…. Bear with me here.
        Guard-Duck off of Oppo told me to reach out to you about them. I tried to PM you, however your old Oppo is shut down and I can’t find you anywhere else… So yeah!
        I can haz helpz?
        I’ve never driven one, and aren’t familiar with parts/engines/transmissions and such, so I’d like to ask for some pointers.
        I do have a 69 Chevy Van, so solid front/rear axles are familiar to me.
        PS; Oh hey, Wayne’s here too! Bad-ass!

        1. Haloo! I’m all out of Scouts at the moment, but I learned a bunch from the three that I had. Commentator Scoutdude is also a fount of knowledge. I think he comments as guest, and doesn’t seem to have a Disqus profile.
          I’m a fan of Super Scout Specialists for parts. Definitely call if you don’t see something listed on the website. I had a bad experience with scoutparts dot com early on, but they got better. Craigslist is best, you meet the nicest people taking Scouts apart!
          Early Scouts, known as Scout 80s, were all 4-cylinder and had folding windshields. The Scout 800s look very similar (note the the location of the door lock cylinder for an easy tell) but packed a V-8 and even a straight 6. The axle width might have changed, too. Scout 2s were the biggies and include Travelers and Terras. You can get disk brakes on those axles!
          All Scouts are 2-door and have a removable top. All Scouts were “custom order”, as in the customer filled out a lengthy spec sheet at the dealership, and then the Scout was built and shipped. You can get a Line Setting Ticket specific to your VIN from Super Scout that will list the original setup. (Sort of like reading the RPOs on a GM product.)
          The 2WD editions of each model are cheaper to acquire, and pretty simple to convert to 4WD. My Scout 80 2WDs had a Borg Warner 3-speed that would not drive a transfer case, so converting one of them is a bigger job.
          Generally, IH didn’t like to make or purchase 2 different parts when they could get one to serve two functions, so there’s plenty of shared parts with other vehicles and across the years. They were designed to be fixed by farm boys in remote locations.
          IH loved fine series threads! That’s one strange thing about them. I think it was so if they got stripped you could jam a coarse thread tap through and be on your way. Not that I’ve ever done that. Nope.
          Beware of left-hand threads on the left side wheel lugs. It’s a thing. Chrysler did it, too.

          1. Way cool, thanks for all the tips!
            I ended up getting a nice and crispy one in Arizona… Gotta fly there and all that, but w/e, it’s nice.
            Rag joint has to be replaced. Mechanic also said that the brakes are hard and the front propshaft is a bit of play in it.
            Otherwise it’s got a 345, automatic with a 727, and got the single-speed transfer case.

    2. Does CA require a title for vehicles that old? Some states don’t bother issuing titles beyond X years of age.

      1. Yes, but based on the experience my dad had getting a title for his freebie ’57 Chevy project about 10 years ago, it’s not a massive headache to get one if you have all your ducks in a row.

  3. I would greet the summer in this convertible 1988 Peugeot 205 CTI for sale only a 5-10 minute walk away from my house that, according to the ad, was used in a reality show with last year’s Eurovision winner Måns Zelmerlöv and the nationally famous Swedish comedian Johan Glans. Star cred, wind in your hair and red seats, all for $1470.
    https://cdn.blocket.com/static/0/original/31/3130387847.jpg
    https://www.blocket.se/stockholm/Peugeot_205_CTI_66883976.htm?ca=5&w=3

    1. I’l buy this as well. I’ve had a chance to see a couple in person and learn how to upgrade it. the fact that it’s missing the batteries isn’t a negative since you are just losing the ni-cads.

      1. I’d imagine you could make one of these quite speedy with the right motor and battery packs. Heck, stick one on each axle and go scare P85Ds…

        1. I don’t know if you watch Leno’s garage but he has an old electric Opera car that they are putting a Tesla powertrain into.

      1. On the off chance you do buy it, let me know and we’ll have a beer or something while you’re in San Diego.

      1. He may have since he has owned a couple different electrics. I know he owned one of the really phallic looking ones. The one that they used in the Austin Powers movie.

    1. I think that may be the first time I saw an ad that mentioned that the bed wasn’t bolted down.

    2. Something about really wide, floaty tires mounted on deep-dish rims on an old stepside makes me all giddy inside.

    1. The seller clearly doesn’t know much about these, since he’s got it listed as RWD, but being gutted isn’t really a bad thing. It saves you the hassle of throwing away all of the formica and shag when you update the interior.
      I want this.

    2. This captures my imagination. I like that someone has already done us the favor of emptying it.

      1. Some of these had sliding doors for shuttle bus applications. There was a company on Long Island called Comcoach who patented a sliding door using a screw jack (think linear actuator or sideways Genie garage door opener) and made GMC Transmode based rental car shuttles, along with other cool stuff like mobile dental offices.

        1. Do you have any pictures? These vehicles still look modern and it’s a very corrosion-free construction technique. No wonder more than two thirds are still on the road.

          1. Thanks for finding the patent. Unfortunately it was a long time ago so I didn’t take pictures and I couldn’t find anything on the web except an ambulance http://pempeld.tripod.com/1975comcoach3.jpg with a hinged door. My recollection is that the bus version had the door slide back so it would be closer to the front wheels and the rest of the vehicle would have windows.

    1. Looks like one of those weird Longhorn versions with the nine(!)-foot bed. There’s actually a seam where the extra foot is attached, nearer to the cab. I used to see a faded red Chevy one occasionally, a couple years back. But, I don’t see a seam in the pictures, so maybe not.

    1. Malibu Maxx? Actually saw one of those last night, first time in ages.
      Meh.

  4. All the eastern bloc cars….Trabants, Ladas (even Nivas), Wartburgs, ZAZ, Moskwich etc. project cars..
    Trabby, 222 eur: http://suchen.mobile.de/fahrzeuge/details.html?id=225764730&usageType=PRE_REGISTRATION&scopeId=C&usage=USED&isSearchRequest=true&maxFirstRegistrationDate=1985-12-31&maxPrice=1500&pageNumber=1
    Wartburg 353: http://suchen.mobile.de/fahrzeuge/details.html?id=225957609&usageType=PRE_REGISTRATION&usage=USED&isSearchRequest=true&scopeId=C&maxFirstRegistrationDate=1985-12-31&maxPrice=1500&pageNumber=2
    Wartburg wagon: http://suchen.mobile.de/fahrzeuge/details.html?id=225474269&usageType=PRE_REGISTRATION&usage=USED&isSearchRequest=true&scopeId=C&maxFirstRegistrationDate=1985-12-31&maxPrice=1500&pageNumber=2
    Trabby 2: http://suchen.mobile.de/fahrzeuge/details.html?id=225465127&usageType=PRE_REGISTRATION&usage=USED&isSearchRequest=true&scopeId=C&maxFirstRegistrationDate=1985-12-31&maxPrice=1500&pageNumber=2
    Trabby 3: http://suchen.mobile.de/fahrzeuge/details.html?id=225022838&usageType=PRE_REGISTRATION&usage=USED&isSearchRequest=true&scopeId=C&maxFirstRegistrationDate=1985-12-31&maxPrice=1500&pageNumber=2&fnai=next
    Trabby 4: http://suchen.mobile.de/fahrzeuge/details.html?id=226092215&usageType=PRE_REGISTRATION&isSearchRequest=true&usage=USED&scopeId=C&maxFirstRegistrationDate=1985-12-31&maxPrice=1500
    Trabby 5, DeLuxe! http://suchen.mobile.de/fahrzeuge/details.html?id=205711504&usageType=PRE_REGISTRATION&scopeId=C&isSearchRequest=true&usage=USED&maxPrice=1500&maxFirstRegistrationDate=1985-12-31&pageNumber=13

    1. They go for astounding $, with the Syncro Westfalia at the top of the overpriced pyramid. That Doka would be fun, since they were never officially imported.

      1. I’ve got an ’86 in the same color. It’s a great little commuter car, fun on mountain roads, and reliable. $1200 is a pretty good price.

    1. I’m glad it’s 2,000 miles away from me, or I might be tempted. Yank the automatic.

  5. I really like the clean and simple looks of the 1st Gen S10/S15, and this looks like a really clean and simple example of one.

    I’d probably go look at if I wasn’t waiting patiently for a clean Jeep Comanche (4.0L, 4×4, 5 speed) to come up for sale in my area that’s a decent price.

    I may be waiting a while.

    http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/NjAwWDgwMA==/z/f5MAAOSw9ZdXKKve/$_27.JPG

    http://www.kijiji.ca/v-classic-cars/edmonton/1983-gmc-s15-s10/1161824368?enableSearchNavigationFlag=true

  6. A sadder version of “ran when parked”…
    “It is not running now, but was running well 4 years ago.”

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