The second car I don't need

"KatzManDu" (KatzManDu) 12/22/2014 at 09:10 • Filed to: None

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Yes, I whine a lot about cars, their costs, and whatnot since I've moved to Belgium from the USA. We have our family car, the veritable wagon, an E39 diesel. I've posted about it before and posted pictures. It works, it's utilitarian, I can bang it into bollards while parallel parking and not really care. And my wife has already received a speeding ticket in it.

But I want something for me. I'm old (compared to most of Oppositelock), and I deserve it, and eventually the finances will work in my favor where I can actually afford a second car that I don't really need.

One thing that makes car registration and insurance much less expensive in Europe is registering the car as an "Oldtimer" — anything over 25 years old fits this exemption. What's interesting is that as of 2015, 1990 or older becomes the rule, which makes what's available more exciting. Also, given that I have kids in-tow, four seats is also a parameter for this car search. So, 25 years or older and four seats. Those parameters aren't that bad. Also, I want to take this car to as many tracks as I can and lap it, so I can have Nuburgring, Spa, Le Mans, and other decals on the back window that actually mean something. Plus, being older than 25 years I can easily import it back into the USA when we get sick of Europe. Financially I want to keep the purchase cost at 5000 Euros or less.

25 Years old or older

Four seats

Sporty enough to track

FR or RR preferred

Reliable enough to drive daily, year-round (7km one-way) to work

Stick shift

5000 Euros or cheaper

Earlier I posted about a Porsche 924. It sips fuel, handles well, and is an overall fun car. If I get bored with it I can shoehorn an Audi inline-5 engine with a turbo charger and make it stupid fast. I can upgrade it with handling kit and brakes from a 944. But by the time I invest that much time and effort, my shekels would be better spent on a sorted 944 with a turbo.

For the same price as a sorted 944 I could get a 928 that needs some TLC. That could also be fun and provide the obnoxious amount of horsepower that I crave and tick all the other boxes, too.

Then I realized that as of January 1st, 1990 model years enter the picture. This means I could go with a BMW 8-series. A refined tourer which I can track, four seats and 12 cylinders. This busts the budget somewhat, as a sorted car with a stick shift is around 7k Euros.

There are also the Ford Sierra (Cosworth) and XR4i, but they also bust the budget.

What else am I missing? Ideas of older Supras, 300ZX, etc have also danced in my head.

SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie > KatzManDu 12/22/2014 at 09:17

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AW11! Dirt cheap, seem to hold up better in Europe than America, and there's a spec series for racing them in the UK!

KatzManDu > SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie 12/22/2014 at 09:21

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MR2 = 2 seats, right? :(

SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie > KatzManDu 12/22/2014 at 09:22

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Ahh, nevermind. I missed that part.

Chris_K_F drives an FR-Slow > KatzManDu 12/22/2014 at 09:39

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X81 Toyota Chaser!

BlurpleToyotaDishwasher > KatzManDu 12/22/2014 at 10:43

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Suggestion - get something not really available in the US, like a 205 GTI, Alfa 33, an old Mini etc.
Most of the '80s stuff I can think of that would meet that are fwd, but I guess there's the Skoda Rapid 136 and Opel Manta that are rwd.

Most weird Japanese cars should be easily importable from the UK, too.
A Skyline GTS-t shouldn't be that hard to find, though it would be on the top end of your budget.

KatzManDu > BlurpleToyotaDishwasher 12/22/2014 at 14:26

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What's interesting is that Citroen SMs and Opel GTs are cheaper in the USA than they are in Europe, by almost an order of magnitude. The same for Karmann Ghia.

BlurpleToyotaDishwasher > KatzManDu 12/22/2014 at 15:22

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Yeah, some things are weird like that. The craziest ones for me are Land Rovers. Get a £2000 ($3500) one, give it a lick of paint and some fresh seats, ship it over and charge $90,000 for it.