12/21/08

Project Car Hell, Hi Rollaz Edition: Acura NSX or Ferrari 328?

 

Welcome to Project Car Hell, where you choose your eternity by selecting the project that's the coolest... and the most hellish! We had another too-close-to-call one yesterday, with the Toyota 4x4 Van and the Dodge Caravan Turbo locked in a 176-171 near-tie, according to the Choose Your Eternity poll. Today we're going to escape from Suburban Minivan Land and roll down the mean streets of the Early Gangsta Rap Era, with the kind of rides that Ice-T wannabes might have selected for high-speed runs to Vegas back in the day. And, yes, it's another upstart challenging a mighty PCH Superpower: Japan versus Italy!


It's bad enough shoving a Japanese car into the PCH ring with a Ferrari, but a
Honda? However, when you want an NSX yet you don't want to spend more than 20 grand… well, you have to figure that the Soichiro Stamp Of Approval was probably removed from the car (with 50-grit sandpaper) a few years back. And so it is with this 1992 Acura NSX (go here if the ad disappears), which has a "FIRM PRICE" of $18,000. That's below the Kelly Blue Book price, as the seller is quick to point out, and don't worry about mechanical condition because "there were some mechanical problems but they have been fixed." Well, actually, the "clutch needs to be replaced soon and the air conditioning is not running too good," and you can put the interpretation of your choice on that, depending upon whether you're a glass-half-full or glass-bone-dry sort of person. The seller has given all the information he's ever going to provide, so "PLEASE DO NOT CONTACT ME UNLESS ARE REALLY SERIOUS ABOUT BUYING THE CAR!" You got it? We're a little disappointed that the traditional "NO TIRE KICKERS MONEY TALKS BULLSHIT WALKS" part was missing, but at least he knew about the obligatory CAPS LOCK key.

If you've got 18 grand to spend on picking up your Hi Rolla Vegas Shuttle, shouldn't you go right for the Ferrari? A
red Ferrari, in fact, like this '86 328GTS, which is currently bid up to a mere $15,100. The pit bosses will be putting on their bulletproof vests when you toss the keys to this car to the valet and step onto the casino floor, and that's no lie. Of course, you have to get the car to the valet in the first place for that, and that means you'll need to spend years some time making with the wrenches first. This car has only 38K miles on the clock, mostly because it has spent "5-7" (which is eBay-ese for "12-15") years sitting… waiting for you to rescue it! The glass is clean and the "under carriage is spotless!!!!!!!" The paint, however, looks like what you'd find on an '85 Chevy Sprint abandoned in a Greyhound station parking lot, and the interior appears to have been used for a few years as a hobo jungle, including campfire. Does it run? Well, it ran when parked, and that should be good enough for anyone? How hard could it be?

 

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