New sports car... or project car?

[slugg]

Just my taste in cars (I like light sports cars) but for $25k I would get a barely-used power retractable hard top NC Miata, 2006 or newer, then add the FM Targa Package as a baseline, then start tweaking and doing some minor modding from there to exactly suit my taste.

Just my $0.02, it would be a hell of a car.

I'd be apprehensive about have two project cars at the same time, one needing serious work and the other being a used German luxury/performance car.

+1 to this. NC Miatas with some mods are just amazing. The PRHT will keep the noise down reasonably, but then you still have the option of going topless

edit: I forgot that the Targa Package had a supercharger... my god, that thing would be a BEAST to drive. I want

 

[TechBoyJK]

What about something like this?

http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.j...ler_type=b&num_records=25&cardist=888&ref=srl

 

[TechBoyJK]

Or just save a bit more and get this..

http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.j...=b&num_records=25&cardist=1272&standard=false

 

[JCH13]

What about something like this?

[Ferrari]

You sir, have the wildest taste in cars I have ever seen. Going from an early 1990s 'lude that needs rebuilding to a Ferrari...

Revisiting Manimal's question: What do you want out of this toy car? I.e. I picked "street-legal budget autox car" for my Miata before starting in on it.

 

[manimal]

Test drive a manual Maserati coupe or a quatroporte.


I absolutely loved them both. Having the ferrari f430 engine doesnt hurt.


You basically get a italian handcrafted GT car with ferrarri bits and Alfa suspension.

I almost bought a 2002 coupe gt with 25k miles for less than 23k delivered. Upkeep isnt too bad on them either.

 

[TechBoyJK]

You sir, have the wildest taste in cars I have ever seen. Going from an early 1990s 'lude that needs rebuilding to a Ferrari...

Revisiting Manimal's question: What do you want out of this toy car? I.e. I picked "street-legal budget autox car" for my Miata before starting in on it.

Well.. part of this post was to group think may way into a decision.

It would take me a bit longer to save up a down payment and get the Ferrari, but it would be ready to go out the box, turn heads, and as a friend pointed out, might hold it's resell value a bit better. So if I drive it for a few years and put 25-35k miles on it, I can probably resell it for 80% of what I paid for it.

 

[JCH13]

Fair enough. I'll throw out my criteria for what I consider to be a fun car to help you group-think about it

In no particular order

light/nimble neutral handling
communicating steering feel
confident braking response
large aftermarket support, I love me some modding
large community support, I like having experts to turn to for every problem
10-footer looks, so I don't have to worry about stone chips, small scratches, other cars hitting me with a door, or cone hits from autocrossing (this has been a much bigger stress-eliminator than I ever thought it would be)
manual transmission
convertible, because top-down driving is awesome
MegaSquirt support (I like MS ECUs, and I love being able to tune my car myself)
competitive in auto-x for its class
easy enough to work on so that I can do most repair and maintenance myself with basic tools
inexpensive enough that I wouldn't be too annoyed at replacing an engine if I blew it up racing, tuning, or being an idiot

 

[TechBoyJK]

10 footer looks? does that mean past 10 feet you can't see or tell any flaws?

 

[JCH13]

10 footer looks? does that mean past 10 feet you can't see or tell any flaws?

That's the idea.

 

[TechBoyJK]

http://www.driving.ca/news/story.html?id=801f8b15-b6e5-4de6-aa00-65d935fd50b7

This has me thinking..

 

[thomsbrain]

If I did a 300ZX it would be for a LSx swap.

 

[jlee1]

I too will recommend a miata. If not a s13 240sx; I've also always liked older civics: eg and ek chassis and they will handle pretty well with some suspension work. Another car to consider if u disregard the nimble handling criteria(unless u dump some nice change onto it) is a foxbody mustang. They're easy to work on and will haul some major ass without u having to spend too much money.

 

[manimal]

If I did a 300ZX it would be for a LSx swap.

I would love to see this. If your close to indy I should have lots of 300zx parts left over after my z32 is done.

 

[hanoverphist]

If I did a 300ZX it would be for a LSx swap.

theres a guy that visits car nights here in the valley that has a 280z with a 350 in it. nice looking car, but the guy has been a douche so far. i keep wanting one of my friends to get him to race at the track and see if he can keep up but he apparently doesnt race it.