These Are the Cars That Made You Do a Double Take at the Used Car Lot

If a manufacturer-dealer’s used car lots counts, then I would have to say the 2016 Volvo V60 Polestar in Rebel Blue at the Volvo/McLaren dealer near my office in 2020.

I say had, because I bought it the day after I first saw it, and I love it. After several years of causally looking for a fun daily, I wasn’t going to let this one pass.

Immediately took it on a 250 mile trip down PCH, and then a 1,000 mile trek into the Sierras the next weekend. What machine that someone abandoned at the dealer, their loss my gain.

A few months ago in CT, a friend and I were driving by a lot and he nudged me to notice a Lancia Montecarlo (Scorpion) sitting in the back. I’d never seen one in the wild before and had to stop and take a look. I don’t remember the price, but if I had anywhere to park it, I might well have driven it home.

Great timing! This wasn’t because of the car itself, but the quantity. I was driving out to WV this past weekend and a random dealer just south of Cumberland, MD had no less than 10 New Beetles on their lot. I actually couldn’t count them there were so many. Unfortunately, their website only has two listed.

Now, you might say that is just a bit odd. But if you know Cumberland and the area to the South or really any direction you know that selling a New Beetle in this area can’t be easy. So to have 2 or 3 would be weird, but 10+? That makes no sense to me.

I saw a Bradly GT II a few weeks ago, thought it was some kit car and it was lol.

Looked it up and it’s based on the old Beatle, but looks like a poor man’s Porsche.

I live in a semi-rural area and stopped by my favorite local “imports” used car dealer. They always have some interesting things on the lot but it’s usually things like older BMWs, Mercedes, etc. This time I ran across a Taycan GTS Sport Turismo in a gorgeous shade of bright blue. Not the type of thing I expected to see at a small, independent used car dealer...woof!

There was a small dealer in Cumberland County South Jersey that specialized in air cooled VWs, and on occasion the odd rear engined Renault or Fiat.

One day (shortly before Christmas IIRC) I spotted something odd among the usual assortment of Beetles, Busses, and Type-3s.

Much to the annoyance of my then-girlfriend in the passenger seat, I turned the car around to get a better look.

What I saw was a Type-34 Karmann Ghia, something I had never encountered before.

I knocked on the door of the office, but no one was in.

When i went back a few weeks later, the Type 34 was gone. The dealer told me he sold it for less than he bought it for because the car was missing some parts unique to the car that were difficult to find.

Maybe a year later, I drove past the same dealer and again saw something odd. At first I thought it was a Corvair and dismissed it. A week later, I drove past again and noticed it was NOT a Corvair. It turned out to be a Hino Contessa:

I talked to the dealer (who remembered me asking about the Type 34) and offered to sell the Hino to me for $650.00. After noticing the rusty rocker panels, I passed on the car, because rust is the tool of the devil.

The place was gone by 1990. I think they built a Lowes or Home Depot where the lot used to be.