Best Platform for Real World "RestoMod"

Best production car platform for building a car with a la carte components. Basically a building a restomod without so much focus on restoration spending big $$$ or essentially making a show car.

Obviously a free shell of a car to build from would probably be the best place to start. The hypothetical is if you were going to pick a shell and build it for a fun ride that you could or intended to DD in real world conditions and have like new car reliability. A vehicle that wouldn’t have issues going to pick up the kids at school every day, sit in bumper to bumper traffic or just load up the family for an easy road trip, regular use in rain, snow or other adverse weather.

Biggest perks would be relative ease and flexibility for engine swaps. A variety of suspension/brake system upgrade options. Overall upgradability (both within the brand and aftermarket support) and simple to deal with electrical system.
Chassis ideas that come to mind are: BMW E30 BMW 2002/1600 Ford Fox / Panther platforms Corvette Mazda RX-7 Volvo 240 Nissan Z-car (240,260) / 240sx (S13,S14) / 510 Subaru (pretty much all of them?) Porsche 911 / 914 / 924 / 944 GM F-Body A-Body G-Body Lotus (pretty much all of them?)

I know there are definitely cars that I am missing. I would suggest some of the replica/kit cars that exist but most really tend to be 2-seat convertibles with little to no trunk space that have practicality on par with motorcycles.

'65-'73 Mustang.

Forgot one item, when you obtain the vehicle there's no drive train, and suspension may or may not be there.

GM A or G body. Depending on how crazy you want to go you can throw the chassis away and there are no shock towers in the engine bay to make engine swaps difficult.

big old 70's Chevy station wagon with steel block GM V8 swap and auto transmission out of a pick-em up.

If you buy a rust free car's it the heyday of cheap power and bolt on accessories for these cars.

Vista Cruiser comes to mind.

From a suspension standpoint nothing has as many options as the Pinto/Mustang 2.

Given that 70's Novas use Camaro suspension up front and regular leaf springs out back there are plenty of upgrade options there too.

S10 and everything is available for them.

914s are below the minimum height for people to not back into/run over them, etc so id say probably no on that one. Both watercooled vws and many Mercedes (w123, w124, w201, w126, etc) have a pretty good selection of parts that bolt together like they were made to and could be as reliable and useful as a new car too. An Alfa Milano or gtv6 could work too, but swapping in a non Alfa engine or a different transmission would get complicated quickly.

A body GM has everything for it. Engine choices, chassis options galore, and easy to get parts.

The other choice if you want to really get into it is the late C1 or C3 corvette with the C5 morrison frame.

Neither are cheap but man you can build a really nice toy that way.

Corolla??

pick up an E7 Corolla wagon... that covers cheap, family... and carrying crap...

set it up with adjustable strut mounts... fit Cressida strut tubes(for Cressida brakes) cut down tubes, turn into coil overs... fit disc brake rear...

Fit a completely overhauled 4AGE, with modern engine management. fit the car with a LEEN 6 speed, and 3.91 final drive.....

RWD Corolla with a 3.0L V6

My current project is a 122 Volvo V6

Both of these bodies are light weight under 2500#

Nissan 210/510 200SX also fit the bill

I have to target presmog models

Also look at MG's Triumph's Austin Cortina Hillman with an EFI V6 these light bodies will haul the mail and get good mileage.

Sultan wrote: S10 and everything is available for them.

That's what I'm working on, currently.

Some cars will be easier than others. There was no mention of budget, either. But it's really a matter of taste and personal preference. Some value comfort over raw power or handling. Budget will dictate which attribute takes priority.

60's Mustangs are a well traveled road, so you can pretty much build a reliable, daily-driver restomod with a few clicks of a mouse and a healthy credit card limit. 60's Camaros aren't far behind.

Personally, give me a blank check and I'd build a '69 Charger with an aftermarket coil-over front end, a multi-link rear (or maybe IRS) with a basically stock 6.1 SRT engine through a 6 spd manual. Nice, custom interior will A/C, cruise control, P/W & DL, 9 speaker stereo and enough leather to make every cow I pass tremble in fear.

70s Nova, or GM A body, both have huge aftermarket support, and ridiculous parts interchanges.

whatever you like and know how to work on...

why does everyone always need to overthink everything all the time?

I'm still at the early stages of my Nova project ('75) and have been pleasantly surprised with the ease of accumulating parts and expertise.
If it were a year older (3rd gen instead of 4th) it would be within the realm of 'stupid easy'

Late 80's Ford Ranger. Throwing ideas around my head to make it AWD a la Syclone/Typhoon sisters.

As I type this, a 70's F-100 might be better.

And does anyone remember Jesse James' K5 Blazer on Pikes Peak? Yummy!

240/260Z

The lines are beautiful

If it were me I'd pick up a G body Malibu wagon. All the same go fast/turn fast bits as the rest of the G bodies/S10 but with more wagon awesome thrown in.

Anything that has isn't hopelessly ugly and is rust free. The rest just depends on your skills, time and budget.

Some ideas that I've kicked around are a SAAB 99 ems body with a 900 turbo drive train swap. A seventies Mercedes w114 sedan with a chevy V8 engine and auto trans swap. If you've ever seen the prices of MB drive train parts you'd understand that one. I'd also like to take a late sixties or early seventies RWD muscle or pony car and build it into an off road-able expedition car. Long travel suspension, skid plates, rally tires, bull-bars, roof rack and plenty of off-road lights. If I had the time I'd drive it down the Pan-American highway

I would say the Mustangs, A-bodies, F-bodies and G-bodies would be the easiest.

But MGs and Triumphs both have pretty decent support as well.

I'm about to start this on a '76 Caddy Calais in a couple of weeks if things go well. Will be taking baby steps.

I'm currently swapping a 4.8 LS motor into a '72 Chevy pickup. And real world use is the main goal here - I've only got one kid, so it is possible and not terribly uncomfortable right now to fit the whole family in the cab. It's going to be used for light hauling errands. And if I want to make it handle, there's a surprising amount of aftermarket for it.

novaderrik wrote: whatever you like and know how to work on... why does everyone always need to overthink everything all the time?

Good point, but overthinking things is a popular pastime and excuse for not getting things done!

I'd add aircooled VWs. The fact that the shell separates so neatly from the chassis facilitates various swaps. When I clear my plate of projects that I've actually started, I'd like to build up a Ghia. I'm thinking of grafting on front and rear Miata subframes, using the 5-speed 914 tranny that I have access to, and throwing a Subaru motor on there. Would still have rear-engined handling characteristics, but with a much more competent set of parts to work with.

JFX001 wrote: '65-'73 Mustang.

No truer words have ever been spoken here.......you can order complete new unibodies.