Another 'Which car' thread - interesting but practical and with a size limit twist...

As we careen into retirement and our goal of track tourism via RV, I'm looking for options to consider for a practical car to take with us on our travels.  The idea is to pull a (small as possible) stacker trailer behind the RV with our NA Miata race car, and another vehicle as our utility runabout and travel the country to visit as many racetracks as we can.   

I'm looking for suggestions for the runabout... needs to be practical, but fun and quirky are good.  Something that would be fun to take to a Cars & Coffee, but really doesn't need to be high performance or track worthy.  Not really interested in Kei cars.  

Basic parameters:

RWD or AWD only

Probably 4 doors - at least needs a real rear seat big enough for two dogs, two humans in a pinch.  I like wagons myself, but my wife will take convincing.

Max length 15 ft 

Max weight 3400lbs

Max height 6 ft

Budget - not really sure on this, and at this point I'm just gathering data, so let's call it $20k

Right now, my leading candidate is probably an E30 touring.  It checks all the boxes, though it's going to be at the top of the budget envelope for a nice one.  Some other candidates:

E30 coupe or sedan - not as cool as the touring, but still cool

Early 2000s Subaru Forester - really like the 2005ish XTs, but they have some issues

Late 90's USDM Subaru Impreza

Tracker/Sidekick - great little utes, but prices are high and cool factor is low

TJ Wrangler - meh, just not really that interesting

Late 70s/early 80s Corolla Wagon would be cool, but hard to find and prices are high

I've also considered 90s JDM imports like a WRX, but I'm not really that knowledgeable in the market.  This morning, I discovered the Nissan Rasheed, which is a pretty cool little AWD wagon.  'Old enough' Euro imports may be a possibility as well.

So what other interesting, offbeat and cool little runabouts am I missing out there?  

Porsche 944. The dogs will love the expansive hatch and there's jump seats in a pinch, light, short, will be welcome at all C&C events.

A small 4x4 like the Tracker/Sidekick/Wrangler seems like it could really enrich your retirement experience by bringing off-road capability into the mix. Could be a tight fit in the 6ft height limit though.

In reply to Javelin :

As much as I really like the 944/968s, it's a little too far to the outside of the venn diagram.

In reply to GameboyRMH :

Absolutely a consideration.  We already have a Grand Cherokee that fulfills that role and we can tow it behind the RV, but it's too big and heavy for our limits with a stacker trailer.  It will be the 'toad' when we're not traveling with the race car, so I'm leaning more towards a 'streetish' car than an SUV.  I think we could accomplish about anything we would realistically encounter with a rally-ish Forester or Impreza if I want to be able to get dirty on these trips. 

3rd Gen Supra?

How about a Honda Insight? The old ones with ridiculously good gas mileage. That will be a unique C&C ride, even more so with a few light mods. Think of the gas savings, more race track fuel instead. Dogs should fit in the back. Supposed to be good fun to drive with a few mods, it's Honda after all.

What about one of the USDM Japanese AWD wagons from the late 80s? There were both Civics and Tercels. Like an Impreza but with more useful cargo room and they're cooler. And hey, I'll take an 80's Toyota or Honda for reliability.

Veloster

I didn't realize one could get a TJ wrangler that light.

The answer is always Jeep XJ

buzzboy said:

The answer is always Jeep XJ

This

We toad a 2006 Sukuki Grand Vitara.  A great vehicle for that.  Transfer case can be shifted to neutral.   4WD, but has ability to lock all four wheels for climbing in Moab.      4 doors, easy loading dog in back.  Air-conditioning.  With V6 fairly peppy. Decent mileage.  Heated seats when you get in from a cold rainy hike.  The gasser RV doesn't even know its back there until we get above 7,000 feet.  Low maintenance.  

It's been everywhere from 40 miles down remote 2 tracks on the North Rim, to parked in downtown Montreal.

Assuming classics are on the radar (with an E30 at the top of your list), I'd take a hard look at a mechanically sorted Datsun 510 wagon.  Would definitely be a draw at a cars and coffee, and be able to meet your parameters.

Audi A3 sportback?

In reply to Puddy46 :

Have we hit a point where the e30 is more expensive than the 510? Crazy. I initially bought my e30 because I couldn't afford a 510 in driveable condition!

My vote would be e30 touring. I grabbed mine for a little under 13k all in (shipped, customs, everything). It's a less desirable 4cyl/auto model but it has a/c and I'm going to engine swap it anyway. I think the guy I got mine from still has two purple 6 cyl cars though? I think he wanted 16kish for them. I can put you in touch with him if you like.

In reply to iansane :

No overall claims that a 510 is cheaper than an E30, but there is some overlap in the 15k-20k range.  If you're looking to draw eyes, a 510 would be in the same realm as the bimmer.

Stretch the budget and grab a focus RS? Would be great for cars and coffee, has space in the back for two adults, fits in the space allotted.

I know of a 1982 corolla wagon, insanely clean, roughly $15k. Let me know if you want owner contact info. 

The volvo 240 almost fits the criteria, but is 15'9".

If you can find an AWD Tercel wagon I can attest to the fact that they are extremely useful.

If an early Outback is short enough (we had one) they would work well also.

If you were willing to FWD I'd say grab a Honda fit.

For an oddball I'd say Toyota Cressida wagon.............not sure where you'd even find one.

Thanks for the input, guys.  The 510 wagon pictured is exactly the kind of thing I'm thinking of.  I specifically left it out of my OP, as I think a really nice example will be more than I want to spend, and an E30 Touring has a lot of the same appeal with more modern running gear at a lower price (in the current market).

That's the direction I'm leaning, though at this point it's still a thought exercise.  I still have to do a hitch upgrade on the motorhome and find a trailer before I can make any final decision.

Tercel AWD wagon is a good suggestion... that will go on the list for the 'practical' side of the list.  Outbacks are a little long, thus the Forester.  Most of the 90s Japanese wagons are a little too long, or FWD.  Vitara is a great all 'round Toad, but we already have that in our Grand Cherokee, and that's why most of the little utes are on the less interesting side of the spectrum.

Focus RS is more than I'm willing to spend... and at that kind of $$$ there are some cool euro Fords from the 80s-90s I might look at importing.  The RS and the A3 are too new to be very interesting.

I brought up the Rasheen in the OP hoping someone would throw out some other obscure JDM stuff to talk about... here's one I found that looks lowered with wheels.  Not a performance vehicle, but definitely has that cool wagon flavor:

that looks like a Nissan?

apparently Toyota's "Probox" has a bit of cultural cache:

How about a Volvo Amazon wagon.  Super cool, apparently drive way better than most cars of the era, can be modified and have good parts availability, and less than 15' long. 

In reply to Rodan :

OOOO......JDM imports opens up a whole list of weird and wonderful stuff like a Sunny/Pulsar GTi-R (likely to small). I like your thinking.

In reply to sleepyhead the buffalo :

Yes, Nissan Rasheen - B14 Sentra based, apparently, but with AWD from a version of the Pulsar.

That Probox is interesting, but way to new for importing.