Rusted Automotive

As 2018 draws to a close and 2019 rapidly approaches, each and every person has a new set of goals and projects to achieve and conquer. For myself, my main goal is to obtain my driver's license and to help my dad finish putting in the two garages we began building (the one garage is built and currently housing my late friend's 1940 Chevy; it only needs the concrete floor to be poured. The other garage that will house the lift needs to still be built). When both goals are accomplished, I hope to help my dad sell a few cars (1994 Caprice 9C1, 1984 Camaro Z28 Autoform roadster, 1978 Dodge Tradesman 200 van, 1976 Chevy G30 RV, all of which are currently for sale by the way) and focus on his (1986 Corvette, 1967 Cadillac De Ville convertible, 1979 Trans Am), my brother's (1984 Camaro and 1993 GMC K2500), and my own (1981 LeBaron Salon and 1995 Caprice Classic station wagon) projects. Despite our downsizing and prioritizing projects, I couldn't help but check out this 1980...

A wise man once said that the coolest cars that are discovered by a person are most likely the ones not being looked for in the first place. I experienced this when my dad worked at a nearby junkyard when I was a kid; the amount of treasures in that junkyard was too much to take in at once. Some of the most desirable cars anywhere are factory prototypes; the problem is, finding a factory prototype is like trying to find a four-leaf clover in a two-hundred acre field. This 1932 Chevrolet Speedster is not only coach-built, it is a pattern prototype! Find it here on Hemmings in Verona, Wisconsin, with an asking price of $95,000 obo. Who said that the only wood-bodied cars built in the United States are station wagons? Produced by GM for the Australian market, this Speedster was based off Vauxhall's Hurlingham Roadster and uses a body prepared by Holden Coach Builders. Overall, Chevrolet built ten cars and this wood-buck prototype...

Though about 95% of the decade of the 1980s was pretty much garbage, there were a few bright rays of sunlight to that decade. In the automotive department, hot hatches were a star-studded automotive highlight. Though typically Europe is associated with performance hatchbacks, Japan marketed a few of its own. This hot hatch from the Land of the Rising Sun is a 1989 Isuzu I-Mark RS, a rare sight in any condition today. Find it here on eBay in Knoxville, Tennessee, with no bids. Known as the Gemini in its home market of Japan, the I-Mark gained a performance edge in 1989 with the introduction of the RS model. Featuring a suspension tuned by Lotus, the RS model featured more rigid dampers, alternate spring rates, and bigger sway bars. Available for 1989 only, the RS is the rarest edition of the I-Mark, and I've only seen one other RS model for sale four years ago. Said to straight and rust-free according to the seller, the clea...

It's amazing how one company can come crashing down when one car fails to sell. For many companies that were independent of the Big Three, that one theme brought them all crashing down to the end of the line. For Kaiser, the Henry J was a big gamble that ended up not paying off. This 1953 Henry J is a convertible model, and is reportedly the first one built out of three prototypes. Find it here on Hemmings in Naples, Florida, with an asking price of $9,800 obo.  Named for its chairman, Henry J. Kaiser, the Henry J was built from July 1950 to 1954. Marketed as the modern-day Model T, the Henry J was marketed for its fuel economy, with its crowning achievement winning the 1953 Mobil Economy Run. The problem with the Henry J was the Big Three's full-size cars were about the same price, and the lack of an opening trunk and roll-down windows in the rear were turnoffs for most buyers. Kaiser must have realized that he needed to improve ...

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...

This past weekend, my dad, brother and I went up to our cabin in Pike County (about an hour southeast of Scranton) and brought home our RV, a 1976 Chevrolet G30 Holiday Rambler. After discussing what to do with it, we decided to give it to our friend from our local veterinarian clinic. It was a sombering and bittersweet decision, considering the memories my family had taking it camping throughout Pennsylvania and discussing the possibility of one day taking it to places like Yellowstone National Park and the Redwood Forest in California. On the other hand, the family car collection is being thinned out for good reason, and there's still my 1978 Dodge Tradesman 200 van, which is a bit smaller but nearly as capable. Also a bit smaller and just as capable as my family's Holiday Rambler is this 1976 Chevrolet Blazer Chalet, which is the seventh one built out of a production of 1,712 for the 1976 model year. Find it here on eBay in Olive Hill, Kentucky...

Before I started this website, I briefly wrote as a freelance writer for barnfinds.com. During my brief career working for them, the first article I wrote was about a 1988 Oldsmobile Touring Sedan. Now, less than three months later, another Oldsmobile Touring Sedan has popped up for sale! This Touring Sedan is a 1987 model, and is a two-owner car with less than 30,000 miles on the odometer. Find it here on eBay in York, Pennsylvania, with reserve not met and a Buy-It-Now price of $9,500.  Introduced in 1987 to celebrate Oldsmobile’s 90th anniversary and to compete against the large sport sedans from BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Audi and Saab, the Touring Sedan was based off of the front-wheel drive C-body Ninety-Eight sedan. What was rather unusual about the Touring Sedan was it lacked any emblems or markings to signify its relationship to the Ninety-Eight. This Touring Sedan is a 1987 model, and is one of 3,985 built for i...

Tired of building up the same succession of diesel-powered trucks over and over again? Looking for an interesting alternative from the same-old fire trucks out there for sale? Need more than one engine and more traction than four-wheel drive? Look no further than this 1960 FWD P-2 Air Force Crash Truck! Dealer antics aside, this FWD P-2 is definitely a vehicle you do not see every day, and featuring not one but two two-stroke Detroit Diesel 8V-71s and eight-wheel drive! Find it here on Craigslist in Mountainair, New Mexico, with an asking price $15,000. With production believed to have fully kicked-off production in 1962, this P-2 was formally used by the US Air Force for its ARFF (Aircraft Rescue and Firefighting) department. In 1980, this P-2 was purchased by the Quality Truck company, where it was overhauled and subsequently renamed the P-2A. Referred to by the Air Force as the "Rolling Tetanus Shot" (due to its tendency to...

As the infamous line from Game of Thrones goes, "winter is coming". For automotive enthusiasts and collectors, this means that projects begin to move from the outdoors to inside the garage with the heat turned on and eventually turned up to full blast (especially if you live in the northeast part of the United States like I do). If you don't have a project for the winter, a perfect project for you would be this 1965 Jeep FC 170 M679 Military Ambulance, which is one of nine or ten known to exist. Find it here on Craigslist in Lake City, Florida, with an asking price of $20,000. Based off of the Forward-Control Jeeps introduced back in 1956, the M679, which was produced for only one year: 1965, was based off of the M678, which was a Forward-Control Jeep with a van body. To become the M879, the M678 was refitted as an ambulance. All told, only 50 M-Series Forward Control Jeeps are believed to have survive from the...