Some "Rare Birds" that are not so rare.....Just overlooked.....

There are some very cool cars out there that can be had for reasonable prices-if you look hard enough. Some of these are just overlooked by enthusiasts, but that makes them a bargain for the rest of us.  #1.1967-68 Chevrolet Impala SS. ( Small Block models ). These cars have cool fastback styling, sumptuous bucket seat interiors and make really nice drivers. 427 models are rare and priced in the stratosphere, but 327 and 350 models can be bought reasonably and made to really run-there's more speed equipment for the small-block Chevy than anything else on the planet. 75,600 were built in 1967 and 38,200 were built in '68-so it's not like their a Moon Rock. And they have cool options like power steering, front disc brakes and the excellent TH400 automatic. Much better than the Powerglide and 4-wheel drum brakes of earlier models. # 2. 1966-69 Buick Riviera. These cars have the cool hidden headlight, fastback styling of the Olds Toronado, but are still rear-wheel drive. And with 430 cubes under the hood, they move pretty good. too. However- I see one Jet-Black with 17" Torq-Thrusts and fat tires and a nasty, thundering Rat motor under the hood. All you'd need is a Chevy bolt pattern TH400 and some Impala motor mounts. I know it's cross-breeding, but it's one of hundreds of thousands of Rivieras that no one cares about not one of 678 1970 GSX's.....So cut me a break..... # 3. 1967 Pontiac GTO. These cars have the best of all the GTO features. I love the stacked headlight styling that's like the '66 and their still relatively light. Front disc brakes were available for the first time ( and sorely needed-the 9.5 inch 4-wheel drum setup of the '64-66 models would put the fear of god into you after only one or two high-speed stops ) and the horrible 2-speed ST300 ( read Powerglide ) automatic was replaced with the excellent 3-speed TH400.  And the new 400 V8 had a vastly improved, better breathing head design that made way more power and torque than the '59-66 389. For some reason these cars are snubbed by Pontiac collectors in favor of the '64-66 and '68-70 models, and I don't know why-their great performers. 81,000 were sold so you shouldn't have much trouble finding one.  # 4. 1971-73 Buick Riviera. 1970 Rivs were a one-year "ugly duckling" sandwiched between the two more popular styles. The '71-'73 is the famous "Boat-Tail" design. 455 cubes standard all years, GTO like acceleration, Cadillac like luxury. Wouldn't you really rather have a Buick?  # 5. 1973-75 Pontiac Grand Am. In the mid '70's Pontiac tried to build a BMW. They touted the Grand Am as having Trans-Am like performance, and Gran Prix like luxury. And they did-these cars had 400 cubes standard with 455 optional, and you could get a 4-speed or a TH400 with a 400,and the 455 was only available with an automatic. They had front disc brakes, and wrist-thick front and rear sway bars- ("Radial Tuned Suspension" ) so they were amazing handlers for a big car.  However-American car buyers were still years away from appreciating a high-performance sedan-Performance buyers bought T/A's, and luxury buyers bought G/P's. However-34,000 were sold in 1973 alone-so you should be able to find one. #6. 1974-76 Mercury Cougar. Ford's greatest ad ever-this one even eclipsing the chase from "Mr Majestyk" in the "Built Ford Tough" ad, and the holographic Steve McQueen in the Mustang ad .  A pre-Charlie's Angels Farrah Fawcett-Majors is driving up to the beach parking lot in a triple white Cougar, wearing a white low-cut evening gown, her awesome hair flowing in the breeze, with a big white live Cougar in the seat beside her, getting out of the car,showing a luscious bare, tanned left leg through the slit in the gown, demurely slipping off her high heels,putting a leash on the big cat and walking barefoot down to the sand where she then slipped off the white evening gown revealing her smokin' tanned body in a white bikini before taking the leash off the Cougar and both of them running down the beach made me want to.... be led around on a leash at Farrah's feet....No wait-I meant it made me want to buy a Cougar!! Well maybe both.... Anyway-these cars were aerodynamic enough that David Pearson won a bunch of Nascar races in one for the Wood Brothers. They had sumptuous interiors,cool instrumentation,a good handling suspension and you could get up to a 460 V8 in them, although most will have the 351C or 351 / 400M. These can be hopped up easily-there's tons of aftermarket parts-even aluminum heads for these engines, and they share the same bellhousing bolt pattern as the 429 / 460 if you just gotta have mega cubes. A Wood Brothers Tribute with radiused fenderwells,huge meats all around,a loud side-exit exhaust and a red and white paint job would be major league cool.  # 7. 1980-81 Turbo Trans-Am / Turbo Formula Firebird. These cars have the awesome handling WS6 suspension and 4-wheel disc brakes. Unfortunately, they also have the anemic, underpowered ill-fated 301 Turbo V8, which is why their snubbed by Pontiac collectors in favor of the 400 inch '79 and earlier models. 33,000 were sold in 1980 alone so their not a Moon rock.  However-you can buy them cheap and there's 3 ways I'd go for a massive power infusion. The first and cheapest and easiest is to find a 400 or 455 Pontiac V8 and put that in. It's a bolt-in swap. The second way would be to find wrecked Bonneville or Gran Prix SSEI or Buick Riviera from the late '90s and get the Supercharged 3.8 V6 out of that. They had 240 hp stock-more than the 301-and with a pulley change on the blower could up that by another 100 hp easy.  The final and probably most expensive way would be find a wrecked '85-87 Buick Grand National and get the Turbo V6 / 200R4 powertrain and swap that in. These cars have a reputation as major dogs-so they'd make an awesome sleeper. Mastermind