1986 Wells Sidewinder
Much more civilized than before, riding on an all new rwd platform, premium interior, and gone is the 3.0 turbo and in its place a much more tame and reliably smooth 2.7L i6.
A nod to the past
I have a mint 1986 Wells Sidewinder for sale. Not in a hurry to sell either, Im just testing the waters.
Make me an offer.
Fair enough. Your end product is at least cohesive visually, so it should pass.
I’m also in a place where the engineering’s done, and I just have to finish the looks; I hope I didn’t over-complicate things trying to do a custom light setup. I’ll be really rushing right up to the deadline…
$11,100 or best offer
$12,400 for a piece of French history
Currently in transit from France, all original car from the highly renowned brand at a time where they tried to get some more downmarket customers. You will not find another Joliette for such a low price.
This a light car weighing only a bout a ton with an aluminum overhead cam I6 making 144 hp. It’s also a 2+2 with a decently large trunk. The Duchesse was marketed more as a grand tourer than a sportscar but it’s quite sporty for its time.
The 1969 Carrol Shieldtail
A Racecar for the Streets.
A High Speed Tire Tearin’ Machine. With a 2v 4.5L DOHC V8 Motor originally made by Ragnarock but later tuned by Carrol, This variant of the Shieldtail has Side exhausts, Whitewalls, and an exposed Chrome air intake. The Carrol tuned engine makes 307 hp and 241 lb-ft of torque and is attached to a 5 speed gearbox. Strictly a 2 seater, The Shieldtail has a removable Hardtop and a fun factor which is through the roof.
Lightweight Archanan sportscar with roots in the 1960s.
You have probably seen it (or its roadster cousin) before: CSR149: Take Me Away (Complete) - #82 by AndiD
It was inevitable that someone would send in a mid-engined classic supercar after seeing my submission for the first time, and the Edgewater Daytona is exactly that - but I know this car from its appearance in several other forum challenges here, so it shouldn’t be too much of a surprise for me to find it here.
bold of you to assume that I wasn’t one step ahead of you
Y’all get along now 
An exciting off road vehicle that won’t break on you or your wallet!
Presenting the 1975 Eclair. A reliable four pot (that may or may nor come from a van) up front, driving the rear wheels through a 5-speed manual gearbox. Modest all season tires and light weight make for a fun, throwable car and the liftback means you can pretend its practical!
That’s some strong competition right there.
Entrants collected:
@abg7
@AndiD
@Aruna & @benjamintamilia
@BTCheetah
@Ch_Flash
@Danicoptero
@doot
@DrDoomD1scord
@DuceTheTruth100
@Edsel
@GassTiresandOil
@happyfireballman
@Happyhungryhippo
@Hilbert
@karhgath
@Knugcab
@ldub0775
@Ludvig
@mart1n2005
@moroza
@quiz
@SheikhMansour
@thecarlover
@vouge
@xsneakyxsimx
Tell me if I’ve missed you.
you should probably change the title now
Wasn’t able to make an entry in time so good luck for the entrants. 
It’s very likely I messed up the trim/variant years, so not really (unless I did that after submitting, for CSR156 or something) Edit: I did, but the situation was resolved 
The brief explanation of Samantha’s coolness preferences are as follows:
Without further ado, I give you: The final High Proof Cool Wall.
After some browsing on the Internet on Friday - and some suggestions from her friends and employees - Samantha had come up with a list of supposedly interesting cars she could take a look at. Most of the listing weren’t actually found on sale in Woodward - rather, they were scattered throughout used and classic lots in Tulsa, Oklahoma City and so on. As such, Sam would have to supplement a limited ability to check out the cars in person - by going on a research binge to learn about the cars on the Internet.
Sam was immediately drawn to the LVC LS50 - a car that she’d come across a lot in internet arguments about epic 1980s supercars. It always lost out to the big players due to less attention to detail - nonetheless, a 5-liter V12 with 430 horsepower is nothing to turn your nose up at, especially since the rather large production batch back in 1984 means that compared to similar-caliber supercars, the LVC has no apppreciated in the slightest, and this washed and decent example is within budget. Yep, 430 hp under 15 grand… Delish.
Looking for faults in the example sold at the classic car lot at the Tulsa-based classic car dealer, Samantha doesn’t find much - aside from a very shady-looking bumper and exhaust system that places the piping perilously far to the outboard, practically touching the wheels. Apart from not looking good, it’s also a hazard - enough of one for Sam to nix a point off.
Total Penalties: -1
As for coolness? The young store proprietor doesn’t have to think twice, it’s really cool. Even a “lesser” 1980s supercar, with its V12, insane speed, and exotic looks, easily earns a sub-zero place.
Cool Wall Score: 18
Though the LS50 is a surprising find, Sam is downright astonished to find the Mayster Triumf - a well-liked 1960s “small hardtop” - on sale by a private owner right there in Woodward. Sure, it would have been more amazing still to find a roadster - but Samantha really can’t complain considering there seems to be nothing wrong with this thing. Even the paint still holds firm to the fiberglass.
Total Penalties: 0
Samantha is unsure which she prefers between the wedgy shape of the LS50 and the classic sculpted sportscar look of the Triumf - though the more she thinks of it, the more she decides that the Mayster is both plainer-looking and a plainer car overall. It’s still really nice, though.
Cool Wall Score: 13
Next on Samantha’s increasingly-dreamy list - and, again, found in Tulsa - is the Arion Aquila - the “muscle car that wasn’t American” that became a minor phenomenon in the early 1970s… Before the fuel crisis and a nagging technical error shot the model’s sales figures down early.
The problem in question lay in the advanced 32v valvetrain - valves would often drop and damage the pistons, at times even rods, during harsh operation. The car for sale in Tulsa does not have a proper service history attached - leaving Sam to speculate whether or not the troublesome original heads have been upgraded. In addition, this high-compression engine will absolutely require super gas at the pump - another headache.
Total Penalties: -2: Early 4v valvetrain, 98 RON gas.
The above does not change the fact that the Aquila is an incredibly cool car. Combining near-supercar European sophistication with a frankly badass US muscle car styling earns it a very high spot.
Cool Wall Score: 17
Now, that’s a name that makes Samantha feel hungry. And try as she might, she can’t figure out if there was a separate brand name for “it” or not - she does know that if she wanted one, she could get it in Woodward. The feather-light and decently peppy sports car looks to be in okay shape; however, she notes that the wheels are mismatched and in poor condition. (A/N: this is my in-universe explanation why the car has steel rims as per the engineering which are clearly supposed to be alloys per the styling, and why it has a 175mm/185mm stagger on them where pretty much any car of this era, class and wheel width would use square tires)
Total Penalties: -1
The Eclair looks rather featureless, but the headlights are of place and the general shape is uninspiring to Sam’s eye. It’s not remotely as spectacular as the first three.
Cool Wall Score: -3
The next car similarly makes Sam crave for sweets - if only because it’s a painfully Italian name. The car itself is a funky Italian sports car, and it’s really pretty. Sadly, the insides aren’t pretty or sweet: forums give it a reputation for an underbuilt crankshaft and rods, and being very noisy. And yes, it wants super gas, too. The only example for sale in Oklahoma also has mismatched wheels.
(A/N: This car uses no techpool beyond the minimum… That’s 50 left on the table for no good reason whatsoever.)
Total Penalties: -6: A total 10% of stress; Engine noise at 50.4; Requires 98 octane gas; Has wheel stagger at 175/195 solely to remedy oversteer… caused by a front splitter that would have hardly been functional in this age of car building.
Still, it’s a good-looking little Italian coupe, probably drives well, and has a sexy twin-Weber fuel system. It’s pretty cool, even if it is a bit of a lemon.
Cool Wall Score: 8
Another supposedly fun low-production car, this time with aluminum panels. It distinguishes itself with the most competent 2-liter engine so far on the list - and there’s just not much wrong with it in general.
Total Penalties: 0
That said, for a peppy rear-driver, it really does look somewhat disapointing. Flip-up 928-like headlights? Sure, but the roofline is tall and the trunk is almost as long as the hood., and it’s just… Not that sharp.
Cool Wall Score: -1
KHI’s mini-pony car, found for sale in OKC, goes for more than Sam would have thought it would, considering how tiny it is. Apparently, though the engine in those is considered a gem. The wheels and hubs, however, clearly weren’t appreciated by the last owner - who’s changed them for a very weird 8-lug setup that looks like it’s from a truck and which Sam doesn’t really… trust.
Total Penalties: -1 for the wheels
The KHI is nice, aggressive and angular, but Sam thinks it still looks too pedestrian - especially with that Great Wall of China-looking mug. God, it’s tall.
Cool Wall Score: 3
Oh, Samantha knows this one! This ShieldTail, owned by a local, has been in her store’s parking lot more times than she cares to remember. It’s not 1960s-original by any means: It has an electric fanbox somehow jury-rigged to it, and it makes one hell of a racket. Not that it would be perfect if it were in time-capsule condition: Supposedly, the weird air ducts on the rear wings caused aerodynamic lift even in 1969.
Total Penalties: -6 - >60 noise, 98-octane gas required, rear intakes that clearly don’t lead to the brakes or anywhere at all really, and a box of electric fans that would not have existed in that form back then.
On the plus side, the Carrol is a very unique car, and cool - it’s practically a 1960s American race car with an unusual valvetrain. It’s not all there and it’s a bit too much, but it’s still cool.
Cool Wall Score: 7
This Wells Sidewinder, as found for sale in OKC, differs from most production Sidewinders because it… Supposedly has centerlock wheels. Like the eight-lug on the KHI, it’s only an eyebrow-raiser; unfortunately, the actual car raises eyebrows too: among its mechanical sins is an engine with a mean pair of cams which is absolutely choked to death by a restrictive intake and exhaust; and ludicrously short-for-1980s gearing courtesy of a weirdly short final drive.
*Total Penalties: -4 - As stated above.
The looks of the Sidewinder, while a bit unrefined still, are better, being mean and sporty - too bad the car really fails to back them up, which means it can’t be considered truly cool.
Cool Wall Score: 3
And now, for something completely different. Childhood friend Tammy suggested that Sam also look at new cars - or at least ones from this century - - to see if there were any that spoke to her. “Plenty of cute ones coming out recently”, she said. well, Sam did come across this “warm” Zip variant within budget, but it seems very fishy. Who puts an iron-head engine into a modern city car? Who coats a city car with offroader-grade rustproof coating? It’s all pretty mysterious.
Total Penalties: -2: one for treated steel, one for iron heads.
What’s worse, the Zip isn’t very cute; it’s just a nondescript blob with weird paint options. Sam doesn’t feel very into it.
Cool Wall Score: -7
This Armor is local, though Samantha hasn’t seen it around much - and now it’s for sale. The more special S/C trim, making for lots of power - and, better yet, it seems to be in good shape and without worrying quirks.
Total Penalties: 0.
Like many late-70s and early-80s muscle cars, this Hurricane still looks far too pedestrian. It does have cool 60s-style hidden headlamps, but overall it’s a 2-door sedan of its time period desperately trying to be something else.
Cool Wall Score: 5
Weird seeing such a huge and almost new car for such a low price - but there seem to be reasons why. It was clearly built cheap - the disc brakes are solid and are reported to be abysmal in comparison, the wheel hubs (yep, on a 4500lb truck) are 4-lug, the six-pot engine - despite supposedly being of '07 make - still has iron heads, and it seems that in the past 3 years (of its existence), its airbag had gone off and was never replaced (A/N: basic 90s safety). YET IT HAS ITBs.
Total Penalties: -7 for the combination of the above.
The Hunter is a big, luggy SUV - though not American - and it looks both ridiculous and ugly. Yep, this is going into the shit list. No further elaboration needed.
Cool Wall Score: -12
This local Merit is a solid midrange coupe with modern power and efficiency. It’s very nice. What’s not nice is the used car lot taking the executive decision to repaint in a “special rustproof paint package”, with the top layer being salad green.
Total Penalties: -1, treated steel.
The Merit… is hard to place. It does have that nice, sort of bullet-like 90s styling, but it’s also sort of very bland. Oh well, neither here nor there.
Cool Wall Score: 2
Obviously local - as there is, in fact, an Eltrè dealer in Woodward - this brand-new hatch has some funky styling, an innovative roof - and more importantly, nothing wrong with it.
Total Penalties: 0
That being said, while the Elite200’s aforementioned features give it heaps of potential character, its parade is rained on by the huge, unenviable blobs it has for headlights (and taillights, to a lesser extent).
Cool Wall Score: 3
On paper, the stats of the this 90s sportscar - even when kitted out with an automatic as is the case with the one on sale in Oklahoma City - impress tremendously. That being said, the parts of the car below the belt - that is, everything comprising its unsprung mass - let the rakish coupe down, starting with the 205-section tires (not made any better by the open differential), continuing with the six-lug wheels, and finishing with front brakes that can’t achieve any sort of lock.
Total Penalties: -2, generally sloppy chassis design
To add to this, Sam’s thoughts on the Hyperion’s style are only mixed. The basic idea of a sleek 90s coupe is great; the offset air intake, whale-tail, and other vents - not so great. It looks like it’s trying too hard, which is a bad look when in reality, it really isn’t.
Cool Wall Score: 3
This Swedish fiberglass coupe, found by Sam for sale in Tulsa, is just about the opposite. For one - and in spite of 14-inch rims - its brakes are actually good for stopping. In fact, the only thing it’s guilty of is gulping up midgrade.
Total Penalties: -1, premium gas
In addition, it doesn’t need gimmicky venting to look cool, being that it’s a natural plastic cheese wedge with a total height of… Right around 43.5 inches. It’s about the coolest thing here so far with less than 8 cylinders.
Cool Wall Score: 15
Samantha never imagined that she’d have the ability to choose between a group of cars involving not one, but two V12 supercars - yet here she is. This OKC-sold Edgewater is an American car - making the 15-grand price tag just a little bit more believable - but nobody would ever believe for a damn millisecond that even an American company would stick a single throttle-body injection system on a V12. A more likely story was that the original system crapped out early, after which the vehicle was fitted with this heinous system for ease of maintenance.
Total Penalties: -2, single-point on a damn V12
The Daytona lacks the menace of something like the LVC LS50, with a front end that just looks sort of strange with the upright headlights. Nonetheless, credit where it’s due, it’s still very cool.
Cool Wall Score: 13
The next car - a Canadian Swanson for sale in Tulsa - is another bat-outta-Hell car. It shows, too: apart from being very notably loud, it also lacks any sort of power assistance for its rack-pinion steering. At 2800 lbs of weight, with a big boxer-six in front. That is to say, it’s a real bastard.
Total Penalties: -3, 52.4 loudness and unacceptable weight for manual steering.
That being said, with cool angular design, epic wheel wells, and those funky high-mounted rear door handles, the Swanson is handily the coolest hatch of the crop in Sam’s eyes.
Cool Wall Score: 12
That said, hatchbacks have typically been lessers of shooting brakes - and this applies to how the Swanson compares to the Knightwick Puma. The Puma is a semi-practical wedge with a V8 (though admittedly, one constrained by 70s BS) which weighs down its front - so much, in fact, that its rear brakes tend to overapply force - and have been implicated in a couple Chevy Citation-style spin incidents. In a car with ABS, this would have been less of a problem, but here… No bueno.
Total Penalties: -1, unsafe rear brakes
The rest of the car may as well be made of ice, though. Simple yet bold in design, it doesn’t even need to yell in order to say: I’m better than you. Sam does hope, though, that the green stuff she sees in the interior is just a bunch of covers…
Cool Wall Score: 14
Samantha is wary of her next find - you don’t see any Norðwagen every year, let alone what appears to be a decked-out homologation special. That said, people on the forums seem to be mostly appreciative of theirs, praising everything but the deafening noise - admitted to be a problem even by the seller in his listing - as well as the complex valve management system, which often lags and malfunctions resulting in abrupt power anomalies.
Total Penalties: -3, improbable valvetrain (VVT+VVL in 1989) and 57.3 noise.
As with the Phénix coupe, Sam thinks this car has severe problems with tackiness, starting with the awkward and bumper-bisected ornate grill and ending in the crossed-through windshield. Unlike the Phénix, though, at least it doesn’t look meaner than it is… Because it’s a genuine beast.
Cool Wall Score: 7
This next car was also one of the few suggested by Tammy… Apparently, Tammy’s boyfriend likes it. Then again, that poor guy always was nearsighted; otherwise he would not have missed the blatant haphazardness of both the appearance and mechanical side. It’s got hard standard-rate springs despite being a barge, has offroad rust protection despite being a road car - and to top it all off, the engine is a tuner-madness all-iron V6 with barely any compression and a boost threshold that makes a 1970s Porsche 930 sound friendly. Speaking of sound - the engine makes a terrible racket as it eats its fill of midgrade gas. On top of all that, the Artillery looks as if they just took a blank, vaguely-shaped clay model and pressed some lights and a grill into it.
Total Penalties: -9, for all of the above.
On top of being terrible as a car and terrible to look at, the Artillery also sort of, vaguely reminds Sam of a modern Charger sedan - and she hates those. Weird longbarges for old people. And this manages to be so, so much worse…
Cool Wall Score: -18
A/N: I’m sorry, but all of the above did have to be said. The submission is from a new user, to be fair, but it seriously doesn’t look like a car that could have existed - especially with that 5head above the front fascia. It may as well be blank.
The engineering is similarly careless, featuring gems such as the 6.8 compression ratio on the iron-block-and-head turbocharged V6.
Part of the reason Sam included the Destriero is because it’s a reliable Woodward purchase. She knows the guy who owns the lot it’s on, and he’d have it ready and functioning for her. Not that there would likely be any problems, anyhow; for a V8 coupe, those were relatively trouble-free.
Total Penalties: 0
The issue is, for a V8 coupe, the Destriero is incredibly generic-90s-looking. Blobby taillights, weird strakes, and those grandfatherly chrome-surround lights. For a short-wheelbase V8 bruiser, it sure does look dull - and not in the cool sleeper way.
Cool Wall Score: -3
This supposedly-one-owner French car from OKC has its fair share of quirks, like the yellow French-spec headlights - but the model itself, according to Sam’s brief Internet sweep, doesn’t have any serious issues with it.
Total Penalties: 0
And it’s really smooth and cool. A more flavorful early-70s protowedge, the Joliette is right up Samantha’s alley.
Cool Wall Score: 14
Another one of Tammy’s suggestions, the Pulss - of which there are a couple in the area - is perhaps the 21st Century’s weirdest compact convertible. Despite having clear front-driver proportions - largely thanks to the boxer engine up front - this wolf in sheep’s clothing is actually rear-drive. It’s also weird because the convertible top is literally just a rag that you manually and gracelessly slap onto the top of the car.
Total Penalties: -3: basically untenable-for-time-period roof layout; is RWD with a body that really doesn’t sell the concept.
That being said, with the aggressive yet un-tacky front end and the boat-deck rear, it’s easily the best- and coolest-looking of Tammy’s suggestions - or anything on the list made this century.
Cool Wall Score: 7
The final car on Sam’s list is yet another homologation special. It’s very weird, especially as it’s rear-engined; that, however, is not as strange as the weird production quirks: wipers that do nothing to the top 50% of the windshield, two trunklid keyholes, and the fact that the seller of this particular one - in Tulsa - seems to have clumsily wrapped most of the interior in leather.
Total Penalties: -3: General design goofs, and a luxury interior… In a superlight turbo homologation hatch.
Sam isn’t impressed with how bland the Hemsley is, despite the initially pleasant boxiness; indeed, the only reason it’s even slightly cool is because of its absurdity.
Cool Wall Score: 4
If I have made any mistakes - please let me know.
| Position | Car | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1984 LVC LS50 | 17.0 |
| 2 | 1970 Arion Aquila 8C Pursuit | 15.0 |
| 3 | 1972 Joliette Duchesse | 14.0 |
| 3 | 1983 RAUK Huldra 16 Valve | 14.0 |
| 5 | 1980 Knightwick Puma | 13.0 |
| 5 | 1969 Mayster Triumf 2.0 Coupe | 13.0 |
| 7 | 1978 Edgewater Daytona | 11.0 |
| 8 | 1986 Swanson 237 SF | 9.0 |
| 9 | 1979 Armor Hurricane S/C | 5.0 |
| 10 | 2005 Kaseal Pulss 2.2 | 4.0 |
| 10 | 1989 Norðwagen Skaði RS6 Эvo | 4.0 |
| 12 | 2009 Eltrè Elite200 1.6 Cabriohtach | 3.0 |
| 13 | 1971 Veloce Canneloni II GTC | 2.0 |
| 13 | 1979 KHI Stellia ZR | 2.0 |
| 15 | 1991 Phénix Hyperion S | 1.0 |
| 15 | 1987 Hemsley Meteor HTX | 1.0 |
| 15 | 1994 Primus Merit C350 | 1.0 |
| 15 | 1969 Carrol ShieldTail StreetMachine | 1.0 |
| 19 | 1986 Wells Sidewinder | -1.0 |
| 19 | 1983 Tarske C22 | -1.0 |
| 21 | 1993 Oryu Destriero GT | -3.0 |
| 22 | 1975 Eclair | -4.0 |
| 23 | 2009 Aero Zip | -9.0 |
| 24 | 2007 Rhania Hunter | -19.0 |
| 25 | 2005 OXXRON Artillery GT | -27.0 |
