Game: Best 'fun cars' under $5000?

[groundshock]

Let's play a game. Here's the deal. You're given 5K to spend on a second 'fun car'.

Give me up to 3 choices, with pictures, and a reason why you chose it/them.

This should be neat. Go!

 

[Bub]

I paid well under $5,000 for my 1994 GT 5.0, please all the modifications I'm still under $5,000 and it's a damn good and fun car to drive around. Hell, my trailblazer rarely gets driven during the summer.

 

[Short Bus]

Fiero + a 3800 Supercharged engine

Why? That's easy

[video=youtube;CBFhcdPaKHw]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBFhcdPaKHw[/video]

 

[oh05ext]

i have a coworker that has a beater fiero that i keep trying to talk him out of and he wont cut it loose

 

[NewfieEnvoy]

Quick search of Ebay turned up a project I would throw 5 grand into. Why? To go fast and destroy rear tires

[EBAY]151008496417[/EBAY]

 

[groundshock]

I paid well under $5,000 for my 1994 GT 5.0, please all the modifications I'm still under $5,000 and it's a damn good and fun car to drive around. Hell, my trailblazer rarely gets driven during the summer.

I had a Chrome Yellow 94 GT convertible for many years. Miss that car more than anything.

 

[HARDTRAILZ]

4th Gen Trans Am

300+ HP
6 Speed Manual
T-Tops
25-28 MPG

Had a few F-bodies and love these cars. I ran 600+ miles per week in one for a couple years. If not for the lack of room in the back and a little one, I would be driving one for a commuter car again. Love the looks, the power, the handling. Definitely would be my 5K fun car.

 

[jimmyjam]

Quick search of Ebay turned up a project I would throw 5 grand into. Why? To go fast and destroy rear tires

i'd rather do a 2000+... LT1s are worthless. doesn't matter how many miles are on it, an opti that old is bound to fail
2000 camaro z28 t top loaded

 

[HARDTRAILZ]

K5 Blazer

Like this to start
1988 Lifted K5 Blazer FS/FT

Get something like this with the remaining money.

Top comes off. 4x4. V8 power. Great size. Cheap to drive and build. Tons of fun.

I have messed around with these trucks many times. I have a built 91 Burban that could donate some HD parts and have a serious traig rig for pretty cheap. This is a toy that really could happen sooner than later.

 

[groundshock]

i'd rather do a 2000+... LT1s are worthless. doesn't matter how many miles are on it, an opti that old is bound to fail
2000 camaro z28 t top loaded

No offense, but it's pretty closed-minded to rule out an extremely good car because of one little part. LT1's on the whole are slightly cheaper to build, better looking, and have more 'soul' if you ask me.

LS leghumping is soooo 2006.

Edit: And for the price you pay for a LS car you can get a LT car AND 2500 bucks worth of mods. I've yet to see any LS car under 5-6K that wasn't clapped out as hell and not worth messing with. There's plenty of clean LT cars, even 6-speeds, for under 3K.

 

[groundshock]

4th Gen Trans Am

....
pics
....


300+ HP
6 Speed Manual
T-Tops
25-28 MPG

Had a few F-bodies and love these cars. I ran 600+ miles per week in one for a couple years. If not for the lack of room in the back and a little one, I would be driving one for a commuter car again. Love the looks, the power, the handling. Definitely would be my 5K fun car.

Bruce Wayne would approve.

 

[Me007gold]

4th Gen Trans Am

300+ HP
6 Speed Manual
T-Tops
25-28 MPG

Had a few F-bodies and love these cars. I ran 600+ miles per week in one for a couple years. If not for the lack of room in the back and a little one, I would be driving one for a commuter car again. Love the looks, the power, the handling. Definitely would be my 5K fun car.

Great cars, but very tough to find for 5K

I know this is :gay: but give me an NA Miata with a turbo and a hard top

View attachment 26776

 

[jimmyjam]

No offense, but it's pretty closed-minded to rule out an extremely good car because of one little part. LT1's on the whole are slightly cheaper to build, better looking, and have more 'soul' if you ask me.
LS leghumping is soooo 2006.
Edit: And for the price you pay for a LS car you can get a LT car AND 2500 bucks worth of mods. I've yet to see any LS car under 5-6K that wasn't clapped out as hell and not worth messing with. There's plenty of clean LT cars, even 6-speeds, for under 3K.

it'll cost you $2500 to get an LT1 to put out stock LS1 power (h&c swap). and you're still stuck diagnosing spark problems down the road... (what year is this) (i lurk on the impala ss forums...)
i bought a 96 impala last year and spent a few months tossing and turning trying to figure out if i should do a 24x conversion and heads or just bite the bullet and do an ls swap... choice was pretty clear for me when i added it all up but maybe you'd come to a different conclusion. i wouldn't say i'm close minded, i've thought on it quite a bit (<-read that as carl from slingblade)

although i'll concede that the old sbc firing order makes for a better sounding idle...

as far as leg humping, yes, the ls1 heads and electronics are far and away superior to its predecessor and worth humping

 

[HARDTRAILZ]

Great cars, but very tough to find for 5K

Around here it is easy to find one for that or less. I barely paid over 5k far clean low mileage ones years ago.

 

[groundshock]

Great cars, but very tough to find for 5K

I know this is :gay: but give me an NA Miata with a turbo and a hard top

View attachment 12860

Not gay at all. Miata is as close as you'll get to a 'true' sports-car driving experience with anything made in the last 25-30 years.

 

[groundshock]

it'll cost you $2500 to get an LT1 to put out stock LS1 power (h&c swap). and you're still stuck diagnosing spark problems down the road... (what year is this) (i lurk on the impala ss forums...)
i bought a 96 impala last year and spent a few months tossing and turning trying to figure out if i should do a 24x conversion and heads or just bite the bullet and do an ls swap... choice was pretty clear for me when i added it all up but maybe you'd come to a different conclusion. i wouldn't say i'm close minded, i've thought on it quite a bit (<-read that as carl from slingblade)

although i'll concede that the old sbc firing order makes for a better sounding idle...

as far as leg humping, yes, the ls1 heads and electronics are far and away superior to its predecessor and worth humping

Didn't mean to come across as a jerk, I'm just an aggressive defender of LT cars. I get a little tired of reading how the answer to any car question seems to be 'LS Engine'.

The LT1 cars were rated at 285 hp, and the LS F cars were 305 IIRC. I didn't have much trouble with LS cars back in the day with either of my lightly modded LT Z28s. Also, I didn't find that the LT cars were much less responsive to mods than the LS cars, and if you're going 96/97 vs. 98-02 they were both OBDII cars so the electronics portion would've been basically a draw. The 24x conversion is awfully expensive, but worth every dime. I'm sure if one was frugal, you could find used parts and get it done cheaper.

Depends on what you like I guess. I always enjoyed the raw, old school feel of the LT car. Plus the 98-02 Camaro front end just sucks compared to the LT, IMO. Guess I'm a LT guy.

 

[groundshock]

Around here it is easy to find one for that or less. I barely paid over 5k far clean low mileage ones years ago.

Clean ones that aren't hacked to shit are demanding a higher pricepoint than in years past. I can't find anything clean with less than 125K miles for under 7-8K.

 

[mikeinDE]

Great cars, but very tough to find for 5K

I know this is :gay: but give me an NA Miata with a turbo and a hard top

Correct me if I am wrong, but to me NA means "Naturally Aspirated", so isn't NA Miata with a turbo like an oxymoron? sorry just trying to figure that one out......

 

[Me007gold]

Correct me if I am wrong, but to me NA means "Naturally Aspirated", so isn't NA Miata with a turbo like an oxymoron? sorry just trying to figure that one out......

No your wrong. NA is the chassis code for the 1st gen miata. NB for 2nd. NC for 3rd

 

[mikeinDE]

No your wrong. NA is the chassis code for the 1st gen miata. NB for 2nd. NC for 3rd

ahhhh, now that makes sense thanks for providing my edumacation for the day

 

[ConeKilrAutoX]

View attachment 26785

International Harvester 1984 5-speed
3500 BUY IT NOW! in PA!

I can spend the rest of the money on mods (strictly performance)

oh oh features "tight turning radius"

 

[ConeKilrAutoX]

Great cars, but very tough to find for 5K

I know this is :gay: but give me an NA Miata with a turbo and a hard top

View attachment 12860

not gay at all! One of the BEST cars for autocross. my cousin had one turbod and got it all for 5500. ran 1/4 mile at 13.xx at over 115
loved that car. unbeatable by anything around here at auto cross. Had removable hardtop also. Then he sold it for a new Subaru STi .
View attachment 26786

 

[NewfieEnvoy]

I had to drive my friends Miata across town. I always gave him a hard time for owning a "woman's" sports car. 30mins later it's was one of the most fun cars I have ever driven! Sweetest shifting gearbox you can buy for the money.

 

[redleg6]

1994 240sx coupe (my previous car below)

(bought it for under $5k and started throwing money at it)

 

[groundshock]

1994 240sx coupe (my previous car below)

(bought it for under $5k and started throwing money at it)

I LOVE that car man. Always had a soft spot for the 240SX, in any configuration. I would kill for a Kouki S14 with a LS1 swap...

 

[redleg6]

thanks for the comment, just wish I didn't get rid of this car in between deployments...would love to build another again just as a weekend thing, hard to find these coupes in my area...toughest part of the build was the wiring harness swap, strangest part of the build was getting the wheels from Japan

 

[fletch09]

View attachment 12869

International Harvester 1984 5-speed
3500 BUY IT NOW! in PA!

I can spend the rest of the money on mods (strictly performance)

oh oh features "tight turning radius"

or gut the box and make it a hauler for the Voy. (keep the lettering of course)

 

[mnypitTBEXT]

Didn't mean to come across as a jerk, I'm just an aggressive defender of LT cars. I get a little tired of reading how the answer to any car question seems to be 'LS Engine'.

The LT1 cars were rated at 285 hp, and the LS F cars were 305 IIRC. I didn't have much trouble with LS cars back in the day with either of my lightly modded LT Z28s. Also, I didn't find that the LT cars were much less responsive to mods than the LS cars, and if you're going 96/97 vs. 98-02 they were both OBDII cars so the electronics portion would've been basically a draw. The 24x conversion is awfully expensive, but worth every dime. I'm sure if one was frugal, you could find used parts and get it done cheaper.

Depends on what you like I guess. I always enjoyed the raw, old school feel of the LT car. Plus the 98-02 Camaro front end just sucks compared to the LT, IMO. Guess I'm a LT guy.

Put both on a dyno. You will see the differance. I have had 2 LT1 Camaros, 1 LT1 Trans Am, 1 LT1 Corvette, 1 LT4 Corvette, and 2 LS1 Camaros. The LS1s are far cheaper to make big horsepower. LT1s were the standard of the day, but that damn Optijunk dizzy, and the reverse flow cooling system suck. I spent close to $5000 on my LT1 Trans Am and then the 98s came out. They were running the same times in the quarter as my LT1 with $5000 in cam, heads, exhaust, etc etc.

Incidently, not bashing the LT1. I am currently looking at getting a nice clean LT1 Corvette.

 

[mnypitTBEXT]

I can name a bunch. Here are my cheap fun cars, or a couple of them anyway. There isnt enough bandwidth here to put them all up.

My Camaro that I paid $2700 for and put another $3000 into and dynoed at 420RWHP

My 93 Corvette, Paid $3000 and sold a month later for $4000 after putting 2 optijunks, heads, and a front lower valence on it. It was junk.

Just got this for $4500. 01 Viggen. Its fun to drive, but its no speed demon by any means

Here is my 73 CJ5 with a monster 304 V8 in it. You could stomp on it and pull the front wheels 8" off the ground, utterly ridiculous, sold 2 years ago

My current off road vehicle

 

[Canary2323]

I got a lexus is300 as a second car, not too expensive. Fast, quality interiors, easily tuned and reliable.

 

[gmcman]

Tough choice, not really a Ford guy but I do like the 1998 Mustang Cobra. The SC Fiero would be a blast.

I just can never grow tired of seeing this car, always loved the 1990 GTA. Any color but black taking top honors.

 

[mnypitTBEXT]

Tough choice, not really a Ford guy but I do like the 1998 Mustang Cobra. The SC Fiero would be a blast.

I just can never grow tired of seeing this car, always loved the 1990 GTA. Any color but black taking top honors.

That looks like mine, but mine was an 88 and it was cayene red metallic.

 

[v7guy]

I've always enjoyed the firebirds, a 3rd gen with a cheapo 5.3 LS swap would be great. I've also had my 4th gen LT1 car for close to 15 years, it's been a blast. You can get the LT1 cars for cheap cheap cheap. I had a period of trouble with the opti myself but eventually got it worked out.
I've driven around in the NA Miatas and they are a blast too. But I tend to like something with a little more grunt.

 

[Short Bus]

I've driven around in the NA Miatas and they are a blast too. But I tend to like something with a little more grunt.

Here's a fix for that

Flyin' Miata : Engine conversions : V8 conversions

 

[TollKeeper]

Any Jeep product with the 4.0 in it. Take it to the hills, beat the shit out of it, and still drives home.

Caddi Allante'. Some can be found cheap, the v8's have enough grunt to make it fun, and its a rag top. They handle decent, and its not every day that you get to drive a car that cost 1 million dollars to make each car, sold for 60k (131k in todays money), and was built by Pininfarina.

 

[SnowBlazer]

Miata!!

Fast, Fun, and most importantly, functional!!

 

[HARDTRAILZ]

I should delete that lie above....


i spent a bit more than the $5000 for the new F-body but plenty available for under $5000 and they are a blast. First one I had that is a drop top and it is better than I expected for a DD/toy.

 

[littleblazer]

We picked up the voy for under 4... shocks sway bars and tires and it's fun. Factory tune in that burns my pcm of NC tuned trailblazer...

 

[Mooseman]

My 9-7x was $3000. Granted, it needed a few repairs and will need another one coming soon (valvetrain), the V8 is a blast and it has SS suspension components so it handles great. And it's different. Not too many around here so it's rather rare. Love screwing with people's minds when I tell them it's a TrailBlazer with Saab makeup, built in Ohio, not Sweden. Lots of weird looks on the road.

I never saw myself as a Saab owner but here I am.

 

[Capote]

1st Gen S10/Sonoma pickup
Why? Because Chevy 350 or LS swap sleeper

1997 GMC Yukon
Why? Because it was the first vehicle I ever owned. Felt like I was driving on clouds, had the most comfortable seats I've ever sat in, and it had a 5.7L V8
(mine looked exactly like this one, except mine had Wrangler Authority A/T's and flat black painted wheels)

2nd Generation Crown Victoria - Police Interceptor
Why? They're cheap, fun to work on, fun to drive