For $5,000 or less.

I need a cheap car to get a few thrills. I found a 1988 Pontiac Formula 350 for 5k.

Any ideas?

750il?

i hear they are pretty fast on the tow truck to the dealer.

What is the fastest used car?

A stolen one.

An early 90's ford mustang 5.0 supercharged. Check on Ebay. You can even find them cheaper than $5000...

$5000? A 2002/03 Yamaha R1 comes to mind... :D

But honestly, for $5k, a "fast" car will be very beaten and stressed through it's rigorous use.

And also, fast may not mean sporty; so fast and performance may not go hand-in-hand.

That being said, I think your best bet is to find a used and thoroughly beaten Civic SI that has been "properly modified" and ultimately police-impounded. :D Get yourself to an auto auction!!!

A rented one.

fixed :)
...who's more likely to drive fast, a guy who stole a car and is worried about being busted, or a guy who rented one with insurance for the day :p

nissan silvia s13 SR20DET swap

You can pick up a real quick 1gen Eclipse/Talon turbo for $5K....

You dated me just to get to my CAR?!?!?

Go to your local high school, if its private thats even better. Plenty of spoiled teenage girls with nice cars. Take your pick. :p

Go to your local high school, if its private thats even better. Plenty of spoiled teenage girls with nice cars. Take your pick. :pIn the '60's I paid a part of my college tuition this way. My roommate and I would buy a totally messed-up Corvette from one of the wealthier students (plenty got 'Vettes for their HS graduation).

Sometimes you could find one the kid had attempted to hot-rod with a giant carburetor (usually a Carter AFB with flow characteristics that would drown an 8-liter motor), an "098" cam (used in the mechanically fuel-injected 'Vettes, but caused a REALLY rough idle that some idiots thought made more power), and a fabbed-up set of headers and intake that wouldn't get you a passing grade in a high school welding shop.

All we did was remove all the "speed" equipment, either return the car to stock or install an Engle cam, slightly heavier valve springs, a set of 327 heads on the 283 block (bigger valves), and a good intake and set of headers - all of which we could do in the driveway for a couple hundred bucks. We either detailed the car or had it painted by a reasonably competent shop. We had one that was the victim of taped-on racing stripes that became part of the fiberglass after baking in the summer sun. I think the owner painted the car black using spray cans before taping on the stripes. That took more hours to restore the finish than fix the mechanical problems.

We would usually buy in the spring at the end of the school year for very little money, (Daddy, buy me a new one, the ashtray's full . . . ), fix it up and drive it for the summer, then sell it in the fall to the next generation of freshmen who wanted a hot car for the campus. It was a pretty good racket if you didn't mind investing your savings and a minor amount of wrench work, had a good parts connection, and could spend summer evenings with a bucket of water and some 400-grit paper.

In mid-sixties dollars we would buy a 4-5 yr old Vette for about $2300 (considerably less if it wasn't running), invest maybe $300 to $400, and sell for a bit over $5000. The key was finding a seller who had no idea of the value of a dollar and would sell his car out of frustration for very little. Hey, if Daddy keeps delivering new cars to you, why worry about the selling price? These people were our legitimate prey.

A few years later I found a better racket - used car dealers in SoCal were buying up '55 - '57 Chevys (model didn't really matter), sending them to Tiajuana for a $30 "tuck and roll" upholstery job (probably stuffed with hay), put on glas-pack mufflers, a floor shift kit, rims all around with cheater slicks on the rear, and gunned on a $35 coat of black or red paint. They installed an electronic tach on top of the dash in plain view, and sold a $150-$200 12-13 year old beater that was nearing scrap status for about $1200 after a trip through Pep Boys that probably cost at most a couple hundred bucks.

Local high school kids bought every one the dealers could turn out and there was a waiting list for more. They were everywhere from San Diego to LA. With a good rake caused by the oversized rear wheels (and possible collapse of the front suspension) they looked pretty mean and they were LOUD, but there were few dealers that even bothered to open the hood as a part of the "makeover". Most of these cars were junk, but the buyers didn't care - they wanted the look. Oil smoke and a trail of assorted parts were part of the mystique. :cool:

man Lil4X...


those stories are so great. :D :D

3000GTs are pretty quick. You could prolly get an early 90s for around that price.

not the fastest...but here's an 84 Vette with lo miles for $4000.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Cars-Trucks___84-CHEVROLET-CORVETTE-HATCHBACK-SPORT-4-SPEED-TOP-FL_W0QQitemZ300225588097QQddnZCarsQ20Q26Q20TrucksQ QddiZ2282QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item300225588097&

MK3 Supra Turbo I had one I paid $3500 that was pretty quick

Keep your $5000.00 and go and buy some OIL :thumbup: