Let’s play a little “what if” game today. What if it was your 16th birthday on this very date and a well to do grand parent handed you $5,000 in cold hard cash for you to purchase a car. Gramps said that you can spend it on whatever you want (car-wise) and there’s no restriction on how many passengers, what country it was made in, what power plant it had, or how easily you could make whoopie in it.
Being that this is 2012, your five K isn’t going to go that far in buying you a piece of vintage iron. Sure, you could buy something from the muscle car era but it would quickly become driveway art when your budget ran out fixing rust, rot, and mechanical issues. Performance cars of the 1980s and 1990s are now pretty depressed in the price department. Fox body Mustangs, third and early fourth generation Camaros with LT1 power, trucks of the same era, and even (gasp!) some foreign stuff can all be had for well below five grand, leaving you some fixit/spruce up budget.
Put yourself into the mind of a gearheaded 16 year old who is sitting in high school class right now. What’s he thinking about buying and cruising around in?
Question of the Day: If you were 16 today and had $5,000 to spend on a car, what would you buy?
1967 Plymouth Belvedere II Sedan
A-body Mopar….. Duster, Dart, or Demon….. probably a 318/automatic car
My daughter just scored a 65 nova 2dr post 355sbc 12 bolt $5300
Be hard to beat a Fox body Mustang like the one pictured, they can be had cheap and used parts abound.
90-91 Chevy Blazer, use the extra cash for a three inch lift and 31’s. My in-laws gave me their old 76 and ive grown to love it and wish I had it when I was in high school, four wheel drive convertible cheep fun
’66-’70 2dr hardtop Muscle car, definitely not a car like you pictured, no Fox-body, no Iroc style Camaros/Trans-ams
A body Mopar. My second street car was a ’69 Dart GTS with a factory 383 big block, which I boutht in ’72, and I only paid $1,600 for it then!
94/95 F150 stepside, clubcab 302 4X4. anywhere from 1500 to 5000. a cool looking, cool sounding truck. lots of parts, new and used
some of you people are being straight up ridiculous thinking you could get some of these things you are mentioning for 5k. Theres no way in hell you will get a 69 Dart GTS with a 383 for under 5k that isnt a complete pile of junk. Same goes with the person who said a ’66-’70 2 Door muscle car. For 5k its going to be a rusted out non-running pile of junk that needs a complete restoration. Personally, id go with a Fox body mustang. Lots of bang for the buck and they are cheap to maintain and upgrade.
My point was that I’d take any A body mopar, not that I had some expectation of finding a factory 383 GTS today for that money. I was using it as an illustration of how much more things cost today. Obviously the point was lost….
My daily driver is a 1980 Plymouth Arrow pickup, which I got out of a salvage yard for $300., dropped a 360/904 combo in from stuff I had laying around, and then narrowed an 8.75 rear for it. Well under $5K and lots of fun. You can see it this month in Hot Rod magazine’s “rescue” article. I travel a great deal, didn’t have the time to sort out a braking issue I was having with it, so they fixed it for me.
Just got a 78′ Malibu Wagon with SBC 350 and TH350 for $2900. Guy drove it 250 miles to deliver it too me for an extra 200 bucks too!
a 1980’s G body… Lots of aftermarket parts and room for a big block.
I’d go for a clean GM G-body…it’s what I did in High School, a T-top ’87 Monte SS.
just got myself a 1986 iroc 350 5 speed for 2 grand, minimal rot/rust and its a NJ car. deals are out there, just gotta be persistent and keep looking
Hard to say…5 grand does not get you all that far these days as far as real , true muscle cars go…..I would try to locate and older convertible of some sort…..I have always been a ragtop man, so I would definitely try to locate an older convertible, that needed restoring, but was also a decent daily driver…..Maybe an old, Olds, or a Chevy, maybe even a Buick…..Mopars are awesome but for 5 grand to find one in that price range is unrealistic or rarely seen anymore……
Ls1 Fbody
A 1980’s G Body..
Lots of aftermarket parts and room for a big block.
I’m a Squarebody guy to the core, so first choice would be a 73-87 GM 1/2 ton shortbed. Parts are cheap, they’re easy to work on, and suspension-wise a slammed 2WD or lifted 4WD look equally badass.
If it had to be a car, I’ve always had a soft spot for the 78-87 Malibus. Mild smallblock w/ a 700r would make for a fun cruiser.
tha pretty much nailed it right there IMO, but I would have to ad in the 88-98 GM trucks as well, Houston area right now you can get a 88-98 GM truck lowered on 20s with a few mods for 3k all day long
Early 90’s Chevy pickup. Preferably with a 5 speed and would have to be a 4×4 to get around some of those back-roads in my home area.
Although, I’ve had a fox-body Mustang and I have to say, they are a lot of fun.
…and definitely doable for 5K.
Probably a mid sities ford or chevy truck shortbed, they can still be had for five.
If you can find a clean, unmolested Fox like the one pictured for $5000 I’ll take 2 please.
Exactly. and I’m not sure what they meant by the 80’s and 90’s muscle prices are depressed…. Maybe for the complete crap pile junk out there, The F bodies didn’t age near as well as the Fox bodies, and there are very few that have not been completely trashed. 5 grand is only going to get you a decent F body or Fox, nothing left for “toys” Maybe they haven’t looked lately, but nice foxes are getting high 4 and low 5 figures these days…
anything old, cheep and lightweight that can fit a sbc under the hood ,old rx7,third gen f body, old s10 ect.
2000 or newer Pontiac Bonneville SSEi. Nice cruiser with plenty of Power when you want it.
Tough to say, I was 16 in 1979, way different cars to choose from and the import scene was nonexistent back then. I would most likely pick a A/G-body.
Well, I’m 17. I wasn’t given 5000, I was given a grand, which through trades I had turned into 3000. Sadly, for 5 grand, there’s not much worth buying. And remember, when your 16, your always out of gas. Best bet is to get a little Honda. You can get one with a nicely done engine for 3500, and be pushing 250+hp in a car that weighs under a ton. Its plenty to get you a ticket in, and my old Honda ate foxbodies nearly every time I raced them. No, I’m not some little tuner kid, I’m a kid with a passion for cars, and though I’d love to have a 350 in a nova as a daily, its not practical
Really you were given a grand? Wow. I had to come up with 300 bucks to buy a Maverick. Took me a long time to do that. Then the front end was junk….Dog gone it times have changed.
I picked up a 1971 charger for $1500 running original 383. just drive it as rat… also bought a 98 ram 2500 for $900 for my first vehicles
A minivan. As much as we love our old iron, they are not practical cars for 16-year-olds. Maybe you are thinking your dad will pitch in and fix it for you when it goes belly up — most likely due to an electrical problem because those contacts weren’t designed to last 50 years. By the way, no air bags, no collapsible steering column, no ABS.
Laugh all you want — there’s an ’03 Dodge Caravan on a dealer lot for $4995 in Fairfield, Calif.
Definately not a Ford. When I was 16 I bought a 1972 Plymouth Satellite Sebring. Had a 383 coupled to a 727 Torque flight. Fat meats on the back with Keystone classics.
Hell if I had five grand as a 16 year old I don’t know what I’d do. I’d blow it on video games and buying a Honda Civic that smokes. Really. Now if I had five grand to blow on a car as an adult and build it with what was left over well now then that puts another spin on it………This is what I would do.
1. I would buy a fox body mustang. I can’t stand them but they are every where and they are fairly cheap. I’d probably go for the less popular body styles mid-late ’90s. I’d get one with a V8, five speed and a crappy paint job. Probably looking at around three grand maybe. Spend the other two on hop up parts found on CL. Easy one.
2. Any nova or counter part from ’75 on. I’d steer away from the more door. If it had a six in it I’d leave it and cruise it. But if it had a V8 I’d hit craigs list for goodies. I’d also hit up any parts for the ’67-’69 Comaros I could find cheap, such as suspension for the front. Tune it for curves. Or just slap some slapper bars on it and go.
3. Any G body. Make it a V8.
4. Any truck from the ’70s. Cheap and fun. I really want a ’72 Dodge. Slam it and drive the snot out of it.
5. S10s are everywhere and cheap. You could practically get one for free. Cost you twenty dollars to lower it. Four isn’t going to win a race but it’ll save you some money for that smoking small block you’re going to put in it.
6. B bodies, ie; chevy. Caprice and the like. Cheap and lots of parts available too. Plus there’s a build thread here for one as well….right Brian.
So that’s my short short list.
There are no mid to late 90’s Fox bodies…….
Easy, either an SVO or a 5 liter LX.
2002 mustang GT
Craigslist find. Should be some left over to get her running but more importantly, it’s a complete car. http://dallas.craigslist.org/dal/cto/4004864998.html
~J~
1966 Nova L79 ,
2013 Camaro ZL1,
I guy can dream
grandma fresh buick regal
2500-3500
add an eaton s/c off a 3800 75.00
m/s 300
wheels from a buick wagon (hurrcains)150.00
radio and speakers 500.00
dual exhaust 350.00
If I were the same 16-year-old I was 20 years ago, but with a $5k budget, I’d do exactly what I did back then, but I’d be able to be a little more choosy.
If I were 16 again and had five-large to spend on a car, I’d probably buy an old Beetle in reasonably good condition. In 1994, I dropped a tenth of that on a 1959 Type 1 in moderately good condition, and I still have the little beast. In fact, it’s just about to finally get the resto it so richly deserves.
$5k will get you into a really nice quality classic VW, if you appreciate these kinds of things. Of course you’re not going to be hauling ass, and you have to drive with a certain amount of wariness (esp. the swingaxle rear-end cars, like mine). But, if you buy a good example and put in the time upgrading and taking care of it, it’s a good investment, even if other people think your car is lame (boys inevitably did.) I didn’t care, I figured out how to get the most out of my little car and could chirp the tires all the way through third gear with a 1600cc singleport mated to the stock transaxle. I didn’t buy that car to impress boys. I bought it because I really liked old Volkswagens, and this was the oldest one I was able to lay hands on.
Here’s me and my Bug back in 19958, shortly after I had got the 1600 put together and completed the upgrade to 12 volt electrical:
In Canada? ha! nothing! The us seems to have all these deals everywhere, but here I’d be stoked to find any old four cylinder that would last a few years for under 5k.
An important part of the question should have been, is it running & driving or is it a future project? When I was 16, I wanted to drive and I bought a running/driving ’69 Cutlass. That being said, it would be a Fox body, a ’90s GM F body or a late ’70s/early ’80s GM G-body. A co-worker just picked up an LS powered Firebird w/99k on the odo last week for $2,800.
79 F-100 with a sixbanger, those things last forever, look good and parts are cheeeeap.
I’d do what I did back in 1985, I’d buy a slant six powered Mopar A body.
Mopar A bodies that I have owned over the years:
1973 Dodge Dart Sport
1972 Dodge Demon 340
1969 Barracuda 340 fastback
1975 Plymouth Duster
The 89 to 93 fox 5 liter is a great choice and is exactly what I bought my daughter for her first car. What most people who have never had them don’t know is that with the right parts and gears the Fox will get 25 to 28 MPG….. and run low 13 sec quarter mile times. Perfect first car.
88-94 Toyota 2.4L 5 speed Toyota regular cab pickup. Had one of these back in the day for making deliveries for work and commuting. Slightly lowered with wider rims and tires, header, aftermarket exhaust, K&N, good stereo. This thing handled good, was kinda quick and got 26mpg. It ran great when I sold it with 300K miles and no engine or tranny work. Plus no back seat meant no having to drive all the friends. Drove the Mustang 5.0 on weekends and nights though! Been trying to convince the teenaged kid to look for a base model Tacoma for her first car but not cool enough I guess.
Late 80’s Trans Am GTA ,IROC Camaro or early 80’s vette
Passion a new world of warcraft! Provided that they are just think our poster earlier than a reality make sure you alternate between the two inside cuff so that it is on top of the leg. My group is 5’10 due to kilometer long-term knees yet it definitely Does indeed re-evaluate my leg. Accentuate your figure is like a dream come true and so i get encouragement constantly! We transport these people with jeggings/leggings/skinny corduroy.