About Nathan Avots-Smith
Corvette Killer: 1964 Pontiac XP-833 Banshee Prototype
Update 4/20/2020 – After more than three years since we featured it, this Banshee prototype is still on the market. The dealer has now listed an asking price of $750k here on their site. Thanks go to Rocco B… more»
Two Of The Ten 1934 Chrysler Airflow Coupes
UPDATE 12/30/2019 – This pair of Airflows first showed up back in late 2017. Fast forward two years and they are now up for grabs here on eBay. They are still available on Hemmings, but with their original $85k… more»
1 of 250: 1988 Porsche 944 Celebration Edition
UPDATE – The seller has relisted this one here on eBay with no reserve! FROM 11/6/18 – The seller of this 1988 Porsche 944 Celebration Edition makes a good point: is there a better bargain in limited-production classic Porsches… more»
Fiberglass Fun: 1970 Meyers Manx SR
Bruce Meyers kicked off a craze in 1964 with his Volkswagen-based Meyers Manx dune buggy; here was a low-cost, easy-to-build, fun, lightweight beach car to perfectly embody the Southern California surf scene that’s always captured the American imagination. His… more»
Long and Low (Miles): 1976 Cadillac Fleetwood 75
For over fifty years, from 1936 to 1987, few cars in America conferred as much instant respect as a Cadillac Fleetwood 75 limousine. These stately, factory-built limos quietly proclaimed that whoever was inside was somebody. Well, you’re somebody, too, and if… more»
Perfectly Preserved: 58K-Mile 1985 Toyota Celica GT
My favorite classes in college, where I majored in Historic Preservation, had to do with the study of material culture. Essentially, material culture is the stuff we make, use, save, and throw away, and you can learn a lot about… more»
Good Starting Point: 1956 Continental Mark II
The Continental Mark II was the most expensive American-built car of 1956 (eclipsed by the Cadillac Eldorado Brougham in 1957, its second and final year), and restored examples are still highly valued today, a testament to the Mark II’s… more»
$700 Project: 1963 Chevrolet Corvair Monza
I’ve been known to preach the Corvair gospel around here, extolling Chevy’s little rear-engined gem as a bargain classic. But there are bargains, and then there’s just cheap. If you ask me, $700 still counts as cheap, and that’s just what’s… more»
We Build Excitement: 1989 Pontiac Grand Prix Turbo
“We build excitement!” Pontiac ads crowed in the 1980s and ’90s, and while many elements of Pontiac’s late-20th century conception of excitement may not have aged super well, there were at least some credible performance cars involved. One of… more»
1 of 50 4-Speeds: 1966 Rambler Rogue
If you don’t mind a little quirkiness—and maybe a little residual perceived dorkiness—there are a lot of great classic car bargains still to be found from American Motors. Case in point: this 1966 Rambler Rogue, said to be one… more»
Streamlined Barn Find: 1935 Nash Advanced Six
You might be a bit confused if you click through to the craigslist ad for this barn find Nash, as it lists the car as a 1934 “Big Six.” I was a little disappointed myself when I realized the… more»
Old School, Like New: 1986 Ford LTD Country Squire
Sales of the evergreen Ford LTD Crown Victoria dropped by 33% from 1985 to 1986, from about 185,000 to about 124,000. What happened? Maybe it was age—the big, Panther-platform Ford was entering its eighth year on the market largely… more»
Highly Optioned: 1966 Chevrolet Suburban
In younger days, my mom used to fantasize about buying a travel trailer and a mid-’60s Suburban like this ’66 to tow it. I’m not sure why she zeroed in on this generation, the last Suburban with only two… more»
Early Bird: 1962 Studebaker Gran Turismo Hawk
This 1962 Studebaker is the 281st Gran Turismo Hawk built, its October 1961 build date near the beginning of a three-year run for this elegant Thunderbird challenger. Of course, it’s only an early car if you overlook the fact… more»
Roll Your Own Classic: Delahaye 165 Wood Forming Buck
We’re all experts at forming sheetmetal here at Barn Finds, right? So a project like, say, building a replica of one of the most sensuously curvaceous interwar French classics is all in a day’s work around here, but sometimes… more»
1970-72 Opel GT Package Deal
Imagine my disappointment: my dad and my grandmother both had Opel GTs—my dad’s was blue and my grandmother’s butterscotch, examples of each of which appear in the lineup of five GTs above! And of the five…those are the two… more»
