This Week’s Weird and Wonderful—May 8, 2026 You Should Know
It’s time for the Weekly Weird and Wonderful—our collection featuring some of the most interesting and unique vehicles featured on BaT in the last seven days. These certainly aren’t the only notable auctions on our site. In fact, there were oh-so-many vehicles that we couldn’t include—you know there is some crazy stuff on the site when a mobile recording studio and two cars with Jim Farley ownership history get left on the cutting room floor. Not to worry, you can still find those and more among the ~1,100 cars currently on our live auctions page.
Enjoy this week’s selection of Weird and Wonderful BaT auctions, and let us know what else you think should be on our list!
George Barris 1970 Cadillac Eldorado “del Cavallero”
George Barris dived headfirst into the Superfly era of coachbuilt Eldos; Moloney built the Eldoral, Wisco offered the elClassico, ASC Custom Craft created the elDeora, and Barris answered with “del Cavallero.” According to the lore, customers could order these flashy Caddys through their local dealerships, even though the changes were far more extensive than a little trim and a badge on the trunk lid. For this car, Barris modified the greenhouse with a half roof with decorative irons, a sunroof, and a smaller rear window, while the front received a more dramatic grille and green-lit “Superfly” headlight covers, among other details. Only a handful of these Barris Eldorados were built during the late 1960s into 1970. This example was last featured on BaT in 2018 and is now presented by Local Partner @Wob.
Dave Petersen is our new hero—a man with boundless energy who made a career (or several careers) out of pursuing ambitious tangents. To put it in a not-very-small nutshell: Petersen was a second-generation carpenter who was supporting his family by age 16 during the Great Depression. He taught himself to fly in high school in a wooden glider of his own design and construction. He became a sort of aircraft handyman, and ended up working for Stearman before starting his own air charter business. During WWII, he oversaw production of the Boeing B-29 bomber, and after the war he became the head pilot for Sinclair Oil. He left for a job at Beechcraft, developed a twin-engine version of the V-tail Bonanza, and in 1959 got the idea for a motorized version of his Spartan travel trailer. The Ultra Van was the result. This example was built in Kansas at the factory of investor John Tillotson, who purchased the company in 1965. Fresh off of a 15-year refurbishment and modernization effort, it now features conveniences like solar panels, a wet room, a macerating waste system, and four-wheel disc brakes. Here’s the 1966 sales brochure for anyone who wants to explore the other available period configurations.
Mazda T2000-Style, Three-Wheeled Dump Truck 3.9L Turbodiesel
Most of us who fantasize about unobtanium JDM models lust after rare-spec performance cars, but @Jsanford212 is not most of us. His holy grail was a Mazda T2000—an oddball JDM cargo trike (or “auto rickshaw”) made in the 1950s and 1960s. Instead of going to Japan for his search, he built his own super-size version upon the remains of an Isuzu-built 1992 GMC Forward dually. “[T]ime and resources and pieces and ideas all came together at the same time…[I] would say it was an art project when I was building it and people wouldn’t bother me that it was a waste of time.” Whatever people might say about this “art project,” it can reportedly bear the weight of two small automobiles or “two large scoops of manure.”
1964 Chevrolet Impala SS Coupe
Nicole Fonseca studied fashion design in college, but her native Detroit, as Paul Simon once said, has a left-handed way of making a body sign up for the automotive dream. It worked out all right for Fonseca, who has spent her career in Detroit, California, Japan, and China as a color, materials, and finishes (CMF) designer for Mazda and Nissan, and customized her bagged ’64 Impala SS with the assistance of San Diego artist Humberto Cruz.
Visually, the car is a delight, and features her custom touches throughout—even the 20″ wheels are of Fonseca’s own design. But mechanically, the build respects its source material. Air springs and disc brakes are the main mechanical alterations—nothing too invasive. Another nice treat: the photos for the listing were taken by ace lensman Pawel Litwinski,
Ex-Carroll Shelby 1967 Shelby Mustang GT500 4-Speed
The 1967 GT500 was Shelby American’s first big-block Mustang (a whole seven liters!), and according to a period road test from Car and Driver, the former chicken farmer had “come a long way since bib overalls.” This particular GT500 was partially restored by its previous owner, racer Chuck Jones, before being purchased by Shelby himself in the late ’90s. The question is: did he sign the glovebox before or after he purchased the car? It was shipped off to Greece in 2011; the idea of a big-block GT500 thundering between ancient coastal villages makes us feel all warm and fuzzy inside.
1962 Plymouth Savoy 2-Door Sedan Super Stock Max Wedge 3-Speed
We recently wrapped up our month-long series of big-block features, including coverage on Chrysler’s bracket-busting 413 Max Wedge. The engine itself was a one-year-only mill (it grew to 426 cubic inches for 1963), and found its way into Chrysler’s downsized B-body lineup in 1962. For Plymouth, that meant the Savoy and higher-spec Sport Fury. This example was one of 56 “Super Stock” two-door sedans produced in 1962 with the low-compression 413ci Max Wedge V8 and a three-speed manual gearbox. It was converted to a full-fledged drag car with a built 440, according to previous owners in the comments, and burnt its fair share of rubber back in the day. It underwent a rotisserie refurbishment and return to stock configuration during the early aughts.
Boattail Speedster-Bodied 1931 Cadillac 370A V-12
A number of automakers like Auburn, Packard, Duesenberg, and Essex all offered versions of a boattail speedster in the 1930s, but Cadillac never built one themselves. This stately 370A left the factory as a sedan before having its caboose fitted with steel boattail bodywork sometime before the 1990s, blending design cues from several other contemporary takes on the idea.
2020 AMB 001 by Aston Martin and Brough Superior
Exotic automobiles and motorcycles have always been playthings of the wealthy, but the AMB 001 takes the idea of vehicle as “luxury accessory” to the next level. Count us among the skeptics regarding the “track only” designation, but it’s a pretty interesting piece with a lot of amazing details; its heart is a turbocharged 997cc DOHC V-twin said to make 180 horsepower, around which are bolted the kinds of exotic hardware that can only confirm that alien technology is real and being used selectively by a secretive group of elites. Conspiracies aside, our favorite bit is the carbon fiber handlebar with brake and clutch master cylinders hidden in the handles.
Libra Racing’s 2003 Hyundai Tiburon SCCA ProRally Car
The provenance of this Hyundai is about as good as it gets for rally cars that were raced in the US. Libra Racing is the team of America’s own dirt deity John Buffum, and this car is one of two they fielded in the SCCA Pro Rally series with Hyundai factory support in 2003. Here’s an interview with Buffum describing the construction and history of the car, which used a heavily modified Mitsubishi Evo Ralliart AWD system and suspension parts purchased from WRC teams.
It’s worth spending some time with the listing; Buffum was even kind enough to take the car on a test drive, and though he doesn’t get too far into the throttle, the chorus of whining gears is an immediate giveaway that this is a serious piece of equipment.
2001 Ford Explorer Sportsman Concept
Most manufacturers portray their SUVs proudly splashing through mountain streams, but not Ford with the Explorer Sportsman. This 2001 concept car was aimed at fly fishermen—who wish only to deceive trout, not crush them—and it demonstrated how Ford’s New Edge styling might play out on the Ranger/Explorer platform. The designers went ham with the angling theme, including cooler wells in the rear floor, fly rod storage, a brushed aluminum roof rack, and integrated fly tying stations on the backs of the front seats (sadly, these have gone missing).
Honorable Mentions
2005 Renault Clio 182 Trophy for Thyroid UK
Based on the Renaultsport 182 Cup, the Clio 182 Trophy was the French automaker’s ultimate evolution of its hot hatch (outside of the rally-inspired, rear-engine Clio V6), and featured weight-saving measures, Recaro seats, a 2.0L F4R four-pot, and most notably, Sachs Race Engineering dampers. A mere 500 units were made specifically for the Commonwealth, with another 50 units set aside for the Swiss market. Our president and co-founder, Randy Nonnenberg, recently purchased this 2005 model and it is now being sold by our newest UK Local Partner, Sports Purpose, with the full sale price and buyer’s fee to be donated to Thyroid UK.
1924 Lancia Lambda 2nd Series Torpedo
The Lancia Lambda was a pioneer among its peers, becoming the first production car with a load-bearing unibody shell, independent front suspension, and a V4 engine. The open-touring Torpedo was among the more popular body styles, and this example is one of 1,100 second-series cars built.
Custom 1964 Lamborghini 2R Tractor
We’re trying to avoid eye contact with this tractor, because it seems a little menacing and it’s looking at us funny. Somewhere in Vicenza, Italy, lives a madman who acquired this 1964 Lamborghini 2R from a longtime owner and transformed it into a steampunk vineyard smasher. The agribeast sold through Offers just today, and its newest caretaker, @collectordriven, says its headed Stateside.
1996 Toyota Hilux SSR Crew Cab Turbodiesel 4×4
Are we doing historical reenactments of the Global War on Terror now? Feels like it might still be too soon. Regardless, we are fascinated by a good HiLux technical.
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!
