The automotive kingdom has, in theory at least, a wide variety of unicorns. With deer season looming for those of us in certain locales, let’s extend this hunting season to getting one of these unicorns.
Hey, both have four legs so that’s close enough.
I’ve long had a hankering to find a unicorn from the year of my birth. Perhaps that rationale is breathtakingly unimaginative and straightforward, but sometimes being unimaginative and straightforward quickly yields the best results. My grandfather says some of the best results he ever got while fishing was in 1945 when using hand grenades in the Rhine River. That’s pretty straightforward.
For an automotive unicorn I’m thinking about transmissions more than color, engine size, body style, or some combination thereof. Might a transmission make more unicorns than anything else? Perhaps; perhaps not.
At any rate, I’m thinking Mopar in this regard. Their willingness to do something atypical certainly exceeded that of others.
So here’s my unicorn – a 1972 Dodge Coronet. Yes, I’ve been itching to find any Coronet of this vintage for about three years and a recent post on a genetically modified one only made the itch worse. On the surface this era of Coronet is nothing extraordinary as tens of thousands were produced, but we’re talking unicorns among the Coronet herd.
See anything unexpected here? For a hint look at what one could have had bolted to a four-barrel 400 V8. Yes, Ma Mopar would sell you a four-on-the-floor in a Coronet sedan.
Were any made? If so, few. Why do I say there were likely actual examples of this theoretical unicorn?
www.barnfinds.com
This visually modified Coronet wagon was built with a factory four-speed and is claimed as being one of four produced this way. All were no doubt special ordered.
www.charleyconnoly.com
There are other unicorns, particularly when looking through the lens of transmissions. This ’78 Chrysler LeBaron has a factory four-speed.
And this 1970 Ford LTD was built with a three-on-the-tree. This video is either a love-it or hate-it affair. Speaking of three-speeds, in search for various unicorns I also found a ’70 Chrysler Newport convertible and a ’71 Ford LTD convertible, both with a factory three-speed on the column.
So what factory built unicorn would you like to find? What combination of engine, transmission, and body style is it? Bonus points if it’s within two years of your birth – I say this so we don’t have a bunch of brown, diesel powered, manual transmission wagons!
1953 Olds Starfire Concept.
The one year only ‘73 CJ-5 Super Jeep in white (yes there were other colors) with 304 V8 and the steelies/whitewalls jettisoned in favor of Ansen slots wrapped in gnarly A/Ts. I’m a ‘74 model myself so it’s right in the sweet spot.
When we first moved to TN in ‘79 there was one of these that was always at a local gas station. Never saw another and while I had no idea how rare and special it was, that rig helped cement a love of Jeeps that’s never fully faded. Good times!!
1979 Pontiac Grand Am with a 301 Turbo. Pontiac listed this one but I’m not sure any were actually made.
The timing was bad budget-wise, but there was a ’74 Vega LX on eBay about this time last year (https://www.curbsideclassic.com/blog/cc-for-sale/ebay-classic/ebay-classic-1974-chevrolet-vega-lx-grandmas-last-car/). I still kick myself that I wasn’t able to pick it up at the time.
A ’76 Vega Cabriolet would be another unicorn that would be fun to take to C&C.
I was born in 1972, but there are no unicorns from that year that I’d like to own.
I do however own a 2006 Mercedes C350 sport sedan (W203) with a 6 spd. manual transmission. Despite several attempts I’ve never been able get an exact count of how many were imported in this configuration. Mercedes told me they sent ~3,000 to the U.S., and if only 5% are manual, then mine is 1 of 150.
I also own a 1995.5 Audi S6, which has a 5 spd. manual and is only 1 of a few hundred.
Chrysler Imperial Lamborghini Edition. Production : 1. Where is it now ?
I was born in 1947 and have zero interest in cars of that era. I prefer cars that I can remember as being new or nearly new from the time i was growing up. Well, there are a few exceptions, like the ’40 Ford, but I generally stick to later models.
My unicorn would be a 1960 Edsel two door hardtop. These shared the same body and roof line as the Ford Starlner and I find them very attractive.
I actually already have a unicorn sitting out in my garage. It’s my ’79 Malibu coupe with a V8 and factory four speed, handling suspension , bucket seats and a factory sunroof. It’s the only one just like it that I have ever seen. I ordered it new back when you were more likely to be able to tailor a car to your specific wants.
I found your unicorn in 1991 in Dover, NJ–not too far from me:
Thanks. These have always been one of my favorite cars for some reason. I have only seen one of these two door hardtops in person and it was a white one in the next town from where I grew up. Of course, it was practically new at the time.
In my year (1956) there’s a lots of cool choices out there. I’ll go for a ’56 Nomad, 265 4 barrel powerpack, with 3 speed overdrive trans, hottest factory setup available.
My unicorn of unicorns is the Audi A4 B5 Avant 1.9 TDI Duo. (90hp turbo diesel + 29 hp electric motor). Only 90 were made and sold at a steep 70k Deutschmarks in the mid 90ies). I have never seen one for sale. Once, a British seller sold the hybrid-electric drivetrain on eBay for 8.5 k pound sterling.
Still, I bet Audi are seriously regretting the fact that they didn’t go down that road just a little bit further back then.
At my old house I actually still have the original catalogue from the Audi dealer – they printed an extra brochure for a car they did not even sell 100 examples of. It’s probably worth a couple of hundred bucks now.
The battery pack added a hefty 900 lb to the car’s weight. The electric motor could propel the Audi to 50mph on its own. Due to the weight penalty, the car was still rated at 50 mpg in the European consumption cycle, exactly like the non-hybridized version.
A lot of unicorns come to my mind, but it would probably a 1983 Dodge 400 coupe, possibly metallic blue with beige padded roof. These were marketed here in Italy fro a few years when Chrysler made an effort to officially import a few selected models.
I still remember a man used to park one of these close to my school and my schoolmates kidding me for being in love with such car.
Within two years of my birth, either a 1965 Autobianchi Primula or a 1964 Oldsmobile Starfire would be my pick.
I lost my brochure a long time a go but still have an ad (for the 600 sedan) and an article about Mopars coming back to Italy.
Here’s the ad. Dodge 600, wire wheels, white walls and column shift.
A sporty ES version featuring a 5 speed manual transmission and bucket seats was offered but it didn’t seem appropriate to me at the time.
Running and driving Eagle Premier ES Limited
Not my birth year, but what I would like to find is a ’65 Chevelle two door wagon, 327/300hp four speed.
Cadillac STS Platinum V8 AWD. Super rare and hard to pick from a regular high-spec STS externally but with leather-wrapped dash parts and Alcantara headliner inside.
The year I sprung to life was 1973, but the unicorn — or may be it isn’t exactly a ‘unicorn’; I’m not sure — I’d park in my two-space carport would be a 1968 Chevrolet Biscayne with the ‘250’ and the Powerglide. Doesn’t matter if it’s a 2- or 4-door model. Until I came to CC I honestly had no idea about how classic 2-door cars are considerably more desirable than 4-door models, but I’m not picky about the # of doors on a ’68 Biscayne.
2nd place would be a 1976 Buick LeSabre with the ‘231’ . . . if there are any left. But, hey, if there is 1 left I’d gladly take it and keep it running. 3rd place would be the Malaise mobile: The ’75 Ford Granada with the putrid power-to-weight ratio. I figure if someone is going to preserve one of these speed demons it may as well be me. By far the most driving I’ve ever done was in a 1964 Ford Falcon that was not -and- is not a machine for drivers interested in ‘performance’ so I’m very used to motoring around in s-l-o-w cars.
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I reckon the passage of time has turned my ’64 Falcon into a unicorn-ish sort of vehicle. Unlike ‘Mustang Rick’s 1979 Malibu coupe with the rare combination of options he selected when he bought it my aging product of FoMoCo wasn’t a unicorn when new. Time has a way of weeding out the cheapest models of any car sold so now 54 years later I’d be hard-pressed to find another ’64 Falcon extant with a similar set-up. One of a myriad of reasons I’ve never sold mine with the notion of finding another some day: I don’t know that I’d be able to find one that would be close enough to mine to satisfy what I’m looking for +plus+ I seriously doubt I’d ever be able to find another Falcon ~exactly~ like the one I’ve had since ’89. → I mean, if there is another extant another 1964 Ford Falcon Standard Series 2-door model [not the Standard Series ‘Deluxe’ sedan] with the ‘170’, the 2-speed Ford-O-Matic, the nothing-in-there interior (including a bare-metal dashboard) along with the lack of any trim pieces on the outer body I think that would be quite a find. And not forgetting the massive (ha! ha!) list of chosen options, either: A driver’s side mirror bolted on the door + back-up lights mounted in the center of each taillight lens. In 29 years I’ve never seen another one. I do recall seeing one two-door ’64 Falcon Standard Series sedan with a 3-on-the-tree. Parked in front of a Midas muffler shop circa 1996 across from Albertsons. I remember peering through the window a second time and seeing an extra pedal then realizing it was a 3-on-the-tree. At first look thru the window I’d thought it was a Ford-O-Matic . . . nope.
I won’t lie: I’m too lazy to want to drive a car with a manual transmission so I’ve never learned. I just don’t want to be arsed with shifting. For those of you who would seek a Unicorn-mobile with a manual transmission I admire you for having more patience and tenacity than I.