Thinking about a change..

Mk2 Golf GTi.

MX5 would tick all the boxes including being massively moddable. 2k should buy you a nice enthusiast-owned Eunos Roadster. I'd get one of those as they've seen fewer salty winters than a UK spec one. Most of the so-called buyers guides talk out of their collective arses when they say that you really want a UK spec one (because the Jap imports don't have a "verifiable service history" - bollocks to that, how much does the stamp cost in the UK?) and you'll find that on most enthusiast forums, people prefer Eunoses. They have more toys, too...

If I would stop bolting go-faster bits to mine I'd most likely pay around 200 for 6k/year, parked out on the street. Not a bad deal IMHO.

Conor gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying:

Saab c900 T16.

I would second that. Or a 99.

The worthwhile mods costs a mint though. I'd budget £3k to put a 1.8T, decent brakes and decent suspension into a MK2.

205 GTI with an Mi16 (though these may cost as much as a 1.8T for a MK2 Golf, but I suspect they need less special conversion parts).

E30 318i with an LSD and either a big engine or a blower?

Volvo 300 with a Renault 16V? Good tramp drift mobile...

Lexus Large Barge £1k will get you a useable MK1 these days. £2k will actually get you one of the later ones. You remember my big old £600 monster at Wetwang.

What about a MK3 Supra, pretty cheap now, useable in non turbo form, moddable in turbo form, like a Jap Capri. Manual or Auto available.

E55AMG is a little overbudget at 5k but plenty around. E430 is a cheaper alternative and hitting that kind of price point. W202 C36AMGs coming into that price point too...

So suggestions? Criteria: Purchase price under £2k for a decent example. Must be moddable and not cost the earth to do so. Must have a good enthusiasts club scene - preferably not Max Nobend orientated but that doesn't exclude Jap stuff as my wifes' FTO club has a good spread of ages in it so not all kids.

Don't give a shit about engine size. Mileage is too low to care about petrol costs and I'm old enough to be able to insure most things as a weekend toy for under £200 a year.

No off-road suggestions please.

Tssk, you could get a nice off-road Ford Exploder with a 4.0V6 Mustang engine for under 2K. Be faster than those Crapis as well.

I've thought about those in the past. No problem with Jap imports, my=20 wife's is one. The only important part of that cars service history was=20 a UK garage bill for a cambelt swap. Didn't give a shit about the rest.

--=20 Conor

I only please one person per day. Today is not your day. Tomorrow isn't=20 looking good either. - Scott Adams

ey

There's a club scene with Saabs? Mind you, there's one with Mondeos so=20 I shouldn't be so judgemental.

--=20 Conor

I only please one person per day. Today is not your day. Tomorrow isn't=20 looking good either. - Scott Adams

lol.

So suggestions? Criteria: Purchase price under £2k for a decent example. Must be moddable and not cost the earth to do so. Must have a good enthusiasts club scene - preferably not Max Nobend orientated but that doesn't exclude Jap stuff as my wifes' FTO club has a good spread of ages in it so not all kids.

Don't give a shit about engine size. Mileage is too low to care about petrol costs and I'm old enough to be able to insure most things as a weekend toy for under £200 a year.

E34 540i? Find a manual one and there is much fun to be had for very little cash.

JB

W202 C36 AMGs aren't from the same era as the rusty-from-new W210 E-Classes, are they? Did they have the same issues with the old FeO2?

Crazy mad owning/tuning/modding scene too. Usually by slightly older rounder gentlemen with beard, and occasionaly with pipes. The ones with pipes tend to be the totally hatstand ones with silly performance though.

The UK saab club do arrange track days and have benefits for anyone doing motorsport in a saab. Then the is Saabscene Saabcentral uksaabs

all free membership online "clubs" that do have real life meetups. All have extensive maintenance and tuning sections as well as areas where you can chat shit and shoot the breeze and sections listing meetups.

You will find, if someones pride and joy has hideously failed and is uneconomical to repair at a garage, or a banger bought to break or repair, then a brew and butties party will be arranged, hordes of loonies will descend and depending on what has been arranged, repair the car with secondhand bits, or help in the dismantling for spares, taking away what they came for for a suitable price.

I have seen a photo thread on one of the forums where a whole car that failed on chassis rust because it had been badly repaired in the past was turned into a totally stripped out monocoque, then cutup to fit into a small trailer for weighing in. All in 24 hours.

Seats, carpets, looms, engine and box, wheels, wishbones, brakes, interior trim, lights, someone bought everything except the spares the owner wanted and nothing was left except some cut up scrap metal.

That's pretty much the same with Eunos Roadsters. And of course the advantage with MX5s is that it's a non-interference engine just in case it breaks on the way to the cambelt change...

. Yep, got that lot.

ROFLMAO. Hmmm....kind of sounds like my kind of thing. The Capri sites I'm on are pretty much the same. Whilst most bodyshops baulk at the idea of changing a wing on a Capper, a rent a mob will turn up with an assortment of sharp bits and get on with the job.

So suggestions? Criteria: Purchase price under £2k for a decent example. Must be moddable and not cost the earth to do so. Must have a good enthusiasts club scene - preferably not Max Nobend orientated but that doesn't exclude Jap stuff as my wifes' FTO club has a good spread of ages in it so not all kids.

Don't give a shit about engine size. Mileage is too low to care about petrol costs and I'm old enough to be able to insure most things as a weekend toy for under £200 a year.

No off-road suggestions please.

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MX5 or MR2 Turbo