As you might recall, in our recent $2,500 Challenge (challenge, results) I mentioned that this particular used-car treasure hunt was not as purely theoretical as our previous challenges; in fact, I was actually embarking on my own hunt for a $2,500 used car. I’m happy to report that I have now purchased that car, and both the search and the final purchase have been so entertaining that I can’t wait to share them. I’m even happier to point out that the car pictured to the right is not that car, though I considered it. It just needed some minor work to be brought back to original condition.

My situation at the beginning of the search was, if anything, a bit too comfortable. You see, my two-car garage was filled with two fairly modern and wonderfully capable sedans. The first was my 2003 Honda Accord that excels as our family workhorse; it combines 240 horsepower, reasonable luxury, and metronomic dependability. It is a fantastic car that takes a beating from my family without the slightest complaint. The second garage stall housed a 2002 Volkswagen Jetta 1.8T that we were storing for a good friend of ours who has been in Iraq for the last several years. As a free second car in case of emergency, it has served admirably. Its five-speed manual and turbo 1.8 make it a fun little ride, and it makes a nice counterpoint to the solidity of the Accord. Both cars are wonderful examples of modern automotive technology; they start every time without fail, drive impeccably, and accelerate like 1980s muscle cars.

It certainly wasn’t a bad situation, but in the midst of all this competence there was something very fundamental missing. I didn’t have anything truly interesting–something like my old 1983 Chevrolet Malibu Wagon or 1973 Plymouth Valiant that could capture my attention, my imagination, and perhaps even my soul. Something, in other words, from the Car Lust mold.

Happily, events were in motion that turned my empty longing into reality. When our friend recently returned from Iraq and reclaimed her Jetta, she left us with an empty garage spot and a need for an occasional second car. The perfect storm became complete when my wife look temporary leave of her senses in agreeing to give me near-complete purchasing freedom up to $2,500.

This is the kind of situation I live for. When I bought the Malibu several years ago, I cross-shopped it against a Mk. I Volkswagen GTI that made my hands smell of Cool Ranch Doritos, a smoke-spewing Merkur XR4Ti, a 1970s BMW 320i with a bird’s nest under the hood, and a few other empirically awful but highly entertaining pieces of hardware. I had a riotous good time and wound up with a car I loved–what could be better?

My wife showed some glimmers of sanity by ruling out the leviathans I found in my initial search; the Jeep Wagoneers, the 1970s Chevy Impalas and Cadillacs, and the AMC Matadors were suddenly out of the picture. This is, after all, a car she would be driving intermittently, and she didn’t relish the idea of navigating Seattle in one of those monsters without the service of a harbor pilot and some tugboats.

So, with a meager budget and a vague mandate to find a suitable second
family car–a definition I was looking forward to stretching–I began
to identify suitable prospects, the best of which follow after the jump.

CONTESTANT: 1971 Cadillac DeVille

This Cadillac was incredibly pretty and needed only a few repairs–a manifold gasket, among other things–but the “no large cars” requirement comprehensively eliminated it. I didn’t buy this Cadillac, but I’m eager to run another picture of this eminently lustable car.

CONTESTANT: 1995 Audi A6 Avant

This car should have been a stronger contender than it was; after all, I’ve always liked the A6, and I love wagons. At the end of the day, though, as capable as it is, I didn’t trust that my experience with this car would be different enough from what I’m used to. Wagon or not, the A6 just didn’t quite capture the imagination as much as it should have.

CONTESTANT: 1978 Plymouth Fury 440 Interceptor

This car, on the other hand, didn’t just capture my imagination–it lassoed, hogtied, and branded it. The Fury 440 Interceptor, as I wrote a few years ago, was a traditionally elephantine American sedan matched to the last big-block muscle car engine still extant in the late 1970s, the legendary, bellowing Mopar 440. “The combination provided the ultimate contest–the (Fury’s) immovable bulk against the 440’s irresistible force,” I wrote. “Well,
the 440 won, and won big.”

Did it ever. With the benefit of good old-fashioned American cubic inches, the 440 motivated the Fury Interceptor’s bulk with such alacrity that the Fury–a Plymouth Fury!–was one of the fastest sedans in the world. More from that post:

“They’re
incredibly difficult to find now, but I’ve always wanted a (Fury)
440. The idea of driving that massive sedan at 130 mph, fighting to
keep control of the numb steering and flaccid suspension, as the blunt
aerodynamics and howling V-8 batter the wind into submission… ah,
nirvana! It’s both as dumb and as exhilarating as climbing Mt. Everest
without oxygen tanks.”

So, given all that, imagine my excitement when I found a listing for a 1978 Fury 440, a former police interceptor in admirably original condition. It wasn’t quite in running condition–the car originally came with Chrysler’s execrable Lean Burn fuel delivery system, which on this car had been non-functional for several years. This meant that a new carburetion system, a new gas tank, and a whole bunch of other regular maintenance issues would need to be addressed.

It’s a measure of my zeal for this car that it was nearly a finalist despite its size and mechanical issues. As happy as I am with the car I eventually bought, this Fury still nags at the edges of my subconscious.

Unfortunately the ad has expired, so this is an example photo from CarGurus.com, which contains rave reviews from other owners of these cars. The Fury pictured below is so gorgeous that I need to point out that the one I considered was not as nice as this; it was extremely original and slightly cobby.

CONTESTANT: 1990 Audi V8 Quattro

The little-known Audi V8 Quattro has been a big-time object of lust for me since it debuted two decades ago; the V8 was Audi’s first large, V-8-powered luxury sedan, the progenitor of its A8 and S8 sedans. It was based on the excellent 5000/100/200 sedans, but it was larger, smoother, and much more luxurious.

The car’s powertrain was completely described in the V8 Quattro name; hooked up to Audi’s ground-breaking Quattro AWD system was Audi’s first V-8, and it was a corker–a high-tech 32-valve V-8 that pumped out roughly 250 horsepower, a lot for the time. This was an all-world automobile in 1990, and it’s a lot of car for less than $2,500.

So why wasn’t the V8 Quattro a finalist? Well, the more I learned about this specific example, the more I worried about it. The combination of AWD, a 32-valve V-8 with four overhead cams, and late 1980s electronics is a complex mix that requires regular and expensive maintenance to keep running well. This particular V8 Quattro was owned by a guy who was evasive in answering my questions, and I learned that it was being driven by his teenage son, who had no particular reason not to abuse it. Faced with the spectre of a huge money trap, I shied away from the V8 Quattro, judging its potential downside as a bigger factor than its considerable upside.

CONTESTANT: 1984 Dodge Shelby Charger

You never see Shelby Chargers around these days, let alone in original, unmodified condition, so when I saw an ad for a single-owner example well within my price range and in clean, original condition, I snapped to attention so quickly that I gave myself a mild case of whiplash.

My first impression of the Charger was great–the pictures showed that overt but pretty blue-and-silver Shelby paint scheme–but otherwise the car was a little less compelling. The first surprise came in the fact that the car wasn’t turbocharged; it was saddled with the naturally aspirated version of the ubiquitous 2.2-liter Chrysler four-cylinder. I had quite forgotten that in its first year the Shelby Charger didn’t sport the turbocharged 2.2 that would give the later Shelby Dodges their giant-killing thrust.

The Charger was impressively original–its paint was a bit faded and oxidized, but both interior and exterior showed the original Shelby style. But, according to the owner, the car needed a restoration both under the hood and in the suspension, and it wasn’t ready for regular use.

Upon seeing the photos, my wife dismissed the Shelby Charger as a male-inadequacy-compensation device, but I think she’s completely missing the mark. If anything, it’s quite the opposite. Driving what is essentially a Dodge Omni econobox, all done up in muscle-car regalia, without any horsepower to speak of? That takes cojones.

The Charger’s ad has expired, so here’s an original photo from last year’s post on the Shelby Charger; the actual car in the listing looked like this, just a little less shiny.

Up to this point, I have only described the cars that I liked but
didn’t ultimately consider. At the conclusion of my search through the used-car listings, the following three cars were the finalists that I actually drove, evaluated, and considered.

FINALIST: 1978 Fiat X1/9

From the very beginning of the search, this X1/9 was the clear front-runner. My first search was for a Fiat 124 Spider–my favorite of the 1970s small roadsters–and I stumbled across this pretty, near-perfect X1/9. I was instantly smitten. I have always loved the X1/9’s amazing agility, open-air targa-top configuration, and angular haute couture styling; this particular example looked fantastic. 

Even as I conducted my search through the used-car listings and found the other cars, my mind kept drifting back to the X1/9. I used the Fiat as my yardstick; if a car didn’t look as intriguing to buy and drive as the X1/9, I threw it out. The X1/9 proved to be a high bar.

Even the inevitable worries about the Fiat’s reliability and durability and my wife’s continuing questions about the practicality of of a minuscule two-seater for a family of three didn’t dissuade me from making the X1/9 the early front-runner.

FINALIST: 1986 Audi Coupe GT

My Holy Trinity of mid-1980s European sports coupes runs like this–the 1986 Saab 900 SPG, the Alfa Romeo GTV-6, and the family of Audi Coupes. Clearly, I’m a huge fan of the Audi coupes.

The rally-car-inspired Audi Sport Quattro, which blazed the trail of turbocharged, AWD supercars, sired the family. It is now known by enthusiasts as the Ur-Quattro, as the original Quattro in the Audi family. The Audi Coupe GT pictured here is not an Ur-Quattro; it is FWD, not AWD, and it is normally aspirated, not turbocharged. However, it shares the Ur-Quattro’s gorgeous fastback body, its rally-car heritage, sonorous five-cylinder engine, and sweet, solid, driving dynamics.

It’s a stylish, classy sports coupe that was one of the great cars of its era, and I have always wanted one. In my book, its lust rating is just as stratospheric as the Fiat’s .

FINALIST: 1990 Saab 9000 Turbo

I spotted this listing well after I had fallen in love with the Fiat and Audi, but it immediately got my attention. The Saab 9000 Turbo has long been one of my favorites; it’s not quite as quirky as my beloved 900, but it combines amazing size, effortless speed, and a hatchback. It’s an elixir guaranteed to win my heart.

This particular 9000T was rust-free, sported a bunch of performance upgrades, and was owned by a Saab fanatic who called himself “Captain Kirk.” This was clearly a car I needed to see.

This isn’t the exact car, but it’s another 9000T that’s for sale in the area in the same color and from the same year.

–Chris H.

Next–Evaluating the Finalists

by Justin Stobb