What cars do you look for when driving around ? Open garages , side yards etc

I do not drive around as much as before , but when we do we try and take a different  route every time to  look for old cars sitting around , 

So just wondering if you do the same and what  cars you are looking for ?

I have always been looking for VWs and Porsches , Volvos  and little Fiats  , plus fiberglass cars.

I never really looked for Big American cars as they are too heavy for me to move by myself , 

and the pickings are very light anymore , 10-15 years ago there were a lot of VW bugs , MGBs , Fiat 124s and stuff like that laying around , now its mostly gone .....

Maybe its time to get a Drone so we can see whats in the backyard , and some X-ray specs  :)

Happy Hunting

I watched a Prius sit in a local driveway for nearly 2 years.  Earlier this year I bought it for $500.  I planned for towing the car but with a jumper pack, it fired right up in the sellers driveway.  Lucky they were not home when I picked it up so less embarrassment for them.   It ain't perfect and has 223k miles but I've been driving it every day for more than a month now. 

Don't try that in Texas. Sniffing around somebody's car in a side yard or backyard is a good way to get your drone shot out of the sky or get you shot.

Too many people are finding catalytic converter thieves under their car in broad daylight.

I look for the AE86 chassis. It's "just a Corolla" right? Most folks bought those back in the 80s and occasionally one will sit in disrepair behind somebody's shed, and the whole time they just think that it is in old Corolla

Junghole said:

I look for the AE86 chassis. It's "just a Corolla" right? Most folks bought those back in the 80s and occasionally one will sit in disrepair behind somebody's shed, and the whole time they just think that it is in old Corolla

OK....teach me .....I am sure that I have driven by them.....The Toyota USA  offices were nearby in Torrance , Ca before moving to Texas and the employees probably were able to buy new cars at a discount back then , 

So what year "Corolla" might  be a AE86 , and how do I tell at a glance ?

UPDATE:  are all 1983-87 2 door Corollas  AE86 chassis ?

did all AE86 USA models  have pop up headlights ?

Thanks

I look at all of them.

Any Saab made before '93.

RX-7s.

RWD Corollas.

Pre-'87 GM trucks.

Sadly, most of these have dried up around here aside from the pickups, and I already have a decent one of those. This is actually how I bought my FD last year and have picked up a bunch of 900s the same way.

Lately it's been late 60's- early 70's Dodge Darts and Aspen/Volare.  Always race cars of any flavor.  Chrysler Conquest, and anything old.

I just look for cars.  I might have a problem.

Stampie said:

I just look for cars.  I might have a problem.

Same. Although mostly out of curiosity rather than a desire to bring home any more projects. I'm already buried in too many projects.  I've had one person knock on my door about the white whale, but they left discouraged when they found out I'm not going to give it away.

Everything. I call it yard shopping.
There is a 1966 Dodge Dart at a house not far from me that I drive by every chance I get hoping to see it go up for sale. The owner tried to sell t a few years ago and I wasn't in the position to buy. 

Only 84-87 sr5 and GTS were ae86 chassis. The sr5 having the lousy sohc 4ac carby engine. The GTs having the fun to rev 1.6 4age. Either is great to have since you'll likely be swapping to a better engine. And yes, Flip ups. 
example: 

big no: 

big yes:

65 - 69 Corvairs.

Snowdoggie (Forum Supporter) said:

Don't try that in Texas. Sniffing around somebody's car in a side yard or backyard is a good way to get your drone shot out of the sky or get you shot.

Too many people are finding catalytic converter thieves under their car in broad daylight.

This right here .....Magnolia, Texas and lately with my back and forth between B'Ham AL and Magnolia, there are numerous opportunities( I call them pretties...alot of square body GM PU's) believe it or not along I20 in Ms and then the entire drive down thru the NE corridor from Shreveport to the north side of H'Town......gota keep me eyes on the road y'know  

Used to look for unlicensed sports cars (usually British or Italian) in back lanes, but stopped when I realized i was up to 13 cars at home.   Still wish I'd hung onto the Triumph Mayflower I planned to put a TR4 engine into.......

I've forced myself to stop that habit once I did the math on how long it would take me to finish what is already on my plate. 
  Now when something interesting shoves itself under my nose I call friends until someone says I want it. 
   So if you're into Jaguars. Or even British sports cars let me know. They will be cheap. 

I bad a fella knock on my door gave me his number and offered to buy my E30 M3.  At the time I was broke, had twin baby boys, just lost my best friend and father to cancer.  I declined, in hind site I should have offered to trade for the RS6 Avant he pulled up in.  I sincerely believe he would have.   This was in 2007 or 2008 before the value went up.

Driving from Dayton OH to Ft Wayne IN and Google had me taking all kinds of country roads.  I told SWMBO I was slowing down for every two-bit car lot we passed, never know when someone has a 2nd gen MR2 and selling for $2K because "it's just a Toyota".

(We came up on a Ford dealer and I joked "watch, every vehicle will be truck or Mustang".  Should have bet lunch on it.)

So I'm probably not the only one that looks through all the front row cars to see how far back the lot goes? I've found some gems at the edge of the weeds out back of new and used car lots.

I found a '74 Alfa Giulia GTV behind a Buick dealer.  I made a call and a friend bought it for $2000

I just look at anything and everything. I've done it for over 20 years and doubt I'll ever stop. Never know what you might see wasting away in a backyard or under a tree. I've found myself and several friends project cars this way. 

Currently I'm on the lookout for square body (73-87) and GMT400 (88-98) GM trucks for myself and another buddy.

I've been doing it for over 50 years. One of the reasons I have owned over 100 cars. Still doing it, but mostly window shopping. Back in the 60s-70s-80s I looked for British cars, muscle cars, orphan cars. Late 80s and 90s I was looking for Pintos, Mustang IIs and Fox body cars to build race cars and parts cars. Last 20 years I look for interesting cars. 

Snowdoggie (Forum Supporter) said:

Don't try that in Texas. Sniffing around somebody's car in a side yard or backyard is a good way to get your drone shot out of the sky or get you shot.

Too many people are finding catalytic converter thieves under their car in broad daylight.

Same thing around here.. myself and many people I know would happily/be pissed off enough to pull out the shot guns on snooping drones....for the simple reason of privacy violation/trespassing. 

John Welsh said:

I watched a Prius sit in a local driveway for nearly 2 years.  Earlier this year I bought it for $500.  I planned for towing the car but with a jumper pack, it fired right up in the sellers driveway.  Lucky they were not home when I picked it up so less embarrassment for them.   It ain't perfect and has 223k miles but I've been driving it every day for more than a month now. 

Can I buy it from you? Lol

In reply to 759NRNG :

Between Waco and Tyler Texas along 84 then 155 towards Tyler and i20. So many nice and desirable corsica cars sitting on properties. If I was a man with lots of disposable income and space I could've bought 10 cars last month. 

I look for nearly anything built between 1955 and 1995, cars or trucks, foreign or domestic.

Yet my ideal car to find is a 2 door, sedan or hardtop, with a manual transmission.  About half the vehicles that I have owned had a manual transmission and I miss that last bit of involvement.   Besides, manual transmissions are so hard to find anymore it actually makes the search easier as there are drastically fewer choices.