Does this car exist?

IS300? One of our region members is selling one. He wants a little more than $5K... but it's also a lot newer than an E30 or E36...

A wholesale used car lot near me (Memphis) has an Infiniti Q45, a '97, that almost meets your price. I'm debating on whether to go look in person at this lowish mileage car (107,000). I see I30s and Maximas at the top of your price cut-off, but at least in my experience...for a manual transmission, it will have to be an E30 or E36.

If you are considering an E30, drive a milano too. If you arent set on rwd, a MK2 vw will work if you dont mind fixing all the things that dont work anymore after no one has fixed anything for 10 years.

Merkur Scorpio with a manual swapped in?

If you widen it to coupes/hatches with a usable rear seat*, what does that add?

Usable == can fit child seat in it

318 Ti ?

Fox body Mustang (w/hatch)

Almost everything I was going to say has been mentioned.

Alfa Milano, e30, Volvo 240/740 Turbo.

I'd also add (all should be available in your price range, just finding them might be difficult): Fiat 131/Brava Peugeot 505 Rover SD1 - pretty rare, not positive on manual in USA though

Did Rover ever actually sell any cars for the US Market?

ReverendDexter wrote: Did Rover ever actually sell any cars for the US Market?

Yup. Ive seen a 3500 in town here and a couple of SD1s for sale.

I think ~800 SD1s were imported.

Ah! If 2-doors with usable back seats are in I have some good suggestions! Fox-chassis Thunderbird was a great car in Turbo Coupe form. The engine is getting a little long in the tooth, but the T-5 was robust, the 8.8" posi had discs, and the back seat is ...ahem... usable Really killer performance is a 5.0 HO EFI drop-in away (the engine harness plugs into the main harness and motor mounts from the 5.0 SO TBird are like $35). The extended-fox really was a nice GT chassis with good rear seat room and a huge trunk.

If you don't want to deal with something so old or low powered, there is also the V6 Super Coupe (89-9something) though they spit out head gaskets. The later 5.0 HO and 4.6 SOHC Birds/Cougars could actually be pretty nice (though auto only). The IRS is nice though they are heavier and ugly-ish.

The ultimate in 80's Ford-o-rific cool is the fox-chassis Lincoln Mark VII LSC with a 5.0 HO. Swap in a T-5 and have the most luxurious (and 2nd longest after the 71-73) Mustang.

Peugeot 505s show up regularly on CL here. I have only seen one fiat 131 for sale around here (for like $500), and only one rover sd1 for sale in this country, on ebay.

That a Cressida, Gamby?

Awesome Japanese luxo-barge with decent-ish handling. Hard (impossible?) to find in a manual, but I'm sure something from a Supra or whatever would fit right in.

Another vote for the IS300. You should be able to find one for around $5K.

audi 4kq, 5kq, 80q, 100q...