Plymouth Prowler, Volvo 1800S, Volkswagen 412 Wagon: The Dopest Cars I Found For Sale Online
Another week means another entry in our series featuring the sweet cars I found for sale online on websites like Facebook Marketplace and Craigslist. This week we have one of the coolest cars to come from Chrysler, a beautiful truck, and more vintage iron.
I now search for interesting vehicles anywhere and everywhere on the internet, not just Facebook Marketplace and Craigslist, to make sure I find the best cars out there.
These vehicles may be hilariously unreliable, remarkably unusual, questionably tuned or just something that stops me in my tracks. We all know the used car market is all kinds of broken right now, but I try to find deals where they exist.
1972 Honda Z600 – $6,500
The Honda Z600 is a vintage kei car that you don’t even have to import. Honda sold these little cars right here in America. The seller of this one claims that it ran when it was parked, then it sat for years.
Before you run away, keep in mind that as our friends at the Lane Motor Museum note, the Z600 uses an enlarged version of the CB 450’s twin-cylinder motorcycle engine. So getting this thing going again shouldn’t be hard.
When you do get it going again, power ratings are 36 HP, apparently good for a top speed of 75 mph. This tiny car is $6,500 on Facebook Marketplace in Everest, Kansas and the seller is interested in trading for a classic car project.
2006 Lexus IS 250 – $9,100
Here’s a modern luxury sedan that’s not too flashy and equipped with a choose your own adventure manual. The IS 250 is a sports sedan aimed at BMW buyers. The 204 HP, 2.5-liter V6 under the hood dispatched the 60 mph sprint in 7.1 seconds. Not blisteringly quick, but still plenty fun.
This one has higher mileage at 154,000 miles, but it looks clean and most importantly, it’s stock. You can find it in Montgomery, Alabama for $9,100 on Facebook Marketplace.
1966 Volvo 1800S – $17,950
The Volvo P1800 is known for having amazing longevity. Irv Gordon famously took one to an incredible 3.25 million miles by the time of his death in 2018. Complementing that excellent longevity are looks so good that you can just stare at the thing all day.
This Volvo 1800S is in presentable shape and looks like it could be a daily driver. The seller notes that the paint isn’t perfect and there’s some rust in the trunk. An underbody photo shows things to be reasonably clean in there. And the interior is absolutely gorgeous.
This 1800S is $17,950 on Facebook Marketplace in College Point, New York ready for you to rack up the miles.
1974 Volkswagen 412 LS – $5,000
The Volkswagen 412 (also known as the Type 4) debuted in 1972. It was a follow up to the 411, Volkswagen’s first four door sedan. The Type 4 featured a unibody, a flat floor and yep, the engine was still in the back, driving the rear wheels. As Curbside Classic notes, the 411 was introduced at a time when front-wheel-drive was gaining popularity. But Volkswagen stayed course, making a sedan that weighed as much as a Corvair but had less than 100 HP.
The 411 featured a design by Pininfarina and its 412 successor had a nose penned by none other than Brooks Stevens. Yes, that Brooks Stevens!
In the back is a 1795cc flat four good for 75 HP. This one is noted to have its original paint and 147,000 miles. It’s $5,000 on Facebook Marketplace in Holland, Michigan.
2012 Triumph Tiger 800 XC – $5,500
Triumph has long offered a choice for adventure bike riders who want something a little bit different. My favorite part about the Tiger is what powers it. Bolted to the frame is Triumph’s 799cc triple, an engine that sounds absolutely wonderful and at 94 HP, it pumps out just a little more power than the equivalent BMW GS.
Like an ADV should, these came with a bunch of options and accessories from high-capacity generators and adjustable seats to heated grips, ABS and TPMS.
This Tiger 800 XC has a low 14,900 miles, but is noted to need some maintenance. It’s $5,500 on Facebook Marketplace in Sacramento, California.
1983 TVR Tasmin – $17,500
In a rare occurrence for this series, this TVR is the only one of its kind that I could find for sale in the whole country, on any website.
The TVR Tasmin — later called the 280i — is a cheap way into a TVR. Hemmings details its story:
Launched at the Belgian Motor Show in 1980, TVR’s new Tasmin was a radical break from the past for the Blackpool, England, producer of handbuilt sports cars. Razor-edged and angular where the previous models had been rounded, and offering new levels of comfort and all-around performance, the Tasmin was a new TVR for a new decade.
Even more than previous TVRs, there was quite a lot of Lotus design philosophy in the Tasmin, and there’s little doubt that company owner Martin Lilley was thinking about his rival over in Hethel. The Tasmin rode on a tubular steel chassis designed by former Lotus engineer Ian Jones, its sturdy backbone carrying outriggers to support the hand-laid fiberglass body. To power the new car, TVR chose the 160-horsepower German Ford “Cologne” 2.8-liter V-6, equipped with Bosch fuel injection and mated to a Ford four-speed.
That makes this an English sports car that should be easy to live with. Hemmings estimates that 400-500 of these are in America. That’s far more than the seller’s claim of just 13, but still pretty rare.
The seller’s price is also on the higher end that these sell at. It’s $17,500 on Facebook Marketplace in Des Plaines, Illinois with 30,000 miles. And yes, that’s the best picture provided.
1999 Plymouth Prowler – $30,000
The Plymouth Prowler is one of the coolest looking cars of a generation. Unfortunately, for many enthusiasts it just didn’t have the power or the interior to back up its exterior. Here’s the Prowler’s story, condensed:
After its success with the Viper, Chrysler felt confident it could pull it off a second time, so it gave its engineers and designers the green light to conceive whatever they wanted.
The result was the bat-shit crazy Plymouth Prowler. The idea behind it came from Chrysler’s design director at the time, Thomas C. Gale, who loved 1930s American hot rods and imagined what they would look like in the modern automotive world of the 1990s.
The story goes that Gale owned a hot-rodded 1932 Ford and used it as a design benchmark for the Prowler. But it actually ended up being Chip Foose–the renowned American hot rod design specialist–who finalized the Prowler’s killer look.
The Prowler’s mission was therefore to change that perception. With it, Chrysler would show the entire world that it still knew how to manufacture exciting automobiles.
But then, reality hit cash-stripped Chrysler hard: the limited-production Prowler had to be as cost-effective as possible, meaning the only way it could be green-lit into production was by utilizing existing Chrysler components.
I don’t care that a 253 HP, 255 lb-ft torque 3.5-liter “sedan” V6 powers this thing, I still love it. It still weighs less than a Porsche 911 and a six-second sprint to 60 mph is not bad. I’d daily this thing!
The Prowler before you is stock, save for the flames. It also has just 13,000 miles. It’s $30,000 or best offer on Facebook Marketplace in Lee’s Summit, Missouri. Ad courtesy of Obscure Cars for Sale.
1976 BMW 2002 – $27,900
Here’s the nicest (and most expensive) BMW 2002 I’ve featured yet!
The 2002 is revered by enthusiasts as an example how sports sedans used to be. It’s a car that looks gorgeous puts a smile on your face without tons of power.
This one is said to come from New Mexico. Its had a repaint in its original color and its engine has seen a rebuild. The original interior looks good and everything is said to be in working order.
It’s $27,900 at EuroSpeC Cars LLC in Morrisville, North Carolina.
1937 International Harvester D-30 Fire Engine – $15,000
This 1930s fire engine looks to be in fantastic shape despite its residence in America’s snowy and salty Midwest.
The D Series launched in 1937 and featured wide steel cabs and large windows for visibility. It was available in many sizes, from a pickup to larger, heavier duty applications like this D-30 fire engine. The D-30 is rated for 1.5 tons and under the hood is a 3.8-liter six making 81 HP and 170 lb-ft torque.
This truck was apparently a parade truck before the engine was rebuilt and the mechanic forgot to install the head gasket. Unfortunately, there are no Bluetooth head gaskets yet so you’ll need to install one. It’s $15,000 on Facebook Marketplace in Hastings, Minnesota.
If you know of a weird car for sale on Facebook Marketplace or Craigslist, drop it down in the comments or send it along in an email! If the car’s still for sale, I may feature it in a future post.
