Building a Caterham (Lotus) kit car will set you back something in the range of 40-large even with today's excellent dollar-pound exchange ratio, and even a used off-brand kit will cost in excess of $10k. However, if you are willing to live with something that is a bit more Volkswageny and less Lotusey...you can save even more money. Find this 2001 or 1972 Volkswagen Dune Buggy offered for $5,995 in Tacoma, WA via Premium-motors.com. Tip from JB1025
We all know Thorsday is the best day of the week. How can you have Thorsday without awesome Swedish steel? You can’t, so for your consideration is this example of a car with an engine that sounds like a nest of angry bees, needs oil, and may possibly smoke more than a middle school student behind the teacher’s lounge. With emission standards tightening it is hard to find two stroke marine engines and weed eaters let alone automobile engines. The rules are making it harder, and I submit conspiring, to prevent us from unleashing our inner Erik Carlsson and beating the likes of Porsche, MG, and fellow Swede Volvo in a rally stage with an underpowered car. But wait! Here is your opportunity as some hero has listed this 1966 SAAB 96 Special on Craigslist in Upton Massachusetts for a mere $6,000.00. That price is of course U.S. Dollars and not Swedish Krona.
Berkeley Cars Ltd of Biggleswade, Bedfordshire, England built front-drive sports cars with 2-stroke engines and glass-reinforced plastic bodies for a few years in the late 1950s. They are strange vehicles to see around, but supremely cool. Find this 1958 Berkeley Sports SE328 here on eBay bidding for $3,000 reserve-not-met with 4 days to go.
Today's mid week match-up is an open post with you, dear reader, helping with the match. That means I want you guys in the comments to give your car needs -- budget, location, constraints -- in the comments, and then folks will reply in a nested comment to your needs.
By 1984 the Alfa Romeo Spider was in its 18th year of production, and, depending on which side of the fence you fall, it was either an aging dinosaur or a beautiful classic you could buy brand-new...and 30 years later, the jury is still out to an all-you-can-eat lasagne lunch. Find this 1986 Alfa Romeo Quadrifoglio Spider Convertible offered for $500 in Vero Beach, FL via hemmings. Tip from BarbPaddles.
Why does it seem like everything is better in 3's? Three of a kind, 3 piece suits, trilogies, BLT's, Destiny's Child...and of course the elusive ménage à trois. When it comes to cars, I say "3 cheers for 3 pedals!" Find this 2001 Pontiac Grand Prix GT for sale in Philadelphia, PA for $1,600 via craigslist.
The Datsun 510 is known around these parts as a great little late 60s/early 70s Japanese sport sedan (competitor to the BMW 2002, among others) but it did have a predecessor that was equally as cool, but perhaps a bit more obscure. Find this 1968 Datsun 411 SSS sedan offered for $8,500 in Camarillo, CA via craigslist. Tip from Sean S.
Back in the days before you could order anything off the web and have it delivered by drone a minute later, people leafed thru heavy catalogs made of dead trees and filled out forms by hand they sent away via mail. Montgomery Wards was one such vendor that sold everything from guns to motorcycles, rebranded under their name. Find this 1967 Benelli Cobra, otherwise known as the Montgomery Wards Riverside 125 for sale in Des Moines, WA for $2,250 via craigslist.
A while back we discussed the current market for high end cars and the amount of depreciation currently dogging some of these models. The Porsche 996 is a good example, albeit it has somewhat of a bad reputation with the IMS bearing failure and all. Enter the Italian version of an exotic car in spiraling free fall status. Find this 2002 Maserati Coupe Cambiocorsa for sale in San Francisco, CA for $19,000 OBO via craigslist.
The conversion to unleaded was mandated in Australia for the 1986 model year. Poor sales of the Commodore had left Holden cash-strapped. In a desperate attempt to update to modernise, they turned to Nissan, who licensed the straight six RB30E engine, used in the Patrol and the Australian-built R31 Skyline for the VL (1986-88) Commodore. The Commodore was the only application of the turbocharged version of this engine, and the Calais Turbo is the most sought after of all VLs, being the top specification of Commodore at the time. Find this 1987 Holden Calais Turbo in Lake Cathie, NSW, Australia, for $22k AUD ($16,850 USD at the time of writing) via gumtree.com.au
The television show Knight Rider ran from 1982 to 1986. The show was a huge hit and catapulted David Hasselhoff's then young acting career to stardom. The new for 1982 third generation Trans Am also got a big boost publicity boost serving as the main co-star on the show. The car's name was KITT or Knight Industries Two Thousand. Find this 1989 Pontiac Firebird for sale in New Milford, CT for $12,500 via craigslist. 
It is Monday morning, time to blast away the workweek blues with another episode of DT's weekly What Am I? challenge. You get to guess the make/model of the car by looking at this photo.
Tank-like build quality and engineering to avoid or withstand assassination attempts are hallmarks of the W124 generation of Benz. The cost that came nearly always was the mandate for an automatic transmission, especially in the more powerful models. Alas, one can have their bombproof cake and eat it too. Find this 1986 Mercedes-Benz 300E 5-Speed for sale in Huntington Beach, CA for $2,000 via craigslist.
Proton is a Malaysian manufacturer which made cheap runabouts in much the same vein as Hyundai and Kia during the 1990s. Based on an old Mitsubishi Colt, the Satria was nothing special. However, the GTi badge can work magic, as it did on the Mk1 Golf and Peugeot’s 205, and the same rings true for the little Proton, with its Lotus tuned handling. Find this 2000 Proton Satria GTi for $4,400 AUD ($3,350 USD at the time of writing) in Taree, NSW, Australia via gumtree.com.au
Award winning Science Fiction writer Joan D. Vinge once wrote: "There's no such thing as a free lunch, at least on the karmic level." So, how much karma will you need to bank ahead of time to make this next feature worth your time/sweat/energy? Find this 1984 Chevrolet Camaro offered for free in Boise, ID via craigslist. Tip from John.
Most homebuilt specials have price tags that reflect sentimental value and time spent, often on something that was created in the image of one man's Robitussin-fueled dream. However, what we have here is stunning, has a great story, and is potentially an unbelievable bargain. Find the one and only Silver Bullet plus car trailer for sale in Decker Hollow, Ontario for $3,500 Canadian ($2,666 US at time of print) via Kijiji. Tip from Bobinott
Find this 1969 Fiat 850 Coupe here on eBay bidding for $7,100 reserve-not-met with a few hours to go, located in New Egypt, NJ.
This next craigslist find starts with an optimistic sentence from the seller: A junker might give me $75 for scrap, but I would rather give it away to
someone who could get some use out of it than see it get crushed into a
cube. Just give me a bill of sale for a few bucks for the excise tax
abatement. Find this 1980 Chevrolet G10 Van offered for free-to-a-good-home via craigslist. Tip from Jeff.