Weekend Quickies - Saturday, April 7, 2012

1991 Opel Vectra - You'll have to move to Canada or play some title games if you want to drive this car now.

GM never sold this car in North America.

The Vectra was a mid-sized car, first sold in 1988. Besides being sold as an Opel, it was also sold as a Holden (in New Zealand, but not Australia), a Vauxhall (in Great Britain) and with a Chevrolet badge in Brazil.

This is a legal car in Canada, where the laws allow private imports of cars 15 years old or older. If you want to do everything by the book in the US, however, you'll have to wait another 4 years.

Located Calgary, Alberta, Canada, click here to see the AutoTrader.ca ad.

A big thanks to Colin for sending me the link to this car!

1976 Peugeot 504 Diesel Station Wagon - Another car in Canada. This one could be brought into the US without any problems.

As I mentioned in a post earlier in the week, Peugeot never seemed to figure out how to market their cars in North America.

Everywhere except North America, the 504 sold very, very well. It was produced in China - in pickup truck form - until 2009.

This is a diesel 504. It's an old-school diesel. It's not very quick, but very durable.

This car is in good, but not perfect shape. It has some rust and a few minor dings. It comes with a bunch of spare parts.

Located in Mississauga, ON, Canada, click here to see the Kijiji ad.

A big thanks to Gareth for sending me the link to this car!

1972 Fiat 124 Spyder - Slowly but surely the prices of the 124 Spyder have been creeping up. Maybe it has something to do with Fiat once again having a presence in the US. More than likely it has to do with people finally realizing that a well maintained, well sorted Fiat 124 Spyder is a really fun summer car.

This 1972, pre-big bumper, Spyder has just 58,000 miles on it. The seller says it "runs strong" and has a "solid body."

The asking price is $3200.00, which is reasonable these days, if it's all the seller says it is.

Located in East Hartford, CT, click here to see the Craigslist ad.

1974 Audi 100LS - This might be the single most important car in VW / Audi's modern history. Volkswagen purchased Auto Union from Mercedes Benz in 1965. Basically, they wanted the then new Ingolstadt plant to build more Beetles. VW had no intention of developing any more DKW / Auto Union cars.

Ludwig Kraus, an engineer who came to VW in the Auto Union deal, worked in secret to develop the 100. The powers that be at VW only found out about the project when they were presented with a production ready prototype.

VW, to their credit, gave the car the green light. Sales of the 100 started in 1969. It was successful. Based on that success, VW started to more effort into front engined / FWD cars and eventually phased out their air-cooled rear engined cars.

The 100LS was not the most reliable car in the world. Not many exist today.

This is a rare 2 door sedan. The seller says that except for consumables, it is all original. If you're an Audi fan, this would be a great car to restore - it wouldn't take much - and bring to shows.

Located in Cromwell, CT, click here to see the Craigslist ad.