Car shopping... what do you think?

http://bham.craigslist.org/cto/4112478346.html

Gonna go look at that tomorrow.  Since I don't have a fun car anymore I've been on the hunt for something to fill the void.  What do y'all think?  Any other suggestions for a fun cheap rwd manual car (around 5k)?

If imports are your thing, then I guess the 240 is an option.

But for the 5-6K mark, there are loads of Mustangs and F-bodies out there. LS cars and n/a 4V modulars can be had for that kind of money and put out 300+ stock.

I'm board with F-bodies at the moment.  I've considered  fox bodies and mustangs but I haven't seen any 4v 4.6's and almost all of the mustangs I have seen aren't that fast and people want a lot of money for high mileage ones.  So far I've considered mustangs, miata's, 240sx's (s13 and s14), RX7's, and RX8's.  I looked at a 300zx (z32) but wasn't impressed with it, and I've looked at a couple of 240's with sr20DET's.  So far I've found it very hard to find a descent 240 in this price range.  Even a descent miata is pricey unless you get one with a billion miles on it. 

Here are a couple of the stallions I've run across:
http://bham.craigslist.org/cto/4121626804.html

http://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-sale/vehicledetails.xhtml?zip=35406&endYear=2014&photosOnly=true&listingType=used&listingTypes=used&sellerType=p&sellerTypes=p&transmissionCode=MAN&transmissionCodes=MAN&maxPrice=10000&pricesOnly=true&sortBy=derivedpriceASC&showcaseOwnerId=79300&startYear=1981&firstRecord=101&searchRadius=200&bodyStyleCodes=CONVERT%2CCOUPE%2CHATCH%2CSEDAN%2CWAGON&listingId=357033266&listingIndex=25&Log=0

http://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-sale/vehicledetails.xhtml?zip=35406&endYear=2014&photosOnly=true&listingType=used&listingTypes=used&sellerType=p&sellerTypes=p&transmissionCode=MAN&transmissionCodes=MAN&maxPrice=10000&showcaseListingId=355608493&pricesOnly=true&sortBy=derivedpriceASC&showcaseOwnerId=79300&startYear=1981&firstRecord=101&searchRadius=200&bodyStyleCodes=CONVERT%2CCOUPE%2CHATCH%2CSEDAN%2CWAGON&listingId=344034314&listingIndex=20&Log=0

So what have a left out?  What's gonna deliver the most fun for the buck?

Allow me to be me:

http://huntsville.craigslist.org/cto/4066150591.html

http://bham.craigslist.org/ctd/4061160685.html

You know the Viper is based on that, right??? They are way more fun than you might think... Think of all the power slides!

I had not considered those... Can you get them in a manual?

Not from the factory (Not real R/Ts anyway...) You could get V8 manuals, but they lacked the R/T goodies. That being said, lots of people have done the manual swap.

The main issue with fox cars is that they have been beat on pretty bad usually. If you do find a clean fox, expect to pay for it; their values have constantly been going up.

You have to find a Cobra if you want a 4V. Seems they are scarce in your area, but out here they go for 6-8K for the 96-98 ones, and closer to 10K for the 99-00. Nice cars though.

If you find a GT in the 99-04 years, they have 260 HP, can make in the 280 wheel range with full bolt-ons. Or you could throw a blower on it; modulars respond really well to boost.

I'm starting to think I'm not going to get a clean anything at this price.  Which is fine (so long as it's functionally/mechanically sound), I just want something that's fun to drive that won't break down every other day.  And yeah mustangs and maro's are at a premium here in the South.  All that's in my price range is high mileage stockish 4.6's.

The 4.6 is a really good motor, just stay away from the 96-98 GT's, they are great cars, but really slow (215 HP).

That they are.  My F-150 has 244k on it, but I must confess it's had a short block put in it.

This is what I'm talking about Sorta....

http://phoenix.craigslist.org/nph/cto/4104526204.html

You can stay at my house if you want to when you come pick it up, lol

Wow, that is really clean.   I haven't found anything like that here for that kind of money.  How do those motors hold up to the high mileage?  Any more/less durable then the regular 4.6's?

All the Cobra motors are hand-built, just like anything that has the SVT logo on it. They can go for 200K+ if taken care of. I would say the only issue with them is when people put underdrive pulleys on them; the balancer quality is crap compared to the factory unit, and they tend to destroy the gears in the oil pumps when they put them on.

Those year 4V's make 305 HP, spin up to 6800 rpm, and they're all aluminum. The biggest bitch of them is setting up the cams/timing components if you have to take them apart.

http://bham.craigslist.org/cto/4116158766.html

Not crazy about a vert, but might not have to take a trip to AZ to get a slowbra after all!

I hear ya there.

Verts can look pretty good when they are dropped and have huge tires out back.....