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Five Classic Cars You Can Still Buy For $5,000 Or Even Less

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billh1963 Avatar
billh1963 Bill H
Orangeburg, SC, USA   USA
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1963 MG MGB MkI
1967 MG MGB GT
1968 MG MGC GT
1969 MG MGC GT    & more
Link to Five Classic Cars Article

The perception of where the entry-level to the collector car hobby seems to rise every week (or at least with every rerun of the Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale auction). But for patient bottom-feeders, there’s still a wealth of sub-$5K collectible cars out there in nice (albeit not spotless) condition. Here are five to consider:

1. 1964 Ford Falcon: You can’t find a drivable first generation Mustang out there anymore for five grand or less — or can you? While few people know it, the first Mustang was heavily based on the Ford Falcon compact. The same ease of maintenance with a dash of practicality awaits a Falcon owner. Most will be four-door sedans but it’s one of the few 1960s classics out there that you can reliably find at this price. Just know that you’ll be fighting hipsters in places like Portland and Austin when they pop up on Craigslist but since most of these folks don’t wake up until eleven, you’ll have the jump on them.

2. 1975-80 MGB: The classically British MGB roadster was in production for a staggering 18 years. The first five were undeniably great, the next seven were OK, and the last six? Well let’s just say that the MGB in 1976 was like Meg Ryan in her 50s. The car wasn’t without charm but with a lifted suspension and puffed up rubber bumpers that resemble Ryan’s lips, it wasn’t what it was. But on a sunny day, none of that will matter to you unless you find the need to humiliate an old Mercedes 240D at a stoplight— the emission control laws that snatched one of the MGB’s carburetors in late 1974 make it painfully slow. At least you won’t have to worry about keeping two carbs in synch. Lucas electricals? Not as problematic as you’ve heard. Bad re-wiring over the years by fools with tools is responsible for much of the “Prince of Darkness” reputation. Parts are cheap and plentiful.

3. 1987-92 Ford Mustang 5.0 LX: The 5.0-liter Fox body Mustang marked the real return of reasonably priced American V-8 muscle for the masses after the crushing Malaise Era of the mid-1970s to early 1980s. And today, it’s the last bastion of truly affordable V-8 American muscle. Sadly, it may be short-lived. We’ve lately seen convertibles slip out of the affordable range, so you’ll be limited to a hatchback or a hardtop (we kind of like the latter because the California Highway Patrol used them in the 1980s), and it will probably be an LX rather than a GT. Not all bad because LXs tended to be bought by more mature types less likely to abuse and/or modify.

4. 1988 Pontiac Fiero GT: We know we’re likely to take some crap for this inclusion, but the 1988 Fiero belongs in the small club of truly great American two-seater sports cars. Earlier versions of the car had been saddled with suspension parts from lesser GM cars of the time (and given what they were building at the time, “lesser” is no idle term). But for 1988, designers got to build the car that they had wanted all along, dumping the Chevy Citation bits for a suspension design similar to what Lotus was using. GM’s response was to kill the car. Just over 26,000 1988 Fieros were built and that was it. We love the GT with the fastback roofline and megaphone exhausts. You’ll have to look a little harder to GT for five Gs or less, but they’re not like hen’s teeth.

5. 1983-85 Porsche 944: Finding a Porsche (admittedly one built by Audi) on a list of $5K cars is probably about as expected as seeing George Clooney nodding with approval at the next Conservative Political Action Committee meeting. But having trolled Craigslist for decent 944s at this price point, we can assure you that they’re out there. What you get for your five grand is a quick (although not really fast) car that may be one of the best handling sports cars ever built. With perfect 50/50 weight distribution from a front engine/rear transaxle design, it’s an autocrosser’s dream. Parts aren’t particularly cheap but there’s plenty of used stuff out there, and the fact that Porsche raided the Audi and VW parts bins keeps them in the not-nutty range. Bodies were well rust-proofed too. Key point? Change the timing belt and water pump if you have any doubts as to when this was last done, and if things do go kablooey you can at least get top dollar for things like seats and wheels, which will fit much pricier 911s.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2014-04-24 03:28 PM by billh1963.

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RAY 67 TOURER Avatar
RAY 67 TOURER Ray Marloff
Fort Bragg, CA, USA   USA
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1967 MG MGB "My Girl"
The Fieros were notorious for catching on fire. When Pontiac finally sorted out the car with the installation of a decent V6, the car was pulled from production. They were a real stinker to work on however. The Porshe 944 was actually a great little car that never got its due. In Turbo or S form, they were quite quick little cars. The Porshe 924 was the one to avoid. RAY

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notyet-MG Avatar
notyet-MG Steve LaPaugh
Newport News, VA, USA   USA
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1977 MG MGB
Let's hope this doesn't draw attention to our LBC. I hate all the auction attention and all the crap about how valuable old cars are. All that does is drive up the price of everything else.

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billh1963 Avatar
billh1963 Bill H
Orangeburg, SC, USA   USA
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1963 MG MGB MkI
1967 MG MGB GT
1968 MG MGC GT
1969 MG MGC GT    & more
The "fools with tools" comment is funny

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stuntflyr Avatar
stuntflyr Chris McMillin
Catalina, Foothills, USA   USA
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Watching a Mecum auction right now (Kansas City?) and a '77 MGB that was just gorgeous went for $6500. Stuffs going sky high!eye rolling smiley
Chris...

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littlecars Avatar
littlecars David Bassett
Nashville, TN, USA   USA
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1963 Chevrolet Corvair "Cheeto!"
1965 Chevrolet Corvair "Ski Team Transport SOLD!"
1965 MG Midget MkII "Buffoon --- SOLD!!!"
1966 MG Midget MkII "Swiss Cheese...SCRAPPED"    & more
Bill H: what is the attribution for the article you reprinted in this post? I think I saw that in Hemmings Collector Car but I could be mistaken. They included the Cadillac Allante as a loss leader in this category.

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billh1963 Avatar
billh1963 Bill H
Orangeburg, SC, USA   USA
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1963 MG MGB MkI
1967 MG MGB GT
1968 MG MGC GT
1969 MG MGC GT    & more
In reply to # 2670561 by littlecars Bill H: what is the attribution for the article you reprinted in this post? I think I saw that in Hemmings Collector Car but I could be mistaken. They included the Cadillac Allante as a loss leader in this category.

Click the "Five Classic Cars" title above the article....I'll rename it!

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underdog Avatar
underdog Jim Underwood
Pittsburgh, USA   USA
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1972 MG MGB
1980 Triumph TR8 "Fabulous Trashwagon"
1999 Chevrolet Corvette "Darth Vader"
1999 Chevrolet S10 "Spare Change"    & more
Poor Meg Ryan. She was such a cutie pie.

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ValveCoverGasket Avatar
B'ham, WA, USA   USA
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Can you really buy 5L mustangs for $5k anymore? I had heard theyd started climbing quickly recently as well...
Some day this collector hoarding bubble will pop!





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SpitFireEFI.com

'67 B GT - ITB Miata-Swap

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dohc281 Avatar
dohc281 Silver Member Ira Eckstein
Laurel Springs, NJ, USA   USA
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I've sold two 5.0 Fox body Mustangs in the last 6 months. One was a 88 vert and one was a notch. Great running cars with a nice size. They will soon become expensive to buy.

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Edmonds, WA, USA   USA
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My neighbor across the street just bought a '57 Chevy Bel-Air. It looks to be in nice shape, supposedly numbers matching and mostly original. I was hesitant to ask, but finally did. $43K. Yeah, I'll stick to MG's.

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