classic/sports daily driver
- Thread starter olps
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I think I've fallen in love...
http://autocatch.com/used-cars/1965~ford~mustang~165625.htm
too bad it's likely far out of my price range.
Are parts for Midgets hard to come by? There are a few shops around the city that do work on MGs, Triumphs, and even Alfa Romeos and Fiats, so I'm not too concerned about serviceability.
http://autocatch.com/used-cars/1965~ford~mustang~165625.htm
too bad it's likely far out of my price range.
Are parts for Midgets hard to come by? There are a few shops around the city that do work on MGs, Triumphs, and even Alfa Romeos and Fiats, so I'm not too concerned about serviceability.
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Only because it doesn't have a great deal of power. It is about handling, not grunt. That doesn't mean it won't be a blast to drive on windy roads, it just mean you shouldn't expect to take on any Corvettes from a standing start at a traffic light. Assuming you're over the age of 18, that should not be a problem.
In the under $10k category for a rag top, I think the Miata will be hard to beat. I would not trust a 911 (or any Porsche) that could be had for less than $10k -- I'm not sure why it keeps getting mentioned. Porsches are fantastic sports cars, but way more money than you said you want to spend, even second hand.
Good luck and Enjoy!
Because women love them, love driving them, and love how they look better in one. Yep, a miata is basically an upscale pair of shoes to a woman. One nice thing about this is that girls will be more impressed by your miata than your corvette. Bad thing about this is that if you marry her the miata will become "her car" and you'll be driving her tercel.
Because 911SC's are fairly inexpensive, pretty bulletproof, a lot of fun to drive, a surprisingly practical daily driver. The engine is seriously understressed (basically the turbo engine minus the turbo), there's very little electronics to go wrong, the fuel injection system is reliable enough that it has been used on domestic civilian airplane engines, and the rest of the car was thoroughly debugged long before that model was introduced. And they've long since stopped depreciating. And it's one of the definitive classic sports cars, and it's not a *** like a Ferrari. And they get surprisingly good fuel economy - mine got about 23mpg in town and 29mpg on the highway.
I paid $11K for mine in 1995, not sure what they go for now, with 89k miles on the clock and got rid of it at ~150K miles for what I paid for it, it having needed only the basic servicing in the interim. Considering all the costs it was probably the cheapest car I've ever owned.
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I agree with both strat1117 and mparker762. The trick is finding the "right" 911 that has not been abused. While they may be bulletproof, the "wrong" car will cost an arm and a leg to repair. Don't quote me but I believe a guide I picked up a few years ago suggested going with late 80's to early 90's 911s as for reliability and the classic look. The problem here may be in finding one in the price range stated by the original poster.
tell that to "Bullet" in australia.A few years ago they were shoving turbo 13B rotaries, 20B turbo rotaries and supercharged lexus V8s into miatas. I think they didn't get the memo that a miata is an all show, no go, womens accessory.
A few years ago they were shoving turbo 13B rotaries, 20B turbo rotaries and supercharged lexus V8s into miatas. I think they didn't get the memo that a miata is an all show, no go, womens accessory.
I didn't quite say that. They're also a mean autocross machine on the weekend, and if you make sure the wife already has one then you can buy one for yourself, and nobody will question your manhood, because guys do recognize that the car has wonderful handling characteristics that are right up the alley of any red-blooded male. It's just that they also recognize that if they buy one, that it will end up belonging to SWMBO, and they'll wind up driving her tercel or camry.
Take a look at the Honda S-2000, my wife had one for quite a while and that thing had "BALLS"! I certainly understand the desire for a MG though I had one years ago and bought it off the showroom floor brand new! I still loved that car when I got rid of it and I have to say it was so very much fun to drive! BUT yes the Lucas electronics were a real pain and it did not like to start in those cold midwestern winter nights.
While I love british sports cars, they can be very expensive to own, and not terribly reliable as daily drivers. If I had an unlimited supply of money and garage space, a Lotus Elan would be in it. However, reality is that I want to drive my summer car, not fix it.
My vote is for a Miata, S2000, 911SC, Boxster or 300/350Z. As others have mentioned, a good 911SC is a great car. A bad 911SC can be very expensive indeed.
I own a 1991 Miata. 120K miles, autocrossed regularly for the past 6 years, and dead reliable. I haven't had to do anything other than regular maintenance until this year. This past summer I had to replace a front wheel bearing ($110 and 45 minutes). It is a great car to learn to wrench on. Mechanically fairly simple, with lots of room to work. I have learned to do a lot with this car, and do all my maintenance now.
My next summer car will either be a newer Miata (maybe a mazdaspeed) or an S2000. Silly fun, reliable, enough trunk space for 2 for a week. What more could you want.
Oh ya, and 10K will buy you a 1999 Miata with enough left for at least 5 years worth of gas and maintenance!
My vote is for a Miata, S2000, 911SC, Boxster or 300/350Z. As others have mentioned, a good 911SC is a great car. A bad 911SC can be very expensive indeed.
I own a 1991 Miata. 120K miles, autocrossed regularly for the past 6 years, and dead reliable. I haven't had to do anything other than regular maintenance until this year. This past summer I had to replace a front wheel bearing ($110 and 45 minutes). It is a great car to learn to wrench on. Mechanically fairly simple, with lots of room to work. I have learned to do a lot with this car, and do all my maintenance now.
My next summer car will either be a newer Miata (maybe a mazdaspeed) or an S2000. Silly fun, reliable, enough trunk space for 2 for a week. What more could you want.
Oh ya, and 10K will buy you a 1999 Miata with enough left for at least 5 years worth of gas and maintenance!
Forget the 911...you want a 951. Especially at the <10k price point. Better driving dynamics than a 911, infinitely tunable and a whole lot cheaper. I can't think of a better driver's car that can be had for $10k...maybe an E30 M3, but it will be hard to find a good one, and they're finicky...not to mention not as fast and a lot more expensive to tune.
I have a z4 3.0i as my primary driver and absolutely love it, even in the winter, but a tr-6 is still my dream car, the only thing holding me back from having one is i spend so much time on the road, and something newer fits my bill a little better, but if ur just looking for a fun car id get something with a little more balls than a miata, perhaps a z3 2.8, they have plenty of power and look magnificent.
I used to own a TR-6. A very low mileage '76 in the '81 to '83 time frame. Great car in many ways, but set new records for frequency of repair. Stunningly unreliable. If you could get one of the ones sold in Britian it would have about half again the horsepower. I missed that you are in Canada. Maybe you really coulget the TR-6 model they sold in the UK, rather than the one in the states. It was more of a beast! Ultra light car with a fair number of horses and big around tires.
I think the Miata is perceived as "girly." Fair or not. I thought later models at the top end had lots more horsepower so it is not just that. How about that Honda S2000? I do not even know if they still make it, but ultra high reving engine.
EDIT: I missed the reference below to the S2000 at first. Should be a fun reliable car. No idea what they cost used. They did make them at least through '09.
I think the Miata is perceived as "girly." Fair or not. I thought later models at the top end had lots more horsepower so it is not just that. How about that Honda S2000? I do not even know if they still make it, but ultra high reving engine.
EDIT: I missed the reference below to the S2000 at first. Should be a fun reliable car. No idea what they cost used. They did make them at least through '09.
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Why dont you look at a Suzuki Cappacino... 
Small compact... use bugger all fuel and you can do a little work to them they end up like a go kart... Literally..
Small compact... use bugger all fuel and you can do a little work to them they end up like a go kart... Literally..
I just sold my '02 a couple of years ago for 11K (it had ~80K miles). It was a fantastically fun car with a 9K redline. They dropped the redline to 8000 for the 2004 and newer models FWIW. I loved this car and might look for one in the future.
I certainly do recommend one and think you can find one for ~10K.
Just curious. How was reliability? I assume very good. Or were there there any issues with a motor that revs that high/is capable or reving that high? Even 8k is a lot of rpms!
I used to have an RX7, too. I am disappointed that that engine has continued to be as inefficient as it is. Too low a gas mileage for the power output, even though it is also low wieght, if I recall, but very, very reliable these days--motor and car overall, at least the '84 or so GSL-SE I had. As I recall, the rotory engine revs pretty high, too. Always seemed like a good combination with a CV transmission to me, for some reason, but it has never happened!
The S2000 has a tight gearbox...when they first came out I remember hearing a number of stories of mis-shifts leading to blown engines. Excluding driver error, they've proven to be pretty reliable.
You forgot to mention the part about how much uglier the 951 is than a 911.
YMMV, of course...Miatas are considered girls cars because they don't have an aggressive stance that you see on a lot of the "man" cars. In my opinion if you're looking for fun, a drop is the only way to go. I've got an '09 Mustang GT and it's a blast, a little out of your price range though.
If I were you I would go for something classic as the prices have come down considerably, think 60's muscle cars that don't have the big names like HEMI or the like. You can usually find something that isn't numbers matching for a good price that looks good enough and will be somewhat mechanically sound. However; anytime you buy something that old it will have "quirks." Such as the lights suck, the top might leak, etc. so you can't be too picky or your going to pay a ton to get them to new car spec.
If I were you I would go for something classic as the prices have come down considerably, think 60's muscle cars that don't have the big names like HEMI or the like. You can usually find something that isn't numbers matching for a good price that looks good enough and will be somewhat mechanically sound. However; anytime you buy something that old it will have "quirks." Such as the lights suck, the top might leak, etc. so you can't be too picky or your going to pay a ton to get them to new car spec.
You forgot to mention the part about how much uglier the 951 is than a 911.
YMMV indeed...Lets face it...the iconic 356/911 shape is not exactly well balanced or elegant. It was an attempt to make the VW bug sleek and sporty. The 356 pulled it off because they kept it simple and clean...and with the exception of the obnoxiously tall cockpit, the lines really were kind of sleek and elegant (the 356 roadster was much more beautiful than the coupe...who would argue with that?). But where the 356 was graceful and clean, the early 911's were just untidy...blame the bumpers more than anything. The targas were the worst...really dreadful looking cars IMO.
The 930 was a lot better...the whale tail balanced out the ludicrous bumpers to a certain extent, but it was still far from elegant.
The n/a 944's (excluding the later S2 models that had the turbo bumpers) suffered from the same affliction (ridiculous bumpers). The turbo fixed that, and the car became quite beautiful. It was perfectly balanced aesthetically...it had graceful, elegant lines that hadn't been available from Porsche since the 356 Roadster, and nothing to detract from that simple beauty.
As long as you don't get caught up in that "if the engine is up front its not a real porsche" nonsense, I can't see why anyone would want a $10k 911 rather than a $10k 951. The 951 is the better car in every way. But then, as you said, YMMV.
I agree with your every word (except, maybe that part about the whale tail balancing ANYTHING), and yet still have to say that it says nothing to refute my statement of relativity - that the 951 was uglier even than a 911. Both can be ugly, and one can certainly be uglier.
If you want pretty, it's a prancing horse you're seeking. Personally, I'll probably never own either a Porsche or a Ferrari (not on a public university administrator's salary), but the Miata will one day again live in my stable. Too much fun for under $3,000.
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