Pete Gossett said:Saab 99
where have you been keepin' your stash? .....had a '73 ..ran the dog E36M3 out of it.... would actually consider another one as a 'hey what the BERK was that?' while mildly(not) cruising the country lanes here in booger holler...oh and if any vehicle encouraged left foot braking this is it 
1st gen celicas are awesome cars. They drive like a 90s cars aside from no powersteering option.
A body mopars are neither sturdy or good handling. You guys are nuts.
I presume nobody has mentioned Chevelle/Cutlass etc because they are worth too much money. A 73 or 74 is not nearly as desirable, so probably could be found in the right dollar range. A 74 Cutlass S with a breathed on 455 swap would be very, very nice.
Or liftback. 
Wrong wheels for the record.
This sort of thing is my bag baby. Superman lunchbox.
I was pleasantly surprised with my 74 Maverick 302. They are about the same weight as a WRX, but torque and a brilliant engine for making even more oomph easy. The suspension is not well done from the factory, but many M2 parts bolt on.
Pretty much any GM will be a parts-bin swap with incredible aftermarket support. A-body would be a good go-to, but people pay big bucks for A-bodies. May I suggest the X-body in a less common configuration? Novas are everywhere, but not that many Omegas are around or (even better) the Tempest was on the X-body for a few years.
I was never much a fan of the unibody/subframe stuff, so most of the Mopar I never got into. Same goes for F-body.
Always wanted an RX-3. You could live that dream for me. There is a guy in LA who had a shop next door to me with a wicked RX3 with a really hot rotary.
I also always wanted to take a Spitfire and gut the driveline and replace it with something like a 2ZZ Toyota to attempt to improve its reliability.
I love my 74 Mazda REPU!!
Wow, this thread blew up since last night lol
To clarify my needs:
Is there a specific reason for 1974 being the cut-off year? If not, bump up a year and get an e21 BMW 320i. Not quite as cool or fun as a 2002, but still a solidly-built car that performs well and is fun to drive, and can be found in nice driving shape within that budget (whereas you're probably not finding a good 2002 in that range). EDIT: ok saw your update for the 1974 rationale. Or you could just wait 4 months and '75 becomes legal, I assume?
Fiat 124 or X1/9
Datsun 240z perhaps can find an ok one in that range?
I'm sure there are plenty of American cars in those years that are solidly put together and not too awful to drive (depending on what kind of driving you want to do).
EDIT: looking at your last post, I say try to find the best 240Z you can find in this price. If it's in the southeast you may be able to find one without rust issues.
It's not a rolling rule, it stays at '74 because California :(
I'll look at 240Zs. Main use is to be a daily driver for me while going to college, while being able to corner carve competently. I don't plan on tracking it
Dootz said:It's not a rolling rule, it stays at '74 because California :(
I'll look at 240Zs. Main use is to be a daily driver for me while going to college, while being able to corner carve competently. I don't plan on tracking it
Wow, that is amazingly stupid.
For a Z, you'll definitely have to find one that "needs some work" at that price point, as nicer 240Z's go for $10k+. I see them from time to time around here for under $5 in drivable condition, not sure what the market looks like out there.
Another thought since you are not in the rust belt is an early '70s Celica or Corolla. Again, tough to find in that price range but with enough looking and "needs work" it can probably be done.
Classic Beetle-slow (unless you Suby swap them)but so much fun, cheap to modify, easy to work on, going up in value and versatile. You can do almost anything with them, here's what I did with mine. It was just appraised for $15,000 but I only have a fraction of that into it.
I have a brother in Seattle so sometimes I check on them on CL. So many crazy deals! Way cheaper than my neck of the woods. You might want to add Portland to your search. So many fun cars up there for cheap. Keep us posted!
loosecannon, what's the best year for the Super Beetle? Seems like I should pick from 1970-1974.
I'm also looking into Toyotas now (keeping an eye on Super Beetles), and I came across these four cars;
How different are each of these to drive?
irish44j said:Dootz said:It's not a rolling rule, it stays at '74 because California :(
I'll look at 240Zs. Main use is to be a daily driver for me while going to college, while being able to corner carve competently. I don't plan on tracking itWow, that is amazingly stupid.
For a Z, you'll definitely have to find one that "needs some work" at that price point, as nicer 240Z's go for $10k+. I see them from time to time around here for under $5 in drivable condition, not sure what the market looks like out there.
Another thought since you are not in the rust belt is an early '70s Celica or Corolla. Again, tough to find in that price range but with enough looking and "needs work" it can probably be done.
Why is it stupid? California has a pretty significant air quality problem, and they need to do whatever they can to keep the air clean enough. And given the car culture that is still in California, it seems to have not squashed that effort. And it's not as if old cars don't do more than their share of polluting- given the current rules, one pre smog car (that still has PVC working BTW) is between 100-500 new cars. So old cars still have standards.
Which makes me ask more about the '74 cut off, as it appears that there are MANY cars that have been modified post '74, and are still legal. Not sure why one HAS to stay pre rules given what others have legally done.
Carbon said:1st gen celicas are awesome cars. They drive like a 90s cars aside from no powersteering option.
Man I've only ever found rust buckets in this price range
Absolutely cannot go wrong with a Volvo 122.
Four door cars top out around $5000US, which means you can buy a super nice, cherry driver for the top end of your budget. A somewhat ratty, but still enjoyable 2 door will slot into your budget, too, if you prefer the 2 door look. Note that the wheelbase and length are identical for the 2 and 4 doors. The roofline is even the same.
There's wagons, too, of course.
'64-'69 (last year for them in the US) cars are the "enthusiast's choice". dual carb 1.8 liter engine (some had later 2 liter engines swapped in- these are even better), 4 gears (overdrive is an option, though somewhat rare; figure about $1000 to add it to a standard 4 speed car), front disc brakes, 3 point seat belts. No power crap to go wrong, and the manual steering is fantastic for a box-type setup. Seats are buckets and comfy. I'm 5'10" and I fit in one with room to spare. Everything about them is easy to work on, easy to drive, and easy to upgrade later. They're rugged little cars that can rust and rust and still be solid as tanks. Volvo built hundreds of thousands of them so while parts might not be off-the-shelf in the U.S, they're still easily sourced. Even rust repair panels can be found for just about any part of the car.
Autocross them, rally them, daily drive them- just drive them.
I know everyone wants beetles and vans.. but I am a bigger fan of the less loved models of them all. The 411 and 412. I would love a nice 412 Varient. These cars used the same Type 4 engine as used (with some modifications) in the later vans and the 914.
They are also a nice bridge between the all curves beetle and type 3 and the later straight edged Watercooled cars.
Those Celicas are nice, but I’m guessing 3-4X the OP’s budget.
tr8todd said:My choice would be a BMW 2002. Values continue to climb so get one soon. You won't loose money on one.
I bet any sub-$5k 2002 is going to be a bondo queen.
Pretty sure the rule is 75 or earlier, not 74. (Diesel is 97 and older)
It's a bit silly because almost no one regularly drives pre 90 cars regularly, even here. Not a huge loss for the 76-80 cars, since they are mostly crap, but still a pain, mostly because they are in the most need up updates.
Regarding Ghia's: Likely too late, I hear their value is rising and you may not find a decent one for a reasonable price. Heck, even Bugs can be pretty pricey.
I am not sure those old Japanese cars are very affordable anymore either. Almost none are still driving around and the collectors have caught on to them.
Matthew Kennedy said:Here's a trick that a bunch of Volvo people pull, if the car is an older diesel, it's CARB exempt. The way that's implemented is that if the car was EVER registered as a diesel, it is eternally CARB exempt. I've heard of it happening several times where somebody took a 240, diesel swapped it, took it to get emissions done and said "But officer, I have a diesel!" and they marked the car exempt, at which point it was taken back home and had a different engine plopped back in.
I have a 1998+ diesel and they do a visual for mine. I'm not sure what they are looking for but I'm assuming rolling coal type signs of gross polluters. You would probably get caught if you had a 2JZ or SBC or something in there. Newer OBD2 diesels I think they actually run you on the rollers. Pre 98 you might get away with a 2JZ.
1975 models gas cars are smog exempt also. 1976 and newer is the no go zone.
For a inexpensive pre-smog vehicle I would be looking for something that makes vee eighty noise, maybe a wagon, or a four door nova, or a crew cab pickup. The slant six dart idea sounds really good too.
A quick search (not sure where you are but these are mostly northern LA area):
$3500 - Lots of part swapping potential (paint might be hiding something...)
Looks like a nice Volvo for $3500. Looks like you will need to speaka da Spanish though.
Black plate 69 Bug (good year) $2500
About the only old Japanese car I currently see. Seems a bit rough for $4000.
This looks like a GREAT buy for $6000. Not terribly up on MB though. Really nice looking car at least. It is a diesel, so maybe that keeps the price down.
So, there is stuff out there.
In reply to Dootz :
I don't know much about the Super Beetles, I've only had Beetles and prefer the flat windshield of the Beetle. My hardcore Beetle friends say to stay away from 67 Beetles because it's an oddball year and certain things are unique to that year. Personally, It's all about the headlight/taillights and IMHO the Pre 1967 headlights/taillights are the prettiest.
In reply to aircooled :
It also keeps the top speed down.
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