Welcome back to Mercedes’ Marketplace Madness! As you know, I love picking up dirt-cheap cars, motorcycles, and campers, and then telling you lovely readers about the dumb things that I do with them. I’m always looking for the next deal, but most of the time, I’m left empty-handed. At the same time, I love building a list of cars, trucks, and motorcycles that I would buy if I had the money.
Mercedes’ Marketplace Madness turns the long list of vehicles I’d love to buy into something for you all to enjoy. Some of them are cheap and some of them are not. Some of the vehicles I find are purely window shopping for everyone other than a collector like Beau or Myron.
Due to the holidays and the fast-paced news cycle, I’ve missed a couple of entries. However, we should be back on track now! This week, I’ve limited my finds to $20,000, except for one sweet delivery truck.
Here we go, let’s see what I’ve been thinking about this week.
2003 Volkswagen Passat W8 Wagon – $14,000
The Ferdinand Piëch era of Volkswagen is one of the wildest periods of the automaker’s entire existence. Most of Volkswagen’s famous modern vehicles came from this era, from the XL-1 to the Phaeton and the Touareg V10 TDI. Then there’s the fabled W engine, which has been housed in bedroom poster-worthy cars for over two decades. The Passat W8 was subject to one of my earliest entries of Holy Grails!
Here’s how Volkswagen tells the W engine’s story:
The W engine’s journey began in an unlikely place: The Shinkansen express train running between Tokyo and Nagoya, Japan. In 1997, after a conversation with Karl-Heinz Neumann, then head of powertrain development at Volkswagen, Piëch grabbed an envelope and sketched out an idea that had been rolling around in his head for some time. The six-cylinder VR6® engine was in wide use by Volkswagen by the mid-90s; its uniquely offset cylinder banks made it compact enough to fit transversely even in small cars like the Volkswagen Golf. By marrying two of the relatively narrow engines in a further “V,” a compact 12-cylinder could be made. The offset cylinders of the merged VR6 engines formed a “W,” and the nomenclature was born.
A Passat W8 featured Volkswagen’s Torsen-based permanent all-wheel-drive, leather seating, wood trim, and that 4.0-liter W8 ticking under the hood. This engine produces 270 HP and 273 lb-ft torque.
Volkswagen sold 4,931 W8s in America, of which just 424 have manual transmissions. Of that bunch, just 95 are wagons. W8 manual wagons come up for sale from time to time, and all of them are pretty pricey.
This example is one of those super rare six-speed manuals and it sports 171,000 miles on its odometer. The car has spent most of its life outside of the salt belt, so it looks to be in pretty decent shape. Weirdly, the seller undersells how rare this car is. The seller states that the car runs and drives fine, plus there are no warning lights currently on.
It’s $14,000 from the seller in Marshfield, Massachusetts.
1979 Škoda 120L – $11,000
Here’s a weird little rear-engined car that you can have right here in America. Reportedly, the Škoda 120, which was also sold as the Estelle, was supposed to be a new front-wheel-drive car. However, the company was cash-strapped in the 1970s, so it didn’t have the funds to develop an entirely new car. Instead, the Czechoslovakian firm built its new car on the rear-engined S100. What you’re looking at there is not a grille, but a panel that’s supposed to make the car look like it has an engine up front. The Škoda 105, Škoda 120 and Škoda 125 launched in 1976.
Apparently, the car was so slow and oversteered so much that the 105/120/Estelle range was mocked. Reportedly, some of Škoda’s current reputation can be traced back to this little car. Despite that, the Estelle and its variants proved to be cheap and durable. As the Moment Magazine writes, the Estelle won the British rally’s under-1300cc class for 17 years. In other words, these cars were a mockery on the street, but a winner on the rally stage. Those motorsport wins and rock-hard durability also helped to thrust Škoda into popularity.
Time heals a lot of wounds. Now, you can have a Škoda as an oddball collector car. Power comes from a 1174cc four rated for 49.2 HP. That reaches the rear wheels through a manual transmission. This example is said to come with original paint, chrome, and interior, as well as 25,000 miles on the odometer. The seller says the vehicle runs and drives, but beware because you don’t get power anything, not even power brakes. The seller also believes that the best way to cancel out that oversteer problem is by placing a 100-pound bag of sand in the frunk.
It’s $11,000 from the seller in Grand Island, Florida.
1960 Ford Fairlane – $14,000
As Hagerty writes, the Fairlane debuted in 1955 and the “Fairlane” name reportedly came from Henry Ford’s estate in Dearborn. These sat at the top of Ford’s line and thanks to the Fairlane and other rockstar models, Ford had its best sales year in decades. There were six body styles of the Fairlane and in 1955, the top model was the Fairlane Crown Victoria Skyliner with its Plexiglas roof.
In 1960, the Fairlane was redesigned into a longer, leaner, and larger car with a space-age design. The new car rode on a 119-inch wheelbase and Ford positioned the Fairlane toward the bottom of its full-size range. Power comes from a 223 cubic inch straight six making 145 HP. That reaches the rear wheels through a three-speed column shift manual.
The seller of this example says the vehicle has been undercoated for rust prevention. The paint is also said to be original. What is new is the interior, including carpet, headliner, and upholstery. It’s $14,000 from the seller in Watertown, New York with 100,450 miles.
1965 Studebaker Wagonaire Daytona – $19,500
As Mac’s Motor City Garage writes, Studebaker was quickly losing ground in the 1960s, but that didn’t stop it from trying to stay relevant. The Wagonaire was introduced in 1963 and featured a roof like the GMC Envoy XUV would have decades later. The roof was created by famed industrial designer Brooks Stevens for the Scimitar prototype cars of the Olin Corporation. One of those experimental vehicles was a wagon with a sliding roof to allow the vehicle to carry large cargo.
Studebaker, looking for inexpensive ways to set itself apart, had Stevens put the sliding roof on the 1963 Lark Station Wagon, creating the Wagonaire. Like a modern Volkswagen, water leaks were a big deal, and the sliding roof system utilized drains to direct water away from the cabin. As you can imagine, a clogged drain meant a wet interior.
The Daytona trim level was the high-end performance model. Power comes from a 283 cubic inch V8. That’s good for 195 HP and 285 lb-ft of twist. This example has an air-conditioner that was installed by a dealership. It has been in storage for 10 years, but now it’s time for the Wagonaire Daytona to find a new home. It’s $19,500 from the seller in Tallmadge, Ohio. Listing from Obscure Cars for Sale on Facebook.
1972 BMW R 75/5 – $4,500
I’ve been somewhat obsessed with BMW airheads ever since my purchase of a very teal R60/7. I’m running out of space to store things, so I have to stop myself from running a fleet of these things. So, you should save me from buying this beautiful 1972 BMW R75/5 motorcycle sent in by Hugh Crawford.
The National Motorcycle Museum, which is closed but still has its website, gives us some history:
In late 1969 BMW modernized its boxer twins with the launch of the new “/5” (slash five) series with an all new frame, 12 volt electrical systems, electric starting, telescopic forks and better drum brakes.
The 1970s began a period of quicker model changes for BMW as they were shifting away from their staid traditional appearance, the plunger rear suspension and Earles-style leading link forks then used on most models. BMW even experimented with lighter plastic fenders that helped get the weight of the new /5 down to about 460 pounds. But handling and high speed stability of the new /5 was less than perfect so BMW extended the swingarm in late 1973, then released the completely new /6 in 1974. The /6 was also the basis of the sportier, now highly sought after R90S.
Power comes from a 745 cc air-cooled boxer twin good for 50 HP and 44 lb-ft of torque. This example appears to be pretty clean and features a bikini-style fairing and a cafe racer-style seat. The selling dealership says the motorcycle has 22,222 miles on its odometer. You can get it for $4,500 from Milpas Motors in Santa Barbara, California.
2003 Smart Roadster Coupe – $13,574
Smart Roadsters have been appearing in Mexico and Canada lately. For Smart’s biggest fan, me, it’s so hard to see these cars so close, yet so far. With that said the brilliant minds at the Lane Motor Museum have given me a solid game plan to import the cars I want. You might read about that in the future if it works.
If you’re one of our Canadian readers or have the resources to leapfrog the “25 Year Rule,” then I have a treat for you. This 2003 Smart Roadster Coupe needs a new home. After Smart launched in 1998, the marque decided to show how the concept of super tiny trendy cars could be applied to different types of cars. My retrospective continues:
In 1999 and 2000, Smart rolled out a design study and then a concept car for a sports car at European auto shows. This sports car would harken back to the British roadsters of the 1950s and 1960s. Where the Fortwo focused on making city driving easy and trendy, the Roadster would hone in on the driving experience.
On the outside, the Roadster looks like nothing else built before or since. Angular plastic panels are contrasted by Smart’s signature safety cell. And at the top of that safety cell is a roof that pops its top for an open-air experience. In more expensive trims, this is a folding arrangement that electrically folds itself back behind the seats. I’d say this car looks even more fashionable than the City Coupe/Fortwo that came before it.
Inside, the interior is similarly distinctively Smart, with gauges sprouting out of a fabric-covered dashboard. Swiveling HVAC pods flank the dash’s sides and the instrument cluster looks like it would be at home on a motorcycle. But the neat part is that underneath, the Roadster has the running gear of a Fortwo.
Power comes from a rear-mounted 700cc Mercedes-Benz M160 Suprex turbocharged three. This is good for 80 HP and power is sent to the rear wheels through a six-speed automated-manual transmission. The seller of this unit says it runs and drives great. Apparently, the car has never been driven in winter, so it doesn’t have rust, either. This example does have 97,555 miles. In terms of Smart longevity, this is fine! Roadster engines are known to start wearing out around 180,000 miles, so you have a while before you have to worry about that.
This Roadster is also the Coupe model, which comes with a glass hatch for a little more cargo volume than the standard car. It’s $18,200 CAD ($13,574 USD) from the seller in Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada.
1963 Jeep FJ-3A Fleetvan – $34,900
Now for the one vehicle I’ll allow to exceed the $20,000 limit today. I’ve been in love with the Jeep FJ-3 ever since David Tracy first showed me a forward-control Jeep. Since then, I’ve been looking for one, but they appear to be pretty rare. The ones I usually do find for sale are so far gone they’re best as scrap. Rarely, a running example shows up, but even though are astonishingly rough.
Here’s the nicest Jeep FJ-3A Fleetvan I’ve ever seen for sale. Of course, David has talked about one of these before:
When you hear “FJ,” you naturally think about the old Toyota FJ40s from the 60s. But hold on there pal, because Jeep sold their own FJ from 1961 to 1975.
Not quite an offroader like the Toyota, the FJ “Fleetvan” was the Ford Transit Connect of its day: a stubby little cargo delivery van. It was based on the DJ-3A dispatcher, and was sold by Willys-Overland and Kaiser-Jeep primarily to the U.S. Postal Service. The early models were called FJ-3s and FJ-3As, with the 3A being the longer version of the two.
The FJ-3 stuck around for a few years until a new CJ-6-based FJ-6 replaced it in the mid ‘60s. The FJ-6 was then replaced by the FJ-9 near the end of the FJ’s production run around 1975. All FJ Fleetvans came with the F-Head Hurricane engine and either a 3-speed manual or 3-speed automatic.
This example has been given a restoration and it looks fantastic. Honestly, this Jeep might be the only delivery truck I’d want even more than a Grumman LLV. The selling dealership says the restoration is holding up with bright teal paint and not a bit of rust. Power comes from a 2.2-liter F4-134 Hurricane making 75 HP.
[Ed Note: Fleetvans have always been weirdly expensive, largely due to their commercial value as a work van that can act as cute business-advertising. -DT].
It’s $34,900 from Fuel Required in Mcdonald, Pennsylvania with 52,190 miles.
1985 Aston Martin Lagonda – $19,996
Yes, the Aston Martin Lagonda on your screen is pretty rusty and also pretty damaged. However, one of these in good nick will command $100,000 or higher. Why is this Lagonda so cheap? Well, in addition to the heavy rust and bad paint, the dashboard is missing some pieces, the carpet is torn and horribly stained, the fuel tank leaks, the windshield is cracked, the tires are dry-rotted, parts are missing, and oh, it hasn’t been on the road since 1997. But hey, it does run and drive! Why should you care? Aston Martin, tell them!
Designed by William Towns, October 1976 saw Aston Martin reveal a striking new model, a new 4 door Lagonda with innovative solid state digital instrumentation, a futuristic concept at the time. Lagonda created a wave of publicity for the company and the order book filled rapidly, particularly from the Middle East market.
With initial production levels at one a week it wasn’t until 1979 that the first car was delivered. In 1982 Lagonda was finally cleared for sale in the USA. In 1984, a Long Wheelbase Tickford Limousine version was announced with a TV in the front and rear. A total of 645 chassis were built before the end of production in 1989. Each car required 2,200 man-hours to build and only about 25 were built per year for the U.S. market.
Power comes from a 5.4-liter V8 rated at 280 HP and 360 lb-ft of torque. Obviously, this example isn’t going to be your daily driver, but I’d love to see this Lagonda rescued and brought back to health. If you want to take on the challenge, the Lagonda is $19,996 from McGinty Motorcars in Reading, Pennsylvania with 58,458 miles.
2005 Dodge Ram SRT10 – $18,000
Good news! I found the cheapest running and driving Dodge Ram SRT-10 that has a clean title and no accidents. Bad news, it has an automatic transmission. Some of you may also not be a fan of its four doors. However, it’s a truck with a Viper engine, that’s still really cool! The Ram SRT-10 is an evolution of what was then Dodge’s Performance Vehicle Operations taking regular vehicles and making them seriously quick. In November 2003, Dodge published a high-octane press release:
There are no doubts, no second guesses and no recounts needed, the ultimate performance pickup is here; and it’s a Dodge. The most powerful and fastest production pickup ever, the new 2004 Dodge Ram SRT10 packs a big Viper punch with a class-demolishing 500 horsepower and 525 lb.-ft. of torque. Topping 150 mph in maximum speed and reaching 60 mph in just over five seconds, Dodge has recalibrated expectations for truck performance.
“With the Ram SRT10, the PVO team set out to create the fastest, most powerful production pickup ever – the ultimate Dodge Ram,” said Wolfgang Bernhard, Chief Operating Officer, Chrysler Group. “The goal at PVO is to out muscle everything in our class through superior engineering and by drawing on our engineers’ vast motorsports experience. That is why this truck can accelerate like a dragster, yet it is not a coarse hot rod.” “Once the idea of putting the 500 horsepower Viper-10 into the Ram was presented, we knew we had to make this truck,” said Dan Knott, Director, Performance Vehicle Operations. “We felt we had an obligation to build this truck, to build something truly great. We knew that no other manufacturer could make this happen, only Dodge and PVO.”
Power comes from an 8.3-liter aluminum V10 borrowed from the Viper and as Dodge so enthusiastically said, it’s churning out 500 horses to the rear wheels. This is a truck that can hit 60 mph in the five-second range and do it while carrying your kids and a couple of dirt bikes.
This example is a Quad Cab and the selling dealership does not comment on its condition. It’s $18,000 from Kent’s Custom Cars And Trucks in Collinsville, Oklahoma with 125,317 miles.
That’s it for this week, thank you for reading!
I am presumably the only vote for the Fairlane. An ugly spud it is, dubious styling, and a nice interior in a color sure to induce ennui. And, of course the old 225 six banger best found in pickups 10 years older. But! I crave a three on the tree in a big old sedan. My head and shoulders free to shift about, I would wind that old mill with a cheap ass glass pack, just to hear it holler. After 20 seconds or so, having achieved 60 mph, would listen to all the mechanical bits whir and squawk, not an electronic more advanced than the points. The body will wallow, the suspension creak, the hot oil off from the valve cover gasket stink. The bumpers would sport “See Rock City” and “JFK 1960”. This is the true vintage car experience.
Great selection. Keep showing the airheads
An R75/5 for four gorillas and a monkey! Don’t delay, they’re getting hard to find.
Cripes the Lagonda is an ugly car. It’s like Uncle Buck’s beater, but with an origami hood and with the profile of a normal ugly car viewed through a drunk fisheye lens. That BMW is mighty tempting though.
The Skoda has a sideways hinged frunk. Still Soviet shit though.
The Passat and Lagonda have serious PCH potential. I know both Skoda jokes, why does a Skoda have a heated rear window? To keep your hands warm while you’re pushing it, and Skoda’s rally success and side business making really huge artillery. I’d prefer the fastback in rally replica over a sedan.
The,Lark Wagonaire is best appreciated as a Matchbox car where you can enjoy sliding the roof panel without having to deal with leaks and rust.
Getting too far into the beers last night with some buddies, we started to discuss unique and creative forms of self destruction. Not just the usual sexually assault a coworker, or get addicted to fentynal, or point a nail gun in the wrong direction. I wish I had thought of buying used Passat W8.
I wish to retract this comment. It didn’t occur to me how insensitive it was. I forgot we should be more empathetic and respectful towards our fellow humans. Including those that somehow find themselves in the ownership of a Passat W8.
Sorry.
Never blame the victim. 9/10ths of the time they wander in front of the bus without seeing their impending doom. There are others however, who DO see it, and still jump right out there. I myself have been in that category.
I’m not proud of those moments.
One of my sisters (a normal non-car enthusiast) knowing I was a vw enthusiast at the time was interested in the W8 when they were new and she asked me if I thought she should buy a W8 Passat or an Audi A4 (or an A6).
I said if she was dead set on buying a vw product between these two I strongly recommended she buy a normal Audi A4 or A6 instead. My reasoning being the W8’s strength and its weakness is how unique it is… so any problems that come up are likewise likely to be unique to that product (failed ignition coils and window regulators withstanding). And the dealership experience for repairs would likely be more pleasant at an Audi focused dealership than a (lowy) VW dealer, even though there are of course combined VW/Audioslave dealers…
She ended up buying the Audi and overall I think she loved it and had a positive ownership experience.
For a few years there was a Lagonda for sale in DC that was advertised an having been armored and bullet resistant to rifle fire. The price kept getting lower and I kept wondering if the the idea was to have the world’s slowest Lagonda or the world’s least anonymous armored car.
Wonder what the story was with that.
The BMW is a steal. I’d rock that baby until I couldn’t walk.
But the star of this series is the FJ-3A. OMG… So gorgeous.
Honestly, I’d rock the SRT10 Quad Cab.
It’d be interesting to live with a 100,000+ mile Viper engine.
I love the Skoda, the Smart and the Jeep Fleetvan, but I don’t feel any buying urge toward them.
This is the first time I’ve read one of these without feeling serious temptation. That’s more a testament to Mercedes’ consistently good finds than a critique of this batch.
I want to buy the Willys and go on adventures tracking down ingredients to complete a recipe because I inevitably ate something.
http://www.ewillys.com/wp-content/uploads2/2019/11/cookie-monster-real-fj3.jpg
Škoda as appetizer, Studebaker Wagonaire for the soup course, then finish with a beater Lagonda! Truly a meal fit for a demented Autopian.
I thought I had a pretty good handle on all Jeep models through history, and now I’m finding out that there’s a funky forward control step an?
They had all kinds of weird goodness in the 50s and 60s
Even the fc trucks almost had a wagon version for a bread loaf suburban
Divco had a model called the Divco Twin milk truck that looked like an adorable little toaster on wheels that was designed to allow the driver to stand up while driving
Their Divco Delivery truck in contrast has a beautiful rounded cab
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Divco
That BMW is fantastic, and $4500 seems like a good deal.
Fun fact: that is also called a “bum-stop” seat, because the vertical piece stops your bum sliding off the back. 🙂
Haven’t had a motorcycle in over 40 years, this was tempting me back. It’s about what was current when I stopped riding, so there is that. Think I’m looking at cheap lotus seven clones now though.
My (completely unsolicited) two pence: if you would like to ride again and you’re capable of doing so, you should, even if you just meander around back roads.
The Seven would give you some of the same experience, so there is that. 🙂
I have a solution for the oversteer in the Skoda: enjoy it
Was going to say the same thing.
“The seller also believes that the best way to cancel out that oversteer problem is by placing a 100-pound bag of sand in the frunk.”
Yes, and you could also do the same thing to cure a Porsche 911 of its tail-happy antics, but where’s the fun in that??
That W8 wagon is pretty sick, but if you want an expensive eight cylinder manual VAG wagon from that era, for gods sake, get an Audi S4
You namedrop Myron every week, but I think that Wagonaire is already literally his: https://twitter.com/MyronVernis/status/1604695968393347072?t=l1f-fBDv0hsoOt6icmm11A&s=19
Sadly, I do not know Myron, so this slipped by me. The seller’s name under the listing was a guy named Steven, so I thought nothing of it.
A long time ago, Matt wrote the two static introductory paragraphs to help save me writing time each week. He added the Beau and Myron part after complaints about some of the car finds being expensive.
Turns out, I should spend more time on social media and follow these guys!
Back in 2001 I inherited a Porsche 597 Jagdwagen and ended up talking to Myron about it at length because he’s the guy to talk to about Jagdwagens. He seemed to be a lovely person.
Huh I knew about the Porsche Tractor buy not the 597 “hunt” car
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porsche_597
Insert “The more you know” meme here.
Tks Hugh!
Ha, my uncle had one of those too. A Porsche Junior Diesel.
“It’s an open wheel single seater Porsche, unfortunately it tends to plow at low speeds.”
That reminds me of this fantastic Porsche model P111 needing service commercial…
https://youtube.com/watch?v=R8-9oIq1hxw&feature=shared
Looks like there were actually 4 power levels of Porsche tractor (Junior, Standars, Super and Master)
https://www.tractordata.com/farm-tractors/tractor-brands/porsche/porsche-tractors.html
This one is worth a (5min.) Read too!
https://www.motortrend.com/vehicle-genres/porsche-diesel-tractor-models-history-origin/
So technically Porache tractors were designed and engineered but not Produced by Porsche bc they didn’t make them prior to WWII
At some point in this depreciation curve, people are going to start buying perfectly good SRT10 trucks just to scavenge engine parts for their Vipers.
how close is that curve at this point? And is that the only external source for that motor?
There’s always a few used or rebuilt ones for sale, I assume from wrecks but as far as I know that’s the only source.
I don’t know enough about the Viper’s motor (OK, I know nothing) to know how often an engine replacement is, but I have begun stockpiling suspension parts for my GX, both for longevity and for trail spares. Is it something that’s worth picking up one of those blocks because it’s when, not if?
Some people do stuff like that, which is a bit extreme to me but I guess is defensible if you’re planning to keep the car for decades.
I would imagine if you’re racing/tracking one of them, sure. Or…if you want it to last forever, which sounds like a goal that’s good, too. I just haven’t ever heard of engine failure in these.
Are Viper engine parts in short supply? I thought there is still a fairly constant supply of totaled Vipers.
Luckily I haven’t had to find out firsthand, but the more values keep rising, the harder it is to total them out.
I mean, that’d probably be just for the 3rd generation Viper owners though, wouldn’t it?
Some parts are shared but yeah primarily.
So, who has the funds and Canadian real estate to buy the Smart Roadster and hold on to it until Mercedes can buy it in 2028?
I was thinking making a deal with an American museum like the Lane may be an excellent way to buy a 18-20 year old interesting car. Lane would get an interesting cat for their museum for 5-7 years and you (may) get a great price on an interesting classic
I want that lagonda. Repaint it purple, reupholster the seats, replace all the carpets and soft parts, new tires, jerry rig new tank, done. Daily that shit like the true baller you are.
But leave the windshield cracked. That’s the baller move.
Yes.
The Smart Roadster Coupe has appeal to me. Once the engine goes, it would make a fantastic EV conversion or Smart diesel swap.
That Smart coupe is fantastic and the price seems reasonable. Might be worth buying and warehousing for few years until its 25th birthday.
I think that price for the Passat with that many miles is exceptionally wishful thinking. Half that at best.
Yeah, it needs either half the price or half the miles…and one of those would be illegal. 🙂 It appears to be the only W8 manual wagon for sale in the country right now, maybe the seller is trying to bank on that?
Best of luck to them. We should keep an eye on how many times it gets reduced. Lol
You know Mercedes has a Google alert set for that.
I like the SRT truck. I would rock that.