I would still argue in the Miata's favor. They are cheap, plentiful and easy to work on.

I've sold two running/driving Miatas through this forum recently for $1250 each. I sold my turbo Challenge car for less than your $2500 buy in ceiling and it finished 8th in the auto-x at this year's Challenge.

4g63 Colts can be had for that price, and one did quite well in the 06 or 07 challenge (cant remember)

i may be a bit biased, but its hard to beat an early 924 for ax duty. for way under a grand a good runner can be found, and the early 4 speeds while not fast on the track, are perfectly suited for cone dancing.

Here is a Datsun 210 with trailer. You might be able to talk him down....

Datsun 210 craigslist

944 that needs a clutch can be had for about a grand. decent non-turbos are in the $2500 ballpark all day long. chassis is ridiculously good right out of the box. sticky tires and good brake pads and call it a day.

but if it doesn't have to be a street car, and if you have a way to haul it, then yeah, keith is right, a kart is the way to go.

A Ford Zx2 can be picked up in your price range. Parts are cheap if you want to hop it up and improve the handling. First gen Protege's are another good option. Make sure to get the LX though. Your good for a 7500 redline..

1st gen. CRX/3rd gen. Civic. "Savestheday" here on the board had a decently prepared EP crx for uber-cheap. He's parting it out now, but might be removing 1 piece at a time (i.e. it may still be driveable:)

http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/2008-classifieds/ep-autocross-crx-partout-lots-of-goodies-obo/5430/page1/

Buy for less than $1500, throw new tires on, and wax Miatas, berkeleying 944's, and pretty much everything else all day long.

You can get a BMW 325 e30 for $1500. Then put another grand into the suspension and tires.

Parts are cheap and available at the local U pull. Engines are bullitproof as long as you take care of the timing belt.

Ireland engineering makes everything you need for suspension upgrades. They are easy to work on and pretty neautral to drive.

B

A Miata + Konis + R-compound tires is a great way to start autocrossing (even the Miata w/o the +'s is great) and will keep you entertained for quite a while.

If you like first-gen MR2s, that is hardly a bad way to go either. It just may take longer to find a good example.

AW11 MR2 (cleanest one you can find)

Celicas. With your budget, you can get a decent one up to the year 1993. Once they hit 1994 and the 6th gen body, for some reason, the price jumps way up even though it's the same car. Suprisingly nimble, willing motor, nice and torquey for autocross (talking about gt), the coupes are pretty stiff, and you can get them for DIRT cheap at this point. Spend the rest of your budget on suspension and tires, and have a blast.

AE92 Corolla GTS/FX16 Corolla GTS. 4age powered pocket rockets. Hatch/coupe, pick your poison.

Gen 2 Escort GT/Protege. I just picked up a CHERRY one for $600. And i mean CHERRY. 58k miles. This thing has already impressed the hell out of me and i've only driven it 30 miles.

Neon

And now my oddball.... 88-89 Celica AllTrac. Just for something different. Fairly powerful, composed, nifty, different, and can be found in your price range. Yeah... they aren't light, but you can fix that. It's AWD and Turbo! Quit complaining! Autox, rallyx, ice racing, rally, drag racing, road racing.... it'll do whatever you want.

as was mentioned, the mazda mx6 is a good candidate but i'd recommend the first gen rather than the second gen. a 88-92 mx6 GTs won GS at nationals for a few years in a row in the early-mid 90's. the GT has beefed up control arms, cv axles, transmission, hubs, etc. to go along with the turbo goodness. you should be able to get one in really good condition for around 1500-2500 or possibly even less for the ugly sister probe GT that shared the same chassis and drivetrain.

as was mentioned, the mazda mx6 is a good candidate but i'd recommend the first gen rather than the second gen. a 88-92 mx6 GTs won GS at nationals for a few years in a row in the early-mid 90's. the GT has beefed up control arms, cv axles, transmission, hubs, etc. to go along with the turbo goodness. you should be able to get one in really good condition for around 1500-2500 or possibly even less for the ugly sister probe GT that shared the same chassis and drivetrain.

I am at the same crossroads. Had a sentra SE-R b13. Now I'm looking at a FC rx7, SW20 mr2, '88 Pontiac Fiero, first gen. miata & AW11 mr2. And odd one that is catching my attention is the eclipse gsx/ talon tsi.

yes, the GRM DSM article put them on my radar as well. I always liked the way the first gens looked.

If the cars intent is to be an autocross car first and formost. Consider what class you want to run in. You don't need to run "the car" for any particular class, but you do need to have an idea as to what your relative advantages / disadvantages are.

Mazda Protege

Canoe!

Keith wrote: A kart. If you're looking to have fun and not necessarily be competitive, run whatever. Anything is fun when you're driving the wheels off it, although it may not be rewarding.

This!

Neon. You can find a decent first gen coupe for sofa cushion money. That leaves some cash for upgrades.

I'm partial to the RX-7 also.

I don't think I've seen an X1/9 in 15 years. I'm sure they're out there. If you can find 'em.

neons are the way to go ...my brother found one for $250 on CL then put another $600 in junkyard ACR parts another $500 on wheels and tires ..looks ugly and is kinda beat looking but it sleeps like a doberman on the front porch

ohh the lolz..

Canoe digs up 2+ year old thread.. 1 guy catches it but others dont.

wouldn't the '93 - '97 F-body with the LT1 be farily inexpensive by now? I haven't priced one in a long time but I used to own one. I think it would make a dandy auto-x car. Esp. since the police parts (B4C?) are available

ya...old thread but hell...I'm interested now!

now i know!!! since we are on the subject and since I am new to the forum what's the whole Canoe thing about?

Canoe is how to report a spam post or thread to moderators. I guess it flags the thread and they take care of it from there.