Cheap cars you always kind of wanted

I saw one of those recently on the streets of Portland, though I was driving so I failed to take a pic (and it was in rough shape). I always thought they were cool, but I’m not a pickup customer so my perspective might not be relevant! :slight_smile:

I’m not a pick up person either, but I remember the VW-Porsche mechanics would always have 2 of these around for running parts. I guess I’m in the part of parenting where I’m regressing to my childhood.

I remember seeing a Ford Festiva “ute” conversion in the rust belt once and found out it was a surprisingly “common” thing that you could do in a weekend with a sawzall and a welder.

50mpg? Still able to haul a barrel of oil through the apocalypse? Yee haw.

I guess it’s not a cheap car but it is also not a luxury car. I’ve always had a thing for the Chrysler 300…my guilty pleasure. Something about its proportions and styling works…stance with attitude. I don’t really care for the stock models but some of the ones that have been customized or fixed up are kind of appealing. Or maybe it was the whole Chrysler marketing campaign with eminem & dr. dre. Doesn’t hurt you can get one with a Hemi.

The 300 SRT 8 was a slick looking thing, but I think they they realized that most people who were willing to deal with the poor build quality of an American muscle car on a 20 year old Chassis would rather save the pizzaz and go for the Charger.

With that said, Walter White certainly made that car “badass”.

With that said - it’s not cheap right now, but wait 3-5 years and these Charger Hellcat widebodys will cost next to nothing and dang they look good.

I’ve also always had a soft spot for those old MB E class based Dodges and Chryslers (the Challenger, Charger, and 300 are all based on E Class platforms from like 3 generations ago)… the one I guiltily pined for though was The Magnum. We actually considered it back in maybe 08. we had an interesting stable of test drives (Magnum, vs Audi A3, vs GTI, vs Mini, vs Mazda Speed 3… we went with the Mini).

Growing up my friend had a souped-up VW Scirocco I thought that was cool until I saw the Corrado. I coveted the Corrado in my teens but never got one. Same friend has a Porsche 944 he restored, in red of course.

If only the Magnum had looked like this (it did in the UK):

On a side note: Top 3 cars built in Canada: Ford GT, Chrysler 300/Dodge Challenger, Eagle Premier? The #3 spot is really hard to find…

I always wanted one of those. I test drove one before I got the TT and thought long and hard about it.

Curious why that is, Dodge will be no longer or they just depreciate that fast?

Yo: I’ve often thought about a G35 coupe. Porsche design, 2+2 for the kids, RWD. I never liked the way Nissans feel though. Just sitting in them feels somehow more cheaply put together than an '80s GM product. All the plastic feels like polystyrene, weird snapping sounds on things. Ick!

Leggo: Chryslers tend to be the fastest depreciating cars in NA. Don’t know if the Hellcat will suffer that fate though, considering the small production numbers.

I don’t know what but I was just looking at used manual g35 coupes on cars.com last night :slight_smile:

Great minds think alike, right?

Quick search here, only one with a manual. Guy wants $7800 CDN. 120k miles. Unfortunately, lowered way too much and has rust spots on the fender. I gotta take a trip to Cali!

There were quite a few stock ones with manuals in the US for some reason. I saw a few below 100k miles all asking about $10k. Still had the stock wheels and everything thankfully.

$10k is more than I thought they would go for. Hmmmm…

Yah, in modified ones in good shape under 100k all seem to be hovering around 10k. The modified ones seem cheaper.




The G35 is one of those cars that is often messed up with mods, driven hard by kids, and generally messed with. As stock as possible is always preferable and if it has stupid huge rims and an aftermarket stereo stay away, no matter the condition.

I too looked at one a long time ago but just felt too “boy racer” for my vibe. I needed up with the BMW E90 coupe instead.

R

When I see “modded G35”, I read, “I drifted into a mailbox…5 times”.

That is the correct read on the situation :stuck_out_tongue:

Did I already say Citroen 2 CV or Citroen Mehari?

Much simpler times. My childhood heroe “free sprits” used to drive one of those.

mo-i