British Oddball: 1958 Ford Thames Forward-Control 15cwt Minibus Project

This rare cousin of the American Econoline has been hacked up, but it appears rust-free and would make a good project van for a Euro Ford or British car enthusiast. But the paint job, Malaise Era Chevy truck side mirrors, spare tire mount and wheels have to go regardless. Has no title, but a bill of sale at the DMV outside of California, a lost title search, or going through Broadway Title would rectify that.

Find it here in Riverside, California for $3500 or best offer

Please Save Me: 1960 Bedford CA Dormobile Project

Bedford CA vans are a rare sight in North America, but here is the very rare Martin Walter Dormobile camper conversion in need of restoration. It has a decent body for a rust-belt vehicle, but needs a total restoration, is missing its bumpers and other things, needs a new pop-top fiberglass piece & canopy made, and the upside is that parts are easy to find in the UK and even service for the camper conversion parts can be had or assisted with via the UK.

It will be a tough project, and it is smaller than a VW bus, but this will be a great way to enjoy the 24 Hours of LeMons, ChumpCar, local oval-track, vintage races, or other auto races, in comfort, if there is a place to park it, and would make an ideal swap-meet rig.

Find it here in Mohawk, New York for $2000 USD or offer, despite the eBay category it's in, there are ways to title it, or alternatively it could be broken up to save other CAs and Dormobiles.

Project For The Brave: Hurricane Sandy Casualty 1989 Aston Martin Lagonda

(all pics from seller)

This ultra-rare 1989 Aston Martin Lagonda appears to be a casualty of Hurricane Sandy and is said in this Hooniverse article to be the last car imported to the US and a former Greenwich Concours entrant.

Considering the rarity and beauty of the car, it may be worth bringing back to life by a devotee of the marque, but is probably best suited to be a parts car. If one could get it cheap enough and import a tatty or wrecked running Lagonda from overseas as a donor, then it would be a great project, but in any case but parting out, deep pockets will be necessary. 

If the Insomniac Garage staff and their friends were to rebuild this car, then all of the digital dash components, wiring and electrical/electronic parts would be swapped out for items used in the street rod aftermarket, the interior retrimmed in an approximation of the original by a Mexican upholstery shop, the most likely hydrolocked engine/transmission swapped out for a Roush-equipped Ford "Coyote" V8 and a Lincoln Town Car automatic transmission, and all of the rust damage treated with POR15. 

Find this car here at Insurance Auto Auctions, with sale date to be announced.

Oddball in Very Small Scale: Zee Toys 1/87 Triumph TR3A

Found this oddball, Tootsietoy-like casting, in roughly 1/87 scale, at my favorite diecast car dealer, More of Everything Racing Collectibles, and was pleasantly surprised to see the logo of one-time major player in the low-priced toy vehicle market Zee Toys, also known as Zylmex, cast into the body.

Zylmex had its beginnings in Hong Kong in the early 1970s, and started out making fairly crude but likable small-scale diecast cars patterned after major brands like Matchbox, Corgi, Tomica and Siku. Their castings were highly popular into the 1980s, with inexpensive and fairly crude but well-made "Dynawheels" selling at 3 for almost the same price as a single Hot Wheels or Matchbox casting, but in the 1990s their popularity waned and the company's toolings were sold off. The Zylmex name and logo are no longer trademarked, but an unknown company (presumably successor company Redbox/Motormax) still holds the rights to the Zee Toys name and logos.

A photo of a full set of Zylmex Mini Wild Cars from the 1980s can be seen below showing a brighter-colored version of this casting. Could this have been a preproduction version of the Mini Wild Cars TR3A?

                                                       Photo (c) ambassador84 on Flickr.

Accidental Street Spot: 196? Hillman Super Minx

This very rare British family sedan was spotted by accident on a trip to shoot something else, early on Christmas Day 2012. It needs some work, and many parts will be hard to find, but for anyone who wants to take it on, it will be a great project. 

(note: this car is not for sale as far as Insomniac Garage knows)

Junked: Ford Zodiac Mk II 206E

I had never seen a Ford Zodiac in person before I came across this hulk languishing in a Canadian junkyard three years ago. Zodiac was the luxury variant of the Zephyr, and was the largest Ford passenger car sold in the UK during its production run. This one is a Mk II model sold between 1956 and 1961. They came with a straight six and were sold in two body styles, "Highline" and "Lowline", named for the roof height. In 1959 Ford cut out a couple of inches from the roof and redid the interior with a revised rectangular instrument panel to make the Lowline. That dates this car between 1959-1962. Don't bother asking where to find it for parts, this car is long gone.

Missed Opportunity: 1974 Lotus Elite

(all photos from former seller, wirewheel.com)

While this car may no longer be available, and the "wedge" Elite may be polarizing, one still cannot deny that this was a milestone car for Lotus. 

The car in question here, recently sold by wirewheel.com, was far nicer than most other Elite projects seen on the market, had unusually good paint, fiberglass and trim for the model, which could be explained by long storage, the car has factory air conditioning and has had the ghost of Joe Lucas partly exorcised with a Crane Fireball electronic ignition and MSD coil, has had dual electric cooling fans and has only 36,000 original miles. 

Unfortunately the seat upholstery was worn and it needed work from having been stored, and I don't know the sale price, but one could do a lot worse as a starting point, and these cars are great with Ford small-block or Rover V8s.

Find the sold listing for this Lotus here.

Forbidden Fruit: 1998 TVR Griffith 500 Blackpool Edition in the USA

final edit, 2/13/2013: SOLD! Again, we hope we influenced it, and we'd love to hear from the new owner!

edit, 1/18/2013: This car is on hold by the seller. We hope that we helped influence this move.

(all photos from the seller, wirewheel.com)

This rare British roadster, with only 18,000 miles, and a model never sold in the USA, somehow ended up at a British sports car specialist in Florida. While still too new for legal ownership in the US, it just turned 15 years old, so this car can be legally imported and enjoyed by Canadians, it can be repatriated to the UK very easily, and there are many other places that this car can be owned and driven legally. Just 10 more years before it can come to the US, assuming that a politician with protectionist or uberenvironmentalist intents does not overturn the 21/25 exemption in favor of something stricter or no imports at all, or if 21/25 is liberalized into something like what Canada has for private vehicle imports.

The design is unusual but appealing, the engine is a 5.0-liter, 340hp Rover V8 with fuel injection and backed by a 5-speed Tremec manual transmission, it is fully loaded with leather seats, air conditioning, an alarm system and power windows/locks, and being a British car manufactured for Japanese exports, it is right-hand drive. 

$43,900 USD buys this car, but Insomniac Garage does not recommend that an American purchases the car unless they export it to a vacation home or timeshare in Canada or some other place that it is legal, registers it there and does not bring it to the US until it is legal.