When we did a search on Craigslist for cool stuff between $100 and $1500 that would make fun pro touring machines, we were so blown away by all the cool stuff we found that we ended up putting them in groups for multiple blog items! These are just some of the fun projects we found that had been posted in the last week, and we’ve chosen them because they all have a few things in common. Mainly they are small, never came with real horsepower, and are kinda weird. Below you’ll see the Top 3 that we found yesterday and that had been listed in the past week in Los Angeles. In addition, we’ll tell you what we might do with each one. Some of them might surprise you!
This 1966 Austin-Healey Sprite is probably the most classic of the three, but it’s still a quirky little car. This one looks to have had some bodywork done to it and is a disassembled roller I guess you would say. The good news is everything comes with it to put it back together except the engine.
That’s two major components more than we would want anyway so we are fine with that. At only $900 obo it’s hard to go wrong here. Factory the 1966 Austin-Healey Sprite came with a 1.1 or almost 1.3 liter 4 banger that made 59-65 horsepower. Wooooo, speedy. We’d fix that and probably a whole lot more.
Because we recently saw a couple of really cool engine and chassis swaps, and we’ve done our own before, we’d do just that with this thing using a Honda S2000. They make good power, love screaming RPM and handle great. I’m sure the Healey with all the S2000 drivetrain and suspension would weight less than the S2000 and we’d make sure the thing was flared to hold as much tire as we could handle. It would be a riot, and if you found the right S2000 we think you could do this one a real budget as long as you did most of the work yourself.
Who’s in?!
Aston healey project,everything is there except the engine, i have the transmission, all mouldings,bumpers, gauges, etc
Any question call me (562)7426822
The second quirly little pro touring project we’d love to see go together is probably the one you are least likely to see anywhere else. It’s a 1969 Toyota Corona Coupe and it’s just ugly enough to be cool. I grew up with one of these in the family and now they are hard to find, especially in the two door variety.
I’d go a little different on this one probably and
swap out the front suspension for something like TCI’s Custom IFS and a custom 3 link in the rear with a solid axle. For power I would jump right into the Turbo 2.3 Ford world with both feet. Sure there are Toyota engines that would work, but they don’t excite me. A 400 horsepower Turbo 2.3 engine program is simple and reliable and would fit nicely in this little car. I’d back it with T-5 or something and call it done.
Simple on the drivetrain, and focus on making the thing as light and fast as possible. It’s only 61 inches wide, so putting a lot of tire under it could be tough, but I’d flare the thing as needed and try to get some 275 Falkens under all four corners.
1969 TOYOTA CORONA 2 DOOR COUPE ALL ORIGINAL 2ND OWNER ORIGINAL COLOR HARD TO FIND COUPES STILL RUNS NEEDS MINOR REPAIR STICK MANUAL TRANS FACTORY AC NEEDS TLC. PLEASE TEXT 6265025791
My third pick is a little more common I suppose, but it’s not like you see 1966 Datsun 1600 sedans all the time. That’s because in the United States they were sold as a 510. They are light weight, easy to modify, and fun to play with. So the smart thing would be to take some Z car parts and all the stuff that 510 guys normally use, and then slap this thing together.
But that would be too easy. Instead, we’d take a page out of our buddy Bob Boileau’s play book and do a Miata chassis and suspension swap. Why? Well because we’ve seen it done and it looks cool. Oh and it works. Sure you need some flares, but that’s okay. Oh and did we mention we would LS power the thing? Yeah, because Monster Miata’s can’t be the only thing Miata suspended that has V8 power! Think about how much fun this would be!
Do you have other ideas on what we should do with these three? Something that is less exotic? More exotic? Let us know what you WOULD do, or HAVE DONE to any one of these three or something similar!
1966 Datsun 1600 for restoration 4 doors
ready to go for restoration
All in place but no engine ..the engine cost 350 I know A guy who is selling One
$1500 best for the price
424 704 6004
I’d love the little 66. give it the ralley treatment…flarres, mini-lites, fog lights….maybe toss in a rotary for power….fun!
oh those bloody Corona’s… my wife had a 4 door…blew the engine up and I picked up a whole other car for 50 bux. Talk about a leap of faith.. it supposedly had a recond engine – but no dizzy. I bought it expecting the worst but when I stabbed in the dizzy from her old motor it fired right up and indeed was a recond ! The cursing was because I’m a bug guy with big hands – these cars are designed by, and for, tiny people. Everything, every gap that you need to get your hand through is way too small ( for me at least). To make it worse this all happened in the dead of winter, on the driveway, laying in the rain. Mainly at night, too, as I worked full time. bleugh.