Oregon Rust Farm: July 4, 2013

A sight more typical of Central California or perhaps the Great Plains, rusty tin shed with interesting stuff surrounding. I navigated a sharp rusty gate and nearly meter-deep drainage ditch to get to this place, whilst wearing Crocs and gym shorts.

Early travel trailer in ratty but restorable condition.

Rusty trailer side. Rust issues with similar trailers to this one in the early postwar era led to aluminum and wood construction, or pure aluminum aircraft-style construction in the cases of Airstream, Boles Aero, Avion, Streamline and Silver Streak.

50s Chevy tanker truck

Old workhorses left to rust away. 1940s/50s Hyster bulldozer and 1960s/70s International Loadstar flatbed.

College Cars: 1947 Cisitalia 202 Cabriolet

This is College Cars, a recurring feature about the Academy of Art University auto collection. Today we're looking at a 1947 Cisitalia 202 that is believed to have once belonged to Argentinian president Juan Peron and his wife Evita.

The Cisitalia cabriolet is an extremely rare car, with only 34 surviving examples in the world today. It's powered by a tiny 1.1 liter four cylinder engine producing just 55 horsepower. It was styled by Battista 'Pinin' Farina. Considering this car was created in 1947, it's a very modern design.

Catch the Short Bus: 1947 Ford Vanette school bus project

This well-used "1947" (most likely 1948 or 1949) Ford school bus, which appears to be an unknown builder school bus conversion of a Ford F3 or F5 multi-stop truck with a Vanette body, is a worthy project for someone wanting to restore a school bus, someone wanting an advertising vehicle, someone wanting a good camper conversion basis, or a multitude of other uses. The 1940s Ford truck chassis leaves the field wide open for all kinds of suspension, brake, cooling and powertrain upgrades, the spacious body leaves lots of options for interior design, and its modest 17-foot length makes it reasonably sized for use in today's world.

Despite being rusty, the panels and body skeleton parts can all be made easily, the seller has extra dash gauges, the straight-six engine turns over, and most parts are easily available between the Ford aftermarket, the multi-stop truck aftermarket and the huge number of Vanette-bodied Fords still rotting in junkyards.

Find it here for $2500 in Santa Cruz, California

Please Save Me: 1940 Pontiac Hearse Basketcase Project

This rare prewar professional car project (in as-purchased condition in pics, now disassembled and stored inside), needs a lot of tender loving care, but with the rarity of prewar, non-Cadillac/Packard funeral coaches and the availability of stock '40 Pontiac trim, wheels, bumpers, engine and transmission as cast-offs from rodders or through junkyards, it is definitely worth restoring. Its elegant lines and curves are even more compelling. The coach has no engine, transmission, front bumper and possibly other missing bits, but it would be a great project.

Find it here in Veneta, Oregon with "make offer" as price, and here are some great professional car forums for the prospective buyer-restorer of this beautiful machine.

College Cars: 1948 Lincoln Continental

This is College Cars, a recurring feature about the Academy of Art University car collection. Today we look at this Regal Blue 1948 Lincoln Continental coupe.

The Continental began as a pet project of Edsel Ford in 1938 as an exercise mimicking European - or "Continental" styling cues, namely the long hood and short rear deck, with limited body decoration and a low profile. Bob Gregorie produced a prototype based on the Lincoln Zephyr that featured a spare tire on the rear (now known as a 'Continental kit') and deleted the running boards. Between the fenders the engineering team dropped in a V12 engine with a 3-speed manual overdrive transmission. The result went into production for the 1940 model year. It was a hit with the rich and famous and the '48 Continental is one of the last cars recognized as a "True Classic" by the Classic Car Club of America.

Photographed at the 2011 San Francisco International Auto Show.

Found on Craigslist: 1949 Cadillac Pickup

I don't usually go wild over cars that have been hacked into pickup trucks, and Cadillacs modified to serve as trucks tend to be funeral flower cars. Not so with this one. It's a 1949 Caddy that was given a 1954 Chevy truck cargo box and the rear of the cab from a early 1955 GMC. It doesn't look like a complete hackjob either, and the work was done when the car was only 10 years old. The whole package really is kind of intriguing.

Photos courtesy seller - Craigslist

The question now is, is this Cowboy Cadillac worth the stratospheric $25,000 the seller is asking? You get a very unique, unrestored classic Frankenstein project. You can find it here if you always wanted a 1949 Escalade EXT, or go here if the ad expires.

Pawn Cars: A Trip to Gold & Silver Pawn Shop

In October I visited Las Vegas for the first time since I went there with Colin in 2007. This time, though, one of my must-see destinations was Rick Harrison's Gold & Silver Pawn Shop. I've been a fan of History's Pawn Stars since the series began, and the show often deals with people selling their cars to the shop.

The 1960s Mercedes-Benz Unimog in the parking lot was a good start. This truck featured in season 5, episode 38 ("What the Truck").

Inside, the shop yielded a beige 1949 Hudson Commodore sedan, which appeared in season 6, episode 6 ("Man, Make Fire").

I vowed to buy something at the shop as a souvenir, so I picked up this Matchbox Collectibles 1:18 Jeep Liberty diecast.

Photo courtesy of Andrew Youngchief

Vegas may be a dump with a glitzy veneer but it's certainly interesting to visit once every several years or so. The shop is worth taking a look even though you'll have to wait out a line just to get in the door. If you're ever in Sin City, check it out.