Unusual RWD sporty cars

I'm shopping for my next daily driver on a $8,000 budget. It needs to be fairly dependable, but I want something fun. It also needs lots of leg room - I seem to have trouble fitting in Miatas for any length of time, so I'd like something a bit bigger. I was thinking a good starting point for a list of what I'd like to find would be something relatively sporty, rear wheel drive, with a manual transmission. Unfortunately this seems to rule out quite a lot!

Some pretty obvious choices come to mind - E36 BMWs, Mustangs, and GM F-bodies all seem like they could meet the requirements well enough. $8,000 could also buy a really nice C4 Corvette, or a low mileage 5 speed Lexus SC300 if I could find one.

But there were a couple more unusual options that I've noticed, too. Cadillac CTSs occasionally pop up in that price range with a manual transmission. Same goes for the V6 Jaguar S-Type and its Lincoln LS counterpart. Any of these worth considering? If so, what should I look out for?

How about an IS300? Similar to a Supra and seem to be pretty roomy.

Saturn Sky/Pontiac Solstice?

S2000?

My vote goes for the Caddy.

300ZX non-turbo

Is the S-type RWD? I thought they were glorifed Ford Mondeo's (Contours to us).

I'd stick with your first three. Having owned an F-body and an E46 I can pretty much tell you the E36 would be by far the most well balanced and refined. Anything and everything is availble in the aftermarket, especally suspension goodies. Not particuarly powerful (even the E36 M3) but nice motors none the less.

The F-body is the opposite. The fastest straightline wise but loud, unrefined, and hardest to see out of. But the engine/drivetrain makes up for alot of that. LS1's are sweeet. Can be fast around a track mostly because of the massive power and tires they can handle.

Never spent much time in a Mustang but my impression is they are a slower, more comfortable pony car. The suspension on the pre-05 models is positively pre-historic but they can be made to work with alot of parts and money.

In reply to Soma007:

the X-type is the AWD mondeo

You can pick up a nice 1993 Cobra. Sure, it's just an extra 10 hp, but those cars are usually unmolested and are well taken care of. I had a 1992 GT. It was fast.

Do not consider a Jaguar. They are garbage, at least the Ford based ones I've been cursed to have to deal with. The X type in particular is a giant pile of buffalo excrement.

Are GTOs that cheap yet? I really liked them. Yeah, they are heavy, but I really didn't care.

Crossfires are rwd, but I've never read a flattering review of one.

For your budget, you may consider awd cars as well. WRX's are selling for that, along with hopelessly unreliable Audi products of many flavors.

ddavidv wrote: Do not consider a Jaguar. They are garbage, at least the Ford based ones I've been cursed to have to deal with. The X type in particular is a giant pile of buffalo excrement.

Are you saying that it was a good thing that i didn't an X-Type a few months ago?

Shame that it had the nicest interior I had ever been in.

I love the F-body. I had a RX-7 and my buddy fit he was 6'7". He drove a nice older T-bird you should be able to get one plenty cheap. as long as I am talking about older cars volvo made some sporty RWD car that were nice. just my 2 cents.

Hmmm... $8K can get you a cherry Turbo II FC RX-7. Or a very nice LT1 C4 Vette. LS1 F-bodies are in that range (look for a WS6 Trans Am or Formula for factory suspension goodies). The LS is a great car, especially in ultra rare V6/5-Speed form, but they are orphans. You might find an 04 GTO at the price (which in my suggestion for ultimate win).

I would go for the WS6TA those car are just bad ass. But then again you said unusual car, SS impalla??

Unusual, RWD and manual:
Dodge Stealth - actually AWD.

Thanks for the responses! I wasn't specifically planning for an unusual car, just wanted to be sure there weren't any unusual ones I had overlooked. It sounds like my list of "the usual" is a pretty good starting point.

In response to the comments so far:

IS3000 - I wouldn't mind having one of those either; I've heard that some routine maintenance is easier on the SC300 though.

S2000 - Maybe, but one in good shape may be harder to find in my price range than an unmolested 5 speed SC300.

I wouldn't mind getting my hands on a Kappa platform car, but they're even more expensive than the S2K.

Wasn't even thinking of an X-type; the S is one of the traditional Jags. And, like this one, many of them have hit grassroots pricing now. Only I don't hear much about them. One back to back review of an S type and a Lincoln LS had a rather interesting comment about how obvious it was that the Jaguar was using Ford switchgear. Having dealt with classic English switchgear, I have to wonder if that was intentional.

I hadn't realized you could get an MN12 Thunderbird with a stick shift. Did a bit of checking and apparently you can, at least in the Super Coupe. Interesting.

Stealth / 3000 GT - They're definitely roomy. Most of the ones I see have been pretty badly maintained, but if a clean one pops up, I may have to take a look.

Get an AE86 hatchback. I know it's pretty popular on the internet, but in real life they are pretty rare on the streets. And $8k will get a pretty awesome AE86. Not that fast, but for $8K you will get a spunky and sporty car.

blaze86vic wrote: Get an AE86 hatchback. I know it's pretty popular on the internet, but in real life they are pretty rare on the streets. And $8k will get a pretty awesome AE86. Not that fast, but for $8K you will get a spunky and sporty car.

yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes

I've driven the AE86 and it honestly feels like a 1st Gen RX-7 with an anemic 4-cylinder. You're better off in the much cheaper and IMO much better looking RX-7.

I'd stay away from the Super Coupe. It's ~4,000 Lbs and the 5-Speeds are getting really hard to find. You could also get the S/C3.8/5Spd combo in the same year Cougar XR-7's for maximum weirdness though. I've just never been a fan of the MN12.

Another thing to think about is doing a manual swap on an auto-only car. I hear it's pretty easy to drop one into a Lincoln Mark VIII for example, and those are basically Cobra motors (4.6L DOHC). Look cool too. I'm pretty sure it's basically an MN12 underneath though.

Maybe you can find a P-Car in that range. Late 944 (S, S2, etc), maybe a 928 or 968. Even a really early Boxter?

How about the 300ZX? A clean Twin Turbo should be had for $8K.

P71? (Actually a Marauder could probably be found)

P71 wrote: I've driven the AE86 and it honestly feels like a 1st Gen RX-7 with an anemic 4-cylinder. You're better off in the much cheaper and IMO much better looking RX-7.

Did you drive a 4AGE powered car? I like the '86 and the '7, but would rate them about equal, performance-wise.

I'd stay away from the LS and S-type. The engine is not re-buildable. From my time with Roush I remember that you can get some gaskets and all, but if you ever need to replace internal engine components, it's new motor time. They may not seem like a big deal at first, but I don't want any part of a car where the engineers (not the most brilliant group usually) were told "oh, just design this engine for about 100K."

not for 8k, but Lincoln LS+RB26DETT...

yes please

MR2.

P71 wrote: I've driven the AE86 and it honestly feels like a 1st Gen RX-7 with an anemic 4-cylinder. You're better off in the much cheaper and IMO much better looking RX-7.

Of course you could always drop in the later silvertop or blacktop engines (provided you can get them in the US as an import engine from Japan). They add a useful 20-40bhp...

Merkur XR4Ti 200sx turbo (with a different motor or a bigger turbo) Starion/Conquest

Those are what come to my mind. My idea is that for $4k you could pick up any of these examples, and then for another $4k you could probably PAY somebody to make them awesome (swap the tranny in the Merkur, more power in the 200SX, fix all of the broken E36 M3 on the Mitsu).

Mercedes 190 2.3-16v.

Cosworth engine, german dtm race car roots. Slowly turning into a collectible, you won't lose money on it when you resell it...

Z3?

http://jacksonville.craigslist.org/cto/1333895920.html