If you are an ardent follower and reader of different online car blogs such as this one, then you might just know the “Junkman.” He turned from a regular commenter on the car magazine website Jalopnik to a regular contributor on the website. Apparently, his passion for cars grew over time to the extent that he developed a thing for weird cars.
In fact, "The Junkman” as he is fondly called, is known to be the Willy Wonka of the automobile world and his chocolate factory is his assortment of weird cars. The Ohio based Myron Vernis started by commenting on almost every article that was posted on Jalopnik. He gave solid contributions that soon gave him popularity.
As time went on, the automotive website noticed that he had automotive inclinations similar to their writers and decided to make him a contributor. The Junkman got his nickname from his passion for collecting junk looking cars and turning them into masterpieces. He is one unique car enthusiast with a great perception for the odd, rare and the unique. He has as many as 75 cars in his weird car collection. Nevertheless, he hasn’t retired from finding odd and unique cars many people have never heard of or seen.
20 1935 Hoffman X8
The 1935 Hoffman X8 car just gives you every reason to marvel. For a car that was built in the early 30s, it has an automotive engineering that is futuristic. The Hoffman X8 uses a 170 cubic-inch engine cylinder powerplant.
Just when you think it has “wowed” you enough, it blows your mind with its X8 engine. It also has a 115-inch wheelbase and a curb weight of about 3,100 lbs. The car has Cardan joints at each end with fully independent half shafts. The bodywork of the Hoffman X8 is all steel with a frame that has a honeycomb floor perimeter strengthening members.
19 Paxton Phoenix
Paxton is a car that was developed by Robert McCulloch’s Paxton Automotive of Los Angeles in California. The car has a cable driven mechanical hardtop that can retract and cover the trunk. The style of this car was done by Brooks Stevens.
This classic car is powered by a Porsche 356 engine.
However, it is important to point out that the Paxton didn’t make it to production but the prototype was sold at an auction in California in the 70s and it stayed in a private collection after which it was restored.
18 Mitsubishi Colt Galant GTO MR
The machine is a 2-door hardtop sports car produced by Mitsubishi Motors. This car was produced in the 70s and has a 95.13 in wheelbase, 51.6 in height, and a width of approximately 62 in.
The Colt Galant has a curb weight of 2,160 lb and it uses a notable 3-speed automatic and 4/5-speed manual transmission. The Colt Gallant has a 2-door hardtop body style, a 1597 cc engine and an FR layout. This classic car succeeds the Mitsubishi Galant Lambda hence, you can be sure that Myron made no mistake in adding this car to his collection.
17 Isuzu 117XE
This Japanese made car was once a hit amongst the youths between the years 1968 to 1981, just like the British band “The Beatles” in the late 1960s. Those were the good old days! They came, they saw, they conquered, and one more thing, they left (time outwitted them).
Fast forward today, “the Junkman” Myron Vernis, still has this junk car in his collection. The car was built as a coupe, probably because it was the “in thing” then. This Gran Turismo model car was designed by Italian Stylist, Giorgetto Giugiaro. This car has a record of being the first sports car in the world to have a diesel engine.
16 Citroen cx 25 TRI
In 1975, the Citroen cx was voted as the European car of the year. This executive car was French built. The French manufacturers, Citroen, ran the production of this car from 1974 – 1991. For its sixteen years of production, it sold almost a total of 1.2 million cars.
The Citroen cx had an aerodynamic design which drew a lot of attention to it especially in 1974 when it was first released.
At the time of launch, the French manufacturing company, Citroen faced a lot of financial challenges, but it didn’t stop the Citroen cx 25 from entering various motoring rally events, of which the car won a total of 5.
15 Toyota 2000gt
This is another Japanese machine in the car collection of Myron Vernis. You may begin to wonder if the “Junkman” has a sort of soft spot for “Japanese coupe cars.” This car was designed by two Asian car giants; Toyota and Yamaha.
The car is known to be a coupe Grand Tourer just like the Isuzu 117XC. The production of this car was quite limited, as the car giants didn’t deem it fit to make many of them, maybe they weren’t sure it would be a success? The one parked in Vernis’ garage will obviously not be leaving anytime soon, because the “Junkman” is surely keeping this one as a prized trophy for a long time.
14 1972 Mazda Cosmo
By now, you must have figured out that Myron Vernis isn’t just passionate about old weird cars, but old coupes as well. This one is another Grand Touring Coupe built in 1972. However, its production started sometime around 1962 and ended in 1995.
The name “Cosmo” originated as a result of the motoring company reflecting on the cultural fascination with the Space Race trending then between the United States and USSR.
Mazda was trying to portray the rotary engine of the car as forward-thinking having its attention to future technology and developments.
13 Toyota sport 800
This car is known to be the first production sports car by Toyota. In 1962, this sports car debuted at the Tokyo Auto Show. In Japan, this beast was called “Yota-Hatchi” which simply means “Toyota 8.” Tatsuo Hasegawa was the designer of the 2-door coupe sports car.
The Toyota sport 800 has a petrol engine which is a 790cc. It has an output of 44 Horsepower. The car has a front-engine with a rear wheel drive system. The car also has aerodynamic styling like the Exar 1.
The style was created by Shozo Sato, who was a designer on loan from Datsun, like the way Roman Lukaku of Belgium was on loan from Chelsea FC to Everton FC to score great goals for his newly loaned club.
12 1948 Davis Divan
This "lizard” looking automobile is one of the Myron Vernis’ most valued cars. It was produced by the Davis Motorcar company which was headed then by Glen Gordon “Gary” Davis. This is the company where Myron Vernis worked as a manager for 18 years.
The 3-wheeled open roof car was produced between 1947 and 1949. The car was designed by Frank Kurtis with a little help from Gary Davis. There’s not much of a difference between this car and the 3 wheeled cycle produced by Indian manufacturer Bajaj.
11 Ghia 450ss
This car is a product of a fruitful partnership between Ghia of Turin and Chrysler Corporation. This collaboration started during a time when Ghia, the famous Italian coachbuilder often went to Chrysler for engines to build his creations.
As for the 450ss, it was Hollywood producer Burt Sugarman that persuaded Chrysler to merge with Ghia to produce something similar to the Ghia-bodied Fiat he saw in the Road & Track magazine.
The car turned out to be awesome with a 4-speed transmission or a 3-speed automatic transmission. It also came as a V8 engine with a 235 Horsepower capacity. Now, this is one heck of a car considering the time of production, 1965.
10 NSU Ro 80
This car came about exactly 22 years after West Germany had recovered from the menace of WWII. Rather than a coupe, it’s a 4-door saloon car with a front-engine. It was popular for ten years, between the years 1967 to 1977.
This executive car was designed by Claus Luthe who was a notable German designer that built various cars for big European giants like Volkswagen, BMW, and Audi. He was also believed to be one of the pioneer designers of the aerodynamic cars. The car has got a 995cc engine that runs on a 113Horespower. It also has 3 –speed manual transmission. In 1968, the car won the vote for car of the year.
9 1962 Deutsch Bonnet Le Mans Spyder
This classic car is a piece of art that was manufactured by DB Automobiles Rene Bonnet. The idea behind this car was to create a car for the US market, so they went ahead to produce the two-seater convertible car built on the Panhard underpinnings.
This beauty has an 848 cc flat-twin engine that gives it super powers and it has a maximum speed of 99 mph.
This and other features like the 4-speed manual transmission, 1250 mm height, 2,400 mm wheelbase, 4100 mm length, and a 700 kg curb weight likely caught Myron's attention and made him see reasons why he had to have the 1962 Deutsch Bonnet Le Mans Spyder in his collection.
8 Porsche 914 pickup
You just have to agree that Myron is good at scouting for cars that are weird. This car in his collection is most likely one of the only two in the world. If you have seen the engine of a pickup truck, you will observe that it’s usually located at the rear or the front. But this particular pickup model has its engine in the middle.
However, it should interest you to know that this pickup truck was converted by a southern California coachbuilding firm “Troutman and Barnes.” The reason for the rareness of the Porsche 914 pickup is that the company built one for itself and the second one for Aase Brothers Porsche. Aase Brothers Porsche is a spare parts business in Anaheim, California.
7 Leata Cabalero
Myron Vernis must have a good sense of humor to deem the Leata Cabalero a good fit for his collection. It is no surprise anyway because he has a soft spot for quirky things.
Even though this car is one of the most beautiful cars built in Post Falls, Idaho, the swollen bodywork is something that makes you laugh at times when there is nothing to laugh about. The seats are comfortable but the two-spoke steering wheel that shows a royal crest is kind of weird. The Leata Cabalero also has chrome trims around the wheels that are wobbly. Also, it has a plastic divider that helps to separate the Landau top.
6 Exar 1
This car is an American built. It was developed in 1979 by Edmond X. Ramirez, Sr. Amectran described the car to be the first real electronic powered car produced in the world. The car got a lot of accolades from the United States Secretary of Transport as an electronic pioneer car.
This baby is a Four-wheel drive saloon vehicle. The car has a similar build to one of the first Volkswagen Passat models that was developed in 1973. The car has a length of 198 in with a width of 69 in. The height of the car is quite low at 49.6 inches.
5 Alfa Romeo Montreal
This car got the name “Montreal” from the public when it was displayed at an Expo in Canada. This 2+2 coupe sports car was manufactured by Alfa Romeo. You can be sure that this car has good speed as it uses a 2.6 L V8 engine.
The Alfa Romeo Montreal has an impressive maximum speed of 137 mph and it covers 0 to 100 km/h in about 7.4 seconds.
Apart from the fact that this machine uses a ZF 5-speed manual transmission, it has other impressive features like a curb weight of 1,270 kg, an FR layout, a height of 1.205m, width of 1.672 m, and an amazing 4.22 m length.
4 Powell sport wagon
The Powell sports wagon is the first prototype that was made in 1952. For a car that was made in the 50s, it is quite impressive that it uses a Chevrolet chassis and a six-cylinder engine. This automatically helps reduce cost.
It weighs about 2,700 pounds and has a fiberglass front grille that enables its resistance parking lot damage.
The Powell sports wagon also possesses varnished oak bumpers, oak tailgates, a concealed tube that was built into the right rear fender and bodywork that is completely made of steel. The Fabric of the car was made of heavy-duty vinyl stretched over foam void of springs.
3 Honda 1300
The Honda 1300 is a 4-door sedan body styled car that was produced by Honda in 1969. You should be used to the years mentioned here by now because most of Myron’s cars are blasts from the past.
This beauty has a 53in height, 57.7in width, 153.3in length, and a wheelbase of 2,250 mm. It's a compact car that uses a 1298 cc engine and a 4-speed manual transmission.
This model has a sporty looking frontend that seems attractive and a 1.3-litre engine displacement that gave it an edge when compared to its competitors.
2 Toyota Crown Deluxe
This executive car is another product of Toyota that was released in 1955. This car holds a distinction when it comes to having the longest running passenger-car nameplate attached to any Toyota model.
In Japan, the 1970 Toyota Crown Wagon was mostly used by the government. This car has a special insignia and a styled crown located on the steering wheel and grille. The Crown Wagon has also been prevalent with Japanese companies as company cars and taxicab.
Over time, the increasing luxury and price of the Toyota Crown Wagon resulted in the creation of another Toyota model and it served as a more affordable alternative.
1 Porsche Junior 108 Tractor
The Porsche tractor is another blast from the past that is about the smallest and the most affordable when compared to other models of the Porsche tractor. Don’t let the appearance of this tractor deceive you- it is difficult to break.
The Porsche tractor uses a diesel engine with a capacity of 822cc. It is surprising to see that the tractor has the ability to produce a maximum power of 15 HP at 2250 rpm. This machine uses an engine that has a Bosch diesel injection alongside a 6-speed transmission.
The styling of the Porsche tractor is ageless with a rear wheel drive and an air-cooled motor that makes it stand in a class of its own.
Sources: driving.ca, thetruthaboutcars.com, motorauthority.com