Rusted Automotive

A wise man once said that when the apocalypse finally hits Earth, the only things that are going to be left are cockroaches and Dodge Power Wagons. While that sounds fine and dandy, that wise man forgot about one other vehicle: Mercedes-Benz's Unimog. Much like Dodge's Power Wagon, one cannot kill a Unimog, a vehicle about as bulletproof as Chrysler's Slant Six. This Unimog is a 1980 416 Doka model, and looks utterly fantastic. Find it here on eBay in New Glarus, Wisconsin, with a Buy-It-Now price of $75,000.  Though the original Unimog was introduced in 1946 as a prototype (production began in 1947, and Mercedes-Benz took over production in 1951), the Doka (short for Doppelkabine, which is German for "double cabin") was introduced in 1974 and produced until 1986. During its 12-year production, 353 Dokas were built. This Doka is a 1980 model, and features a cool and desirable three-way hydraulic dump b...

With Halloween a little over a month away, I should mention that Halloween is one of my favorite holidays and that I used to dominate Halloween as a kid. In sixth grade, for instance, I dressed up as beloved 1980s television icon, Mr. T, which garnered many positive reviews from my classmates and prompted my middle school principal to shout "I pity the fool!" every time I walked down the hallway. Mr. T is no shrinking violet so to say, and judging from this mural, this 1973 GMC Motorhome appears not to be one either. Find it here on  RV Trader  in Black Diamond, WA, with an asking price of $19,000 obo. Produced by the GM Truck and Coach Division from 1973 to 1978 and built in Pontiac, Michigan, the GMC Motorhome was the only complete motorhome built by a major car or truck manufacturer. Considered GMC's halo vehicle, GMC marketed the Motorhome as a vehicle that could suit a variety of purposes, including mai...

I'll admit it: if there is one car I'm going to buy when I have the financial wherewithal, it is going to be an AMC Gremlin. The AMC Gremlin, especially in its earliest years, has always had a wonderfully unique and muscular look, and respected automotive figures (such as David Freiburger) have owned and built them up to their specifications. My dad has even told me about building up a Gremmie with a 440 swap back in the day. This 1973 Gremlin also features a big-block, but in this case it's a 454 big-block Chevrolet! Find it here on Hemmings in Milford, Ohio, with an asking price of $19,250. Introduced in 1970, the AMC Gremlin is heralded as the first subcompact car built and sold in the United States' domestic automotive market. The Gremlin came about for two reasons: the AMX-GT concept from April 1968, and the recent flood of Japanese imports that had reached US shores. Based off of the new-for-1970 compa...

When it comes to sports cars, I usually go fro Corvettes, Vipers, or even the new Ford GT; in other words, my sports cars are from 'Murica. However, one sports car I have a soft spot for is the Honda S2000, either stock or tastefully modified. The S2000 is a car that many Honda enthusiasts want Honda to bring back into production, but until that happens, the best way to enjoy Honda's junior supercar is to buy a nice, clean one, like this garage-kept 2002 model in an attractive silver with an optional black hardtop. Find it here on Craigslist in Levittown, PA, with an asking price of $18,995. Special thanks to Brett Lindenmuth for requesting this write-up! Owing its roots to Honda's SSM (Sports Study Model) concept from 1995, the S2000 became a reality in 1999 when it went into production. Conceived as a successor to Honda's S500, S600 and S800 sports cars (which got Honda onto the automotive scene in the 1960s...

There are some cars out there for sale that collectors are not looking for, but once discovered become a desirable piece of machinery to the interested buyer. Looking outside of the box in the automotive market always brings about the coolest cars, trucks and motorcycles for sale into the limelight, and when this happens, most likely one can buy a nice, unusual piece of machinery for an affordable price. A prime example is this 1980 Chevrolet Monte Carlo, which is an unrestored original powered by the rare Buick 3.8L V6! Find it here on 2040 Cars in York, Pennsylvania.  After a full redesign in 1978, the Monte Carlo soldiered on for the 1980 model year in its final year of the third generation models; for 1981, the Monte Carlo gained more (surprisingly) aerodynamic styling for its fourth-generation that improved fuel economy and (for some) overall appearance. For 1980, the front end was mildly updated with a new grille surrou...

Bring up the words "S13 Silvia" to any JDM enthusiast, and I guarantee you they will stop dead in their tracks. The Nissan S13 is heralded as one of the best drift cars ever built, and my friend Brett Lindenmuth made me a fan of them recently. Finding a clean, fairly unmolested one is like trying to find the proverbial needle in the haystack, however, as most S13 Silvias have been made into drift cars or drag racers and have had their stock engines replaced with a Chevy LS or some other American V8. This 1994 Nissan S13 200SX turbo is not only mostly stock, it is by far one of the cleanest S13s I've seen for sale recently. Find it here on Piston Heads in Lancashire, United Kingdom, for  £7,995 (approximately $10,859 US). Special thanks to Brett Lindenmuth for inspiring me on writing about one of these cars! Introduced in the fall of 1988 as a 1989 model, the S13 Silvia was conceived to compete against the Ford Probe, To...

For the past few years now, Australian have piqued my curiousity; Forza Horizon 3 features a part of its game where players can find cars in barns around Australia, including a Holden HQ Monaro GTS 350 , while one of my favorite car shows of all time, Roadkill, did an entire episode in the "Land Down Under" , featuring one of my favorite hot rods of all time: a 2006 Holden HSV VE Clubsport R8 powered by a Sonny Leonard 727 cubic inch big block making 1,275 horsepower. Australia, much like the United States, has a mind built for speed, and the way they build their muscle cars almost puts the United States to shame. A prime example of this is this 1975  Holden Monaro HJ GTS, a ver rare sight in the United States. Find it here on GumtreeCars in Minchinbury, New South Wales, Australia with an asking price of $19,990 Australian (approximately $15,991 US). This thing is gold, Jerry, gold! Introduced in 1968 along with th...