Best of the Breed: 1987 Chevrolet Sprint Turbo

Man, when was the last time you saw a Chevrolet Sprint Turbo on the road...okay...actually, have you ever seen a Sprint Turbo on the road?  What is this thing?  Quick recap; Suzuki built a supermini called the Cultus from 1983 through 2003, and GM decided they wanted in on the action...which meant slapping random badges onto the back and shoving them into every dealer in town, you could get a Suzuki Swift, a Geo Metro, Chevrolet Sprint, a Holden Barina, a Pontiac Firefly..do I need to go on...because I could.  Anyway, this next example is the peak of performance for the Cultus..Find this 1987 Chevrolet Sprint Turbo offered for $2900 in Vermilion,  OH via craigslist. Tip from FuelTruck.

Little Yellow Different: 1981 Toyota Starlet

You won't see this next car on the road very often, but it isn't some rare one-off oddball that you'll swoon for one first sight.  It also isn't a car that you'll talk about the good times you had in your high school year or the romanticized stories of how your mom and dad met.  To be clear, if you have any memories of this next car, that aren't repressed, they are of the plebeian kind that involves driving 10 miles out of your way to use double coupons to buy white bread in the town down the road, or trying to coax that last few drops from the gas spigot in the hopes it'll get you down the road to the next gas station...because the Toyota Starlet wasn't just owned by poor people...it was owned by cheap people...my kinda people.  Find this 1981 Toyota Starlet offered for $6,500 in Kathleen, GA via craigslist. Tip from Rock On!

Totally Innocent: 1997 BMW 318Ti

From the firewall forward the 318ti Compact is identical to the basic E36 sedan, but behind the A-pillar the compact BMW is unique.  It has a hatchback rear, uses the older E30 semi-trailing rear suspension (shared with the Z3/M Roadster & M Coupe) and is noticeably more tail happy than the regular E36 -which is already prone to violent outbursts of oversteer.  The 318ti compact version was an attempt by BMW to capture some of the lower end of the market with a lower price and 4-cylinder power, but the handling was not compromised and the Ti badge *probably means it will be worth more than the average pile of bolts when it gets old enough to be cloaked in the narcotizing fog of nostalgia. Find this 1997 BMW 318Ti offered for $7995 near Northridge, CA via craigslist. Tip from FuelTruck.

660 Horsepower: 1975 Chevrolet Monza

The Chevrolet Monza was a small 2+2 built on Chevrolet's H-body, which was also the basis for such piles of crap like the Vega, Skylark and Starfire. It was the last of GM's rear-wheel-drive subcompacts and the end of an era for GM's rear drive crap boxes, BUT today's example has a meaty V8 under the hood.  Find this 1975 Chevrolet Monza offered for $8000 in North Branford, CT via craigslist.  From Cory.

Polished Stone: 1991 Daihatsu Rocky SE

Dreary commutes in mundane vehicles got you down?  Tired of coal rollers filling your disrespected Civic with particulate?  Don't mind spending endless time explaining that your SUV isn't named after an immortalized Hollywood prize fighter?  Find this 1991 Daihatsu Rocky SE for sale in Columbia, SC for $6,500 via craigslist.

Made In Britian: 1961 Nash Metropolitan

The Nash Metropolitan was a strange car.  Smaller cars had (have?) been built, but few from the likes of big American companies like Nash (and later Hudson).  To make things even more obscene, the Metropolitan was build in England by Austin (BMC) and powered by small BMC engines.  Find this 1961 Nash Metropolitan here on eBay offered for $3,450 buy-it-now located in Dallas, TX.

Don't Get The Gremlin Wet: 1979 AMC Spirit AMX

The AMC Spirit was the successor to the outgoing Gremlin subcompact and was essentially a Gremlin without the funky styling...which when you get down to it is a pretty miserable formula for a car.  A surprising quantity of Gremlins have avoided crusher because of style, but the Spirit was crushed en masse, like...well...spirits being crushed in the 4th quarter of any Bears home games in the past 30 years.  Find this 1979 AMC Spirit AMX offered for $8,500 in Duncan, OK via craigslist.  Tip from FuelTruck.