What sports car to buy?

[mario_82_ZXT]

You all must live in special places because I've never seen a used 911 P-car here for under $25k with a turbo. On rare occasion a non-turbo one, but nothing ever "nice."

 

The one that I wish I could have sold some projects for was a 1970 911 with a 3.2 carb'd motor with a whale tail in guards red. For $8k...

[SHO-Z]

A FINISHED FACTORY FIVE COBRA. MAX SEX APEAL AND MAX PERFORMANCE

[strotter]

No old Lotus, how about a recent one? You could easily pick up an Elise in that price range. Exotic, ultra-pure, and rather economical. I've been told that driving one is akin to being reborn as a wheeled being. Nothing drops the hammer on a car-bragging session like saying "I drive a Lotus". And a huge advantage: easy-to-find drivetrain components.

 

[Michael]

E36 M3 – easily the best bang for the buck. Good examples can be found for under $5K. I speak from experience here (bought a 1996 M3 coupe with the usual set of mods for $4700 in the spring of 2010).

 

NSX – reputedly superb all-around performer, but good luck finding a decent example at reasonable cost.

 

Z06 – all evidence suggests that the C6 is incomparably superior to the C5. But even the oldest the C6 Z06s are still listing for around $50K. Personally I’d wait another 5 years for a C6 Z06

 

AMG C55 Benz – V8, thrilling acceleration and great workmanship, but reliability is suspect. I’ve seen Craigslist examples for under $20K.

 

BMW M-coupe – pretty car (in my opinion also) and lighter than E36 M3, but commands a huge cost premium over the M3 (easily 2X), for incremental increase in performance.

 

Porsche – how about a Cayman? Slightly above $25K, but coming down in price. A fellow at work bought a base-model (not “Sâ€) Cayman back in 2007. I drove it briefly. Remarkably easy to drive fast, has just enough acceleration to begin to feel thrilling (comparable to well-sorted E36 M3, maybe a bit faster on the top-end), and refined. Not sure about maintenance costs, though.

 

NA (1990-1997) Miata, with turbocharger and hardtop. Well-sorted examples are selling for $10K (or less) on the turbo Miata forum.