My turn to do our weekly AutoHunter picks and thus I’m presenting what I consider to be forgotten or at least overlooked classics being offered up for bidding on the online auction platform driven by ClassicCars.com.
For the 1977 model year, Pontiac launched the Phoenix as the top-of-the-line version of the its Ventura, and for 1978 dropped the Ventura name in favor of the fabled bird rising from the ashes, and kept that nameplate in place on its X-body model through 1984, when it re-introduced the Grand Am badge to its lineup.
The Phoenix was a rear-driven automobile available in 2- or 4-door sedan and as a 3-door hatchback configuration.
The ’78 Phoenix offered on AutoHunter is a two-owner coupe showing 50,938 miles and according to the listing, has been in Arizona since new. It has a 350cid V8 rated at 300 horsepower and a new 3-speed automatic transmission. The engine also has a new Edelbrock 500cfm carburetor, as well as new tires, dual exhaust and carpeting.
The car is white with the rear section of the roof covered in blue vinyl. The interior is gray cloth. The car has air conditioning, and crank up/down windows.
We consider the Phoenix coupe with the striking styling of the back part of its greenhouse to be a forgotten classic.
1979 Lincoln Mark V Bill Blass Edition
In the late 1970s, Lincoln worked with Emillo Pucci, Givenchy, Cartier and Bill Blass to create a Designer Series of its Continental Mark V, and one of them, a Bill Blass edition, is up for bidding.
For 1979, the Blass cars were done in two-tone Moondust, a midnight-blue metallic and white paint, with white-leather interior and Midnight accents or in dark blue with white accents. The car on AutoHunter has the white interior. You could get either a full or carriage-style vinyl roof; this one has the full covering.
The car has a 400cid V8 rated at 179 horsepower and 315 pound-feet of torque, and a 3-speed C6 automatic transmission.
The former fashion curator at the Phoenix Art Museum has expressed interest in staging a special showing of the full set of the Lincoln Designer Series vehicles.
Twelve-cylinder European cars, especially 2-seaters, are usually considered to be exotics and therefore can be ridiculously expensive. But here’s one that should be much more affordable.
In the mid-1970s, Jaguar introduced “a new breed of cat,” its XJ-S, as a 2+2 coupe with a 326cid V12 rated at 244 horsepower. In 1982 the engine was modified to produce 262 horsepower.
In 1986, a Targa-roof was offered and for 1987 the XJ-S could be had as a true convertible, a 2-seat roadster, one of which is up for bidding on AutoHunter in reportedly unmodified condition and after being driven only 16,000 miles.
The car is done in Diamond Blue paint with a dark-blue fabric top and the upgraded Magnolia leather interior with woodgrain accents.
To see these and other cars up for bidding, visit the AutoHunter website.
The dash board photo shown with the Pontiac Phoenix is actually a a photo of the dash board of a Ford Maverick.