Filtering only for manual transmission and a max price of a few thousand dollars, Craigslist presents vehicles that few others will cross shop. You get rare MX-5 Edition Miatas, automatic 240SXs that are somehow drift ready but “never abused”, Fieros that ran the last time they caught fire, and RX-7s whose owners insist they pass smog but won’t do it themselves.
It’s remarkable the array of cars that will come up under the same budget. Here’s some of the more tempting stuff I’ve recently come across, all asking within a few hundred dollars of each other.
The Fun One – 1991 Toyota MR2
I still want an SW20, desperately. Finding one without the T-top roof is difficult, and finding a stock one even more so. What this naturally aspirated MR2 lacks in shine it makes up in being a one owner car with full maintenance records. Staring at it inspires dreams of bringing the single stage paint back to life, doing some light suspension work, and ultimately replacing the silly commuter-duty 5SFE motor with the 3SGE heart this runabout deserves.
The Practical One – 1987 BMW 325i
I should not buy another E30. I’ve had four already, all leaving me in various states of disappointment. The memories of watching the temp gauge more than the speedo, and wishing for the sweet release of death trying to replace all the rear chassis bushings should be enough for me to swipe left at the sight of this. But I’m diseased, with diseased tastes, and this car checks all the boxes for the E30 I’ve always longed for but never found. Bronzit? Check. Early Model? Check. Four doors? Check. 325i? CHECK! Heaven help me if I click ‘Reply’.
The ‘Huh, well that looks cool’ One – 1987 Volvo 740 GLE
You’d have to look real hard, like X-ray vision through the hood hard, to see why I’d buy a car that would normally get out-dragged by a 1.6 Miata. So far I’ve owned a 740 Turbo Wagon and a 240 Turbo Sedan, avoiding the limp-wristed naturally aspirated cars for fear I’d age to death before getting one home. But the fuel injected 5.o Mustang lump in this one vaporizes that fear and likely the rear tires quite nicely. What’s more, it’s apparently BAR’d (for those of you outside California, it’s the arduous process of making your motor swap legal) and overall looks like a fun way to confuse those cocky minivans at the light.
Harebrained day-dreaming aside, it’s unlikely any of these will find themselves in my driveway. So long as I close the tabs before the next beer…
The surfing continues!
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