Today’s Hornet X Sportabout brings some serious seventies sexiness to the table. Let’s see if its asking price gets you all hot and bothered as well.
The ability to cross water made yesterday’s custom one of a kind the ultimate expression in off-roaders. Unfortunately, too many of its original parts now being AWOL made any idea of driving it home across the English Channel just a pipe dream. That current, non-working condition totally sunk its chances at staying afloat, dooming the car’s price to a 67% Crack Pipe loss.
That custom job may have been stuck in dry dock, but you could easily ply the highways in today’s . You’d probably get some appreciative looks along the way too as there are few wagons that have ever looked so sweet.
No, it’s not the later 4x4 Eagle, but it’s still a proper compact RWD wagon with a V8. It also has a chrome roof rack and a brown speed stripe down its side, and that’s good enough for us.
The 304-cid V8 is not original to the car, as it apparently came from the factory with a 258 six. Eight is great however, and here that mill is only 1,000 miles old and comes with a 0.030 overbore and a shiny new air cleaner to boot.
A TorqueCommand 3-speed automatic with column shift backs that up. If you check out the video below you’ll hear how delightfully lumpy the car sounds with its true dual exhaust.
The car’s looks back up that bad ass noise too. It’s is said to carry its original paint in most places, and presents itself well in the ad and the the seller helpfully provides. There are three spots of road rot on it that he points out, but those are extremely minor and easy to address. Apparently the car had a dealer-applied rustproofing when new (a waxsubstance injected into the cavities through holes that were then capped), proving that perhaps Jerry Lundegaard was right after all.
The interior is just as nice, and man just look at that wide expanse of split bench up front there. You might lament this car not being a stick, but with that unimpeded ass cmesa and low unobtrusive tranny tunnel it’s a fair trade off. One good yank on the steering wheel and the object of your affection will slide right over next to you, making this car the ultimate wingman. A cracked dash and missing dome light dome detract here, but overall it looks like a pretty nice place to hang out. Plus, two stereos!
Back on the outside, you’ll note a set of American Racing wheels that come on the car, but the ad notes that you’ll drive away with the original 14-inch steelies too. Good thing it’s a wagon.
What does all this seventies goodness cost? The asking is $10,500, which is not unsubstantial, but then, what else would you do with that kind of money? You now need to decide if this Hornet is worth cracking open your nest egg for that price, or if would paying that much be getting stung.
You decide!
Dayton OH , or go if the ad disappears.
H/T to Copy_Run_Start for the hookup!
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