Now here’s you’ve been looking for, even if you didn’t know it: a Gazelle! or more accurately, a Pinto Gazelle, as compared to a VW Gazelle. No air-cooled eggbeater engines out back for this Mercedes SSK dim dreamlike tribute; just like Ferdinand Porsche intended, given that the SSK was his baby. But then so was the VW. So a gazelle offers the opportunity to pay tribute to Ferdinand in more ways than one.
Here’s what it’s going to look like when you finish that last little 10% that this one still needs.
Yes, 10%. It says right here on the sign that it’s 90% complete, and you know that’s not an exaggeration.
You’re not so sure this looks 90% complete?
Hey, it’s got a rear axle and apparently the rest of the running gear is installed.
No VW torsion bars here. Genuine Pinto coil spring front end with rack and pinion steering.
It’s all tied down and set to be delivered to your doorstep.
It’s not too late yet to relive the late ’70s or ’80s.
Yeah, but that last 10% of parts that is the killer.
My current project in the shop is a 1935 Armstrong ladies 3-speed roadster bicycle. Like the one’s from the village scenes in Downton Abbey, 28″ wheels, rod brakes, a very tall frame with slack angles. I absolutely adore these bikes as a commuter (I have a personal ’72 Raleigh Tourist, looks identical in a men’s frame), but the fun part is coming up with the missing linkage parts for the brakes, the full coverage chain guard, and a few other things.
I’ve got reenactment friends who do a WWII British Women’s Land Army impression, and they’ve been wanting a bicycle to complete the setup. I’ve warned them that it’s probably going to take me a year or two to find everything to have this bike rideable. Of course, despite both the Armstrong and Raleigh having rod brakes, none of the parts are interchangeable between the two. I’m hoping to do a bit of conversion, making Raleigh parts (which are available with some serious hunting) function on the Armstrong frame (which are in the ‘hen’s teeth’ category).
I immediately though of that bike when I saw this, because, calling the car 90% complete is one of those stretches. If we’re talking poundage or parts, or square footage of material, I have no doubt that the car is 90% there. The body and frame alone is half of it. However, if we’re talking the actual number of parts needed to have the car complete and running (figuring engine and transmission as two parts), I be the car is more like 60%.
Crack Pipe.
Nice Price.
Fibreglass and Pinto.
Crack Pipe Supreme.
These can be very entertaining to drive (smiles per mile). My buddy had one of these, and they are enjoyable with the suspension sorted out. Easy to work on as well. A great intro project car.
Nice Price d’Excellence.
Deion
Gentlemen, doesn’t there need to be a listed piece to determine if this is a “Nice Price” or “Crack Pipe”?
No Pinto gas tank, assumedly.
We gave customers what they wanted. Opera windows with pinstripe decor. Half vinyl roofs to give a real European attitude. Lightweight gas tanks to add a little excitement to your daily drive. Classy hood ornaments, and real high quality simulated wood appliqués. I know what the American driving public wants, and America wants a lightweight, fuel efficient small car with exploding gas tanks to take on the foreign market.
As many here already know, there is a large archive of Popular Mechanics and Popular Science issues available at Google Books for viewing. I vaguely recall reading a few months ago, a small sidebar in PM from late 1973 (I think) where Iacocca was encouraging Ford suppliers and aftermarket companies to not just focus on the larger luxury cars with any accessory ideas or extras that could be sold for these cars, but to also submit ideas for extras on the brand new Mustang II.
Heh. I like you.
I especially like the hurried “Almost” the seller was compelled to add to the “Trade Anything.” I’m guessing he or she got some interesting offers.
Which reminds me of the Seinfeld episode where Jerry is trying to sell a van he got stuck with but didn’t actually want, and Kramer convinces him to include “interesting trades considered” in the ad.
Aw, dang. I was so excited until I saw it was a Pinto Gazelle. It would have been just the thing for my VW, I am getting tired of the sedan body. 🙂
Unless there a lot of boxes that go with it I’d say 50% complete, with 17% of the work done. On the plus side it looks a bit like a rolling hot tub from the back, Paul you could have saved yourself all that trouble to drive out to remote hot springs
I had to snicker at the “90% complete” comment, because I don’t think I’ve ever seen a kit car that was truly 100% complete. They all seem to need some sort of tinkering to make them complete, and even then things aren’t quite all done.
And given that the last 10% involves paint and body work, upholstery, decent wheels and tires, and chrome finishing touches, that last 10% can eat up 90% of the budget. Kind of like the Pareto Principle of projects.
Reminder of who janky kit cars were. Has the structural integrity of a candy cane. I’d actually feel safer in a rusted Pinto.
90% of the mass is there. That’s what counts, right?
Even when finished kit cars like this always reminded me of a $9.99 knock off Rolex watch.
I think you put the decimal too far to the right…
My “Rolex” is not a knock off, it’s a TRIBUTE!
There’s plenty of room for a roll cage and you really don’t need a hood… A 302 and a little nitrous and you’ve got a drag weapon.
It seems that off all the unfinished kit cars out there, as opposed to ones that were finished and driveable at some point, the Gazelle, specifically the Pinto version is the one I’ve most frequently seen. Interestingly enough often sitting on a trailer in some parking lot on a busy road.
He must mean that the Pinto motor is 90% complete. Because the rest of the car sure isn’t.
My BIL has a Frazier Nash replica on a VW chassis that has been moldering in a garage for 40 years. I used to think that it would be a fun project to get back on the road. But I’m better now.
What was really sad about these automotive rhinestones was real time, effort and especially money was wasted to create a cheap, badly-designed version of some desirable Classic, then treated as if they really amounted to something. Resources that could have been committed to restore and preserve a worthwhile car were diverted by this trash.
Among “serious” car guys kit cars have always been good for a laugh. I was always in that group, but now I’m willing to cut those kit car owners some slack. As long as those cars are not falsely represented as the real thing. Some kit cars are actually tribute cars that follow the original design quite closely. Porsche 356 relicas come to mind. Some like the Factory Five cars are well engineered customer built replicas. Others like Fiero based Ferrari clones can look pretty good but the proportions throw them off.
The continuation car theme is currently being played out by Jaguar and Aston Martin. Continuation cars are almost exact replicas built in the same manner and to the same. specifications as the originals. Even though they are brand new, they cannot be licensed for street use since they don’t comply to current safety and emission standards. “Track use only.” I think that the new Jag D types sold for a million dollars a pop. A bargain compared to an original! Aston Martin is building a small run of continuation DB4 based Zagato coupes. They are the most expensive replicas ever. They will be sold as as set, with a brand new, fully street usable Zagato model. Price? Over eight and half million dollars!
I don’t think that anyone has ever been fooled by a VW based replica. Be it an MG, Mercedes, Jaguar, or Bugatti. In my eyes they all look pretty much the same, except for the most minor of details. Still, I think that they could be fun to run around in.
What regular person would ever be able to afford a real Porsche 917. A Lazer might be fun, as well as street legal. I found this replica VW based blower Bentley for sale on Craigs List a couple of months ago. If I had the extra money (and the space) I would have liked to buy it. I’m crazy about those pre war Bentleys. It just looked like a lot of fun.