This Week’s Weird and Wonderful—July 24, 2026 You Should Know
We’re just off of two weeks with two huge events, and there are even more coming up. We can imagine that you, like us, might need to spend some time out of the sun, and to help you reduce your exposure to harmful UV rays, we have concocted this list of the most interesting and unique cars on BaT to keep you inside and in front of your computer, where it’s safe. Today we have a slew of prewar beauties, a golf cart from another galaxy, a ’50s fiberglass father-and-son duo, and our first ever sailboat, to mention just a few of the vehicular curiosities below.
Enjoy this week’s Weird and Wonderful, and head over to our live auctions page when you’re done to finish maxing out your screen time.
X-34 Landspeeder-Style Golf Cart
A repulsorlift engine with three supplementary air-cooled thrust turbines sounds exotic, but a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, the Sorosuub X-34 Landspeeder was the equivalent of a well-used Subaru—trusty and capable, if decidedly unsexy. The kind of vehicle that would find an appreciative audience in the Galactic Outer Rim equivalent of Bring a Trailer. This replica was built not for the harsh sands of Tatooine, but for the manicured greens of the Florida golf course. It cuts a conspicuous silhouette on the front nine, but that’s fine so long as you’re not trying to smuggle droids off the planet.
c.1933 Hispano-Suiza J12 Pourtout Coach Project
This Hispano-Suiza J12 hadn’t been completed by the time most of its surviving brethren were on their first or second refurbishment. While most J12 production took place at the firm’s Paris branch, this example was reportedly started at the Barcelona facility, but then left incomplete for 40 years! While its backstory remains shrouded in mystery, chassis 23452 eventually received a Carrosserie Pourtout body originally meant for a 1924 H6B, and today it remains a non-running (but gorgeous-looking) project being sold by Local Partner @1600veloce.
1926 Avions Voisin C7 Lumineuse Saloon
Gabriel Voisin was known for bold Art Deco “rational” designs, which translated his purposeful and elegant aircraft design techniques into the world of terrestrial transport. The C7, while beautiful, achieved function through thoughtful application of technology. Its low-slung aluminum monocoque body was lightweight and corrosion-resistant, with a spacious greenhouse for outward visibility. It managed to accommodate three large storage trunks atop its short 113″ wheelbase, and featured manually-retracting sliding side windows (another lightweight solution), vacuum-assisted mechanical brakes, a wide-set rear spotlight (to illuminate the road without blinding oncoming traffic), and cabin that was luxurious, ergonomic, and simple all at the same time. Its airplane-style dash would look right at home with a Vickers machine gun mounted on top.
Ex-Paul Newman 1989 Spice-Chevrolet SE89P IMSA GTP/Group C
Paul Newman gets top billing here, but just as interesting is that this IMSA GTP car was built by Gordon Spice and Ray Bellm, who had won the WSC team and constructors championships for the previous two years in the lower C2 class. Their SE89P, a C1 challenger, logged two top-ten finishes in its first year of competition. By the late 2000s, it was a regular on the vintage racing circuit, and is fresh off a trip up the hill at Goodwood. What we particularly like about this car (even more than the alternate Applebees livery!) is its combination of high-tech materials with a big aluminum pushrod Chevy V8—a Group C prototype with the heart of a Can Am racer.
Custom 1927 Studebaker House Car
Here’s one potential solution to the seemingly never-ending housing crisis, and it was actually built nearly a hundred years ago—a 1927 Studebaker House Car! A California-based company plopped their aluminum dwelling over a Studebaker Special Six chassis in period, but this example was renovated more recently with features one might expect in stylish tiny house—exposed wooden ceiling and cabinetry, dual 10-gallon water tanks with a hot water unit, a refrigerator, and air conditioning. So it turns out you can drive your house, and better yet—this one gets its power from a big Ford 460ci V8.
Back in March 1992, former Car and Driver Editor-in-Chief William Jeanes mentioned that Ferrari put more time and development into the 512 TR than most small automakers ever put into their company, period. The goal at the time was to transform the Testarossa from a GT to a true supercar (though that didn’t stop editor John Phillips from road tripping one from coast to coast a few months later). This particular 512 TR, however, went straight past “supercar” and headed for the track, outfitted with an aluminum Koenig Specials body kit and a roll cage, and was campaigned by the late racer William Hubbell. We have to say that it looks somewhat understated on track; it’s probably the first time the word has ever been uttered about a TR.
1931 Franklin Series 15 Model 153 Deluxe Oxford Sedan and 1930 Hudson Great Eight Brougham
Anyone trying to make a gangster movie would do well to shop on Bring a Trailer this week. The number of prewar stunners our sellers have brought to the site is astounding, and we love to see it. The CCCA-awarded Franklin above is an air-cooled luxury sedan built in Syracuse, New York, with a capacious rear cabin outfitted more like an upscale lounge than an automobile. With 100 horsepower on tap, the Jazz Age Franklin was a hot number that could really shake a leg. Unfortunately, the company went all-in on a super-size redesign in 1932 and ended up bankrupting itself.
Hudson came sailing into the Great Depression with plenty of wind at their backs. Coming off of a 300,000-car year in 1929, they introduced a revamped lineup for 1930 with power from a new, smooth-running straight-eight like the one in this colorful Great Eight Brougham. The cars were well-received, but production dropped to 113,000 cars during these famously tough times. The Great Eight ended up being a one-year offering, as Hudson executives tried to stem the loss of sales with “clever” marketing: the model was renamed the “Greater Eight” for 1931 and 1932.
1931 Chrysler CG Imperial Convertible Victoria by Waterhouse
Another in the bumper crop of prewar machinery this week is this elegant Chrysler CG Imperial Convertible Victoria, hailed as Chrysler’s crown jewel in its day. Those distinguished enough to own such a fine piece of machinery typically went with factory coachwork by LeBaron, while just six cars wore Convertible Victoria coachwork by Waterhouse. This example of the latter held court in the lobby of the Chrysler building in New York before changing hands several times throughout the decades on its way to the current owner in 2008. It was refurbished in the early 2000s, and comes with more trophies than will fit into the trunk.
Ex-Rod Hall 1971 Ford Bronco Bill Stroppe Baja
With Bill Stroppe Baja Broncos, it’s all in the details. This particular rig has quite the ownership history—it was first purchased by an employee of Bill Stroppe, Harold Allen, before it found its way in 1977 to Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Fame inductee Rod Hall, who had previously won the Baja 1000 overall in 1969 aboard another Stoppe Bronco with Jim Fricker. The seller mentions that Hall used the truck as a family rig, pulling a Starcraft Swinger camper trailer and crossing the border into Mexico a few times—it doesn’t get any better than that.
The “3=6” model designation originated as a piece of marketing. The idea was that DKW’s three-cylinder engine, with its two-stroke combustion cycle, would have made power roughly equivalent to the typical six-cylinder of the era, and the claim ended up becoming the car’s model name. Whatever the numerical inaccuracies, this was a handsome, humble, well-made, well-mannered economy car with an exhaust note like Zeus’s own chainsaw. DKW was the drummer in the four-brand outfit called Auto Union, and the car was later marketed under the Auto Union marque as the Saxomat 1000 with a larger 981cc engine.
Honorable Mentions
1950s Woodill Brushfire and Woodill Wildfire Project
Blanchard Robert “Woody” Woodill teamed up with Bill Tritt to design the Woodill Wildfire in the 1950s. They also created a 5/8-scale children’s car, the Brushfire, to capture an even bigger market of smaller people. Unfortunately neither model caught fire, with a limited number of each made.
But today, we have both models together on BaT! The Brushfire minicar is offered by @zagato62 out of California, while @Frog49 is back with the Wildfire project he purchased back in 2024.
1995 Toyota Deliboy 502 5-Speed
Our favorite JDM vehicle model names all have something in common: they could function as suitable titles of 1990s Adam Sandler movies. The Deliboy—see? It works!
BaT is (ahem) sailing into uncharted territory with the first wind-powered vehicle we’ve ever listed. The yawl configuration—two masts with the rearmost (mizzenmast) far aft—allows the boat to be operated by a one- or two-person crew. Hats off to our colleagues on the production staff, who did a great job with the nautical terminology.
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!
