"cheap" small autocross capable reliable convertible that ISN'T and MR2 or a Miata...

You're drawing blanks because the MR2 and Miata are the best at this within a reasonable budget. 

Seriously, your other options are 

• SLK, TT, Z3/4, Boxster, XK/XJS, all of which are probably too scary/expensive to maintain and/or long in the tooth in the budget (may or may not be true, but impressions)
• E30/E36/Audi cabrio/
• Skystice, which is just a Miata that isn't as good at anything except for looking cool and doesn't have ANY trunk (seriously, how does a mid-engine MR2 have more storage than the Skystice?)
• Sebring/EOS/Cabrio/Cutlass/Cavalier/Sunfire/9-3/G6/Eclipse/Allante/Thunderbird.... all likely affordable and relatively reliable (well, not the allante), but BORING and/or poor autocrossers
• C4 or C5 Corvette... may actually be the best answer here, but any in the price range will likely be long in the tooth
• CamaroBirdStang, another good option
• C70/E46/E90, more good options but likely a no-no because of European scariness

I'd point her in the direction of the Z3/Z4, E36/E46, and CamarBirdStang, but then have her drive a Miata or Mr2. They're the best at this game. 

Can you get a s197 S197 convertible with the 3.7 and a stick? I'd probably do that. 

Wait nobody went there yet? Ok I will.

Nah, we can do better than that: 

mtn said:

You're drawing blanks because the MR2 and Miata are the best at this within a reasonable budget. 

 

Seriously, your other options are 

• SLK, TT, Z3/4, Boxster, XK/XJS, all of which are probably too scary/expensive to maintain and/or long in the tooth in the budget (may or may not be true, but impressions)
• E30/E36/Audi cabrio/
• Skystice, which is just a Miata that isn't as good at anything except for looking cool and doesn't have ANY trunk (seriously, how does a mid-engine MR2 have more storage than the Skystice?)
• Sebring/EOS/Cabrio/Cutlass/Cavalier/Sunfire/9-3/G6/Eclipse/Allante/Thunderbird.... all likely affordable and relatively reliable (well, not the allante), but BORING and/or poor autocrossers
• C4 or C5 Corvette... may actually be the best answer here, but any in the price range will likely be long in the tooth
• CamaroBirdStang, another good option
• C70/E46/E90, more good options but likely a no-no because of European scariness

 

I'd point her in the direction of the Z3/Z4, E36/E46, and CamarBirdStang, but then have her drive a Miata or Mr2. They're the best at this game. 

The no Miatas full stop really sent me for a loop... I was like... it's THE car... I can understand if you don't like a certain generation... NB/NC are meh for me... 



 

In reply to mtn :

Like I said, the solstice/sky turbo is seriously fast, unlike any stock cheap Miata. But yes no trunk and bad autocross classing.

Oh, I forgot about the MINI verts. Not reliable, but still...

There are still convertible Cavaliers in Pennsylvania, so I'm sure they exist elsewhere these days as well....just saying

sometimes the challenging fun of autocross isn't about setting a fast time, but managing to not come in a slalom configuration where the distance between gates is shorter than the length of your car. 

In reply to captdownshift :

I was going to go vintage, but with something that's actually, well, _somewhat_ auto-x capable...

She doesn't like wrenches because she's never wrenched on anything as gratifyingly simple as a Corvair.  There are 3 bolts that mount the drivetrain to the car.  Three.  And you don't even need an engine hoist to take it out.  Beyond that, pretty much anything on the car can be fixed by any half-competent mechanic in a podunk town in the panhandle of Texas...ask me how I know.

$10k should buy a decent late model convertible, and as long as she doesn't crash it or drive it in the salt, it should last and hold its value.  

In reply to volvoclearinghouse :

Oh they're absolutely the most daft fun that you can have on an autocross course as well. 

No Miatas?  How about an MX-5 then?  Seriously, the answer is the answer.  A $6,000 NC is a nice daily car (hint hint) that is competent to AX.  

My first thoughts were Boxster and e46 330ci vert. A fly and buy to south Florida would also give you a bunch of c5 convertibles to choose from also. 

KyAllroad (Jeremy) said:

No Miatas?  How about an MX-5 then?  Seriously, the answer is the answer.  A $6,000 NC is a nice daily car (hint hint) that is competent to AX.  

Sometimes, the best tool for driving nails is indeed a hammer.

mtn said:

Oh, I forgot about the MINI verts. Not reliable, but still...

I used to autocross a 2007 Cooper 'vert.  I loved that little car and actually did pretty well with it. I really wish the stars had been aligned better when my ex- decided to sell it. Or if she had decided to sell it a year or so sooner. It would have saved me from a lot of misery.

I just saw a mid/late 90's Celica convertible today, the roundish one, and immediately thought of this thread. I imagine they're pretty thin on the ground, but it actually looked kind of cool. 

I'm just pleased to see the forum isn't letting me down with hilarity... Please PLEASE continue.. 

mazdeuce - Seth said:

I just saw a mid/late 90's Celica convertible today, the roundish one, and immediately thought of this thread. I imagine they're pretty thin on the ground, but it actually looked kind of cool. 

We have a coupe 5th-gen that autocrosses with us. It used to be pretty competitive, but then with the arrival of the FiST and Abarth 500 in H/Street, it's gotten pretty outgunned. The 5SFE isn't that powerful, it doesn't have an LSD and the chassis isn't particularly great. And the parts supply has started to dry up on them. I know the owner spent months hunting down a set of Konis for it and was told that they were pretty much the last unsold set in existence. These are also from the age of a million vacuum lines, now all headed for 30 years old, which results in lots of gremlins

I have my project for now... but by the time I'm ready for something else, I'm going to need to remember that Caymans are seriously nicely priced now. So probably by the time I get to wanting one for real, they'll be stanced out.... "yo"

Why has no one mentioned the Honda Beat or Suzuki Cappuccino?

Sure they're small, and not, uh, powerful, but isn't driving 10/10s literally every time you step into the thing worth something?

Ian F said:

spacecadet said:

STM317 said:

Pontiac Solstice/Saturn Sky? Probably not going to win nationals with one, but that doesn't mean they can't be fun. 

i'd be concerned about reliability.. but not a terrible plan on the surface.. 

If the reliability of a Solstice/Sky concerns you, then you'll pretty much have to not recommend she buy a car.  The only things out there more reliable would be... the MR2 and Miata...  

Why not either of those?

With all due respect to Curtis, a relatively stock E30 is a great street car, but an absolutely horrible and frustrating autocross car.  Mainly due to the steering and "fixing" that puts it into classes where it won't be competitive and remain a tolerable street car.  Beyond that, the E30 is basically a classic car now.  A really nice one I wouldn't want to use as more than a weekend toy.  And you'll spend every bit of the $10K budget to buy a decent one - or more making a neglected one "decent".

What can I say?  I like the old school stuff 

In reply to Javelin :

you are "loving" you Boxster between races? There may be laws about this.

dean1484 said:

In reply to Javelin :

you are "loving" you Boxster between races? There may be laws about this.

I like it quite a bit, but SWMBO is "loving" it, which I think is okay north of the Mason-Dixon line.