Ford Aerostar Monster Truck, Suzuki Katana Restomod, De Tomaso Pantera: The Dopest Cars I Found For Sale Online

Folks, welcome to Friday. It's okay, you're safe, you made it. The weekday can no longer harm you, and you've got two whole days of freedom until you're forced to return to the drudgery of office life. I'll be spending those couple of days rock climbing in the woods of Massachusetts, retiring to a campground each night, but maybe you've got other plans. Something less mosquito-infested, perhaps. 

If you're lacking in plans, though, boy do I have some suggestions for you. Have you considered taking on an automotive project to fill your empty hours? After all, we're all just plagued with too much free time these days, and sometimes you just need a busted (or temporarily-not-busted) car to fix up and maintain. Conveniently for you, I've found some truly fantastic picks for this week's slides — cars that either are broken, or will almost certainly be broken soon (plus one immaculate parts-hauler). Let's take a week at this week's Dopest Cars. 

I know that I may be stretching the definition of a monster truck here — this Ford Aerostar sits on an F-250 frame, not a purpose-built chassis, and lacks a lot of the more performance-oriented aspects of the typical monster truck build — but I ask you: What would a five-year-old call this? In my mind, that's always the target market for builds like this. They're meant to bring joy to five year olds, and those who are five on the inside. 

This Aerostar build may look pretty complete, but that's just because suspension like this doesn't show that the van is missing an engine. The seller says it previously had a small-block Chevy V8 under the hood, but now lacks both that and whatever transmission was bolted to it. Luckily for you, a Chevy 350 with a transmission can be found in every junkyard under the sun, and a prior engine install here means the mounts and wiring are likely already fabricated and soldered and ready to go. Just pop an engine in, wire it up and plumb it for fuel, and drive down to your local state inspection site. I'm sure they'll be cool with it.

The Suzuki Jimny is one of my favorite Little Guys on god's green Earth, but there's an odd caveat to that: When lifted, Jimnies actually look littler. Take this one for instance, with its two-inch lift that makes the whole car look even more cartoonish and minute. It technically takes up more space, at least on the Z axis, but the overall effect is to make the car look like something bordering on Richard Scarry. 

I adore these little off-roaders, especially because they're actually more capable than many imagine. Here in the States we imagine that nothing smaller than the Ferd F-teenthousand could ever possibly leave pavement, but Japan understands nimbleness and minutiae like "fitting between trees and rocks." Here, we'd rather trample such environmental obstacles over, but I guess we've got plenty more environment on our shores. Because Japan is smaller than the United States, FYI. 

Beautiful Integra, right? Ignore the dented fender, the mismatched paint, and the general visible state of ill repair. This is gorgeous because it's a white Integra coupe that's still in one piece, and those are getting harder and harder to come by as more and more cars are crashed by aspiring Ja Rules (Jas Rule?) who don't understand how to corner in a front wheel drive chassis. 

Now, sure, this Integra may not "run" or "drive," but it appears to be more or less complete. There are photos of the car running, but those are presumably from before its big swap — the car now has an F20B sitting behind those quad headlights. It just needs some plumbing, wiring, and general finishing up to make it all work. I have faith in your ability to finish what appears to be a swap project that's been abandoned by its owner for two years. 

Remember when I promised one totally normal parts hauler? Can you imagine a prettier way to get to the junkyard and back? This V90 is for sale from its first owner, who appears to have spec'd it themselves from the dealer. It's apparently loaded with every option you can put on a V90, plus a "chrome delete" that seems to replace the factory accents with black plastic. There's also the vinyl wrap, a sure sign of an enthusiast owner. 

Is the spec of this car, all murdered out, to my personal taste? No, no it's not. But I also don't have 40 grand — we're not talking about me here, we're talking about you. If you're into murdered-out wagons, sinister longrooves, then this is the car for you. Just don't ask the seller why they're selling a station wagon to get a family car, or they might realize they already have a perfect family-hauler and take the Volvo off the market. 

Motorcyclists, and more generally people with eyes, have been arguing for 46 years about the Suzuki Katana's looks. Some say it's just too weird, too out-there, and that Suzuki should never have brought it to market. After all these decades, though, I think it's high time we landed on a reasonable compromise: The Suzuki Katana is sick as hell and anyone who says otherwise needs an ophthalmologist appointment stat. I'm sorry, haters, but this is simply the way of reality. Your opinions are wrong. 

Look at this bike! Every Katana is great, but this one has been restomodded into even further perfection. A bored-out Gixxer engine with Hayabusa internals, an S1000 fork, modern 17-inch wheels. The seller claims this Katana's seen serious dyno time to dial in its tune, and that it puts down 160 reliable, streetable horses to the rear wheel. This exact motorcycle, this specific restomod, may well be my new dream bike. Anyone want to give me $16,500? It's for a good cause. I won't pay you back. 

GONNA GET YOU

LIKE A SPACE GEAR

WOAH OH OH OH

"Wait, Amber," you're probably saying to your screen, "You said one practical parts hauler, but this is a Corolla wagon! What's more practical and less project than that?" First of all, stop talking to your screen, your friends and loved ones are starting to get concerned. Second of all, the seller is offering to tow this car to wherever you need, which should be a sign that the typical Toyota reliability has left this particular building. 

The Corolla burns oil, it needs rings, it's got undercarriage rot, and it may have fuel issues. The windshield is cracked, but the car is somehow too rusted to swap the glass — I shudder to think what a car must look like by the time its windshield becomes structural. Despite all that, though, I think this is a project worth taking on. Regular, normal cars deserve restoration and preservation, and I want this Corolla to live another 262,000 miles of joy. 

The full title of this ad, which I trimmed down for the title of the slide, is "Piper Tomahawk awesome yard art Man Cave." The seller is focused on the Tomahawk as a neat object, almost a sculpture to be placed on your property. They seem to be ignoring that it is an entire goddamn plane, that you could fly around, for $3,500. It's got wings and wheels and a propeller and everything!

How much of human history was spent dreaming of flight? How many cavemen, physicists, Renaissance thinkers, and engineers have thought night after night, toiling over the problem of how to defeat gravity? And here we are, in 2026, where you can buy An Entire Plane on Facebook Marketplace for the cost of a reasonable Honda beginner motorcycle. Cars and bikes can only get you so far, but a plane gets you anywhere and everywhere. 

The Yamaha Niken is not, by most accounts, a good motorcycle. I've yet to ride one of these oddball three-wheelers myself, but I'm told they're heavy, cumbersome, and awkward — pretty much exactly what I'd expect from a Tracer 9 with an extraneous wheel tacked on the front. But there's something the Niken does have going for it, something that not enough bikes have in the year of our lord 2026: It's weird. It's a bonkers little bike, and I'm fascinated every day by it.

It has twin forks on each front wheel, but one of each pair is a dummy. The extra wheel doesn't do any self-balancing, but it does make the bike harder to turn thanks to the extra gyroscopic stability. Apparently it's impossible to find good tires in the right size for the Niken's front end. I can't fathom Yamaha's reasoning for making this bike, but I'm so glad the company did. As a Katana lover, I appreciate when motorcycle manufacturers do things weirdly. 

C'mon, I don't need to talk you into this one. A freshly refurbished Pantera, in that color, with full documentation. Just go click the ad.