Best of 2015 Barrett-Jackson Palm Beach

1981 Pontiac Firebird

Screaming chickens are cool. Period. So with that in mind, there’s a chance to buy a 1981 Trans Am in Bandit colors inside and out. It has a four-speed manual, but here’s the bad news: Pontiac sold the Trans Am with a variety of engines at the time including two 6.6-liter big V8s. Oldsmobile kicked in one of them and Pontiac the other. The Pontiac 400 is the most desirable, but there are a handful of smaller powerplants including a Chevrolet 305 cubic inch Chevrolet V8, which is what this car has.

2010 Ford Focus RS

We spotted this one earlier in the week and published a separate post because there’s something deeply intriguing about the thought of driving an MKII Focus RS through Highway 7 outside Los Angeles or through the Tail of the Dragon. As you probably know, the second generation Focus RS uses a heavily boosted five-cylinder Volvo engine that makes just over 300 hp by itself. This car has an even bigger turbo and a long list of engine modifications to push its output even higher. The Barrett-Jackson Palm Beach listing doesn’t include specifications, but this thing is sure to be a rip-roaring good time.

Pick your poison: coupe or convertible. In either case, Barrett-Jackson has a Panoz for you. The convertible uses an automatic transmission and the ad claims that it’s the only GTLM II ever built one. What really matters is that it has a supercharged 4.6-liter V8 that makes 530 hp and 510 lb-ft of torque thanks in part to performance modifications from JRD Tuning. It also only has about 13,000 miles clocked so far.

If the automatic is too much to look past, you could always bid on the coupe that’s also for sale. It isn’t as potent, but it’s hard to imagine a five-speed manual mated to a Ford Cobra V8 would be anything but addictive.

AMC AMX

The trouble with cars that belong to extinct manufacturers is that people tend to forget about them. The AMX is arguably one of the coolest cars of its time to come from the American performance muscle movement. AMC’s strategy with the AMX is comparable to what Scion and Subaru have today with the FR-S. It was an affordable performance car aimed at young customers. AMC sold the car with a variety of V8 powertrains including a top dog 390 cubic inch engine (6.4 liters), which is exactly what the model for sale this week has.

Austin-Healey Sprite

The Austin-Healey Sprite isn’t powerful. It isn’t going to chug gas, blench smoke and roast tires for the hell of it. But it is a featherweight of a British sports car that you can probably keep on the road with a basic set of wrenches and a little bit of mechanical know-how (or a working Internet connection). Think of it this way: you’re looking at a car tiny enough to tough the pavement while you’re making a right-hand turn.

996 Porsche 911 GT2

The Porsche 911 GT2 began in the 993 generation when Porsche migrated the 911 to a water-cooled engine. There’s a 996 generation for sale this week. Porsche loyalists tend to look down on the 996 generation 911 for having ugly headlights and a nasty tendency for the engine to chew itself up without warning when the intermediate shaft bearing gives out. But the GT2’s twin-turbo engine doesn’t use the same ball bearing design and are generally more reliable. It doesn’t hurt that it makes roughly 450 hp, uses the same wider body as the 911 Turbo and comes exclusively with a six-speed manual transmission.

1989 Lamborghini Countach

There aren’t many things that scream “1980s” and “Miami Vice” with more verve than the Lamborghini Countach. If it does nothing else, this car will wedge itself into your memory after one encounter. This is one of 650 anniversary edition cars that Lamborghini produced and its past only includes 2,200 miles. The anniversary edition cars commemorated Lamborghini’s 25th year as a company and came with styling changes including larger rear air intake ducts. Come on, it’s a Countach.

1970 Plymouth Superbird

The Plymouth Superbird is a hard car to find and a particularly cool piece of American automotive history. The nose cone and massive wing exist for a reason. Before the Roadrunner Superbird was born, Richard Petty left Plymouth’s NASCAR team to go race for Ford. Plymoth convieved the specially modified car to encourage Petty to come back. He did and the Superbird design enjoyed a shot-lived period of success before NASCAR changed its rules in the early 70’s.

You can see complete Palm Beach docket here.