Rusted Automotive

One of the coolest automotive trends making a comeback is the so-called van craze. Featuring bold, outrageous murals and mag wheels, I have been an active participant of the van craze with my 1978 Dodge Tradesman 200 (though my does not have any bold murals...yet). Vintage custom vans thusly have a soft spot in my heart, and this 1975 Chevrolet G10 Van is definitely pulling at my heartstrings with its Pink Floyd "Dark Side of the Moon" mural. Find it here on eBay in Thurston, Ohio, with a Buy-It-Now price of $3,650. Introduced in 1964 to replace the Corvair-based vans, Chevrolet's G-Series vans were fully redesigned, featuring a short nose and hood. This G10 van is a 1975 model, and is a bit deviated from stock. Featuring a two-tone blue and white paint scheme with a previously-mentioned "Dark Side of the Moon" mural and oval rear side windows, there is a bit of rust on the wheel wells and rockers, a...

As I may or may not have mentioned before, my family owns a cabin up in the Pocono Mountains in Pike County. From time to time, the family will head up into Carbondale and Dickson City to check out the local shops and stores. While driving through Carbondale, there is a ratty-looking 1955 Chevrolet two-door sedan sitting in front of a car wash business (unfortunately, the car is not for sale; believe me, I checked). While this 1955 Handyman is a two-door station wagon and not a two-door sedan, this wagon is almost an exact twin to the two-door sedan. Find it here on eBay in West Chester, Pennsylvania, with no bids and a little under 22 hours left to bid. In 1955, Chevrolet revolutionized the automotive industry with its full-size models. Featuring bold, new styling inspired by Cadillac, the full-size Chevrolets ditched the dumpy styling of the 1954 models for edgy, cutting-edge styling. This 1955 Chevrolet is a 150 Handyman two-door stati...

As the year winds down to a close, I not only reflect on the year, but I look also to next year and the events lined up. For automotive enthusiasts, the offseason for cars is like an offseason for sports: nothing and so much going on at the same time. One of the big events many enthusiasts and racers are preparing for is Bonneville Speed Week; typically held at the end of August each year, the anticipation for Bonneville is always high, especially considering Bonneville has been rained out a few times over the past seven years. Featuring some Bonneville and dry lake racing pedigree is this 1940 Ford 01A Deluxe Coupe, which has been garaged since 1975. Find it here on Hemmings in Yuma, Arizona, with an asking price of $23,000 negotiable. After being used as a street car throughout the 1950s and 1960s, this Ford 01A Deluxe coupe was converted to a Bonneville and dry lakes racer in the early 1970s. Run through So-Cal and on the...

For the vast majority of my childhood, my focus in the collector automotive scene was classic American cars, specifically muscle cars. When I discovered bringatrailer.com and barnfinds.com however, my automotive horizon broadened. One of the cars I've grown to like is BMW's 2002, which has a beautiful look about it. This BMW 2002 is a 1976 model, and features a M42/five-speed swap. Find it here on Craigslist in Atlanta, Georgia, with an asking price of $4,800. Built from 1968 to 1976, the BMW 2002 was BMW's compact car that was built up for the road and track. After 1976, the 2002 gave way to the legendary (and still being produced) 3-Series. This BMW is a 1976 model, and is one of 275,022 cars built for 1976. Taking a look over the outside of this car, the fitting of the doors is slightly off, and there is rust on the rear wheelwells, driver's-side windshield pillar, and the rocker panels. Turn signals are inopera...

From time to time, there are car enthusiasts that build the car that brings a vision to life that most likely wasn't pictured by anyone except for the builder. I've always been an advocate for hot rods that are dare-to-be different, especially considering the cars in my collection. A perfect example is this 1967 Citroen 2CV hot rod, which not only got a thumbs-up from hot-rodder Gene Winfield, he put his John Hancock on the dash! Find it here on Craigslist in Caro, Michigan, with an asking price of $17,000 obo. Though the original 2CV was France's darling, affordable mode of transportation back in the 20th century, the way this car is built, the theme is more like Turbo the snail. Built and shown at the 2014 Detroit Autorama, this 2CV was put on a 1988 Chevrolet S10 two-wheel drive chassis with a custom rear end. Painted in burnt orange, modifications on the exterior include a scratch-built chin spoiler, a mesh g...

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...

There are certain vehicles out there that are so ugly that they're cool. When one first looks over the vehicle, he or she may have to squint like George Costanza to understand what he or she is seeing. A perfect example of this is this 1978 Datsun 6x6 pickup truck, and was featured in a few off-road magazines back in the 1980s. Find it here on Facebook's Marketplace in Berryville, Arkansas, with an asking price of $4,050 and trades considered. Shout out to Jalopnik for discovering and first writing about this truck! Based off of a 1978 Datsun King Cab pickup, the truck was converted from a 4x4 to a 6x6 in the early 1980s. The truck was first up for sale on eBay for $25,000 back in December 2010 ( Jalopnik also wrote up an article for that listing ). Either a custom bed or a stock King Cab long bed was modified, featuring diamond-plate sides and a bed-mounted roll bar and spare tire. The truck features a custom 1980...