Every April, regular as rain (and it does), a consortium of car clubs hosts two swap meets – one at Portland International Raceway and one at the nearby Expo Center. Every year, I’m there, sifting through greasy rust for something, anything, worthwhile. Why! Because you might see a PasseParTout (“go anywhere”), of course. Also known as a PPT, this tracked ATV was made by Valcartier in Quebec starting in the mid 1960s, largely aimed at military use. But when the Vietnam war ended, the company pivoted to recreational marketing. Early versions had two-stroke engines made by Sachs – a German company. Model names corresponded to displacement, which ran up to 398 ccs (good for 30 hp). The PPT was produced well into the 1970s at least. Uses were myriad – construction sites, snowmobiling, trail running. This one is probably rebuildable. Note the engine installed directly between the driver’s legs, yeehaw!
Rand, cripes, can’t you write about anything normal? Okay, here’s one of my favorite cars of the weekend, this 1992 Buick Roadmaster with only 65,000 miles. The owner wanted $6500 for it, and he drove it to the meet from Washington, so I’m confident it behaves at least well enough to go a hundred miles. It had the third-row rear-facing seats, and acres of trademark vinyl “woodgrain”. This was the last big American station wagon, and it was a also a status statement. While this example wasn’t perfect, it was darn nice, and after a weekend of cosmetic attention, I would have been happy to take it to Cars ‘N Coffee.
This photo is here only to prove it rained, and to let you know that I’ve been to Hershey many times, but I like Portland’s swap meet better. There’s just a lot more stuff.
Moving back to “weird” on the spectrum, here’s a Fiat-based Siata Spring. This guy had pulled it out of a barn, didn’t really know what it was, and thought he could make a buck. He was trying to convince me it would be an easy restoration. He didn’t know I bear the scars of multiple “easy restorations”! The Siata Spring was a short-lived model produced from about 1967 to 1970. Its mechanical bits came from the Fiat 850, and though its engine was asthmatic, the car weighed only about 1500 lbs soaking wet. It could manage 70 mph with a tailwind. The Spring was never fitted with seat belts, and those cut-down doors didn’t always stay shut. This styling, with its boxy shape and large upright radiator, is considered “neoclassical”. Perhaps not unsurprisingly, Siata went bankrupt midway through Spring production.
This guy was selling a Buick 215 cu. in. V8 and a bunch of related parts. The 215 Buick V8 is my favorite engine of American persuasion. Its features and GM’s construction methods broke new ground, influencing generations of engines decades later. Thanks to all-alloy construction, the 215 weighs only 320 lbs. It’s compact, revs nicely, installs easily into MGBs, was original equipment in TR8s, and parts are available. Output is variable but can be as high as 200 hp. GM sold the design to Rover back in the 1960s, but iterations of this same V8 were still being used as recently as 2006.
Hope you’ve enjoyed seeing the swap meet through my eyes. Maybe you’ll come walk the muddy fields to paw through rusty junk next year!
Um,,,normal,,,compared to what? Rain in Por’land? No,it ALWAYS rains in Portland,,It’s a shame my son didn’t inherit the “tinkering gene” , funny how that works, my DAUGHTER( in L.A.) did, and my son and DIL live in Portland, and would be fun to attend something like this with them, even though this is all antiques to them. In Wisconsin, we had a similar gathering, Jefferson Swap Meet, my brother still attends, and very similar in nature, despite declining attendance. These canopies are a God send, I remember, if the stuff got wet, it got wet, stay home, in fact, some best bargains are in the rain. It’s why there are raincoats. Colorado? Nothing, not in my neck of the hills, anyway, and I’m not risking life and Jeep to go to some big city. As the author admits, it’s such a fun way to spend an afternoon, unfortunately, most pack up their stuff and go back home. Sorry, Charlie, not many want finned valve covers for a 215 anymore,,,not to say some great finds can’t be had. Give ya’ $5 bucks for the thermos. I had one like that for all my trucking,, had a lot of coffee out of that, filled for free back then, don’t ya’ know. A trailer or pickup is a must. As these older folks pass on, not all the kids throw the stuff out, and some real treasures. Now, if the next generation knows what to do with this stuff, is another matter. Happy treasure hunting, all.
Michelle is on a roll today with the non-cars. It’s a nice change of pace. The enginevset up on this thing is like the bumper car written up a few days ago. It does not look comfortable.
Maybe she’ll write up the Pontiac boat (?) I submitted. Looks like today would be a good day for it.
I’d love to write up that boat but we have two layers of tips: the boss’s tips, which we have to prioritize until they’re done, then other tips. Yours is buried somewhere behind a few others that have to get done first….
I went with a couple friends from Seattle on the first days, Thurs at the track and Fri at the Expo center. It was beautiful like summer days: sunny and warm. But we saw that Sat brought some rain, unfortunately.
It is so intense and overwhelming, the sheer amount of stuff. But many treasures if you are diligent and lucky. I got a load of stuff for my 68 Chevelle and other goodies. Bring cash and really good walking shoes!
Sadly, like everything in the hobby, this meet is shrinking yearly. Even the cart kid I hired at the end hilariously sounded like an 80 year old man grumbling about how when he was younger it was huge and extended throughout the parking lots. Haha.
It’s great to find something you need for a project. Mostly I find things that I don’t REALLY need, but kinda want, like the extra 1275 cc A-series I bought one year (complete with SUs) and the Spitfire carbs that technically don’t fit my car, but cost almost nothing. I resold those at a British swap meet to someone who could use them and made five bucks, hardly worth it but recycling to a needier home is always good.
I would like to autocross that PPT! I wouldn’t have to worry about knocking over any cones in the course!!
This is really neat. I never even knew about these swap meets. One of these days, when my circumstances allow, I’d love to go to one. Rain or shine and just enjoy seeing all the different stuff available. Michelle, once again, thank you for the great write up. You never know, your write up, here on Barnfinds just exposed a number of people ( like me) who never knew about it, and who’d like to go. It would be great if the number of atendees would go up because of it. Hey….. You never know.
Michelle’s slammin’ it out of the park today! Very cool stuff. That PasseParTout is on my master wish list for sure. I thought I had written up a couple of them, but I could only find one. They’re really cool, but really heavy at around 640 pounds, and it’d be hard to get up into your pickup, so you’ll need a trailer to haul it around.
https://barnfinds.com/go-anywhere-1971-passepartout-tracked-vehicle/
Hi Michelle, I used to live in South Africa and once went to Hershey way back in 1989 while on a round trip of America, and I thought that was BIG! Now you say that the Portland show has way more “stuff” than Hershey. Wow! That must be really BIG!
Rain? I was at the Portland Swapmeet on Friday and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky, perfect spring weather, dry as a bone. Did it rain Saturday? I must have been back home working in my shop by then.
Indeed it did, see photos. The track packed up early on Saturday.
Really don’t need a Buick 215, but I could use some rain!
You and me both Jim Randall! It rains all around us but not on my 10 acres. .Michelle, thank you for informing me about the Portland swap meets. It gives me now 3 reasons to go.
1, Always love a swap meet.
2. I can visit my sister and Mother.
3. I might run into you!
It’s about an 8 hour drive. So I will have to make a 3 or 4 day event out of it. Now, if I can figure out a place to deposit the wife for a couple of days. I will be good.
I would be pleased to run into you or anyone else who frequents Barn Finds. If a few of you showed up we could form our own Rat Pack. Half the fun is seeing what folks bring and discussing the merits or demerits of said items, and then there’s always the chance of finding some treasure.
Unfortunately I don’t know what to do with wives!
That PPT really caught my attention. We had one on the ranch and it was used to the max, or what ever it took to tear the plastic lugs off the tracks.
Ours had the CCW engine, which was essentially the same engine that powered the John Deere 500 snowmobile.
Interesting that you would find one in Portland.
Skuttlebutt says there’s a massive motorcycle swapmeet in Davenport, IA each year on Labor Day weekend. I was told that if you had enough cash, you could start at one end and have your motorcycle completed by the time you emerged at the other.
One of these days…
yeah, i can no longer walk those grueling isles at Hershey. shame this meet is 3k miles from me it looks interesting plus you won’t see the Carlisle crap like at Hershey
If you think that’s a long hike. Walk every isle at the SEMA SHOW. It’s been about 5 years since I’ve been to the SEMA Show. (GM used to have its Western area Commercial Dealers meeting during that time so we got passes.) So I’m going through SEMA SHOW withdrawals. Walking every isle (which I have done several times) is over 14 miles. So when done you feel it! And that’s just the indoor displays/booths.
LOL. I was there and my canopy is in your third picture above. I was across from the Buick. Friday was great, moneywise and weatherwise, Saturday not so much. The rain chased everyone away. The Buick was interesting. Could be near the last Portland Swap Meet at Expo. It has shrunk over the past several years and parts prices have grown beyond the pocketbooks of many of us. Most of us skedaddled Saturday.