Ok, so I posted in the classic Mini section that my Car Guy Gene is acting up. I decided a classic as a daily driver would be... well... wrong. So, I've now got a mission, save up for a sports car.

A classic is still on the menu but I can expand a bit if I choose. I would love an MGA (grew up with them as my mom loved them) but then the wife and 2 boys wouldn't be able to be part of the fun. TR3's have a bit of a back seat. Not British but an older 911 or 912 has a sort of back seat.

What are your ideas - fun sports car for under 20 grand US?

 

How old are your kids, and it is unclear from your post if the car HAS to have four seats or not, convertible or not. Any other must have or must have nots?

 

11 mos and 6 years for the boys. Other is all negotiable.

 

Do any of your own work on the car? Or have a good mechanic?

 

The Triumph Stag is an option. Just have to search a bit to find one in a good condition and it has four seats. Lots of good examples out there. I recommend heading out to a good British Car show, taking lots of pics, seeing what cars appeal to you in person and asking questions of the owners about purchase prices, cost of ownership, problem areas, etc.

 

Thought of another one - MGB GT.

 

Do you want a British car?? I have a friend about to build a Cobra and it is freaky how many parts are easily available for various iterations (wild or mild) of the car.

 

Real Cobra's way out of my price range. British would be good but german is a possibility too. Not really thinking of any American muscle cars.

 

That would be my suggestion as well.

But remember, all of these older sports cars with a little bit of back seat, will need to have their safety belts inspected and upgraded.

 

I thought of the MGB GT too

How about the Porche 924?

(I think that is the number. It has a water cooled
engine in the front, 4 cylinder, 4 seats, hatch)

 

Porsche 924 is a two seater, are any of the other porsches besides the 911/912 (and cayenne and panamera) a 4 seater?

What about a Bimmer 2002 - they fun and fit the bill?

 

924/944/968 Porsches do have a back seat large enough for kids, depending on how tall they get - but for youngsters they're no problem.

On any sports car coupe putting a child in a child seat in the back is "interesting" at times, till they get old enough that they can climb in themselves and then you strap them in.

 

1988-1989 BMW M6!



it has a backseat too.

 

Hmm, we seem to be getting away from what I understand as a SPORTS car. Unfortunately, though, the lines have been blurred a bit over the years.

To me, a sports car has two - count em - two seats, a convertible roof, a manual transmission, and little else.

If we're talking 'sporty' cars, then that opens it up quite a bit, including that Bimmer just above me.

 

I'd say for an affordable & usable Brit sports car you can't go wrong with an MGB. Better yet make it a BGT so the kids can tag along.

 

Get a Convertible Karmann Ghia for around 6-10k. Then drop the other 10k in the motor and a simple restore.

- Pretty easy to find
- Parts are a dime a dozen
- Turns heads
- Can be made to be very fast
- 2 seater with more if you want (I put seat belts in my wife's)
- Great "White Wall Tire Sleeper"

Trust me here...

 

JJ, my brother has had one of those sitting around under a pile of junk in his basement for 20 years. I wonder when he'll get around to fixing it. Can you recommend a forum/website I could show him to get him motivated?

 

A truly life saving forum: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewforum.php?f=7

 

Thanks, I sent the link to him. Looks good.

 

I loooooove Karmann Ghias.

 

It might be a stretch in terms of "classic", but I saw an older TVR at an autoX a couple years ago. By older, I think it was from the 70s. I spoke with the owner and apparently he had to fix all the common gremlins in the car.....from what I hear, that doesn't leave much. But I guess now it's a great car. Personally, I thought it looked great. The guy went well on the AutoX course. I like them because they're different. As uncommon as MGs are, I'd think TVRs are even less common.

 

Don't think I've ever seen a TVR in the wild as it were do they're pretty rare beasts. They were never made in the numbers that the MG's were. I'm actually thinking of a more modern sports car at the moment - a Lotus Elise (probably and '05).

 

My friend is in the process of restoring an early 70's TVR 2500M. Originally the drivetrain of the car was from the Triumph TR6. The frame is of tubular design with a fiberglass body. His project came sans drivetrain and he is in the process of fitting a Rover V8 with an automatic transmission from a Land Rover Discovery II. He also owns a 75 Triumph TR6 which he has added multi-port fuel injection and a Mercedes supercharger. 0-60 comes in about 5 seconds. If anyone wants to check out the TR6 restoration (or rustoration as he calls it) or the engine work then you can visit www.topshamautoparts.com/tr6/.

 

I saw a beautiful TR6 on the road yesterday. Not a common sight. I was drooling.

 

I have a 1971 Porsche Targa 911T with only 39,000 miles for sale at $22,000.00.