Rare/classic/fast headturning cars around the $5K mark?

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CHALLENGER1ON1
I might plan to buy a car in the future, and I am NOT settling for my mother's car. :lol:

I have $5,000 and not a lot of options. any suggestions on a rare car, or at least something that is very uncommon in the US? I am not a HP hungry teenager, so any honda civic is out of the question. I am not looking for generic brand of cars (toyota camry to name a few :eek:), but something out of the ordinary.

any suggestions?
 
1. Any uncommon car will be harder to get parts for and service.
2. If you don't want power then get a Civic, they have no power. :lol:
3. An older diesel VW isn't too common, and you get over 50mpg. : D
 
- Nissan 200sx Turbo. If its not a hatchback or turbo dont get it. Its a uncommon car (in my opinion) and its really fun.

- Toyota Mr2 1st Generation. There are just fun as hell to drive.

These cars run cheap though because they're are old so you may not like them because they may require maintenance if you find one.
 
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5k is plenty to buy you a nice thirdgen camaro or firebird. The irocs and gta's are rare enough to get plenty of looks and attention but not too rare that parts dont exist. I might just be a little biased because people ask me about mine all the time. :p
 
masterrawad
I might plan to buy a car in the future, and I am NOT settling for my mother's car. :lol:

I have $5,000 and not a lot of options. any suggestions on a rare car, or at least something that is very uncommon in the US? I am not a HP hungry teenager, so any honda civic is out of the question. I am not looking for generic brand of cars (toyota camry to name a few :eek:), but something out of the ordinary.

any suggestions?
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Don't.
If this is a first car, you would be best off getting the cheapest to maintain car you can find. Now if this isn't going to be a daily driver and is only a weekend fun day car. Never mind my post.

5K will put you in the "well used" category, so the car will sooner or later need to be fixed. So, a rare car will be a nightmare to find parts for. Anything too "european" will be the same.

Fast = higher insurance = more cost.

classic = will break often = better be good with tools or have the money to pay someone.
 
Alfa Milano, great car for that money, although you will run into the same difficult to find parts problem.

I would go with a Nissan 240sx S14. You can get a pretty good one for that money, its fun, pretty quick, pretty good looking, and super easy to mod. And it's uncommon enough that you don't really look like a ricer.
 
masterrawad
That car... reminds me of so many other ones. I think I found the car I want...

With a zippy V6, this shouldn't disappoint.
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The one he posted is the G60. It had a supercharged 4cyl actually.
I've owned on for years and I much prefer it to the VR6 less nose-heavy and with a few mods I have it pushing out more power than the 6cyl.

I also own a 99 Pontiac grand prix GTP, cost me 4200$ and with just a few mods I'm easily putting out just over 300hp. yeah its wrong wheel drive and only comes in autobox but its quick for cheap.

If you want to turn heads though, make sure you get the two door and avoid bland colors like green and brown etc... Go for red like I did :P

IMG_3342p.jpg
 
I'd normally suggest awesome cheap rare japanese cars like the Toyota Sera, but you guys in the US seem to miss out on japanese imports. How about a Nissan 300zx?
 
At 5k, you're either getting the 300ZX nobody wants, or a twin turbo in pretty sad condition.

It's doable, though.
 
Yeah, true. I just had a squiz through a US car buying/selling site, and the results weren't as good as I was expecting. Ones like this don't seem too bad though. Avoiding the Twin turbo would be a good choice.
 
On the subject of rare parts... since I can find 95% of the parts I would ever need for my 1 of 800 made Isuzu Impulse RS with no trouble, you should be able to find just about anything for any other car. It's not about how rare the parts are, it's about how resourceful you are in finding them. Well, and if you can afford them when they pop up.
 
Bottoz
I smile when I see clean 944s on the street.

5K is doable.

porsche-944-s2.jpg
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This is what I first thought of when I read the thread's title.

I'm actually thinking about buying a 944 myself in the next year. :sly:
 
slowman
On the subject of rare parts... since I can find 95% of the parts I would ever need for my 1 of 800 made Isuzu Impulse RS with no trouble, you should be able to find just about anything for any other car. It's not about how rare the parts are, it's about how resourceful you are in finding them. Well, and if you can afford them when they pop up.
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That's not entirely true. Some parts are just difficult/impossible to find. Some parts aren't shared with other cars (the Impulse shares its parts with several Isuzus, Geos and others). Some parts are just plain expensive - as you mention - so even if you can find them some people just can't afford them.

Being able to find parts for one rare car doesn't mean that it's equally easy to find them for another...
 
I feel like you really have two options here...

800px-1974_MGB_roadster_gunmetal.jpg

The MGB Roadster is pretty common around here, and despite being somewhat unreliable (ha ha), parts are readily available. It'll teach you a lot about keeping a car running.

800px-Alfa_spider_3rd_frankfurt_vorn.jpg

Same goes with the Alfa Romeo Spider. They made them literally forever, parts are normally readily available, but expect to pay a premium for everything.

Or, for some other goodies...

99whiteglx_passfrt.jpg

The GLX VR6 was as fast as the BMW 325i of the time. Handled just as well. Was quite a bit cheaper.

Toyota_Previa.jpg

Supercharged V6. Mid-engine. All-wheel-drive. Done and done.
 
Fox body Stangs, (LX are cooler though)
I know it's a common car, but an unmolested one is a rare find.

images


Good luck finding a stock one though.

If we remove power out of the equation, I suggest you that. 1980's Cadillac Fleetwood (Avoid those with the 4.1L V8) Heads will turn everywhere you go.

images
 
You want a rare car that turns heads? Nothing turns heads quite like a bright green Dodge Neon. :lol:

Seriously though Carrado wouldn't be a bad options, neither would a Scirocco. Another unusual late 80's/early 90's car would be the Pontiac Sunbird GT, it even had a turbo too.
 
How about an Eagle Talon? I checked AutoTrader and they can be had for less than $5000, and while not super-rare they're probably not going to be overly-common either. I imagine that parts and reliability won't be any better or worse than average, and it'd be fun to drive.

My $0.02
 
Worst_Driver
If we remove power out of the equation, I suggest you that. 1980's Cadillac Fleetwood (Avoid those with the 4.1L V8) Heads will turn everywhere you go.

images
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My best friend had 1987 5.0 one of these in high school. Slow, shook side to side going around corners, subs in the trunk, and it burned 3 gallons of gas just turning on. :lol: Good times. Had straight pipes with glass packs too, it was pretty loud.

After some poking around I found a video he made showing off its subwoofers. :lol:

EDIT - Never mind, the video has muffled swearing.
 
homeforsummer
That's not entirely true. Some parts are just difficult/impossible to find. Some parts aren't shared with other cars (the Impulse shares its parts with several Isuzus, Geos and others). Some parts are just plain expensive - as you mention - so even if you can find them some people just can't afford them.

Being able to find parts for one rare car doesn't mean that it's equally easy to find them for another...
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Most of the parts for my car can be gotten from a Geo Storm (Isuzu Impulse Nero). However, the driveshaft, transmission, differential, rear axles, and rear hubs are unique to the RS model and simply do not exist as replacement parts.

There are solutions for all these problems except for the rear hubs. I had CV Pros remanufacturer one of my axles for $261, same day service too. There are companies that can revulcanize rubber for non-existant parts like the driveshaft center bearings. When the time comes, I will be making new rubber suspension bushings from hockey pucks. Front sway bar end links from a C4 Audi A6 are a direct fit replacement. There is very little that I can go get at an auto parts store (front and rear rotors+pads, front axles, that may be it) but thanks to eBay, web forums and the internet in general, I can find just about anything or a replacement/solution for it in a reasonably short amount of time.

With many older/classic cars, there are aftermarket solutions available for just about everything. You could *probably* build a brand new '69 Camaro starting with nothing more than a donor frame, some auto parts/specialty company catalogs and a pile of cash. Same for '64/'65 Mustangs.

TL;DR - There are solutions available for nearly any problem you could run across owning an uncommon car.

To stay on topic and answer the OP's question, my personal choice for it's combination of potential performance, looks, aftermarket support, lack of FWD/automatic, and affordability would be a 1G DSM. In accordance with my automotive tastes, it would be an odd/lesser known one like a Plymouth Laser RS Turbo or Eagle Talon TSi.
 
When thinking of the Corrado, stay away from the G60 model. There is a reason they only used the G-loader for a short time.
 
How about an old Mini? Rare? That's debatable. For an old car, they're not rare, but in general, they're pretty uncommon. Classic? Sure. Head turning? But of course. Fun? Yep. Fast? It goes around corners fast. Economical? You bet. Reliable? Somewhat. Safe? Don't crash.

Other than that, save a Datsun 240Z, I can't think of any other car that really fit the rare/classic/fast/headturning requirements.
 

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