The CarGurus Blog

photo: Dirk de Jager

Amelia Island sits just off the coast of northern Florida. It has a turbulent and violent history, having changed ownership after battles many times over the last few hundred years. Today, it’s a peaceful place known for a shrimp festival, music festivals, tourism, golf… and the annual Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance.

At just 13 miles long, it wouldn’t take long for a 1968 Ford GT40 to blast from one end to the other. Of course, a Concours d’ Elegance isn’t about speed or racing, it’s more like a beauty pageant for elegant and rare vehicles.

The Concours last weekend showed off some beautiful machines, with one of the two Best of Show awards going to a true racer.

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All this chatter surrounding the design of the 2014 Jeep Cherokee, the possibility of a new Ford Ranger, and the return of the Dodge Dart has really got us thinking. Wouldn’t it be nice to see some of those modern classics resurrected? Now, this list could surely go on forever if we were to include some of the classics of the ’50s, ’60s and ’70s, so let’s stick to, say, the ’90s and 2000s. Let’s skip the ’80s, because it’s well known that we all love the Grand National and just about every Datsun ever created. Without further adieu, here’s a list of 10 vehicles we’d love to see resurrected.

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Even donated cars can have class. Here's a 1966 Rolls-Royce!

We’ve touched on the topic of car donation here in the past. Donating a car to a reputable nonprofit agency can benefit the donor by providing a tax deduction while generating money for the charity. The bottom line: Donating cars can help make sure people get the help they need.

It really is a win-win situation.

But what happens to the cars that are donated, and how might a car shopper benefit from someone else’s donation?

Read on and be surprised, as I was, at some of the cool, classic and fun cars that go up for sale after getting donated.

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Car Minded, Car Shopping, Classic & Vintage Cars, Domestic Cars, Foreign Cars, General Chat buying donated cars, car donation, classic cars, kars4kids, used car shopping

I’m pretty much a fan of all things ’80s. The hair, the music, the movies, the cars… well, most of the cars. The Toyota trucks and Honda sedans were pretty great, but the rest were perfectly forgettable.

The DeLorean DMC-12, though, straddled the line between forgettable and iconic. Then, it was a watered-down attempt at a sports car. Now, it defines the entire decade thanks to its ability to accelerate to 88 mph and transcend time.

One look at a DeLorean and everything great about the 1980s jumps to mind, including life-preserver vests and Huey Lewis and the News music.

Within a year, new electric DeLoreans could be available for you and me to purchase. No more scouring the used listings for acceptable deals on old models with under-powered gas engines!

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Congratulations to the Ravens and Baltimore fans everywhere!

While the game was electrifying, I thought the advertisements overall were severely lacking in energy this year. It’s like the power went out on all of them even before the Superdome went dark. My favorite car ad was the Audi prom spot. The Chrysler/Ram Paul Harvey spot almost made me throw up in my mouth a little bit. The others were just mediocre.

With that out of the way, let’s get back to cars rather than the outlandish, extravagant attempts to sell them. Yes, we need vehicles to serve the mundane and much-needed transportation services of daily life, and I find irony in the fact that we often buy them based on some perceived emotion or extreme experience marketing people promise they will provide.

True car enthusiasts can look past overly produced TV commercials and buy based on other, more meaningful, factors.

One of those factors might be the car’s future collector value. Make it affordable and fun to drive as well, and the deal closes itself! What 2013 cars could be future collectibles?

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It’s been called the king of car-chase movies, though there doesn’t appear to be any actual car chasing. We never see the car, which speeds through pre-dawn Paris, and we never get the impression that there is any kind of chase going on.

For all we know, ”C’etait un Rendezvous,” the 1976 short film by Claude Lelouch, was just a filmmaker, a car and a camera having 8 minutes of fun before the sun came up. Yet mystery surrounds the film and its maker. Legend says he was arrested after the film debuted for such reckless driving. But who was driving? What kind of car? Were the sounds dubbed in later? How fast was he going? Who is the woman at the end?

Keep reading for a clip from the movie and some possible answers to help explain the movie that Top Gear’s Jeremy Clarkson said, “Makes ‘Bullit’ look like a cartoon!”

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Just a few weeks ago we heard about a potential name change for Lincoln. At the time, I thought it could be pretty big news and represent a shift in Ford’s luxury brand as it seeks to move it away from the stodgy associations of Town Car airport transportation and retired folks in Florida.

Where’s the excitement and performance of the 1961 Continental, and what happened to the luxury and class we haven’t really seen since, well, the 1938 Zephyr? The split grille of the old Zephyr shows up on modern Lincolns, but otherwise the cars are just Fords with a spit-shine and price increase.

And that name change foreshadowed not long ago? It’s really not a name change at all. Instead of being known as Lincoln, the brand will adopt the name Lincoln Motor Company.

And no one will care.

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The new Buick GNX?

Is it possible to mention the Buick Grand National without also mentioning Lord Vader, as made famous by Motor Trend in the mid-1980s? No, no it isn’t. So, I thought I’d get the reference out of the way so we can focus on the importance of some exciting news:

The Grand National, GNX and T-Type will reportedly come back into Buick’s stable after nearly three decades of absence.

If you’re like me, one of your first thoughts upon hearing this news is wondering if GM will simply offer a blacked-out Regal with the GNX nameplate, hope to attract some sentimental fans from the 1980s and call it good. However, this looks like the real deal, complete with a new RWD platform from the hot-selling Cadillac ATS and power that could reach, or even exceed, 400 hp.

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I wanted to wait until December before I even considered using the word “Christmas” in a blog post. At least I made it until after Thanksgiving! As I begin the annual ritual of scouring my favorite shopping websites for gift ideas, I believe I’ve found the ultimate response to the question, “So, what do you want for Christmas?”

Here’s what I want: the Ultimate Garage Package from Costco.

If Walmart sold a package with that name, you might think it would include some car-wash supplies, a storage cabinet and a set of cheap tools. This package, though, is a bit more special than that. Of course, for $90,000, it should be.

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You just never know.

Think of any car, no matter how rare, that you might want to own. Almost anything you want can be found in used car listings somewhere, whether a classic Mustang or a pre-owned Lamborghini. The truth is, somebody, somewhere, probably wants to sell the car you want to buy. The trick, of course, is finding it.

Every once in a while, a car so rare comes up that it should be crossing the stage at a Barret-Jackson auction, rather than showing up in the classifieds.

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