Future Project Cars

Now, my house has a large detached garage, room enough for 4 more cars, than the two my wife and I drive.  I want a project car.  Now the question is what kind of car I should get.

Now, let’s put a few restrictions on my search.  Nothing more than $10k, because I will need a budget for upgrades.  Preferably pre-2000, to make the engine easier to work on (though this is not a hard limit).  And something that can take a turn.  That one is important, and pretty much kills the chance of traditional muscle as a possible project car.  I don’t really want anything older than 1980, just because I don’t care for classics myself and those tend to be at a higher price for so-so condition cars.  Lastly, I would prefer a manual transmission.

You will notice that I have a lean for the domestic.  Even then, some European cars are more than okay, but I am going to avoid the Japanese imports.  Yes, even the Miata.

My hope is to have a summer car that would be fun to drive, not too expensive, and maybe something I could go out and autocross with every once and a while.  Let’s look at the contenders:

Chevy C4 Corvette: This is probably going to be my #1 choice, but most of the time my #1 choice ends up not happening, such as when I was going to buy a 2012 mustang V6 and ended up buying a 2012 focus .  This car has a lot of what I want.  V8 Engine, the ability to take a corner, 4 wheel independent suspension, 4 wheel disc brakes, and the availability of T-tops.  To top that all off, you can find many of them in the price range I am looking at for less than 10k with less than 100k miles, though those are mostly automatics.  Issues:  Manuals are hard to find.  The people who actually care about cars bought manuals and they kept them, making manual transmission C4s just plain hard to find.  Another issue is the Corvette tax.  Parts made for corvettes are just more expensive.  I haven’t done much research on this, but from what I hear, it can be substantial.  Luckily, the engine parts are usually compatible with the Camaros and Firebirds of the same time period.  This car has pros for its strong history and great stock features, but it may be an arm and a leg to turn into a nice project car.

Chrysler Crossfire:  This little roadster is a favorite of my wife, and not a bad little car either.  Surprisingly, even Jeremy Clarkston of Top Gear liked this car for being a great deal on a pretty good sports coupe.  It has a 3.2L engine that makes 215HP, which is comparable to the corvettes I am looking at.  Advantages come with the availability of good looking convertible.  0-60 times are pretty good (see Wikipedia article I linked above) and the price is right.  Problems come in the fact that it is a pocket Mercedes and that it is a newer car, making it harder to work on.  Electronics and plastics really make a project car more difficult.  This car can take a turn too.  Pulls 1G on the skidpad stock, and with some summer rubber, I bet it will do another .05 beyond that.  This will be a good choice, especially if I can find a manual.

Really, these were the only two cars that have been on my mind.  My elder brother likes looking at Porches from the 80s and early 90s, which would be good choices also.  I really don’t care for a small, forced induction engines, so I am not really looking at the turbo 4-bangers of the 2000s.  2 exceptions to that would be an Eagle Talon turbo and a Dodge Spirit R/T, though the latter is almost non-existent.  

Lastly, and I know this breaks my no Japanese cars rule, but a Dodge Stealth R/T would also be a really cool car.  It had a twin turbo engine making almost 300HP and 300 Lbf of torque.  It would be an interested car indeed.  Also, very hard to find.

I still have quite a while before I have to decide which car I am going to get.  Have to wait til my wife’s school is done and wait for some cash to build up, but til that time comes, I will have to just wait and wish.