On a warm summer afternoon, you pick out your best Tommy Bahama Hawaiian shirt, don your favorite checkered cabbie cap, and sit down in the drivers seat of your freshly waxed Triumph. You turn the key and are greeted with a cacophonous racket..what the hell? Somebody has swapped out of the simple inline-6 for a Chevrolet V8 and its time to see if your cap will stay put at 160mph. Find this 1971 Triumph TR-6 with V8 swap offered for $10,700 near Reno, NV via craigslist. Tip from Andrew M.
If you'd like to experience the thrill of open air motoring in a classic British style lightweight, there really is no better tradeoff between driving experience and price than a NA-series Mazda MX-5 Miata...but if you seek the thrill of possibly not getting to your destination, you should seriously consider an actual British classic. Like this 1967 Sunbeam Alpine V offered here on eBay
currently bidding for $7,800 reserve-not-met.
As the Eastern coast of this great continent is inundated with yet another snowstorm of apocalyptic proportions, I can't help but feel that we of more temperate climates should help out. How? For starters, we could spend some of our sun bathing* time searching for vehicles that would help out our Arctic friends. With that in mind, I'd like to present this 1988 Subaru Justy General Lee themed snow plow offered for $2,999 in Columbus, 
Welcome to another edition of DT's cure for the Monday morning blues -- What Am I? We
find a random picture of a car and you get to guess what it is. Last
week featured a picture of the inside of a Mosler Consulier GTP from K2 Mystery Car's personal collection of 
The fifth generation Toyota Celia was released for the 1990 model year with all new "Super Round" organic styling and further refinement on the rock solid build quality that was beginning to be synonymous with the word Toyota. It wasn't an exciting car by any yardstick, but the GT-Four version (All-Trac in the US) added some needed power, all-wheel-drive traction, and, most importantly, a prominent hood scoop to the basic version. Find this 1990 Toyota Celia All-Trac here on eBay
currently bidding for $5,000 reserve-not-met ($11,000 buy-it-now) located in Rockford, IL.
Few things get the octane in my blood pumping quicker than a vintage racer themed American 2-door from the 1960s. True vintage racers tend to be expensive and not street-able, but slap together a decent restomod with a few stickers and I'll bite. The car doesn't even need to be a model that was campaigned back it the day, it just needs to look the part. Like this 1971 Dodge Dart Swinger restomod found here on eBay
currently bidding for $15,000 with a few hours to go, located in Laguna Hills, CA.
In 1989 BMW released its replacement for the outgoing E24 6-series, it was the shark nosed shark nose E31 8-series. The 8-series was only built in one generation with about 7,000 making the trip to North America, and it was available with V8 or V12 power. You might be tempted to pickup the finicky V12 version, but the V8 offers more reliability with 300 lbs less curb weight. Find this 1994 BMW 840Ci here on eBay
with $10,000 CAD ($7,979 USD) buy-it-now located on Canadian eBay, but with a Florida license plate. Tip from the George in Toronto. 
The engineers at Renault may have been may not have been joking when
they chose the Spanish word for "fire" when naming the R17
successor...but it certainly is funny in hindsight. Regardless, the Fuego was built by Renualt from 1980 to 1986, sold in the US through
AMC dealers and featured such innovations as
the world's first keyless remote system and steering wheel mounted
stereo
controls. Find this 1985 Renault Fuego offered for $3,000 in Temecula, CA via craigslist. Tip from FabianW. 
The Dodge Omni GLH (Goes Like Hell) was a peppy little hatchback from the 1980s (1984-1986 to be precise) that was the lovechild of Carroll Shelby and an econobox Dodge. The combination was magical, with the lightweight and practical 4-door hatch getting a turbocharged engine, upgraded suspension and the speed to embarrass all but the fastest machinery of the day. Few were built and even fewer remain, but I like my hot hatches like my steak, rare but black on the outside. Find this 1985 Dodge Omni GLH offered for $5,900 near Atlanta, GA via craigslist. Tip from FuelTruck.
The original Osso di Seppia (bone of cuttlefish) Spider (105/115 series) was designed by Pininfarina and produced by Alfa Romeo from 1966 to 1969. The first generation (Series 1) is also known as the boat tail or round tail to differentiate it from the later Kamm back (Series 2), duck tail (Series 3) and smooth tail (Series 4). It is the quintessential affordable classic Italian roadster...but they aren't so affordable these days, but this one doesn't look bad. Find this 1969 Alfa Romeo 1750 Spider offered for $14,500 in Seattle, WA via craigslist. Tip from Gianni.
The original California Zephyr was a passenger train with service between Emeryville and Chicago -- a 2500 mile trip that took about 50 hours to complete in 1950. You could purchase a used train car and try to recreate that experience in your backyard, but a much easier way to get a Zephyr is to pickup a rust free CA blue plate Zephyr of the automotive variety. Like this 1978 Mercury Zephyr Z7 Coupe offered for $3,400 in Van Nuys, CA via craigslist. Tip from K2. 
Anyone who craves affordable performance should be familiar with the Fox body Mustang, but the vast majority of cars for sale are hacked up flat-black customs, or ridden into the ground 4-banger versions. The one to get is obviously a low mile, V8 Fox with original paint and for a decent price, but they don't fall out of trees, you've got to keep your eyes open...or have a dedicated tips email where folks like Adam F can send in the good stuff...like this 1980 Ford Mustang offered for $7,500 in Monterey, CA via craigslist.
Among the great list of cars with seemingly unpronounceable names, there is one that stands out for its alpha-numeric naming mish-mash, multiple side windows, and "Maximum" Bob Lutz connection. The special version of the Ford Sierra was inexplicably badged as the Merkur XR4Ti for the US market and sold for a few years before 
Ever since the first time I went into a Radio Shack retail store, I've been mesmerized by the stuff on the shelves. There are certainly better places to buy your electronics (online, local specialty shops), but the ubiquitous Radio Shack meant there was a soldering iron and 10 ohm resistor within a few miles of any urban location. This will all change in the coming weeks as the RadioShack Corp closes more stores as it continues into its 12th consecutive quarter of loses and into an unknown future in chapter 11 bankruptcy. 
The Fiat 124 Sport Coupe pilfered most of the sedan's components and the Spider's five-speed manual transmission in the sedan-inspired three-box design. It had a more menacing aura than the doe-eyed Spider, yet offered more versatility and similar performance. This CC-generation 124 has shed its I-beam bumpers but retained the hardy 1.8-liter engine. Lest there be any doubt to its national origins of the rustic (that's an emotional trigger word for Fiat owners because for a minute there it sounds like you're saying rust) Italian countryside, it comes with the color palette of an Italian cafe. Find this 1974 Fiat 124 Sport Coupe for sale in Houston, TX for $3,950 via craigslist.
The Fiat Type 175 Coupé had flame surfacing, character lines on character lines, cuts, scallops, recessed taillights, and a processed (prolapsed? Don't think about it) fuel filler cap. Whether all the doo-dads intended to complement or distract from the vehicle's odd proportions is anyone's guess. However, at 22 years after the car's initial release, I can confidently say that the whole package has aged like Erkel glasses. But this ugly duckling is a rare bird in these parts, so here it is: a 1997 Fiat Coupé 20v Turbo for sale here on eBay
in Buffalo, NY for $10,999 buy-it-now with five days to go via eBay. 