Well, grassroots/budget dream car that is.
It's not 100% official but chances are I will be moving to Norway in the next couple months for work (by choice). Would probably be for 1-2 years so a good amount of time to have a fun car for a while that I couldn't get here in the states. Financial situation is not resolved but lets assume funds are limited, so hoping to stay around 5-10k USD? Not too familiar with the market yet, but it looks like i could get something along the lines of a good condition 2000 subaru for that much so not too dissimilar from here. I would want something old/classic anyway - but hopefully with some reasonable expectation of reliability.
I will be in Oslo so could essentially get around without a car so it wouldn't be a necessity, but if i can think of something cheap and cool it'd be worth doing to me, and I could potentially sell my car(s) here to make it happen if I can come up with a really good idea. So help me think of something I could pick up that would be fun that I couldn't get here in the US...
My ideas so far:
- GC (pre-2002) WRX
- MkI or II Ford Escort
- Audi Quattro
- MkI Mini
- Mitsubishi EVO 5/6
- Peugeot 205 GTi (man they're ugly)
- Any fun nissans? I dont think S15 or skylines made it out of japan
- E30 is kind of a fallback, obv can get in US but I've always wanted one. Or even E36.
Anybody more familiar with Fiat, Peugeot, Lancia, Alfa, Citroen, etc want to throw some ideas out?
Taxes, gas guzzler etc, is a whole nother issue I have yet to figure out but for now lets not spoil the fun with such practicality.
NEW IDEAS / SUGGESTIONS:
- peugeot 206
- ford escort cosworth
- mercedes 190E
- volvo 240 turbo / gt
- lada niva
- alfa
For old urban vehicles with lots of character: Fiat 126 (or 126p for sure), Lada 1200, trabant 601, the Skoda 100, I say get something small, trust me you don't want a big car in Europe 
I wouldn't ever try to take any of the above on a highway. They wont make it past 100kph or so without a fuss.
For newer urban vehicles: Seat Ibiza (basically a spanish golf), VW polo, Fiat Panda... lots of options. You'll find these small euro-boxes are awesome urban vehicles (especially the Panda) and get AWESOME gas milage, but kind of peter out at about 130kph (well, except the Seat. I've had the Seat up to 200kph.). I think the Fiat Bravo fits in this category and does just fine on the highways.
For an outer urban vehicle I'd go with a wagon (kombi). Audi A4, BMW 3-series, etc. We had an A4 TDI that got darn near 50mpg. Loved it. Lots of fine german autos out there, at very nice prices.
As for the Alfas, and the french cars I'm kind of biased. The french tend to be high on tech, "quirky", and not always reliable. The new Alfas tend to be larger Fiats. Not saying they aren't out there, but they didn't have my attention 
Congrats on the gig man. And welcome to car heaven (try not to spend all your money at once)
I'd kill to have a Renault Avantime, but I'm weird like that.
Have you found the Norwegian equivalent of Auto trader yet?
A Wagon is a must. i30 CRDi from Hyundai is pretty high on my list.
Basically our Elantra Touring but the right size with real struts and springs.
Late 90s edm accord type r.
Man I sell or broker a lot of classic American iron that way. Get a decent 289 67 mustang or so and bring it with you and you could make some good cash.
If your there you have to buy this for me.
Or get a Figaro
http://www.righthanddrive.ca/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/800px-Nissan_FigaRo.jpg]img]
Lada niva, early evo, or any one of the rwd volvos.
I'm so glad I'm not the only one who desperately wants an Avantime.
This right here. I might bring back two, the blue they came in is gorgeous too. I know you said they were ugly, I disagree. Strongly. Something about those wheels...
Or a Focus RS seems to be in your budget. I don't know about availability outside of England, though.
You will want to get something small on the engine front. 5-10K will not get you much after tax. You will have a budget around 50K krone to play with and leave you room to register the car and pay all of the taxes.
http://www.ooyyo.com/norway/used-cars-for-sale/c=CDA31D7114D3854F111B926FB6142253CCA20A7037D3/
With that said....Alfa but I'm just crazy like that. Any Alfa.
Get something that will be 25 when you come back so you can import it free and clear and make some money. By not quite being 25 yet, the price will be a lot lower right now as the importation guys won't be driving the price up yet. Something 1992-1994 timeframe, that wasn't available in the US, so think Lancia Delta, early EVO, Familia GTR, etc.
NGTD
UltraDork
1/15/16 7:10 p.m.
Please get a MkII Escort!
I used to see Carlos Sainz Celicas on the Hungarian classifieds just slightly above your price range all the time
Where in Norway?
Get one of these, they are everywhere:
Diesel, manual...Dodge Caravan
Also, bring some aux lights with you ... the bigger the better:
Lower your budget and get a folkcross car
I'd look for a mk3 Capri or some flavor of the Lada 1200 sedan or wagon.
Citroen C6 - if you move somewhere with some space
