suggestions time! Classic looking coupes that are reasonably priced

In reply to Curmudgeon:

It's hard to be an ACVW fan if you expect to actually use the car. No power, no brakes, iffy suspension, crash worthiness of an old shoe, etc.

Uprated brakes, tires, belts, and a big bump in power are nearly a prerequisite. It's too bad.

My first choice for doubling to tripling stock HP, provided orginality is not required:

It's all 455 after that.

I'm voting 912, 914, or 808 (yes, I'm done with rotaries, thank you very much).

I've always had a bit of lust toward the Opel Kadett C:

Seems like the only way to get them in Stateside was the Buick-Opel:

And the Isuzu I-Mark:

a subby swapped karma ghia could be very interesting.

In reply to singleslammer:

I am pretty sure both of those are Mantas, unfortunately neither are mine.

singleslammer... Is it a resto, or a resto mod? If it is resto you might look for simple cars so that maintaining it remains that way. If resto mod, then it is what YOU like. For example... I loved the look of my 1st gen Manta... the 1.9 liter in-head cam was ok, but a nice small twisty twincam would make it far more enjoyable. If I were building either a Volvo 1800, or the Manta, I'd look to slip a 3SGE BEAMS and 6 speed into them.

Look for a euro model mercedes r107 slc. I think an slc with either an i6 or v8 would and could literally push some of those other cars off the road. The build quality will also surpass that of some of the others. Everyone complains about lack of manual but the mercedes gearbox can be manually shifted through the gears and turns the car into quite some fun.

I surprised no one mentioned something like a Alfa Giulietta. Here's one just posted to BAT the other day: http://bringatrailer.com/2011/11/24/1960-alfa-romeo-giulietta-sprint-project/

Turn it into something like this:

And I know you said a coupe, but what about a Fiat 124 spider with a hardtop? Something like this:

singleslammer wrote: sorry, no shark. Not exactly small and does have the classic cred to get past the wife

My fault, dude..every time I see "coupe", I get on my GT horse.

Hmmm. Okay, a pack of questions that are maybe more personal than you wish to answer.

1.) How old is your wife? (so that we can imagine what she considers classic)

2.) How small does she really want to live with? (so that we can compare it to our own SO's previous requests..before they actually had to drive one!)

3.) What is her ethnic heritage? (my girl's from Scottish stock..she ended up with a big-assed Jag. I'll bet an Italian girl would go weak in the knees for an Alfa, or a German girl would groove on an older BMW.)

we are looking at pre 75 for "classics." I like small. Her dad has a mg midget so small is ok. German stock but she likes the brits cars better than most

In reply to oldeskewltoy:

well I am definitely gonna resto-mod. I have an engine picked out that will be revealed later, when I know I'm not bat E36 M3 crazy. Beams are sweet, had a mk2 mr2 and could only dream, but parts are gonna be scarce.

This is such a cool car. I know it's newer than what you're looking for, but I so want to see a nice Isuzu Impulse Turbo.

Scratch the alfas if you have to do an engine swap to be happy, they come with pretty good engine to begin with, and other engines dont fit easily, especially in the alfettas.

It would almost criminal to swap the engine out of any vintage Alfa... they sound so beautiful when tuned just right.

I know, that's one thing I would like to consider. I don't want to be burned at the stake for destroying a classic. I'm leaning on my original choice, mgb gt. I'm surprised that no has mentioned a triumph gt6.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triumph_GT6

Not real small, but Corvair's seem like a lot of fun for the buck

LIn reply to kreb:

I was just looking at those but I am afraid of rear engine handling, hence why I'm not jumping on a karma ghia.

The V8 'Vair engine swaps put the engine in the mid-position instead of at the back of the car where the flat six is. I don't know how much that improves the handling but I'd guess it would have to.

What a great thread. Sure is nice to see all those coupes again. The older I get the older I sound but they sure don't make cars like that anymore. Sure the newer vehicles are probably better in every possible way, more reliable, faster, handle better, stop quicker and so on but they have also lost something.

Back then each manufacturer had a look so you could immediately tell what it was. Now they are all generic blobs and look the same.

Could luck on your decision, it's going to be tough with so many good choices. Me, I vote for the MGB GT or the 912.

its fun to see all of the available options. I am planning on keeping my eyes open for a good deal on any number of these but honestly the mgb gt may win just due to availability. There is a gt6 in my town that I may try and buy off the owner but we will have to see.

There were other cool old Swedish coupes besides the 1800.

• Lee

I like both of those but I am certain that a 242 wouldn't get past the wife

singleslammer wrote: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triumph_GT6

I miss mine.

Honestly, simple enough to work on that it should come in a box with "Revell" on the top.

Revell didn't make them, but Lindberg did: I never did build the thing. The body halves were separate from the roof, and it was incredibly fussy to try to get everything to line up and stay together for gluing. It was a nice kit as far as the details.

Now, back to our regular thread.