The Funnest Car in the World? Probably!

DESERTER GS

Okay let's get one thing straight; this car is TOTALLY AWESOME!!!

 Is it a dune buggy? Is it a kit car? Is it a custom miniature race car? Yes to all three!

You are looking at a 1971 Autodynamics Deserter GS. The Autodynamics company was located in Marblehead, Massachusetts, and made VW powered fiberglass dune buggies in the late '60s/early '70s. This model came later on, and is extremely special and very very rare. How rare? Supposedly only 138 Deserter GS were built with the GT body (which this is).

The reason this is so special and rare is that while most of the fiberglass kits were intended for a VW engine, this particular model was set up to take a larger power plant from either a Corvair or a Porsche! It is also a mid-engine design which makes for an almost perfectly balanced car as opposed to all the dune buggies with the engine hanging out of the back.

As a result these cars were very fast and handled incredibly well. They were marketed as race cars and won awards at venues like the Pike's Peak hill climb.

Dig these tiny "seats" that are really no more than the sort of indentations you find in a hot tub. This car is tiny too; no reason for doors when you can step right into it. You almost wear this car more than sit in it.

I love this dashboard. Let's take stock from left to right; three unmarked switches, the single worst ignition key placement I've ever seen, three tiny colored lights, and then the gauges placed right in front of the passenger.

Orange, red, and yellow lights to signify something mysterious.

I think the name of this car is hilarious too. Might as well call it "Abandoner" (by Autodynamics).

The front of the hood scoop on this example has a clear panel covering it up, I'm assuming to cut down on noise or heat. If you were racing though I'm sure you'd want the opening clear to let the engine breathe a little deeper.

The Autodynamics company stopped producing their kits sometime in the '70s as the dune buggy craze died out. Finding a beautiful example of their rarest model parked on the streets of Brooklyn is just crazy! Take a good look because it's a safe bet you will never, ever, see one again.