Fairlane 500 + 1983 Celica + BMW Z3 + 1969 Camaro - Phil's Picks 437

By: Phil Walker

Date: 17.03.2020

Uncle Phil's top picks from the Trade Unique Cars classifieds...

1966 ford fairlane 500
$55,000

The US fairlane with a familiar face

I reckon these Fairlanes were about the best looking of the lot to file out of Henry Ford’s factories in the ’60s. What a shame we only got the sedan here because the coupe body takes it to a new level. Under its generous bonnet lies a C Code 289 giving it more urge than the straight six found in so many.

Also going for it is its amazingly low 52,000 original miles with books, and according to the ad this survivor car is still in original spec. It has had a light cosmetic makeover but all the sheetmetal is original. It seems all there is left to do is turn the key and enjoy the drive. And when you look at the price, good luck with finding an Aussie coupe from the same era for the outlay.

1969 CHEVROLET CAMARO SS
$80,000

While the world was going gaga about the Mustang, on the other side of Detroit the General was serving up its own brand of muscle in the shape of the Chevrolet Camaro. While it never reached the dizziness in the hype stakes that the car that Henry’s boys churned out did, the Camaro was a serious bit of kit and the 69 SS highly sought. The wow factors here are its yellow paintwork and matching yellow vinyl trim with houndstooth inserts and that it has had a full resto and was bought was bought from a museum, giving an indication of condition.

1979 MGB GT LE
$16,500

There are two ways to buy an MGB. Ring the local club and have a good solid example recommended to you, or grab something like this nearly last-of-the-line coupe and give yourself a project. Overall this one looks to be tidy and only 580 GT LEs were made. There always seems to be someone who wants to slide one into their shed, so disposing of it shouldn’t be hard. This one gives you the option of a resto on the run, but I reckon the best way to undertake such a project is to pull it off the road, pull it apart so you know what you’re dealing with, and get out the elbow grease.

1998 BMW Z3
$9,995

James Bond made the Z3 famous in Golden Eye having ditched the Aston Martin for the Bavarian brand for a short while anyway. To buy one of these back in the day required a large cheque yet today you only need to shell out 10K to get into what is quickly becoming an affordable classic. This one has 129,000 kms on the clock and if it has been serviced by the book, it should provide trouble-free driving. One thing for certain is that it’s going to put a sizeable grin on your face. What better pedigree can you buy for this?

1956 BUICK 56S Special
$40,000

Big fins, plenty of chrome and two-tone paint.  Welcome to American family motoring in the fifties. This mint and cream number has had three owners who have only driven it a total of 89,000 miles! While it is a four-door, the swoopy styling is loved throughout the world and looking at the photos it seems a lot of TLC has been extended to this particular example. You could try and resto one, if you can find one, but sometimes handing over a larger sum for instant enjoyment makes way more sense.

1983 TOYOTA CELICA SA63
$19,000

An amazing Japanese timewarp from the early 1980s. Looks can be deceiving as while the wedge shape gives it a sporty persona, its delivery on that is about 4 out of 10.  You won’t get nose bleed from acceleration and it has more angle than the leaning tower of Pisa if you throw it at a corner with any speed on board. But reliability was its strong point and these early 1980 Japanese cars have a strong and loyal following. Racing red adds to its appeal if not its performance.

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