Well, after a Saturday full of test drives with my wife, I went out and bought the first car I took on a drive on Sunday. Had to go back and pick up my wife so both cars could come home.
A little bit of an oddity, considering all else I'd driven, but a 2000 Mercury Grand Marquis GS. Its pretty much stripped, but still has more than enough goodies. And that massive trunk will do well for parts hauling. I figure I have the Firebird challenge car for my "spirited" driving, it'll be nice to have a barge to cruise in, too.
Test dove:
2003 Celica GT - Very nice handling, came in second behind the Grand Marquis/Crown Vic choice.
2003 Mazda Protege5 - handled almost as well as the Celica, but the seats didn't hold you in as well.
2001 Mustang GT - loud, ill handling, horrid brakes, and not as powerful as I thought it should be. Still liked it a lot 
2003 S-10 Standard cab Xtreme - Good handling for a truck, and an awesome turning radius. The 4.3 definitely had sufficient power.
2004 Grand Marquis - Loved it. I had an 84 Crown Vic years ago, and this was an excellent evolution of the car. However, it and the S-10 were at a dealer I would like to avoid for the rest of my life after the jacked up price and high pressure tactics they tried to pull on me.
Went out Sunday planning on driving several panther platform cars. However, the first was quite acceptable, and after some hemming and hawing for about 20 minutes, they accepted my opening offer.
I will say to anyone else looking at CVs or GMs, check out the 2003-up models. I will say there was a noticeable improvement in power, handling, and ride in the newer one I drove. I just wasn't willing to pay the higher price.
