Quirky cars

The Yugo is one of the cars that i have owned that was very much different from everything else on the street and it was fun to work on and unique. Alas they are a bit harder to find it seems and parts are usually shipped in from afar. I started thinking of quirky cars like the Yugo that are different but still have that "always fun-smile on-your-face" when working on or racing or just cruising. What other cars are out there (USA market) that are similar in that regard.

• Lets say newer then 1985
• Parts readily available
• Small size, so compact/ subcompact/ micro cars? (that was half the fun with the Yugo)
• Good MPGs.
• Easy to hop up (not looking for a rocket or FTD car but fun) (engine swaps are a plus)
• Simple (few wiring harness or electric gizmos)
• quirky, odd or just not something you'd expect to see done up
• lastly---CHEAP (thats the big one...cheap fun)

So far on my list i have the Yugo:

The Geo Metro/ Swift etc...

Mirage/Colt 4g63 swap

Short bed/cab S10 (This one is a stretch)

Any others that i missed?Smaller the better haha (throw up links if needed)

Suzuki Samurai. It hits all of your requirements. My FI late model always hit 28 MPG. You could drive it aggressively without breaking the speed limit, so it was fun. It had a mechanical feel to it that was very satisfying. It's tiny. Stupid simple. Tiny engine, huge engine compartment, so everything was easy to work on. The tires size is such that you have a 1900 lb truck sitting on tires rated for a 4000 lb truck, so they last nearly forever.

Ford - Aspire, escort/zx2

Toyota - Paseo, Echo, Tercel

Nissan - 200sx/sentra se-r

Alfa Milano? Other than good MPG and cheap parts it fits all the other requirements.

nm

Hey- that's not "the Yugo", That's MY Yugo!

My Yugo is on your list??

Well, OK. I'll sell.

While you are here looking, I can introduce you to my complete armada of quirky cars.

Saab c900, preferably turbo. Pretty quirky as stock, (FWD with longitudinally mounted engine with g'box underneath, clam-shell hood, ignition console down between front seats...)

Kinda limited scope for mods, though, beyond the usual suspension/brakes/tuning. The gearboxes don't take kindly to big power increases.

Merkur XR4Ti

I know I would get weird/dirty/bad looks but I would love a boxy early to mid 90s four door Sammy/Tracker lowered and sitting on some wide sticky rubber .

Suzuki X90 The strangest car ever made!

Subaru XT-6

323 gtx
saw one the other day and smiled

I vote for the Suby Xt.. but with a dose of STi added

In reply to SVreX:

Ok, I'll bite - how much & details?

SVreX wrote: Subaru XT-6

For the record, I saw an SVX yesterday as I was pulling-out from gassing-up the truck. This was about thirty seconds after a really sweet 2.5RS and a (too riced-out for my taste) Celica GTS pulled into the same station.

There must have been some kind of import meet going on at nearby Stone Mountain Park because you don't normally see those cars in daily traffic around here.

Older boxy Volvos. I've never owned one and would never consider it. Well, not until I met some owners who love them to death, and have made them surprisingly fast and sharp handling.

What about a Ford Fairmont Durango? Fox chassis Fords couldn't possibly have more aftermarket and it's definitely not something you see very often.

I get questions all the time about the wife's daily driver. Around 25,000 between the US and Canada, parts are available readily just about everywhere but here. It's available in a 3 door and a 5 door on this continent. You can find them pretty inexpensively, and in theory, you can drop a Cobalt SS motor right in.

The only thing it fails in is the electrical gizmos. It has a ton of them, but they're not the most reliable. Lots of quirkiness is due to the electronics. Heck, the clock is 24 hour only.

King of Quirky: Isuzu VehiCROSS. (I'm pretty sure that's how it was spelled by Isuzu.) If you can find one, very odd looking with plastic parts/cladding all over.

SVreX wrote: Subaru XT-6

I love the dash display on those. People who've never seen one call me nuts when I describe it, so I'll just leave this link here..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9qxLK6v7_k

91 Toyota Tercel with the 2ZZ-GE Corolla S engine, 6 speed. Roughly 180 hp, 8000 rpm. I don't know how hard this would be to do but I've thought about it ever since driving an 05 Corolla S with that engine. That engine in that light wt. car with proper susp. and brakes would be an interesting sleeper. I've searched the net for one and haven't found it yet. I'm sure there's a reason. Even better if the susp. and brakes could be adapted.

MG_Bryan wrote: What about a Ford Fairmont Durango? Fox chassis Fords couldn't possibly have more aftermarket and it's definitely not something you see very often.

That is so cool. I had never heard of one before.

I once raced an RSX up the Tail of the Dragon in an SVX powered XT-6.

Smoked him. He never had a chance.

petegossett wrote: In reply to SVreX: Ok, I'll bite - how much & details?

Still not ready to sell it without a heck of a lot of parts. 5 engines (2 1500's), 3 trannies (1 built by Steve Hoelscher), Cromodora wheels, multiple sets of tires (3 sets? 5?), suspension parts, EFI parts, megasquirt, turbo components, it's the car plus a truckload of parts from mutiple Yugos and Fiats. It's a treasure trove for someone who loves them. I could put a couple days into getting it running, tuning, and then spend a lot of time selling the pieces and make somewhere around $5K, but I'd rather sell as-is. I'd like $3500 for the package, but I'd really like to see it back at the Challenge, so we'd need to come up with a plan.

Sorry for the threadjack.

CarKid1989 wrote: - lastly---CHEAP (thats the big one...cheap fun)

Some of the cars are getting away from this bit. Not nit picking but to me half the fun is having lots of fun in some thing that does not cost a whole bunch. (that could potentiall make the experience less...well.. fun)