Rupp Dart Kart, Cadillac Brougham, Shelby Cobra: The Biggest Suckers On Bring A Trailer This Week

You're almost there. It's Friday, the end of the work week, and we're getting into the back half of the work day. It's almost the weekend, so why not relax a bit? Take a few minutes for yourself, to decompress and gawk at the ways rich people have spent their money this week. That's right, it's Suckers Slideshow time. Let's go.

NADA value: This is a go-kart. Come on now.

Back in high school, I actually built to go-karts with a classmate. His dad owned an auto shop, so the project was a great introduction to things like welding and automotive paint booths. It also cost us each about $800, far less than the $6,869 someone paid for some of a go kart this past week.

Admittedly, this Dark Kart is a better design than what two high schoolers built out of plumbing pipe from Lowe's, and its dual engines likely provide more power than our single Harbor Freight mills could muster. But which would you rather have: One broken go-kart, or eight and a half working ones?

Hagerty value: $9,200, generously

I like a good patina as much as the next person. This 1967 International Scout, however, goes a bit beyond mere surface corrosion. This thing is beat, with oil leaks and an intermittently-functioning speedometer specifically called out in the ad. Much of its patina appears to be fake, but underside photos show a concerning amount of the real thing.

This Scout appears to have complete holes in the driver's floor pan, as well as hastily-clipped wires of unknown function bundled in the engine bay. There's even paint covering the manufacturer's plaque in the engine bay, and who knows what else might lurk beneath that green respray.

NADA value: Once again, not a car

I'll admit, seeing "Rochester" in the headline for these Corvette fuel injection systems piqued my curiosity enough to click the listing. Rochester, NY secretly rules as a city, and any link that gets me thinking about garbage plates and Genny Cream is a link I'm going to investigate. Yet, instead of the city's many joys, I was shown sixty year old car parts that sold for ten grand a pop. What is happening?

These are mechanical fuel injection systems, designed for use on C2 Chevy Corvettes. I genuinely cannot fathom the reason behind buying these, unless someone owns a C2 'Vette that needs to be returned to stock, or has its injection system somehow damaged. Are these collectible, somehow? Do people use them as display pieces? Is it a sex thing? Do I even want to know?

NADA value: $27,750 in stock form

I'll admit, there was a point in my life where I owned a JKU Wrangler (the same generation and body style as this supercharged example) and wanted to add forced induction to it. I was in high school, driving a Jeep that insurance had paid for, and wishing it had a bit more speed after losing a drag race to a GMC Yukon. The difference is, I never went through with the idea, and I definitely never thought the result would have been worth over forty grand.

Jeep pricing in general is, to put it kindly, "somewhat elevated." Even in a cooler car market, Jeeps always pull a premium. But to not only ask, but receive nearly fifteen thousand dollars over book value for a four-door Wrangler with an engine this modified is truly absurd — in any market. It's not meant to be a fast car.

Hagerty value: $19,900 for 1991 in concours condition

This Cadillac Brougham, I have to admit, rules. The wheels are plain steel under those fake wire covers, and the seats look more plush than any chair in my apartment. The entire dash is that weird fake wood that luxury cars used before everyone realized it looked terrible, and the column-mounted shifter for the four-speed automatic transmission sits directly next to a steering wheel that, in 1992, still had no airbags.

This seems like an objectively Bad Car and for that I love it. But that sort of love works a lot better at $4,600 than $46,000. Did the buyer of this Brougham genuinely love it? If so, why? A nostalgic admiration for cars that demand you only use unleaded fuel?

NADA value: We didn't get the City Turbo in the US, so we don't get book values either

Just over two years ago, someone bought the perfect Honda City Turbo II and Motocompo combo on Bring A Trailer. It was a white City wearing white Volk turbofans, and carrying a red Motocompo in its bed. Now that same combo is back, with an additional Motocompo in tow, but for a new price — nearly double the sale price back in 2019.

Car prices have gone up since 2019, but this package has clearly outpaced even our current market. Maybe more people have learned about the City/Motocompo combo, and driven up demand for the already limited supply. Maybe someone told Jeff Bezos that they exist, and he decided he needed The Perfect Spec at all costs. Either way, good luck finding one for a reasonable price after this — they're verging on being fifty thousand dollars cars now.

NADA value: If we didn't get a book value for the Ctiy, we're definitely not getting one for a Japanese fire engine

This Fuso Canter is another installment of Cars That Absolutely Rule, But Have Zero Logical Purpose As A Thing To Buy. I have a firm distrust of anyone who doesn't love this adorable little fire fighter, this cute boy, this darling son whose life is dedicated to protecting those it cares about from wrathful licking flames, but the truck's actual list of relevant uses is slim. It would be a hit at car shows, maybe? Kids would certainly love it.

The Fuso is already starting to rust, an affliction as common in Japan's snowiest latitudes as it is in the northern US. There's a quiet honor in purchasing a vehicle like this to be its caretaker through its sunset years, to keep it in comfort as it slowly rots away. But is that honor worth $47,000? Is the truck?

Original MSRP: $104,595

Call me Dr. Manhattan because I can see the entire timeline of this Saleen-modified Camaro, from its birth to its death, laid out before my mind's eye like a river seen from space. Twisting, turning, meeting the paths of others and joining together before splitting off on its own route.

It is 2011. A new Camaro rolls off the assembly line in Oshawa, Ontario. It finds its way to Livonia, Michigan, and to the Saleen factory. It is 2012. After months of work and deposits changing hands, the Camaro finds its way into the hands of its new owner in California. The car is too fast, too untamed. It is rarely driven. It is 2019. The Camaro has a mere 3,552 miles when it reaches its second owner, across the country in New York. It is 2022. The Camaro is selling for under half its original cost to yet another owner, each less interested in the particular spec than the last. It is 2026. The Camaro is scuffed, scratched, and mechanically worse for wear. It is 2031. The car is lovingly restored by a Saleen fan, a last gasp against the dying of the internal combustion light.

It is 2042. The Camaro goes up for auction at an estate sale. It receives no bids, and is crushed.

Hagerty value: $268,000 in original concours condition

"Tribute" cars, like this Porsche 911 Turbo born the same year as way more of the Jalop staff than I thought, are interesting from a value standpoint. They are, by definition, not the high-dollar car they're imitating, but a lower-tier, more accessible model. Yet, they have some of what made that other car so unique and desirable. Does that similarity make the tribute worth more, or does the democratization of those parts make the real deal worth less?

The answer is that this particular tribute, being an air-cooled Porsche, is worth a downright absurd amount of money. The real deal? Also absurd pricing. A base, unmodified 993 Turbo? That's absurd too. Bolted-on fender flares, lips, and wings don't seem to drop the astronomical value of these rear-engined portfolio pieces, but what will? Do they have to be crashed to be affordable?

Hagerty value: $190,000 sans carbon fiber

The CSX 4000 is a Shelby continuation of the original Cobra, with each car's documentation signed by Carroll himself. The cars, as modern reproductions, used modern materials unheard of in the Cobra's heyday — including the option for a full carbon-fiber body. This particular example is so equipped, along with a carbureted 427 engine and Brembos at each corner.

A carbon-bodied Cobra is, unquestionably, likely one of the purest driving experiences possible. The wind in your hair, the sound of that engine burbling out through side-exist exhausts, the thin wood wheel in your hands as you frantically row through the gears. Yet, at this price, one has to wonder if anyone will experience that feeling again — or if the car will sit under wraps in a climate-controlled garage forever.