I'm A High Schooler Looking For A Cheap Project Car! What Should I Buy?

Xavier lives in Michigan, and unlike most high-school kids who prefer to bury themselves into a screen, he wants to deep dive into a project car. With a $5,000 budget and a need for speed, what car should he buy?

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Here is the scenario.

I'll keep this short and sweet. I live in Michigan. I'm 16 and I want a sports car for under 5000 that I can work on. I like muscle cars...looking for something fast and moddable. Ideally, rear wheel drive or AWD, manual trans.

Quick Facts:

Budget: $5,000

Location: Michigan

Daily Driver: Yes

Wants: Fast, cheap, moddable

Doesn't want: Something slow

Ok Xavier, I think I speak for all my colleagues at Jalopnik when I say we are all excited when a young person still wants to keep that gearhead dream alive. People who still want to wrench are a dying breed. Of course, the challenge is finding something at that price point that isn't a total basket case.

While cheap rides aren't my area of expertise, I did come across this 1996 Ford Mustang SVT Cobra convertible with an impressive list of mods for only $6,000. I bet if you scrounged up another $500 you could probably make a deal with this guy as he seems motivated to move it. According to the ad, the car only has 65,000 miles. However, it does come with a "rebuilt title," but if you are planning to mod it, that probably doesn't matter all that much. The seller claims the engine is "knocking," but the car "still runs well." So, this could either be an opportunity to have someone else absorb some of your modification costs, or it could be a never-ending nightmare project....only one way to find out.

I know you said you're into muscle cars, and there's plenty of those to choose from in Michigan. I almost steered you towards a Mazda Miata, as I daily drove one a beat-up, rallycross-prepped NA in Detroit for a couple years and it was amazing. But I found something even better: A 1986 Pontiac Fiero SE. 

But not just any Fiero, no, this one is gold, with matching gold wheels, and a gold interior. How can you possibly top that? Sure, it might not have a V8 like the Mustangs or Camaros you're probably also looking at, but its V6 engine is mounted in the middle and attached to a manual transmission.

The price is slightly over your budget, but it looks like this thing is in fantastic condition. I mean, just look at the quality of the seats and other interior components. I dare you to find another '80s Pontiac in this sort of shape for even close to this price. It's got 104,000 miles on the clock, which really ain't bad, and the seller — who has owned it for 26 years! — says it "Runs & Drives Great" and is "Well taken Care of." I'm inclined to believe them. I can't think of anything cooler for a 16-year-old to drive.

Buddy, you should be like everyone else in your high school class and just buy some sort of Ford Mustang. That's probably the smart thing to do if you want to go the safe route toward getting everything on your wish list for around $5,000. The only thing is, you reached out to Jalopnik, which means you aren't like everyone else in your high school class, which means you need something far stupider than an old Mustang. What you need is this Chrysler Crossfire manual.

All in all, it's not so bad. In its 19 years of life and three owners, this black-on-gray beauty (yes, I love how the Crossfire looks) has only sustained some minor damage. Other than that, it looks pretty well taken care of for having nearly 150,000 miles on the clock. Sure, there's some condensation behind the passenger-side headlight, and bits of trim are coming off inside, but it's your first car — I think — and it costs less than $5,500. What do you want? At least its active spoiler seems to be working. Well, at least it seems to be stuck in its "happy to see you" position.I know this car won't be as fast as a modded Mustang GT, but with its 3.2-liter Mercedes-Benz V6 producing 215 horsepower and 229 pound-feet of torque, it could still get from 0-60 in the low 6.0-second range. That ain't too bad. Plus, there are plenty of ways to mod this motor and chassis to squeeze a bit more out of it.

Be interesting. Enter the Crossfire.