By Dean Larson

I always enjoy finding dirt-cheap fiberglass kit cars on Craigslist. They’ve often sat out for years in various stages of abandonment after someone hastily finished half the build before life got in the way, skills ran out, or something. Regardless the years of neglect, sellers still seem to want a high price for their project. That makes me like this Fiberfab Aztec 7 even more, as the seller has the car on Craigslist with the modest adoption fee of $200.00.

The Aztec 7 was built as a tribute to the radical Alfa Romeo Carabo, a one-off wedge-shaped concept car debuted in 1968. A well-sorted example made our list of the Top Five Fiberclassics for Sale Now recently, but that car was a staggering $15,000, kinda detracting from the cheap fun factor of the VW-based kit car. For a fraction of that cost, this car could be finished in any possible style and be just as much fun.

It’s clear that this Aztec build never got off the ground. The car has no glass, no interior, and the bodywork looks to have never started. The car does have a chassis and driveline, but the details might surprise you. The Volkswagen pan and transaxle is business as usual here, but you can see the transaxle has been flip-flopped to accommodate a mid-mounted 2.8-liter Ford V6. This engine, part of the Ford Cologne V6 family, could be found in a host of vehicles, including the Ranger, Pinto, Mustang II and Bronco II. It offered up a mere 115 hp in stock trim, but made as much as 160 hp in some European export models. This offbeat driveline would be cool on the finished product, but perspective buyers might want to redo some of the handiwork involved in its fitment.

There’s a couple factors driving me to suggest this as a worthy undertaking though. For one, there’s the price. Suffice it to say that cars don’t come cheaper than this, they just don’t. Even similar projects with seriously damaged fiberglass sections are more expensive than this. In that respect, maybe buying the car and re-marketing the body parts to the Fiberfab community would be a good move.

On the other hand though, there’s something enticing about the raw and dusty Aztec body. It has its own charm in its raw state, and is just begging to be finished. I can see a couple cool ideas with this car, and none are wrong with its dirt-cheap price. It would be cool to try a faithful replica of the Alfa Carabo with this body, using the correct paint scheme and all. They differ from the original, but a set of ATS Classic wheels would look awesome on the Aztec, especially if the diameter and tire sizing was matched to the Alfa Carabo. Say what you will, but it also would be cool to finish the Aztec like a Lancia Stratos, with a tall stance, exaggerated rear wing and some off-road lights up front. With all the baja bug parts available, this wouldn’t be hard to turn into a fun off-roader. Picture that with some paddle tires and a long-travel rear suspension!

So is this little Aztec 7 worth its menial $200 adoption fee? There isn’t a doubt in my mind. If you're convinced too, head out to Anderson, California, with $200, and be sure to bring a trailer. See it here on Redding, California, Craigslist.

Alfa Romeo Carabo photo courtesy by Matthias v.d. Elbe - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/...