#RareRides
Rare Rides: A 1986 Pontiac 1000 - Preserved Performance
The Rare Rides series has previously featured many Pontiacs, and today’s hatchback is our ninth to wear the Red Arrow badge. It’s also the smallest Pontiac we’ve ever featured.
It’s not a Chevette, but it is the Chevette’s sporty Driving Excitement cousin!
Rare Rides: The Very Special 1982 Ford Thunderbird Cabriolet
Rare Rides featured exactly one example of the legendary Thunderbird name in previous entries: A late Eighties Turbo Coupe that was basically brand new. While the Turbo Coupe has a following amongst classic car folks, today’s early ’80s Thunderbird is not held in such high regard.
In fact, I’ll go ahead and call it the worst Thunderbird ever.
Bring on the Malaise.
Rare Rides: The 1953 Chrysler Special, by Ghia
Though Rare Rides has featured many examples of vehicles which wore Chrysler badges and Ghia designs, there’s never been a single car which represented both.
That changes today, with this very rare 1953 Chrysler Special.
Rare Rides: A Stylish and Tasteful Isuzu 117 Coupe From 1975
Rare Rides has already featured Isuzu’s mass-market successor to the 117, in the boxy and thoroughly Eighties Impulse. Let’s check out what Isuzu offered to its coupe customers a decade prior, when it aimed for a discerning, well-heeled customer.
Rare Rides: A 2008 Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione - Exquisitely Italian
Rare Rides has featured many an Alfa Romeo in past editions, but none as new as today’s 8C. With its very striking design, a limited manufacturing run, and a very high price when new, the low-slung coupe was instantly rare. A daring coupe from a small Italian manufacturer.
Let’s go.
Rare Rides: A 2001 Spectre Supersport R45, One of Two
Ever hear of a sporting automotive manufacturer called Spectre? I hadn’t either, until I watched a very old Top Gear clip on YouTube in which Clarkson and some other people visit the 1997 British International Motor Show.
Intrigued, I decide I’d find one for sale. Turns out the listing I found was for the rarest Spectre of all.
Rare Rides: A 1995 Ford Falcon XR6 Ute - Trucking With Tickford
Though North Americans were offered a few car-turned-truck vehicles like the Ford Ranchero and Chevrolet El Camino between the 1950s and 1980s, domestic appetites for ute-type vehicles never approached that of Australia. Down Under, interest in such vehicles persisted for over 80 years.
Let’s take a look at one of the most popular types, the Ford Falcon.
Rare Rides: A McDonald's Edition 1986 Ford E-150 Econoline Conversion
The Rare Rides series has featured around 10 special edition cars in past, depending on how generous you are with the term.
And while every special edition presented here thus far was designed to add some padding to a manufacturer’s bottom line, today’s special edition McDonald’s van had a much more benevolent purpose.
Rare Rides: The 1994 Subaru Vivio - Microscopic Convertible Fun for Four
Would you enjoy piloting a tiny car that combines sultry coupe styling with t-tops, a powered metal convertible roof, and room for four real adult-sized humans?
Look no further than the Subaru Vivio.
Rare Rides: The 2003 Lancia Thesis - Questionable Styling and Legality Comes Standard
Rare Rides occasionally features vehicles that have somehow slipped through the 25-year importation net and exist in this country as illegal immigrants. First up was a little Citroën Picasso hatchback from Arizona, and more recently we featured a bright orange Fiat Barchetta from Florida.
Today we venture into illegality once more, with the luxurious and beautiful Lancia Thesis from 2003.
Rare Rides: A 1986 Izuzu P'up, Coming With Length and Turbodiesel
Today’s Rare Ride is from the period in the Eighties when many compact pickup trucks were available to the North American consumer. While most of these vehicles were Japanese, some covered their origins with American badges. Others wore both Japanese and American branding, albeit at different dealerships.
Wouldn’t you LUV to check out this P’up? Ugh.
Rare Rides: The Beloved Ford Bronco II, From 1988
The Bronco II was a compact SUV marketed on the long-term brand recognition of the Bronco. But only a few years into its production run, the Bronco II had established an infamous reputation all its own — and eventually proved one of the most costly models Ford ever created.
Rare Rides: The 1986 Pontiac Grand Prix 2+2, Not Actually Named Aerocoupe
Rare Rides: A 1986 Chevrolet Celebrity Eurosport Cabriolet - Ultimate Rarity Assured
Today’s Rare Ride is quite possibly the rarest Chevrolet Celebrity ever made. And it’s also, possibly, one of those cases where rare does not equal desirable.
Rare Rides: A Luxurious Lancia Aurelia From 1953
Rare Rides recently featured this car’s successor — the lovely Zagato-built Flaminia coupe from 1965. Today we’ll jump a decade prior and take a look at Lancia’s flagship offering from the Fifties.
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