This Week’s Weird and Wonderful—July 10, 2026 You Should Know
The fireworks have been snuffed out, the hot dogs are back in the freezer until next year, and we’re all back to work for the time being. We’ve been waiting all week for Friday—not because we’re working for the weekend, but because that’s when we get to share our latest collection of strange and interesting vehicles—the Weekly Weird and Wonderful. This week, we’ve got some gnarly race cars that probably shouldn’t have titles for road use, a stripped-down Jeep with all the frills, one of the most beautiful home-built boats we’ve ever seen, an Italian tax-dodge SUV, and more. But this list is a mere taste of what’s currently live on BaT, so we invite you to head over to our Live Auctions page for more fun once you’ve finished the feature below.
Enjoy this week’s selection of Weird and Wonderful BaT auctions, and let us know what else you think should be on our list!
1957 Chevrolet Corvette Race Car and 1968 Chevrolet Corvette Convertible Owens Corning L88 Tribute
Last week we had Bob Bondurant’s 1959 ‘Vette racer right up top, and in the intervening days, two more impressive Corvette race cars have come to take its place. The first, which sold just yesterday, was a demon in the SoCal road racing scene in the mid-1960s. According to the seller (an NCRS judge with a book about this very car to his name), it was built by Larry Leedy and Bob Spicer, two aeronautical engineers working on the Saturn V project, and even though it was dated by the time it started racing in 1964, it spent much of its career on the podium, earning accolades from even Carroll Shelby. If you want a quick education in period racing modifications, be sure to check out the discussion—@BobBaird‘s knowledge is extensive and his documentation meticulous.
The L88 in this Owens-Corning tribute car sounds pretty angry that it’s being driven at low rpm in the video above, but this gnarly 800-horsepower brute is more than public roads can handle (though it is titled for street use, because Florida). This car replicates the Daytona livery of one of the two De Lorenzo/Thompson A Production racers, who together won 22 consecutive races in SCCA and FIA competition between 1969 and 1971, including GT class wins at Watkins Glen, Daytona, and Sebring. The pair of C3s were perhaps the most successful of the many successful Corvette racing cars from the model’s first 20 years of competition, and this is perhaps the most exacting tribute car. It was constructed by owner George Haddad’s Fabulous Restorations shop with the guidance of many individuals who were involved with the original team, including drivers Tony DeLorenzo and Jerry Thompson, and GM engineer Gib Hufstader. According to Haddad, period parts were sourced whenever available, and fabricated when not. The only modern equipment we’d want is hearing protection.
At a passing glance, the Renault 17 TS has the faint silhouette of an AMC AMX, although the resemblance is merely skin deep. (Renault did gain a controlling interest in AMC in the 1980s, but that’s another story.) The 17 TS was Renault’s flagship performance model, based on the 12 sedan, and featured electronic fuel injection, a Gordini-sourced 1,565cc four-pot, and a manual transaxle. Longtime aficionados wasted no time singing the praises of the R17 in the comments, because somewhere deep down, almost every auto enthusiast is in thrall to one French weirdo or another.
To get rid of Jeep’s excess inventory of stripped-down DJ-3A models, Henry Kaiser did what many Depression-Era automakers had done, and painted them up in bright colors. He also outfitted them with Jolly-style striped fabric tops. This began as a promotional tactic for his Hawaiian Village resort on Waikiki beach, but quickly caught on with other resort operators, and he was all too happy to meet the new demand. An appearance in the Elvis film Blue Hawaii in 1961 made the Surrey Jeep famous, and The King kept his pink example (named “Rosa”) as a runabout at his Graceland estate. The idea of Elvis driving this happy little thing around with a Colt .45 in his boot is a strange incongruence.
Ex–La Carrera Panamericana, 6.0L-Powered 1954 Studebaker Champion Starlight Coupe Race Car
The original Carrera Panamericana race ran just five times, from 1950 to 1954, and from the very start, the grueling and deadly contest attracted scores of privateers running big American sedans. By 1954, the Europeans had blown up the spot, and were arriving with Mercedes SLs, Ferraris, and Porsche 550s piloted by professional driving teams. This Studebaker, built for the modern revival of the race, honors the spirit of both privateer and professional. Under the Studebaker body is a NASCAR-spec frame with full driver protections and a 550-horsepower 6.0-liter V8 tuned to run on 92 octane fuel, as well as a sequential racing gearbox and a 36-gallon fuel cell—pro-spec equipment. It’s been racing since 2017, and came in 22nd in its first Carrera. The video above from @GenauAutoWerks opens with a run up to 130 mph (on closed roads).
1993 Subaru Impreza WRX Tommykaira M20B 5-Speed
Fun fact: Tommykaira—a portmanteau of its founder’s surnames—got their start modifying German cars like the 190E before turning their attention to Japanese performance cars. It was the R32-based M30 that put Tommykaira on the map, and the Kyoto-based tuning house would go on to modify a slew of Nissans and Subarus, including the Impreza WRX. The M20B was the name of their WRX-based creation, and it featured a modified turbocharged 2.0L inline-four and Tommykaira-specific bodywork. The suspension shows additional upgrades, while the interior features a number of STI interior components. This example is one of some 105 examples produced.
And if you haven’t perused the photo gallery yet, it almost feels like you’re scrolling through a car-selection screen in Gran Turismo.
3-Mile 2025 Harley-Davidson CVO Road Glide RR
On a recent episode of the BaT podcast, our moto expert Tyler had a lot to say about the first H-D CVO Road Glide RR that was listed here just two weeks back. Now we’ve got another, with even lower mileage, somehow. The CVO Road Glide RR is a hand-built, street-legal version of a King of the Baggers series bike, and this one is #60 of 131 made (131 being the displacement of the monster V-twin). Even with carbon fiber bodywork and lightweight racing components, it tips the scales at 785 lbs with fuel on board. But it has more than enough push from a highly-tuned, 153-horsepower 131ci V-twin built on the same block as the Baggers team racing bikes. If the clip above is any indication, this bike is going to more tossable than anything its size has the right to be. For those who think Harleys are primitive, please see the massive touchscreen dash with nine selectable riding modes that tune throttle response, engine braking, and even traction control settings.
1979 Mazda Titan Wide Low Diesel 4-Speed Dually
The Mazda Titan never made it to the States, so it’s hard to put this 1979 Wide Low example into perspective. Is it a mini truck? Its dually rear axle setup suggests otherwise, but it’s still not quite as big as a mid-sized pickup. Instead of breaking out the banana for scale (as one commenter mentioned), we’ll reference its overall dimensions as told by the seller @MazKid—length: 184.6-inches and width: 66.5-inches. According to our not-so-scientific research, that’s about the same footprint as a Subaru BG Legacy wagon.
Ex–Miki Biasion 1973 Fiat 124 Abarth Rally
The Fiat 124 Abarth Rally and legendary rally driver Miki Biasion both occupy a large space in Italian rallying history. The 124 Abarth helped establish Fiat’s rally reputation during the WRC’s fledgling years, while Biasion claimed back-to-back world championships some 15 years later with the Abarth-modified Lancia Delta Integrale. Biasion acquired chassis 0064383 around 2017 and had it repainted before the seller bought it in Monaco in 2024. That’s one heck of a souvenir.
Single-Family-Owned 1985 Mercury Capri ASC McLaren 5.0 SC Convertible
Legend has it the Capri 5.0 SC exists because a Ford engineer’s wife drove a Mercedes-Benz. Let us explain: Peter Muscat’s wife, herself a Ford employee, was relegated to the farthest parking lot because she drove a Mercedes-Benz SL. Leave it to an engineer to solve the problem the only way that seemed fitting: by creating a Mustang-based convertible concept with the same appeal as the R107. He pitched it to the Ford brass in the early 1980s, and the idea ultimately found its way to the Lincoln-Mercury division. The American Sunroof Company built some 257 examples for the 1985 model year. This one has remained in the same family since new.
30′ Baby Bootlegger-style Wood Speedboat by Treworgy Custom Boats
It costs just $275 to purchase the plans to build one’s own copy of Baby Bootlegger, one of the most famous wooden speedboats ever. But it took a lifetime of knowledge and skill to translate those plans into the show-stopping 30′ craft you see before you today. That knowledge and skill belong to mark Treworgy, an award-winning shipwright who has been building custom vessels of all sizes and materials for more than 40 years. The in-progress shots in the gallery make it look so easy, don’t they?
Honorable Mentions:
1987 Mercedes-Benz 200GE 5-Speed
On this site, we have occasionally taken time to celebrate small-bore sports cars like the Ferrari 208 and E30 320i that were built to skirt Italy’s 38% VAT for engines over 2.0 liters. Apparently the law didn’t discriminate by vehicle type; this Italian-market G-wagen came in right at the displacement threshold with a 2.0-liter gas-burning M102 four-pot. When you see other 200GE models for sale, look for the “Mercedes-Benz Italia S.p.A.” tag. Now you know.
21-Years-Owned 1962 Ford Galaxie 2-Door Club Sedan G-Code 4-Speed
While Pontiac was catching flak from the executive suites for their unsanctioned adventures with the 421ci Super Duty, Ford was already winding up their counter punch for 1962—a beefed up 406ci version of the FE big block, which made 405 horsepower with 11.85:1 compression and triple two-barrel carbs. Many of the G-Code Galaxies went to drag racers, but the repro paperwork states that this one had heating and power steering, so maybe it has been a sleeper its whole life.
1962 Mercedes-Benz 300SL Alloy-Block Roadster
By mid-1962, Mercedes-Benz had switched the 300SL over to a lighter alloy block for the final production run. This example, combined with four-wheel disc brakes, is one of just 210 built to spec. Now, we’ll leave you with this delicious ASMR-esque video courtesy of @1600veloce.
Thanks for checking out this edition of the Weekly Weird & Wonderful! Follow this page to get updates when new installments post, and tell what caught your eye or what you think we’ve left out!
