Lookin' for my first car

  • Thread starter Thread starter gibson
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Actually a pretty good suggestion. I would stay away from the Vega entirely though. They had bad rust problems, and if you end up being unlucky enough to find one with an original engine you are asking for trouble. The Monza was a better car across the board.

If you are feeling particularly gutsy, you could get a Chevette and put the largest engine you can find in it (there is one on Wikipedia with a 500 Cadillac big block) as sort of an ultimate sleeper/death machine.
 
Toronado
Actually a pretty good suggestion. I would stay away from the Vega entirely though. They had bad rust problems, and if you end up being unlucky enough to find one with an original engine you are asking for trouble. The Monza was a better car across the board.

If you are feeling particularly gutsy, you could get a Chevette and put the largest engine you can find in it (there is one on Wikipedia with a 500 Cadillac big block) as sort of an ultimate sleeper/death machine.
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Chevette? Just no. At most a small-block. Or a decent 3.8.

The Vegas had rot problems and engine problems. The Monza is the same car underneath.

However... In 1976, GM was smart enough to switch to steel liners in the bores, negating most of the problems with the earlier 2300 SOHC.

EDIT: (@ Gibson) Let's see... Stay out of the throttle, and DON'T JUST DROP THE ENGINE AND TRANS IN! It WILL need some suspension work, the rear fenders at minimum will need to be radiused out, you may need a minitub. It'll need 275-series radials or so out back.
 
Pfft.. I'd ignore RJ for GM/FoMoCo biasedness and stay away from Chevy or Ford.. Pontiac Firebird or formula or TA could possibly be good options though.. and if a classic is within your dreams, how about AMC Gremlin? first hatchback ever with a V8-option.. :D
 
Leonidae
Pfft.. I'd ignore RJ for GM/FoMoCo biasedness and stay away from Chevy or Ford.. Pontiac Firebird or formula or TA could possibly be good options though.. and if a classic is within your dreams, how about AMC Gremlin? first hatchback ever with a V8-option.. :D
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Forgot about his bias there too. He loves Gremmies for reasons unknown.

They're uglier than Pinto runabouts and that's hard to do.

Leo, funny you should mention "stay away from Chevy or Ford" and then go on to recommend a Firechicken or TA. That, and those cars are horrible. 3rd gen F-bodies have more chassis flex than anyone would wish on their worst enemies, especially in T-top form, and 4th gens aren't much better of cars either.
 
Rotary Junkie
You want chicks, don't buy an F-word. Or a Camaro.

Get something that doesn't make you look like white trash.
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Well that excludes all Japanese cars, especially with an exhaust. In fact, that excludes any sports car at all, until you reach supercar level. Not many chicks I know dig blokes with sports cars.
 
Women don't care about cars... Well, at least not the type of women you'd want to wind up having to live with.

Because when a woman cares about what you drive, what you drive probably implies you have money. And that's a 1-night-stand and nothing else, thanks.
 
If you want chicks to like your car get something they think is cute. Honestly every girl that finds out what I drive wants to go for a ride in it and tell me how much they want one. That right there is an awesome icebreaker for chicks. Sure they aren't going to date you because of what you own but it's a good way to get talking to them and prove you are more then just a car.

You really don't have much to worry about then until/if you get a Ferrari or Lambo or some other exotic. Then as RJ said, it just shows you have money and that's all the chick is going to date you for anyways.
 
Rotary Junkie
Women don't care about cars... Well, at least not the type of women you'd want to wind up having to live with.

Because when a woman cares about what you drive, what you drive probably implies you have money. And that's a 1-night-stand and nothing else, thanks.
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What and thats not good sometimes in High school? Personaly I would go for something newer than what they are mentioning so I could have less problems with it later.
 
RE: Cheap, American, RWD

Chevrolet Nova

You can get a late-model second gen for less than $5000 most days, and that often comes with a 350ci V8 and a Turbo400. Granted its not a stick, but that can be changed easily with a bit of elbow grease... Plus, c'mon, you know you want Stuntman Mike's Nova...

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BUT!

Third generation Novas are even cheaper, and can be found with a stick as well. There were SS models to be had with the 350, however, the Rally models would likely be cheaper given the lack of the ess-ess badge. Most of the parts in there were carryover pieces from the Camaro/Firebird, so you can get a halfway decent idea of what you can do with it.

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The only other cheap American alternative would be the late-model Ford Tunderbird. The problem is, as Tornado and many of us have spoken of before, its just as easy to get your hands on a Mustang as well. But, I'm a big fan of the eleventh-generation "Bubble Birds," particularly the Turbo Coupe with the five-speed. They're hard to find in good shape, and really, it probably wouldn't be a good idea to have such a fast car at a young age...
 
^:lol: good one. But, Gremlins shouldn't be neglected.. as far as I know, they were first hatches ever to accommodate V8 of any sort. They weren't fast, but the sound was as juicy as the rest of that era's V8's.

but, on more serious tone.. are you sure that you want a sporty car as your first one? I'd strongly recommend getting a cheap beater for few first years, which would mean and small bumps, dents and dings and scrapes wouldn't mean that much.
 
Joey D
If you want chicks to like your car get something they think is cute. Honestly every girl that finds out what I drive wants to go for a ride in it and tell me how much they want one. That right there is an awesome icebreaker for chicks. Sure they aren't going to date you because of what you own but it's a good way to get talking to them and prove you are more then just a car
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True. My gf likes anything like the Mini, Beetle (both new and old), and virtually any classic car I show her.

If you're buying a car you think is cool, the only conversation you'll be striking up is with other men...
 
You might want to watch out for the drift tax... you know RWD cars that are worth about $1500-2500 selling for double. Prime example is what you will see with alot of 240sx's. Anything without rust or abuse commands $5k or above here.

You can always get an auto model for cheap and swap in a 5spd tranny its a common swap.

I'd recommend going for a 91 and up because thats when they came with a KA24DE dual cam opposed to the KA24E single cam. Personally I find the 92-94' "chuki" look to be the sexiest. 89-91' is known as the pignose.
 
Which, after swapping the engine in the 240SX to something relevant and buying one in the first place, would probably come out about even.
 
Yeah, you could swap in a SR or RB and the price would be that of just buying a JDM 180sx or Skyline. But I've always despised right-hand drive. Its absolutely insane taking left-turns in those cars. It's dangerous taking a left turn in a LHD car in the first place. most of my friends who own RHD cars end up waiting for the light to turn to yellow or red before taking their left turns... and I believe insurance rates on RHD cars are higher because of that very reason. But don't quote me on the last one.

RHD is to dangerous although the cars are very attractive. You can pick up a 1993 Toyota Supra TT with under 90k for $15-25k CAD. 👍
 
I'm gonna move to Canada just to buy a GTR. Or, I would, if I wasn't set to get out of college around the time R32s start being street legal in America.
 

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