Best project car on Reddit

206 reviews from r/projectcar, r/askcarguys, r/JDM and 9 more subreddits

206 reviews from

and

By Brand

By Product

Mazda

4.6

(45)

"Answer is always Mazda Miata."

"Miata. Cheap, fun and you can turn them into whatever you want."

"Miata"

"For the amount of money I have it in, I don't think I could have bought anything that would have been more fun to drive."

"Miata NA/NB"

"Miata is always the answer."

"Miata Or FC rx7 because availability and price"

"You could do a Miata, z3, del sol, Integra, etc."

"M iata is A lways T he A nswer."

"The answer is always Miata."

Ford

3.8

(30)

"I would get a 65-66 coupe."

"If you want a serious & fun project, I would pick up a cheap new edge gt 5 speed manual and do a Coyote swap."

"I'd recommend something with OBD2 like a 99-04 Mustang GT."

"If you can find an old Foxbody Mustang you'll have a great time!"

"Honestly with that budget either a 1996-1998 Mustang GT or a 99-04 GT."

"Beat up Fox body mustang."

"Find a ranger or an old s10."

"I been thinking of a Foxbody or an S10 😎"

"Old mustang wouldn't be a bad idea"

"Fox body Mustang, 1st gen Camaro/Firebird."

Honda

4.3

(23)

"1993 Honda civic. They'll run forever."

"Have you met the Lord and Savior, the Honda Fit?"

"Easy to work on and you can learn the basics with an ENDLESS amount of aftermarket support."

"Almost any Honda 4cyl can be a good platform to build for cheap speed."

"If you live in america, 4th and 5th gen civics hands down."

"Probably EG or EK-generation Civic or Integra."

"Civic or Miata is always my first suggestion."

"Civic. But look for something south of the Mason Dixon line."

"Honda Fits are pretty solid. Sometimes you can find them for 3k"

"Honda CRX or motorcycle."

Toyota

4.0

(12)

"Toyota, easy fix n cheap parts."

"Supra Mk3"

"MR2"

"Toyota starlet. Fiesta st. Yaris. GR Yaris!"

"MR2 - if I could find a decent one for cheap, it should be pretty straight forward to work on."

"Basically a Corolla coupe."

"In my opinion toyota mr2's are nice, like big gokarts."

"A Yaris or Golf/GTI seems like a good option."

"Nissan Sunny GTI-R, Honda Civic SIr or a Toyota Yaris. Something older is cheaper to insure, maintain and more fun to drive."

"A while back somebody here made an auto updating list of mr2s for sale across the US and I think Canada too."

Nissan

4.0

(11)

"PrizzaMike does longer videos walking through the process of restoring his 240sx from getting tboned."

"240SX"

"350z/G35"

"I would get the 240 as it handles very nicely."

"240 platform. Only because the aftermarket."

"A Miata will probably be better because of a larger aftermarket."

"It was a blast to drive and damn reliable."

"240sx, s2000, Miata, crx, civic (eg or ek), integra, Impreza wrx (maybe get lucky and find a sti), lancer evolution VIII IX X, etc."

"Maybe a 350z or a 2013+ v6 camaro, or a NC miata."

"1st gen pathfinder. I see those cheap all the time."

BMW

4.1

(10)

"E36 all day from that list in my opinion. So many parts, nothing really expensive."

"BUY IT !!! Low price for this condition , a good e34 no rust is >5000€ 6000€."

"Lovely engine in a small hatch with rwd and they go cheap."

"Easy to work on, parts aren't too expensive and a frigging blast to drive."

"E30!"

"That is a great car, Older BMWs from this era are well made better than todays do with 3200 in cash as I think it's a good deal and has taken car of it by look of the photos"

"Look for pufs of smoke at cold start; oil leaking around the heads; rust hiding anywhere."

"If it's clean and no rust, it'll make a nice project car."

"E31 840ci"

"Car is beautiful but keep in mind that that's the worst engine possible for E34 and as a project car it will consume ridiculous amounts of money for swap and suspension etc."

Chevrolet

4.2

(9)

"Anything with a small block chevy engine. Super simple design easy to learn and wallet friendly."

"If you eventually want supercar performance, start with a corvette driver."

"Look at C4 vettes....less likwly to be rusty...dirt cheap, SBC based...you get some actual handling chops."

"89-98 Chevy trucks are fairly cheap and lots of fun."

"S10 or Ranger are other viable candidates."

"If you really want to work toward a 69 Camaro, I wouldn’t recommend working on an import as a project to get there."

"3rd gen Camaro/Firebird (‘82 up to maybe ‘92) They’re pretty easy to find dirt cheap."

"My vote would be either a C10, or an S10 that you SBC swap."

"98-02 Camaro z28/ss already has a ls1 and is faster then the corvette of the time."

Subaru

4.3

(7)

"I couldn’t recommend it enough."

"My best project car was a $500 1996 Subaru Justy."

"93-01 Imprezas, tons of how-tos online."

"First gen forester. Cheap and fun, most abusable cars I’ve ever owned."

"A good cheap starting point with lots of aftermarket support."

"But i will say the extra space in the engine bay makes m"

"Subaru's are great cars to learn on IMO."

Pontiac

4.0

(5)

"Today i saw a listing for a late 70s Pontiac Bonneville with the GM 305 motor for like $8k."

"Best of all they're very mechanical and easy to learn on."

"Maybe a Pontiac Trans Am?"

"Get some Australian into him with the Pontiac G8 (VE Commodore)."

"I don’t remember the channel name but there’s this guy currently restoring a Fiero that was saved from a farm yard and it’s genuinely really good."

#10

Volvo

4.0

(4)

"Volvo 240"

"Volvo 240."

"Civic miata,mr2 or volvo 240 are great since theyre cheap reliable."

"Find an old Volvo and ls swap it."

#11

General

3.8

(4)

"Arguably one of the easier project cars"

"If it isn’t rusty, I think it would be a fine project car. If it has any rust though, I’d avoid it."

"I'd find a runner teach the basic on it while rebuilding a motor trans swap to go in."

"Couple points of advice/lessons I learned: It may not be the fastest or prettiest, but we all have to start somewhere."

#12

Volkswagen

4.0

Acura

4.0

(1)

"Just get an Acura instead. TLs can be had for cheap."

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