small rwd 3 door hatch

I really liked mine, even with the M44 it was a blast to drive.

Chevy Chevette for a $1k in Wisconsin

XR4Ti is a hatchback. Not super light

Some other ones I can think of that might sort of fit the general idea of two doors, RWD, very small, near-vertical rear hatch:

• 1970s era Dodge Colt (Ok, maybe a bit too sloped)
• 1970s era Corollas
• BMW 2002 Touring
• Volvo P1800 shooting brake
• Vega Kammback
• Some versions of the Opel Kadette

MGB GT.

Well the Tesla S is a hatchback, RWD and it's not old.

Older there are Capri's, not the Mazda 121 mased thing, or the Fox body thing, but real Capri's. The stopped importing them before they became really cool, but these are 25 years old and easy to import too from Germany or Britain for the RHD vibe.

Then there one of my all time favorites the Opel Manta GTE that came in a hatch Personaly though I always prefered the cope version which is what I had.

Backing away from importing things there was the Chevy Monza

You didn't specify price, so there's always

Or

or

RossD wrote: XR4Ti is a hatchback. Not super light

Sub 3,000lb's, hardly a porker

In reply to RossD:

The Chevette they sold over here should be considered a crime against humanity, especially when you see what we were getting in Europe on the same platform.

And that's not counting the ubber cool HSR version

Hang on, what about a Land Shark

Or a 4th gen mullet murder mobile, they were sold through 2002

GTV6 was sold here wasn't it?

Does it have to be RWD? What about AWD? People bitch and moan about haldex, but I've liked every one I've driven, they are strong as hell and you can get a control to alter the F:R balance of them.

I always love driving these. If I didn't work for Ford one of these would probably have been in my driveway 10 years ago. Awesome car I think.

Adrian_Thompson wrote: GTV6 was sold here wasn't it?

And it's earlier sister, the Alfetta GT.

(although neither had a flat floor- there was a bulkhead for the rear seat)

Why no Foxbody Ryan?

You could just go MR and lose the backseat. I have seen a MK IV GTI with a VR6 back there.

Toss a 4.0L Jeep motor and a turbo in there and there you go.

Opel wagons (both Kadett and later 1900 or Ascona) here in the US only had 3-doors and are RWD and light, though maybe longer then you were thinking. Vegas and pintos too.

If that AMC is even a contender than a mail jeep should be as well. Maybe even a lowered S10 blazer or Cherokee.

I've been searching and searching here in New England for any/all of the cars mentioned previously to use for an engine transplant project, and have come up dry for almost a year now.

The "cash for clumkers" initiative and high scrap value has pretty much eliminated all of the cool little project cars forever. What's left are pricy survivors or insane sellers who believe that their Chevettes are worth five grand.

Good luck with your search, if you should come across anything close to Massachusetts that you're not interested in, please post here.

Thanks !

TC

In reply to TeamEvil:

They are out there. They are not as plentiful as they used to be, but there are still cool projects around. Our Spirit 3-door hatch came from the MA/NH border and was cheap enough to build within a Challenge budget. In the past year, I've also seen a late 70's Pontiac Sunbird Formula and a bunch of 318ti's on the local Craigslist which meet these parameters as well, among others.

ryanty22 wrote: Like an old school geo metro only rwd. What's out there?

E7 Corollas... liftback models seem to have few friends...

Chevettes were heavy, underpowered, and slow. I had five or six of them. Chevy Monzas were available with 350s. And a Cosworth Vega might be amusing. Edit: and XR4Ti - XrrrTaTi's. Great car if you like to spend tons of quality time under the hood troubleshooting a car that makes Lucas and Italian electrical systems seem reliable.

jwagner wrote: Chevettes were heavy, underpowered, and slow.

I would hate to think of what you think is light.. according to Wiki.. the Chevette weighed between 1843 and 2035 pounds.. I can't argue with slow and underpowered.. the Iron Duke was not known to be a fireball in stock trim

In reply to mad_machine: Huh. Been a while but I thought my 4 door was about 2600 lbs.

Found the GM model info and my 1980 4 door wet with options, which are not included in the base weight specs, would have been 2267. I guess it just felt like a lot more with a whole 70hp motivating it.

mad_machine wrote: I would hate to think of what you think is light.. according to Wiki.. the Chevette weighed between 1843 and 2035 pounds.. I can't argue with slow and underpowered.. the Iron Duke was not known to be a fireball in stock trim

I don't think you could get a Chevette with an Iron Duke from the factory. That would have been an improvement.

you are correct.. no idea why I thought it had the Duke.. it had a 1.4 or 1.6 OHV four...

on a related note.. to really make a hated car hated, it was available as an "ute" in other markets as the "chevy 500". It's now probably old enough to import

Why does it have to be RWD? There are so many more modern FWD cars that would suit the bill.