WCSAGD Regional Edition - OBX Dave Gets His

OBX Dave never got his own WCSAGD, largely because I don't know enough about him to pick something right on the nose.  I have ideas given his life at the beach, but I don't want to screw up something so important.

I can, however, find him a regional, attainable car.  Thank god for Al Gore and the internet.

Much like Joe Biden and TR, I love Corvettes and I've written about them multiple times.  OBX Dave is an American man living in the southeast so he probably likes Corvettes too.  Lucky for him, there's a 1987 Corvette convertible for sale in Moyock.  Unfortunately for him, the owner had it painted with Line X and added a bunch of Batman logos to it.

For the uninitiated, Line X is stuff you use to paint the bed of your pickup truck to keep it from getting damaged when stuff bounces around in there.  I have never, ever, seen it used to paint anything else, let alone a sports car.  But I guess it's a cheap alternative to matte paint and it's likely plentiful in the OBX--I dredged this up from Craigslist because all of the local car dealers only have pickups in stock.  Anyway, the C4 is a fantastic car with clean lines, 240 horsepower, 345 (!) pound-feet of torque, and plentiful parts.  If you can chisel the Line X, remove the Batman stuff, and replace the wheel spikes with proper lug nuts you'll have a gem of a beach car (fiberglass won't rust in salty air).

Before you chisel off the Line X, chisel the seller down by telling him it will cost you $10k to straighten this thing out and no one wants it in this condition so he won't do any better than your $5k offer.  I suspect the seller is a salty dog, and an old one at that, given his statement "No Texting or emails will be answered. A good old fashioned telephone call with a real human on the other end will be the first to buy this when they see and drive it."

Maybe this is a little too Mad Max for OBX Dave.  No problem!  Here's a 1964 Triumph Spitfire in Moyock!  Moyock hooks you up!  

Perhaps I should have used quotation marks around 1964 Triumph Spitfire though, here's a quote from the listing:

The tub is in great condition. The floors were replaced. No rust. Nice interior. All gauges work. Paint is old with scratches and dents. Engine and trans are from a 1975 Spitfire. Differential is from a a GT6 with 3.27 gears so cruising on the highway is comfortable. 70 mph at 3400 RPM. Weber 32/36 carb and manifold with a powermaster tubular exhaust manifold. GT6 front springs cut down to lower suspension. Heavy duty sway bar. Wire wheels with good tires. NOS soft top that fits well.

Mr. KQ, Marls, and anyone else who's been around an old British car knows the first few statements smell fishy.  The tub is in great condition?  No rust?  Impossible--I suspect that's why the floors were replaced and there's more rust lurking somewhere.  All gauges work?  Also impossible--the gauges probably didn't work when new, let along 60 years later.  And that last line?  A new old stock top that fits well?  Again, the new new stock top didn't fit 60 years ago.

It only gets better with important components like the entire powertrain coming from at least two other cars and a front suspension "cut down" from a donor car.  Luckily it has that heavy duty sway bar though.  

But it's green over tan and I'm a sucker for that.  And it's British, and the hood hinges forward, and it has antique plates and wire wheels, and the way the line of the door dips down right before the hips jag up ... what's not to love?  You can definitely take it to the beach in this car, just make sure you have Uber on your phone and a AAA membership.

Fine, fine, you're saying "c'mon zman, you can do better than this!"  I can.  This 1997 Porsche Boxster is for sale in Nags Head for $8,900.  The seller had the IMS bearing replaced so OBX Dave can drive it forever, worry-free.  That work cost about $2k by itself, just ask to see the receipt to be sure it was done.  Have your local service station do a pre-purchase inspection (that's maybe $50-$75) so you can get it on a lift and see what's going on underneath, and/or ask to talk to the guy who's been doing the work on it recently to verify it isn't a time bomb.  I would totally take a punt on this 986 if I lived locally.

So there you go, OBX Dave.  Let me know which convertible you wind up with.