AUTOS: Welcome To Weird Wednesday

The Leata Caballero, a disco-era attempt to mate a Chevy Chevette with a pickup truck. (Photo: Barrett-Jackson)

One of the many cool things about the Barrett-Jackson Collector Car Event in Scottsdale is the eclectic selection of vehicles offered. In fact, today’s docket selections could be dubbed, “Weird Wednesday.” And I mean that in a good way.

Today’s auction, which will be televised live in HD on SPEED from 7 p.m. to midnight ET, features motorcycles, tractors, a golf cart, a bunch of covered wagons, a Winnebago and a Honda Zoe, if you can imagine that.

Sure, there will be plenty of primo muscle cars, classics and restomods throughout the evening, but there will also be a few truly out-there vehicles.

Here are five of the most unique offerings going on the block at Barrett-Jackson on Wednesday:

The very lightweight Viking Roadster should be plenty quick with its RX7 rotary engine. (Photo: Barrett-Jackson)

Lot 315.1: Leata Caballero — In case you don’t have your Spanish-English dictionary handy, “Leata Caballero” means “Chevette pickup truck” in English. Steinbaugh Manufacturing made fewer of 100 of these from 1975 to 1977 and one look will tell you why. This one was built in July 1977 “with every available option and fully documented with original window sticker, sales brochure and sales invoice.” Comes with GM 4-cylinder engine, automatic transmission, air conditioning, power windows, power driver’s seat, AM/FM/8-Track, CB, cruise control, alloy wheels, special paint and leather upholstery pushing the window sticker to just over $10,000 in disco-era dollars.

Lot 316: Viking Roadster — The Viking is an open-air roadster, built in western Washington and featuring a handcrafted fiberglass body to minimize weight. The custom built body and square tube frame utilize Mazda's RX7 engine and running gear. The engine is an 1,146cc, 12a rotary producing just over 100 horsepower, which is connected to a 5-speed manual transmission. Claimed to offer “the best of both worlds, vintage styling with modern and reliable sports car running gear.” And, oh yeah, it’s titled as a 1979 Mazda.

VetRod takes a miniature, hand-built hot rod and stuffs it with Corvette power. (Photo: Barrett-Jackson)

Lot 339: Vettrod — Unique hot rod or the answer to a question no one asked? You decide. Built in 1999, Vettrod is a custom, hand-built steel bodied roadster with the undercarriage and running gear of a 1973 Corvette. The engine is a built 350-cubic-inch Chevy producing 450 horsepower, with a GM automatic transmission. Driver and passenger seats are Recaros. The Vettrod has been driven just 5,500 miles since it was built. It is said to be mechanically and cosmetically excellent and ready for the open road or track.

Lot 403: 1957 Panhard Dyna Z — Can you have a huge collector-car auction without at least one utterly bizarre French car on the block? Signs point to “no.” The seller states that Panhard and Levassor of Paris was one of the two oldest manufacturers of automobiles in the world. The Dyna Z was aluminum, tipping the scales at a flyweight 1,630 pounds. “There were very few cars that had the combination of interior room, trunk space, styling, and most importantly a powerplant that was performance based,” the seller states. “Being a light car and having a 50-horsepower, two-cylinder engine gave enough power along with plenty of fuel economy to make this unique front-wheel-drive car desirable to the American market.” How’d that work out?

So French, the aluminum Panhard Dyna sedan is lightweight and packed with two-cylinder power. (Photo: Barrett-Jackson)

Lot 443 - 1957 Goggomobil Recreation Roadster — Is it just me, or does the phrase “Goggomobile Recreation” sound like “imitation Miracle Whip” or “faux polyester” to you, too? At any rate, this is a stylistic homage to the late and unlamented Goggomobile Dart, which was made in Australia in the late 1950s, using components from Hans Glas GmbH of Dingolfing in Bavaria. Guaranteed, the winning bidder will have the only one at his or her local cruise night. Want to know more? Just Google Goggomobil. Better yet, try to say “Google Goggomobil” three times fast.

Source  http://automotive.speedtv.com/article/autos-welcome-to-weird-wednesday/