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This Week on Hagerty Marketplace: Two Ways to Escape Winter, One Way to Embrace it
Welcome to This Week on Hagerty Marketplace, a recurring recap of the previous week’s most noteworthy cars and significant sales from the Hagerty Marketplace online auctions.
Another chilly winter week, another crop of compelling cars that are off to new homes via Hagerty Marketplace. This week, we’re highlighting an eclectic mix. It includes two rides that would be perfect escapes from snowy winter blues and one ride that feels ready to endure harsh climates—with a little elbow grease, anyway.
1967 Chevrolet Corvette 327/300 Coupe
Sold for $59,920
The C2 generation of the Chevrolet Corvette is arguably the nameplate at its peak. Stylish, broad-shouldered, and muscular, these cars were instantly recognizable as they rolled down Main Street. It was also a lot more sophisticated than the first-generation car. Head engineer Zora Arkus-Duntov even went so far as to say, “For the first time I now have a Corvette I can be proud to drive in Europe.” Earlier C2s were a bit flashy, but by 1967, the final year of the “Sting Ray” body style, the excess exterior trim had been removed and things were distilled down to a more refined package.
This example is from that final year of C2s, complete with a numbers-matching 327-cu-in Turbo Fire V-8 that was rated for 300 hp. It wears Rally Red (code 974) paint over a black vinyl interior. Although it originally came with a two-speed Powerglide automatic, the car now sports a TH400 three-speed for improved drivability.
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Other updates include a modern digital radio with a vintage look and a correct-style side exhaust which replaced the original system. According to the listing, a July 2022 service appointment included new lower ball joints, new shocks, new front calipers, new valve cover gaskets, a fresh fuel tank, and much more.
2K-Mile 1986 Ford Thunderbird Elan
Sold for $7500
We had to double-check with Senior Editor and Ford Lord Sajeev Mehta to make sure he wasn’t spending his mortgage payment on this one because we’re not sure a more perfect Sajeev-mobile exists.
The ninth-generation Ford Thunderbird, built from 1983–88, featured thoroughly redesigned sheetmetal that remained atop the Fox-body chassis. Atop the range of trim levels offered, just above the sporty Turbo Coupe, sat the Elan. It was perhaps the peak of mid-’80s personal luxury coupes. Comfort and convenience were top of mind with the Elan, which featured power everything—windows, mirrors, seats, you name it. Combined with the thick interior carpet and electronic instrument cluster, the Thunderbird Elan was ambitious and tech-forward in all the right ways.
This example is a straight-up time capsule, showing just over 2100 miles on its odometer. Power comes from a 3.8-liter fuel-injected V-6 paired with a three-speed automatic transmission. It’s finished in Light Taupe Metallic with a matching Taupe fabric interior. This one came equipped with the electronic instrument cluster that offered driver-selectable readouts and an LCD tachometer—it doesn’t get more ’80s than that, folks. Other features include air conditioning, cruise control, powered front bench seats with awesome middle-mounted controls, a keyless entry system, and more.
Both the Corvette and the Thunderbird here seem like superb ways to escape the winter blues. The next vehicle on our roundup feels purpose-built to charge headlong into the snowy abyss and conquer anything that lies before it.
1941 Dodge Power Wagon WC12 1/2-ton 4×4
Behold, one of the unsung heroes of the Allied victory in World War II: the Dodge Power Wagon. The WC series, specifically, produced from 1941–45, was a logistical workhorse that took on many forms, including weapon carriers, ambulances, recon vehicles, and more.
The WC12 was the half-ton version of this pickup. It boasted a closed-cab design and drew power from a Dodge T214 flathead 230 cu-in inline-six combined with a four-speed, non-synchronized manual transmission. These brutes featured a single-speed transfer case for true 4×4 capability, helping to prevent them from getting bogged down in the war-torn terrains of Europe and the other theaters of conflict.
This example looks fit for all sorts of military vehicle gatherings. It retains the T214 inline-six, which was rated for 92 hp, as well as the four-speed manual and the single-speed transfer case. A Braden front frame-mounted mechanical winch and keyed door locks—a rarity for these beasts—help set this one apart.
We dig the analog nature of this thing, from the vented windshield (hot? Just open the whole front glass!) to the pop-up cowl vent that feeds fresh air toward the floor of the cabin. Inside, the body-color dashboard features gauges for the speedometer, oil pressure, water temp, fuel level, and amperage.
As it was sold, this one had the front prop shaft removed, meaning the 4×4 system does not engage the front wheels. However, that shaft was included with the sale, and we’re hoping the new owner will reinstall that component to let this vintage tech fully shine. Along with the prop shaft, this sale included a U.S. Army-issued Dodge Truck Repair Manual, documentation for the upgrades, the original VIN plate, chrome wiper arm assemblies, and more. It’s the perfect project for a history buff—ready to run as-is, but also capable of becoming even more impressive with a little hard work.
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While not really a big fan of the Thunderbird pictured here as a kid we all thought those digital dashes were pretty cool looking. Today, not as much but still kind of retro-cool now.
Front prop shaft included but not installed in a 4X4 being auctioned? This strongly hints at a front axle problem.
As my wife said many times, “You can relate to so many things.” I had a ’66 Corvette 327 with shaved heads, it dyno’d at 380 hp. That was what the first owner told me. It had 12 coats of Cadillac bronze metal flake paint. Four speed, 4:11 rear end, two tops, two four barrel carbs, Michlin radials, not on stock Vettes. Also factory sidepipes on it. The removeable hardtop had a dark brown basket weave cover made on to it. It emptied a Vic Tannys when I was working out one time. The manager walked in and asked whose Vette was that outside? And added, “That is the sharpest Vette I have ever seen!” All of the guys agreed it was the sharpest they had seen too! When it was a year old I paid $3500 for it! Sold it 18 months later for $3000. Nothing wrong with it, I just got tired of shifting gears.
Then I bought a ‘ 72 Thunderbird a nice used car, don’t remember what I paid for it. But it rode like it was on a cloud and automatic, maroon in color.
The Dodge three quarter truck was Uncle Sam’s assigned to me while in the Army. My company kept threating to assign me a truck. All I said was, “I don’t want one!” I was just a lowly Pfc and they didn’t for about a year and half. Then one day I went to the motor pool and the mechanic said, “See that truck over there?” “It is now assigned to you, I just put the placard on the front of it, Pfc. Moore” So I had fun driving it. It had four on the floor, I had a ’60 Corvette at home with four on the floor. And it rode smooth with its suspension. Everytime I pulled Duty Driver for our battalion instead of getting a jeep, I would get my three quarter ton truck. Hey, my name was on it!