ClassicCars TV explores the sunny disposition of this 1961 Renault 4CV Beach Wagon. One of 50 built by Ghia for export to the Caribbean, this particular Frenchie was imported to Jacksonville, Florida on September 27, 1961, and used by the U.S. Ambassador to the Bahamas.
For the past 40 years, it has been owned by a family who resides in the Atlantic coast city of Vero Beach. At the Barrett-Jackson 2024 Palm Beach Auction, this unique minicar sold for $36,300.
Featured on AutoHunter.com, the online auction platform driven by ClassicCars.com, is this 1969 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray coupe. It was purchased by the seller in 1980 and received a new engine, a new rear end, and a new exhaust as part of a 2014 restoration. The upgraded 383ci V8 has only accrued approximately 4,000 miles since being installed and is connected to a three-speed automatic transmission. Features include T-tops, power steering, and four-wheel disc brakes. Finished in black over a Saddle vinyl interior, this C3 Corvette comes with a clear title in the seller’s name.Â
Originally finished in Riverside Gold, the body was repainted black in 1985. The exterior is equipped with chrome bumpers, pop-up headlights, custom mirror caps, color-keyed T-top panels, and a luggage rack.
The 15-inch chrome Corvette Rally wheels are wrapped in 245/60 BFGoodrich Radial T/A tires. According to the seller, the wheels, beauty rings, and tires were installed in 2014.Â
Inside, the bucket seats are covered in Saddle vinyl and surrounded by manual windows, power steering, and a vintage-look AM/FM radio. The seller reports the air conditioning is currently nonfunctional, but they aim to have it repaired before the car is sold.
Important information is shown on a 160-mph speedometer, a 7,000-rpm tachometer, and fuel, water temperature, oil pressure, and battery gauges. The odometer shows 86,212 miles, but the true mileage on this Stingray is unknown.
In 2014, a 383ci stroker V8 was installed under the front-hinged hood. Since then, it has covered about 4,000 miles. It comes paired with black aluminum valve covers, a four-barrel carburetor, and a polished aluminum intake manifold. The upgraded engine sends power to the rear wheels through a three-speed automatic transmission.
This Corvette rides on a four-wheel independent suspension. Manual disc brakes at each corner help bring it to a stop. In addition to the engine, a new 3.42:1 rear end and a new dual exhaust system were installed in 2014.Â
Some people grow up in Ford families. Their parents are loyal to the blue oval and when they get old enough, they end up driving an Explorer or an F-150 as their first vehicle. I was raised in what you can call a Ford-adjacent household. My parents primarily drove Asian imports when I was a kid, but my dad did have non-running 1964.5 and 1965 Mustang convertibles that were in desperate need of restoration. Their potential always made me daydream about what it would be like to drive one of them with the top down. That desire for a Mustang only grew in high school thanks to friends that had their own. After college, I had a girlfriend who let me drive her black New Edge GT, which gave me a taste of what I had been curious to try. Several years later, I was fortunate enough to test about 10 various S550 models, including the Shelby GT500, as a freelance journalist. As if it wasnât clear before, those experiences made it undeniable: I had to get a Mustang.
In September 2022, I finally did. I signed on the dotted line for a 2008 Mustang Bullitt, one of only 5,808 produced for the model year (Ford made an additional 816 for 2009, according to Steeda). Not only did I finally get what I thought was my dream car, but I also got a year-long learning experience, which Iâm going to break down into a few stories. In this first part, Iâll share what I shouldâve done differently in my pre-purchase process.
Be Calm
I consider myself level-headed about my finances. I always wait for sales and never feel that my money is burning a hole in my pocket. Even when I was coming up with my short-list of potential new cars, I thought I was being realistic. Sure, they werenât all that practical, but they also werenât ridiculously expensive. I considered the 2003-2004 Mercury Marauder for its sleek looks and passenger space, but the ones with low prices had too many miles and the less road-beaten ones were more than I cared to spend. Then there was the 2003-2004 Mustang SVT Cobra. Perhaps if the right one wouldâve popped up near me, I wouldâve enjoyed the rush of 390 supercharged horsepower. The 2003-2004 Mustang Mach 1 was also on the list and offered 305 horsepower and the novelty of a shaker hood scoop. Any serious thought of that immediately vanished when I saw a dealer near me had an exclusively Arizona-owned Dark Highland Green 2008 Bullitt with only 25,000 miles on it. So did my restraint. (More on that later.) Â
Think About My Lifestyle
The year before I bought the Bullitt was the first one in nearly a decade Iâd had a commute. The previous eight I had worked from home. When I got the Bullitt, I was working in an office approximately an hour away from my house three days a week. My initial excitement over the purchase numbed me to the grind of driving a manual car with a heavy clutch in Phoenix rush-hour traffic. That caught up with me once I had to commute five days a week â some of which hit 115 degrees – in a car with a Dark Charcoal leather interior.
In the lead-up to getting the Bullitt, I envisioned going on rallies with other Mustang owners and taking my fiancĂŠ (now wife) down amazing driving roads to romantic destinations. Weâve had our share of those, but we spend most of our weekends in the suburbs or in Scottsdale. Apparently, horses arenât the only creatures who wear blinders.
Consider Others
I knew when I was getting closer to the final purchase that I was being indulgent, but I felt I had earned the privilege. I had always wanted a Mustang and I was finally going to stop dreaming about it and make it happen.
It wasnât until later that I realized how selfish I was in making the Bullitt my only car. To mark the 40th anniversary of the movie “Bullitt,” Ford equipped its commemorative model with a variety of cosmetic and performance upgrades. It offered the GT-based model in only two colors: Dark Highland Green and Black. No matter which one you picked, the Bullitt had a low-key appearance consisting of a pony-less grille, no Ford emblems, and movie car-inspired 18-inch âEuroflangeâ wheels and exhaust tweaks. According to Ford Performance, in addition to stiffer shocks, springs, and a strut tower brace, Fordâs in-house gearheads installed a Ford Racing Power Upgrade Package that bumped the output of the 4.6-liter V8 up to 315 horsepower and 325 lb-ft of torque.
Ford paired the enhanced engine with a TREMEC five-speed manual gearbox exclusively. The love of my life didnât know how to drive stick, so if for some reason her car was out of commission, I couldnât lend her mine. I was still thinking like a single guy, not someone who was going to get married in two months.
Then there were my soon-to-be in-laws. We spent a lot of time with them trying different restaurants, shopping, and going on day trips. They both had cars that offered space for everyone. While technically a four-seater, the Bullitt effectively had no back seats. Even if my fiancĂŠ and her mother decided to contort themselves into the back row and suffer the pain of nearly zero legroom, my future father-in-law wouldn’t be comfortable in the shotgun seat for long because he was 6â5â. Every time we all went somewhere together, it wasn’t in my car. My indulgence had become an inconvenience to the people I loved.
That was just the beginning of my lesson. I learned even more when I purchased my first modern collector car, which I’ll cover in the next part, so stay tuned!
I can still remember the first time that I saw a Porsche 928 in person. It was 1980, my dad had visited the Porsche dealer in Tucson and came home with one for an extended test drive. I was already a bit Porsche crazy, but the 928 was something completely modern and new. It looked a bit like a space ship and was incredibly modern. The interior was even more modern, with amazing electrically adjustable leather seats, a cool instrument cluster that tilted up and down as you adjusted the steering wheel height, and lots of cool knobs and buttons. One of the best parts was that when you shut the door, it felt like you just closed a bank vault. The 928 exuded super high quality surpassing any other car I had ever been in at that time.
Now 44 years later getting into a good example of a 928 feels exactly the same as it did then. To me it remains one of the best constructed GT cars ever built. In addition, that modern styling remains an incredibly current design, and the 928 looks like a car that went on sale yesterday, not one introduced in 1978.
Our Spotlight 928 is a 1987 S4 that was purchased new by its current owner, something you never see anymore. The car has received service to the timing belt, water pump, and fluids within the last 100 miles. It is powered by a 5.0-liter DOHC 32 valve V8 mated to a three-speed automatic transmission and a limited-slip differential. It is painted in its original Silver Metallic paint over its original burgundy leather interior.
The exterior of the car looks to be in amazing condition with no major flaws or issues. The Carfax report starts in 1987 and shows no history of any damage. The car rides on its original set of 16-inch Porsche alloy wheels with correct size 225/50 front and 245/45 rear Bridgestone Potenza tires.
The interior looks just as good with the seat leather showing no undue wear, and all-in-all looks like a car that has been well cared for its entire life. Like all 928 cars, it is loaded with options of the time including power windows, power locks, power steering, cruise control, A/C, and a period correct Alpine AM/FM/cassette deck. The seller notes that the A/C needs a recharge. I would verify that all it needs is a recharge and does not have other issues.
For the last 10 years the car has been serviced at a Porsche shop called Stuttgart Northeast and this 928 has a complete set of service records from new.
Finding a 928 with its original owner, with complete records from new, is next to impossible, as most have had a series of owners and many are in poor condition. This one looks like one to buy, as the owner seems to have taken great care to be sure their 928 remained in condition befitting the best GT car in the world.
The auction for this one owner 1987 Porsche 928 S4 ends Thursday, June 27, 2024 at 11:30 a.m. (PDT).
Two student docents from the Maine Classic Car Museum are taking part in the 2024 Great Race as part of the X-Cup Challenge. Click here for part one of their journey.
Cars and Caves
Max and Cotton here again with our daily blog as we get ready to compete in the 2024 Great Race long distance rally. Weâre two high school students from Maine and weâre reporting on our experience as rookies in this epic 2,300 mile race.
Today as we headed towards the starting line, we made a detour in Kentucky for some great cars and caves. First stop was the National Corvette Museum in Bowling Green. The Museum sits next to the General Motors Corvette assembly plant and the museum was amazing. The legendary Corvette celebrated its 70th anniversary last year, and you can see every example from the first C1 to todayâs C8 models. Whatâs cool is that they have a boulevard in the middle of the Museum where new Corvette buyers can come and take delivery of their cars. There were a lot of smiles on the boulevard today.
We both made a ranked list of our favorite Corvettes on the ride to Bowling Green, and we were anxious to see if in-person comparison of these cars side-by-side would confirm or change our rankings. Hands down for Max is the C8. The newest Corvettes have it allâthe looks, the technology and the power. For Cotton, an orange C7 got his vote as the best Corvette.
Coming from Maine, we were intrigued to see a very special 1954 car called the âEntombed Corvette.â The story goes that a grocery store owner got frustrated that his wife wouldnât ride in his Corvette with him, so he built a secret room in his new store and hid the car. It sat there for many years until it was finally unearthed. Speaking of tombs, the Corvette Museum has a special exhibit showing the cars that fell into a big sink hole in 2014. We were so sad to see the footage of the 1,000,000th Corvette falling into a big hole, but glad to see that General Motors has since fully restored the car.
We were on top of the world after seeing the Corvette Museum, so we changed our pace and went to the bottom of the earth at nearby Mammoth Caves National Park. Well, not quite. But we did hike down 300 feet and it was pretty cool in more ways than one. It was fun watching Tim and Bram, our chaperones, wiggle, duck, and crawl through some tight places.
We came back to Earthâs surface and listened to bluegrass music on the radio as we made our way to Owensboro, the starting point of the Great Race. We said goodbye to our good friends Pete and Talia from Kenney Towing in Wells, Maine. They unloaded our 1961 Cadillac Sedan Deville from the trailer and we both got a chance to take the car for a spin around the parking lot.
Thanks for Day Two, boys! We wish you luck, and can’t wait for the rest of the journey. Part Three, coming soon.
If youâre ready to party like itâs 1999, youâll need a Smash Mouth CD, some loose-fitting pants, a few Furby stuffed animals, and a proper âpre-Y2Kâ vehicle to cruise around in. Here you go:
âLike new, excellent condition,â the listing begins. For its age, this truck is fresh and clean. The odometer shows only 54,392 original miles, and the seller (who is the original owner) says the truck has never been driven in the winter.
For most people, a compact pickup truck will do all the âtruck thingsâ that he or she ever needs to do without the need for a gas-guzzling (and difficult to park) full-sized rig. With that notion in mind, the GMC Sonoma and its badge-engineered sibling, the Chevrolet S-10, got their start in the early 1980s. Actually, the Sonoma initially went by the name âS-15,â but quick received a different identity. Both trucks rode on what General Motors called its GMT325 platform, and much of the chassis engineering was shared with vehicles like the S-10 Blazer, the Jimmy, and the Oldsmobile Bravada.
For 1994, a new generation was born, and the Sonomaâs competitive focus was set squarely on the Ford Ranger. In 1998, a facelift brought a new front fascia, different wheel designs, and an overhauled interior. This body style would continue until the Sonoma and S-10 were formally phased out when the new GMC Canyon and Chevrolet Colorado were launched in 2004. Itâs hard to believe that was 20 years ago.
Under the hood of this truck (which some referred to as a âquarter-tonâ), power comes from a Vortec 4300 V6 mated to a four-speed automatic transmission. This combination was rated at 175 horsepower and 240 lb-ft of torque when new. Thatâs plenty of oomph to make it to your Creed concert on time!
The window sticker says that this truck was originally delivered to Art Moran GMC in Southfield, Michigan when new. It came well-equipped for its time, with $7,111 in options added. Among the included features were air conditioning, power windows, a sport suspension package, cruise control, bucket seats, a locking rear differential, a sliding rear window, fog lamps, a tachometer, and a leather-wrapped steering wheel. All-in, the truck came to $22,858 retail.
The asking price for this low-miler is $15,000 or best offer, and that includes a Covercraft cover with a storage bag.
Though Australians appear to share more with the British than with Americans, their auto industry historically has been closer to ours due to their love for the V8. Their home-brewed cars may not have looked like ours, but the exhaust notes often sounded like ours. If this sounds like your bag, the Gold Coast Muscle Car Museum is your new joint to see Aussie performance history and more.
Charger Six Pack
The museum is âthe most amazing private collection of Australian muscle carsâ of the 1950-70s. Located in Bundall, Queensland, the museum gets its name from the nearby city of Gold Coast, which just so happens to be the sixth-largest in the country. On display are Chargers, Falcons of different stripes, SLR5000 Toranas (a type of Holden), and every Monaro model built from 1968-76 (yes, another Holden product).
And if youâre a Mad Max fan, there is a replica of the Interceptor, which was a highly modified Falcon from the 1970s. If you squint, you may see some 1972 Torino in it â clearly itâs a Ford product from the same era.
The same could be said of the Monaro, which also mimicked the design language of General Motors cars of the time, with the late 1960s ones often giving GM c.1968 vibes.
Besides the cars, there is a mag wheel display and a working tune-up machine from the 1970s.
Muscle bike enthusiasts are not left out as the museum has a Honda 750 Four and a Kwaka 900 (apparently, thatâs a nickname for Kawasaki) on display.
Adding to the fun quotient are the free pinball machines and a fun Scalextric track. And if you get thirsty, a vintage soft drink machine (or âpopâ to you Midwesterners).
Electric vehicle startup Fisker last Monday filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection with a court in Delaware, just a year after the start of deliveries of the company’s Ocean debut model.
A company spokesperson said Fisker delivered âthousandsâ of the crossovers to customers in Europe and North America but was set back by âvarious market and macroeconomic headwinds.â
In addition to facing a market cooling on EVs, Fisker also suffered challenges in ramping up production due to supply chain issues. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration also started a preliminary probe into the Ocean in May after receiving complaints of doors sometimes failing to open.
Fisker was founded in 2016 and was one of the more promising EV startups only a short while ago. It became a public company in late 2020 via a reverse merger, and the following year its share price shot up to a high of $28.50 before beginning its decline into penny stock status. It was delisted from the New York Stock Exchange in March.
Henrik Fisher with the first customer Fisker Ocean – May 2023
Fisker attempted to raise funds by partnering with a major automaker, and talks between Fisker and Nissan were rumored. However, without a deal in place, Fisker’s cash continued to deplete and the company in March decided to halt production of the Ocean at the crossover’s plant in Austria operated by contract manufacturer Magna Steyr.
This marks the second time that an EV startup founded and led by Henrik Fisker has succumbed to bankruptcy. A previous incarnation of Fisker went bust in 2013, and its remaining assets were sold to Chinese battery company Wanxiang. That company was revived and today operates as Karma.
The modern Fisker also plans to sell its remaining assets, which the company estimates at a value of between $500 million and $1 billion. Among the assets are designs for three additional vehicles including an urban crossover called the Pear, a lifestyle pickup truck called the Alaska, and a four-door convertible called the Ronin.
Ever since 1971, the Pontiac Bonneville has been through the wringer, being demoted by the Grand Ville, then finding its way back to the top, only to ignominiously be transferred to the LeMansâ platform. Cooler heads prevailed a few years later as the Bonneville was revamped and redesigned, now full of verve that had been missing for years. Our Pick of the Day, a 1988 Pontiac Bonneville SSE, is one of the best of these revitalized Pontiacs. It is listed for sale on ClassicCars.com by a private seller in St. Francis, Wisconsin. (Click the link to view the listing)
1982 Pontiac Bonneville
We recently highlighted the story of the Bonneville in a recent Pick of the Day for a 1972 Grand Ville. The Bonneville returned to the top of the full-size Pontiac hierarchy as the Bonneville Brougham, which was downsized in 1977 in General Motorsâ sweeping program for more efficient space utilization and better fuel economy. These cars were a success but, come 1982, Pontiac discontinued its full-size platform, replaced the G-body LeMans with the 6000, and moved the Bonneville to the G-body platform. Pontiac now lacked a full-size car until the Canadian Parisienne saved the day. This poseur of a Bonneville lasted through 1986, upon which irony would prevail as GMâs quest for downsizing and front-wheel drive would result in an all-new Bonneville worthy of its name.
1988 Bonneville SSE interior from brochure
The 1987 Bonneville was based on the H-body, which first appeared in 1986 (Buick LeSabre and Oldsmobile 88) and followed the practically identical 1985 C-body (Buick Electra, Oldsmobile 98, and Cadillac DeVille). While not quite exciting initially, Pontiac built excitement, as the ad campaign would say, and that would be coming for 1988 as the sporty SSE. The SSE featured monochromatic âEuro stylingâ with special aero ground effects, anti-lock brakes, electronic ride control, WS6 suspension, SFI 3800 V6 with 165 horsepower, headlamp washers, 10-way adjustable seats with lumbar support and adjustable headrests, steering wheel-mounted radio controls, and complete instrumentation including compass. While the Bonneville SSE came off a bit over-the-top in the best 1980s Pontiac tradition, it arguably was more appealing than other overdone Pontiacs of the era.
This incarnation of the Bonneville continued through 1991. A handsome, redesigned Bonneville launched in the summer of 1991, with the SSE being slightly demoted to mid-level status because the new SSEi made a splash with a standard supercharged 3.8-liter V6 with 205 horsepower. Another redesign for 2000 ditched the SSE, with the SSEi lasting through 2003. In 2004, a 4.6-liter V8 was added to the new top-of-the-line Bonneville GPX, with the Bonneville series continuing through 2005 when it was discontinued.
This 1988 Pontiac Bonneville SSE could be seen as part of the reemergence of the Pontiac brand after being saddled with so many disappointments during the Malaise Era. âPurchased on consignment from the original owner,â says the seller. âRuns, drives, and rides like new â zero mechanical issues.â Over $5,000 has been spent in the past year professionally refreshing the paint.
In case you havenât interrupted your read by checking out the ad, you should note that this Bonneville has only 14,300 miles on the odometer. With so few seen on the street anymore, this may be the one to get for your Pontiac fix. For $14,000, itâs almost one dollar per mile.
Gone is the carâs original 206ci inline-six that produced just 80 horsepower when new. And now, in its place, lives a much more potent fuel-injected Vortec 6.0-liter LS V8 mated to a 6L80E six-speed automatic transmission. In the listing is a video of a start-up that brings the 6.0-liter V8 to life. There is a nice rumble coming from the side-exit exhaust pipes at idle â I can only imagine how beastly it must sound at wide-open throttle.
This custom ride is being offered for sale by a private seller in Qualicum Beach, British Columbia, and the auction ends next Wednesday.
One of the defining characteristics of this hot rod its distinctive matte finish, which the seller calls âRoot Beer.â The exterior has been updated with suicide doors, inset turn signals in the headlights, custom taillights, and removed bumpers. The smooth wheels and white-letter tires complete the look, which conveys a sort of ârat rodâ aesthetic with an understated theme.
As unique as the car looks, most of its selling points lie beneath the surface. Among them are features like power steering, a tilt steering column, bucket seats, a Mustang II independent front suspension, power front disc brakes, and a dual exhaust system. Some of the engineering work was completed by Goodfellas Speed Shop in Parksville, British Columbia. The listing says that build documentation will accompany the car.
By way of model history, Chevrolet originally marketed the Master Deluxe with the tagline âIts outer beauty reflects its inner quality.â Advertisements went on to say, âThe smart, clean-cut beauty of the Master Deluxe Chevrolet for 1935 is a true reflection of its inner quality. For Chevrolet has given much care to the manufacture of hidden parts as to the fashioning of the bodies of this aristocrat of low-priced cars.â
An aristocrat is a member of the aristocracy, which, according to Oxford Languages means an individual of the highest class, of noble heritage, also considered privileged or superior. So, for Chevrolet to call this car the highest class of low-priced cars was sort of an oxymoron, but the public seemed to buy it â literally: between model years 1935 and 1936, Chevrolet sold 846,300 Master Deluxe models, many of which retailed around $560 to $675.
Luckily for us, there are a few of those 846,300 units still on the road for us to admire, but Iâm fairly certain none of them are customized quite like this hot rod. Perhaps youâd like to make it yours?
