I own a Jensen Healey. That’s not it in the picture above, that’s from an original Healey promotional piece and is in far better shape than mine. Actually, I guess I should say that I own a bunch of Jensen Healey parts that could be combined to recreate a car. That car would be one of about 12,000 produced – including the later GT hatch. When it comes to cars, twelve grand isn’t all that rare – call it medium-rare – but it would still make for a pretty intimate class reunion.
Most of us own cars that were built in the thousands, if not the hundreds of thousands. Occasionally however, it’s possible – if you happen to be extremely wealthy or an aficionado of cheap quirk – that you might come into possession of a car or truck that doesn’t have a ton of siblings. Those are the ones we’re interested in today. Let us know, what is the rarest vehicle you have ever owned?
Image: british-steel.org
Hooniverse Asks: What's the Rarest Car or Truck You've Ever Owned?
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114 responses to “Hooniverse Asks: What's the Rarest Car or Truck You've Ever Owned?”
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I had a Elva Courier. About 800 were made over a 6 year period (don’t quote me on that).
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Just looked this car up… I love any car that is small, rwd, and has a steel tube chassis. Race/street car for the win!
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My dad has a 2001 Z3 3.0 Coupe, which is one of 800. I have a ’57 Berkeley SE492, which they made 666 of (really.) Mine is #87. There are about 1,200 total Berkeleys made, though.
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My 1980 Rabbit ‘vert was one of 13,390 imported to the US, of 25,982 worldwide. That undercuts the 1981 300SD by a couple thousand, as there were 16,595 of the diesel SWB models brought to the US that year.
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I had an ’80 Rabbit convertible as well. It was a great car, perhaps the most smiles per mile of any I’ve had.
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If I had been able to figure out what ailed it (partially cooked main fuse relay according to the owner after me), it would have been a lot of smiles, but as it was, it was a bit of a pain in the arse, which is why I no longer own it.
When it was running ok, it was a fun little basket, surprisingly solid for a rusty, 33-yo convertible. With 195/55/15 tires, I couldn’t take a corner too quickly. It just gripped.-
I drove one for 8 years – so much that it felt like an extension of me. I absolutely loved the feel of that slightly rubbery Getrag. Although it was prone to understeer, I eventually could force oversteer on demand I was so comfortable with it.
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09 Sonata – 1 of 120,028
91 Cherokee – 1 of 151,578
Winner: Sonata I guess.-
In the case of your Cherokee, its rareness isn’t helped by the fact that most of them are still running/driving, I’d bet. Similar story for my 300SD — I’ll bet there aren’t that many of them that have been written off.
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1970 Dodge Challenger T/A and a 1970 Dodge Challenger R/T SE, 1970 Pontiac GTO Judge. All Orange!
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I had a 1983 Plymouth Sapporo Technica. It had a digital dash, talking warnings (“Your door is ajar”, “No, it’s a door!”) and a silver/black paintjob, and silver/red/black seats in velour and pleather. There weren’t many made and currently there appears to be one licensed model in the US at the time. And yeah, in the picture the wheels and lowering totally ruin the look to me, but it is the only one left.
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Is it sad that my favorite mopars are the chrysler conquest and the sapporo/challenger (both mitsubishis)?
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I had a chance to own this exact car, and I still regret not taking that chance. You took really great care of it, though.
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That one, sadly, is not mine. Although I’m not terribly sad about that, because it’s an automatic. No more Technica 5 speeds? I must go to a quiet room and cry now.
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My grandfather had a 1980 Dodge Challenger. When it was eventually towed after the cousin it had been passed down to had accumulated enough unpaid tickets to warrant it being impounded, it had 420,000 miles on the original drivetrain.
Rear drive made it a hoot on dirt, though the autobox was definitely a ’70s 3-speed unit. This is a car I would happily have another one of.
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As far as four-wheel vehicles go, my oft-cited ’66 GMC Handi-Bus and ’61 Chevy Panel Truck were rare when I purchased them, since they were old, but not all that rare when produced. …Maybe a 6-speed Suzuki Kizashi GTS Sport? Nah, that’s only relatively rare in North America.
As usual, my Tuesday answers are more interesting:
Mid-60s Gilera 202 Super. Never did get it licensed or running properly.
http://www.bobwrightmotorcycles.co.uk/Gilera31g.jpg
Also had a ’63 Bultaco Matador Mk1 200. I had no idea how rare it was at the time, and traded it for an RD400F Daytona Special, which I in turn quickly sold off. I want to cry every time I think of it.
http://tanshanomi.com/temp/bul-matador200-mk1-m4.jpg-
There, there…
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My Tuesday answer is my 2000 Husqvarna SM610S (pic is not of mine).
http://gallery.mvagusta.net/image_db/krissi/myformerbikes/11305.jpg
But it might fall into the same category as your Kizashi, where it’s only really rare in the US. (I read somewhere that they imported 50 of them in 2000)-
Speaking of
HOLY CRAP WOW!somewhat rare…under 10K miles.
1992 Yamaha TDM850 TDM 850 – $3900 (Nashville) http://nashville.craigslist.org/mcy/5115920262.html
http://images.craigslist.org/00B0B_fv39MXCGQSH_600x450.jpg-
yup…parallel twin lover here too….always wanted one of these…!
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Same here. Big (for the time), tall, goofy-looking, but they’ve always had a strange appeal to me. A not-for-USA TRX850 would work, too.
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My ’68 Pontiac Bonneville 4-door sedan. A mid-year introduction, with only 3,499 built for ’68, it doesn’t appear in the brochures. After that, my ’66 Corvair Monza 4-door hardtop. One of 12,497 built that year (and supposedly one of 2,500 or so that came with air conditioning).
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In high school, a classmate bought a ’73 Buick Centurion convertible, one of fewer than 6K that year and around 10K total for its 3-year run. At the time, I thought it was rarer than it actually was, but those are still relatively low numbers. t was a very cool car to cruise around town in on summer nights, and I’ve half-considered hunting for one ever since. Decent ones have gotten pretty pricey now, though.
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A friend of mine in high school had a Centurion convertible too,. His family owned a trash-hauling business & through that, he had plenty of free, old tires, which were roasted with the Buick on (at least) a weekly basis. Teenagers are idiots, and we all enjoyed the smoke shows immensely – especially when they took place directly in front of the school.
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New-to-me ’02 Insight, 1 of 17,020 total production. As such a hardcore car, I assume they are still fairly well preserved; they seem thick on the ground. But is that more or less rare than the standard-wheelbase, 12 passenger, dual air, 7.3 Powerstroke E350 I used to own?
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Depends — did the E350 have a manual trans? Or did that go away with the 6.9 diesel?
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I think you could theoretically have a 7.3 manual van. Never actually found one.
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I too have a 1st gen Insight and have owned it since their release. It’s a first year 2000 model in what was at that time a ground breaking color “Citron”, or metallic citrus green that I now see on Mazda 2’s, Festivas and some Hyundais. Production of this version was limited to 400 worldwide and was manual transmission only. As their IMA hybrid batteries die and the owners realize the battery is as expensive as buying an entire used Insight I suspect major attrition will ensue. Certainly it’s a future collectible though the Texan yahoos in pickups who have for over a decade made derisive gestures at me in traffic might have contradictory opinions.
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I think they are more likely to be refurbished, since there’s nothing to take their place. OK, maybe a Leaf. This also means they stop depreciating at an even higher number than a normal Honda. Mine came from a guy who does a steady business in fixer-upper 1st gens.
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A friend just put a refurbished battery in his 05 (I think) Insight and I think he said it was about $1500. Not trivial, but significantly less than it’s worth.
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I omitted the detail that I’m on my fourth IMA battery in that span of time. The first two were Honda warranty items and very poorly remanufactured by the factory. The third one was ONE month outside of warranty, but was new. It cost me nearly $3000 dollars, and failed after two years. Luckily it was under Bumblebee warranty. Luckily I have the time, tools and skill to do the battery swap myself because the price you quoted is for a cheap used “remanufactured” battery with a limited life span and a DIY installation. FYI Honda quotes nearly $6000 parts & labor, and that’s enough for your average person to throw in the towel. While I still love my Insight, it’s also now the 1st / last hybrid I’ll ever own.
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It’s quite possible that I’m remembering the cost wrong, and judging by the prices I’m seeing on eBay ($2K-$3K) I probably did. It was a quality re-manufactured unit by a 3rd party (Bumblebee?) that incorporates higher capacity cells. He’s an engineer for Honda, so he could have gotten a factory battery at a discount but chose instead this unit for the higher capacity. I’m sure he did the install himself, so the cost he gave me was the battery only.
BTW – This is not an issue with all hybrids. I own a 2nd generation Prius and battery replacements in those are quite rare, to the point that in the event that one is necessary, a used battery is a reliable, and cheap, option. -
Nope, still not convinced on hybrid battery longevity and have never been attracted to Prii. Give me a Euro market diesel Civic, dammit … for reasons I don’t understand that drivetrain option never made it to the States.
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I don’t have the Galen Govier certification telling me the exact breakdown of how many cars were built just like mine, but I do know that Plymouth built just under 18,000 GTXs in 1968. Of those, approx 9700 were 440, 4spd, hardtops. Not ultra rare, but not all that common either – especially when you consider Plymouth made almost 45,000 Road Runners.
1967 Jeepster Deluxe convertible. tutone, factory powered top, console, carpet, continental kit, 4×4. from 1966 to 1969, about 4400 made. Still have it and about to get all new interior. If anyone has a lead on a set of three spoke centers for those fancy wheelcovers please let me know.
1976 Cosworth Vega (still have it). Total production was 3,500 (2,000 in 1975, 1,500 1976). Mine is Firethorn Red, all the first year and many the second were black so that adds to the rarity. That said, rarity does not necessarily make it valuable, but at least it is unusual.
1986 Dodge Shelby Charger color silver. One of 387 in that color, out of 7,669 total(still own it)
Now for the real rare one, I had a M38A1-C ! and was trying to find a functional 106mm recoiless rifle set up until a friend talked me out of this one three years ago, dammit. It had a layer of white civil defense paint when I found it, the split windshield had been replaced with a standard type. But it still had the fuel can and spare mount relocated on the right side, helper coil springs, corner bolsters, dash holes for the barrel clamp, etc. If you ever see one of these, look at the back end, as they look “jacked up” due to the big coil spring helpers over the leafs, then you will know if it is a “c” type, (a few hundred made), or the “d” type ( fifty made). The “d” type is the Davey Crockett, it sported a low yield nuclear launcher & 3 rounds of ammo ! whut ?
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What? A 106mm recoilless not good enough for ya? 🙂
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Not if you’re trying to keep the commies from overrunning West Germany. 😉
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Ha ! well, this is Tennessee, we really like rifles here. The new owner is looking hard to find an operational set up. Just the spotter rifle on these is a .50 BMG ! Here is an image of a Davey Crockett, thank goodness some politicians wised up in the early 50’s and recalled all of them after a brief deployment in Europe. Maybe a couple of draftee GI’s tooling around in a Jeep with a functional nuklar launcher aint such a good idea….
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Oh yeah, DOD shoulda never gotten rid of RR’s. Harder hitting than a grenade launcher, easier to use in urban environs than a MBT. But a tac-nuc that zaps the launch crew? Derp! I liked the British “chicken” nuklar mine for sealing the Fulda gap better anyway….
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Not especially common, but maybe not truly rare: a 1996 Subaru SVX and a 1967 Imperial hardtop sedan.
A rust-free AW11?
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Stop lying.
I sell car parts for a living so I tend to dislike uncommon cars simply because of the limited parts availability. This effectively rules out everything made in Japan that’s less common than a Corolla, including everything Subaru has ever made.
My car history so far is a Ford Escort, a Ford Sierra, three Volvo wagons and now a Skoda Octavia. Yes, cars that everyone else owned or owns.
2001 Bullitt – about 5500 made, 1800 were black.
I researched the S197 Lime Green- and I think I had one of 168 that were GT coupes in Lime and Black Leather. No numbers on how many were built without rear spoilers– but it has to be less than a dozen.
I think the closest to rare I’ve gotten (and this is really pushing it) was one of the last Jeep YJ’s built in Brampton instead of Toledo.
In recent memory, 1963 Ford Falcon Station Bus window van, 1986 Jeep Comanche 4 cylinder, Peugeot 5 speed and 4×4, 1973 Jeep Commando Station Wagon and a somewhat rare Chevy S-10 Blazer Extreme. There probably are others long forgotten.
Either a DAF 66 1300 Marathon Coupe, or a Innocenti DeTomaso I guess.
OFF TOPIC: Somebody in CA needs to buy this and nurse it back to health. It’s in Paso Robles, so it’s a not-unreasonable drive tow from either So Cal or the Bay Area. I should point out that this was (by Disqus votes) recently named the most underrated collectable car out there. Okay, so it needs a lot of mechanical and bodywork, the title status is questionable, and it’s got the weird-alice ER27 engine. Are you really going to let that stop you from collector car glory? Just don’t cut yourself on it.
91 Subaru XT6 – $1000 (Paso Robles)
http://slo.craigslist.org/cto/5120118563.html
http://images.craigslist.org/01111_8iF0krKZRsY_600x450.jpg
I keep them long enough that they become rare. ’86 Civic Wagon, check. ’93 Camry Wagon, check, ’99 A4 Avant, check. 2003 Chrysler minivan, well, not yet but you see fewer of them each year.
My 2005 Dakota and 2015 Challenger have window stickers that state something to the effect of ‘built to order for [ptschett]’.
They didn’t publish production numbers, but I have to guess my 2010 Challenger R/T was relatively rare after accounting for Deep Water Blue paint and the 27F (base model, few options available) package.
1959 MGA. From what I understand most of them have turned into Iron Oxide or sunk into the morass of oil their engines leaked while they were “Put away” after breaking down.
Challenger R/T convertible 1 of 1070
With 3 on the floor, 1 of 19.
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What year is it?
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Convertible R/T Challengers were only built for the 1970 model year. The 71 Indy Pace Car was the base trim level (as were all 1971 Challenger convertibles). 1972 and beyond had fixed roofs.
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It would have to be either my 1970 Opel Kadett Rallye or my 1978 Renault R17 Gordini. Not that rare, you say? They were in the US when I owned them.
Could possibly be my current vehicle as only 6,815 were produced for the North American market:
M-B 560SEC. It’s usually the only one on the field at any given car show.
I came within a hair’s width to buying a six cylindre Datsun as my first car, but stayed true to my childhood dreams and bought Volvos instead. My current car is very rare – only 148 in the entire country* – and car guys comment about that fact when I show up with it. A quick google on my phone did not reveal total production numbers for the Honda Stream though, a prolonged Civic platform based van. Cool, eh?
http://s1.cdn.autoevolution.com/images/gallery/HONDAStream-3100_4.jpg
* “entire country” = roughly 5 mio people
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Funny how Volvos have that effect…I had considered an Infiniti Q45 or Saab 9-5 as my first car but ended up buying a Volvo V50 because loyalty > whatever the other reason is…
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Without overthinking I’d reply it is plainly a better car. In my case, I had been dreaming about Volvos since around age 13. Weird cars are more interesting, of course, but there’s something comforting about safe, reliable, square Volvos that you just don’t get anywhere else.
Btw, my wife went to a wedding this weekend while I had to stay home and watch the kids (everybody’s on vacation) – and a car guy there commented on the rarity of the van. She then proceeded to have a solid car conversation. Proud of her.-
Your wife sounds like she knows what she’s talking about; that’s great! On another note, interestingly enough, I love Volvos in part because they are unique in that only a small subset of the population know/care about them, so it truly is an inside reference when you slap moose badges onto a Volvo as opposed to ///M badges on a Bimmer…
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In order of likely rarity based on US sales for that year model…
1. 1975 Audi 100 LS (US Spec) (probably less than 2,500 in the US)
2. 2006 Lincoln LS (about 8,000 for 2006)
3. 2000 Acura 3.5 RL (about 14,000 for 2000)(this is possibly the global figure)
None of them are particularly rare but they are fairly low production/sales figures for the US market all things considered, I encounter other LS’s and 3.5 RL’s frequently but usually other year models than what I have owned and I haven’t seen another 100 LS of any year live and in person for the last 20-25 years.
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Ignoring the comment about order, it looks like owning the LS drove you right to Honda…how long did you have the Lincoln?
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No, owning the Acura drove me into the Lincoln and I still have it.
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Should I do the Corvette owners thing and say, “With the options I had it was one of…”
My Lightning was 1206 of 5007 for 1994. With the few upgrades you could get on those things and that it was red it comes out to, “1 out of whatever, I love it.”
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That Corvette “one of…” thing extends to all owners of unusual GM products. I think it has to do with availability of good documentation for every vehicle built.
For the record, my 2005 Buick Park Avenue Ultra is one of 1863 for the year, and one of 176 “Special Edition” end-of-production models with two-tone paint. Drilling down to the specific combination of options, it’s one of one. That’s not really a useful metric because it probably gets to be one of one because of something like being ordered without a sunroof or bucket seats.
I owned a 1960 NSU Sport Prinz for the short period of one month. There were approximately 7,000 sport prinzs made, and far less were exported to the U.S. It was in very rough condition, and I did not have the funds to complete a restoration. Interestingly, three weeks after I sold the small neoclassical go-cart, I met a guy with an identical 1960 NSU Sport Prinz at the IOLA car show in Wisconsin.
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Just imagine this car with considerable rust
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Just not as pretty.
http://www.allisonhibbard.com/images/pile_rust.jpg
(Very cool and eclectic ride!)
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1995 Jaguar XJR. Only made for three years until it was replaced by the V8 version in 1998, and mine is a very rare manual transmission version. The swap was aftermarket with factory parts, though, so it’s debatable which denominator applies to me.
I owned a 1973 Mazda RX-3 wagon. It had a rotary engine and a 4 speed. Great fun … a little yellow bullet.
I had an ’86 Mustang SVO, it was 1 0f ~3400.
Conversely I had a 2007 Civic, it was one of about 4 billion with the “Atomic Blue Metallic” paint.
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My first new car was 1985.5 SVO with competition option, which made it a little rarer.
I had an FC E100 Econoline pickup for a short while. I think the entire model run was around 3,500 – and most of those were long gone by the time i picked it up.
I’m not sure how rare my 4CV Renault is now but in 1964 I think I was the only HS student to be stupid enough to have one by choice. For what I paid for it I could have bought a low mileage 57 Chevy.
My VW Type 2 pickup that I sold for $900 back in 1987 could be considered rare since they go for stupid money now.
No clue about the rarity of my Buick Centurion convertible – 455 and TH350. I think the bumper and grill were replaced by a PO with parts from a LeSabre?
No picture of mine that I can find but my 1975 anniversary MG Midget may or not be rare – but it was the worst car I ever owned that I had high expectations about. I sold it to a high school kid who burned it up as in the engine caught on fire and it burned to the ground.
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I saw that but I couldn’t remember what year it was. I bought it in Austin, Tx in 1980 from an oil field worker for $600. The white interior was covered in grease and the red paint was frosted with white spray paint over-spray. Lots of elbow grease and de-greaser got rid of the real grease and a can of Dupont rubbing compound cut the over-spray off. I drove it for several years and sold it to a youngish guy for $1200. I saw it being driven around Austin for many years and watched it deteriorate with lots of duck tape on the top and the red paint fading to rust. The thing I liked about it was that it drove like a train on the interstate.
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The only 4CV I saw in real life was in San Luis Obispo, a few years ago. So there are at least 2 still running around!
My current car is not very common anymore. I don’t know the production numbers for an Opala de Luxo with separate seats and four on the floor. Most Opalas have three on the tree with bench seats.
https://fbcdn-sphotos-e-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xpa1/t31.0-8/s2048x2048/11054398_10206385215658961_6508437957668945656_o.jpg
At the end of the eighties I’ve owned a 73 Opel Admiral 2.8S and at that time it was very hard to see one on the roads.
https://fbcdn-sphotos-e-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xaf1/v/t1.0-9/408571_3568855429788_225409445_n.jpg?oh=6017f3e973727135259a40453f3d1f3d&oe=565032AE&__gda__=1444449161_51f98d6c422198e50fa96f7734cbf37d
At the same time I had a also not vey common 62 Vespa 150GL in light blue color with all the luxurious chrome stuff on.
https://fbcdn-sphotos-h-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xfa1/v/t1.0-9/318214_3568852269709_1445149514_n.jpg?oh=a1526f4043cb79ad1d63cc030fb959d1&oe=5655B0BD&__gda__=1448397940_78abda62bb7ec5468cbe73a8291f2e2d
1988 Ford Mustang SSP (Special Support Package) with a 5-sp manual just like pictured, but without the light bar. I purchased for $4500 at auction in 1991 with only 45k miles. Sold two years later for $4000 to buy a wedding ring. Kinda wish I still had that car, but she’s keeper too, so all is well.
1990 Nissan Axxess 5spd
I seem to end up with relatively rare options and colors on somewhat common cars. Which is fine by me.
My 71 Alfa Spider Veloce is one of those real rare but real common cars.. The last year of the Duetto (boat tail) Spiders was 1969. Then the “Kammtail” Spider was introduced in 1970. That much is clear. However there is a debate about how many 1970 Spiders were actually made – perhaps 1400 (perhaps only a few hundred) but none of which were officially imported into the U.S. Only 1211 U.S. Spec Spiders were built in 1971. So, my car is one of 1211 and mine was the 748th produced of that 1211. In 1972, cars were changed again and the 1750 engine was replaced by a 2 liter, so the 1971 cars are a one-year unique build.
However, Alfa built tons of Spiders between 1972 and 1994 when the Spider was discontinued, and there weren’t that many changes made (although pollution controls and bumper requirements hit them as hard or harder than most cars of the time.
So, to an Alfa guy it’s rare, but to most people it’s just another MG.
Back when I was in college I had a 1961 Buick Special station wagon. It was the three seat model, of which only 798 were made. It had the famous aluminum V8, but the true rarity was a factory 4-speed stick. I hooned that thing all over California before I had a clue what hooning was!
<– That '96 Miata is one of the 111 R package cars made out 33,610 Miatas made in 1996. To most people it's just a ratty old Miata. To me it's a ratty old Miata that I'll keep forever.
My '60 Austin Healey 3000 BT7 is one of 10,825 Mark 1s made.
So my common as a cold Miata is technically rarer than the attention gathering Healey. Of course the Miata is really just another Miata, so I suppose its rarity doesn't really count.
Buick Lacrosse Super, one of about 2400 made.
Of only 144 sold in my country (according to questionable sources), I just bought my #3 of the turn-of-the-century Cougar. The 2 first ones brand new, the last one for nostalgic reasons.
Don’t blame me for this car not selling well!
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If you send an email to OFV they will give you the exact numbers. Happy statisticians that will gladly answer the public’s questions!
+ Heia Norge!
My project car is one of about 80 built that day. Divided by, say, 10 working hours, it’s one of only eight built in that hour! Exclusivity is a bitch: there is nothing special about my vehicles, aside from being mine.
My 1978 Malibu certainly wasn’t rare, but the combination of coupe, 4-speed, tach,bucket-seats, rally suspension, V8 was. I’ve read they made about 1,400 of those. Also my current 2000 Lexus GS400, they made about 5,000 with V8 as opposed to the GS300 which was 25,000.
I have a SHO. They built 8 315 in 1990, or 2 011 if you factor in colour. They built 333 011 Taurii that year, so it just doesn’t look that rare.
http://www.wikisho.com/wiki/Production_Numbers.
On Tuesday, we’re picking up an Allis Chalmers IB. They only built 2 850 for the whole production run, vs. 120 783 Allis Chalmers B. (The IB is the industrial version of the B)
http://www.tractordata.com/industrial-tractors/000/1/5/156-allis-chalmers-ib.html
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Bigger Pictures (of the actual vehicles):
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Early entry for Tractor Tuesday!
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Teaser entry for Tractor Tuesday, actually.
I’ll post more at the Last Call tomorrow…
Also, why isn’t Tractor Tuesday a thing here?
I’d even be willing to write that column…
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Attention, Hooniverse Overlords, please note the previous comment! Commentariat, who wants to see Tractor Tuesdays? Maybe it could be on a rotation with the other TWTs.
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Bonus points for articles about Two-Wheel Tractors on a Tuesday!
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My first reaction when reading “Two-Wheel Tractor” was to think “Harley Davidson”.
This is much better.
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Yes, we need Tractor Tuesday! I’ll have to see if he guy a block over still has his tractor in his garage (secretly driven on the street once in a while, since we’re miles and miles from the nearest farm) so I can take some pictures.
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My parents had a BMW 2000 in the 70s which was very rare in the US, although fairly common inEurope. The rarest car I owned was probably my 1978 VW Scirocco special edition with the tape stripes and air dam to celebrate an SCCA championship.
My Thunderbird is one of about 12,000 convertibles made in 1960, but mine has the optional decklid open warning light that few have. How few? Who know, I’d guess between dozens and hundreds. Is it valuable? Not very.
Dad’s 1957 Eldorado Biarritz is one of 1800.
My Saturn Outlook was one of a few thousand made in the 2010 model year to use up excess parts inventory. Again, not really valuable.
A 1980 Audi 5000, with the 2.0L inline 5 diesel and five speed manual transmission. I’m not sure how many were made, but few seem to exist in the U.S. today.
http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j15/Fuhrman16/Mobile%20Uploads/IMG_20150329_144422_981_zpsv7ayfbfa.jpg
Sunbeam Tiger 260 (1967-72), ’67 Tiger 289 (79-89), Two of ~ 602 1967 Z 28’s. 1966 Shelby GT350H.
1970 Boss 302. Bikes, Montessa Cota 247 ? Cooper Enduro 250 ? I was care taker of a Lotus Europa for about a year.
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1958 Chevrolet Del Ray Sedan Delivery. 1 of about 2500 that year.
1966 Pontiac Bonneville hearse/ambulance combo by Superior. Short wheelbase (called a Consort) one of about 150 made that year. You might recognize it from a Project Car Hell post the saucy minx made some years ago.
We really enjoyed our Triumph Stag, when it ran well enough to drive. Others I’ve owned that ran much better: 1965 Shelby GT350 #111, 1966 Shelby GT350 (Two, one green, one white, both AT’s); 1950 Ford Woody; 1951 Chev HT; 56 Chevy HT, 1966 and 1964 VW’s; 1973 Cougar XR7 Convert; 1951 Chevy Sedan Delivery; 1969 MBG; 1968 AMX; 1966 Mustang GT, 1966 Mustang Fastback 1968 Olds Cutlass Convert; and more. All owned between 15-30 years of age and never more than one at a time. Now that I’m 66 and lament not keeping any of them long term, I’m reminded I couldn’t have bought the new one had I not sold the previous one.
I think that some of my cars are rare, a ’78 Lancia Gamma Coupe, 86 Civic Shuttle, 86 Renault Espace, 90 Rover 800 Fastback, 84 Citroen BX, 79 Citroen CX, 92 Mercedes Benz C124.In the past I have owned an NSU RO80 and many Rover P6s, one of them a very rare LHD NADA spec 2000TC – one of two or three in NZ
Sunbeam Tiger 260 (1967-72), ’67 Tiger 289 (79-89), Two of ~ 602 1967 Z 28’s. 1966 Shelby GT350H.
1970 Boss 302. Bikes, Montessa Cota 247 ? Cooper Enduro 250 ? I was care taker of a Lotus Europa for about a year.
I guess either my Honda S600 or the 1969 Reliant Scimitar GTE.
1976 lancia scorpion that I had turbocharged. Keep it for probably 15 years. Getting parts was similar to deep sea diving for buried treasure.
No idea how rare it is, but the 4 digit VIN numbers they used would indicate very – My 1971 Husqvarna 400 Cross. I’m guessing these are maybe a thousand of them from that year? And Steve McQueen owned about 30% of them at one time. I also have a 1985 Honda VF1000R which is one of about 7,000 worldwide in 1985-86.
Now my daily driver is only rare in how it is optioned. That would be a 2005 Chevy Colorado reg cab with the ZQ8 package, 5 cylinder motor and 5 speed manual, in yellow.
Prolly this, but there was a Fiero, Bronco II, and 71 ranchero with a 3 on the tree….
I’ll admit to having once briefly owned a 1980-something Alfa-Romeo Arna. Admittedly, they were never exactly Davis- or Apollo-rare, but they didn’t make terribly many of them and for good reason: they weren’t as bad as everyone made them out to be but rather far, far worse.
The day it went to the scrapyard (three weeks after I bought it) was one of the happiest moments of my life.
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