Weekend Quickies - Sunday March 28, 2010

1971 Opel Ascona / 1900 Station Wagon - All of a sudden there are cool old Opels turning up everywhere. Bring a Trailer featured an Ascona / 1900 2 door sedan this week. A friend sent me a Jameslist listing for a cool old Kadett Rallye for sale in Europe. Now this one appears on eBay.

Of the bunch, I'd take this one. Think of this as a Manta station wagon, because, for all intents and purposes, that's what it is. Known as the Ascona in Europe, in the US it was called the 1900.

This car appears to be in great shape. As an added "bonus" it, being a 1971 model, does not have the big US bumpers.

Located in St. Louis, MO, click here to see the eBay listing.

1977 Austin Marina - Like so many of the cars I write about, the Marina did not receive a lot of love in its day. It doesn't receive much now, either.

In the UK, the Marina (known as the Morris Marina) was meant to compete with cars such as the Ford Escort and Vauxhall Viva.

A true parts bin special, the Marina used a version of the MGB engine along with various other tried, but not necessarily true, off-the-shelf BMC parts. (In the US, BMC tried to use this as a selling point, running ads that touted its connection to the MG, Triumph, Rover and Jaguar brands. See my earlier Marina post for a scan of one of those ads.)

Poor sales and a big rust problem means that there are very few of these cars still in existence in the North America.

This car appears to be in good condition. It needs some bumper-ends and the seats need attention, but the body looks good and the seller says that it runs and drives excellent.

The Marina is quite possibly the least exciting British car ever sold in America, but it's a piece of history and one that deserves to be preserved.

Located in Newmarket, ON, Canada, click here to see the eBay listing.

1954 MG TF - The Ford Model T, the VW Beetle, the Mini and the MG T Series all have one thing in common... They would make anyone's list of Top 10 significant cars of all time.

The T Series started the affordable sports car craze in America. US servicemen "discovered" them while in England during WWII and brought many of them stateside after the war. MG (Morris) noticed this and, with the MGTC, started designing MGs with the US market in mind. The rest, as they say, is history...

This is a TF, the last of the T-Series. What makes this car impressive is that according to the seller it is a one owner, unrestored car. How many cars like this can there be out there? (I do know of a local T-Series that has been in the same family since new - my friend Jeff maintains it for them - but it's not quite as nice as this one.)

Located in Santa Barbara, CA, click here to see the eBay listing.