Hi, i'm 19 and I'm looking to buy my first 'fast' car. I currently drive an 03' Buick Century. (The epitome of handling, speed, ingenuity, etc.)
I have not done a lot of searching, I found a 1981 Corvette for 6k. ( brainerd.craigslist.org
I figure if I spend 8k all together I can find a faster car anyways but I like the look of corvettes I guess. My friends a car fanatic and tells me to buy some sort of cobalt v6 sti or something like that. Help a kid out?
>put 2k into
General rule for anything older than 20 years.
Whatever the asking price is, expect to put 150% of that into unfucking the last decades of poor maintenance. More if you don't do any of the work yourself.
Also 100% of the time, one crucial part will have broken that does not have a commonly available replacement, and the only ones online are disgustingly high priced. For instance, I just paid $75 for 3 air flow meter mounting bolts because snowflake engineering.
Remember that a car that looks awesome but runs and drives like shit isn't much good for anything but parking in your driveway. Get it running well before you even begin to think about how it looks. If you rice it out I will find you.
Remember that having a fast car isn't all about having the most powerful engine. Your suspension and your brakes are as important if not more important than the engine. If the car handles like a shopping cart with a fucked up wheel but you have 800 horsepower, it'll be great on the strip, but you will dread driving to work every morning.
A Buick is fat and gay and slow, but it'll get you where you're going pretty much 100% of the time. That's something to consider if you're thinking about dailying a 36 year old Corvette.
I'm not trying to steer you away from it, but try to detach from "holy shit it's a Corvette and I want it" and impartially consider what you need a car to do. If you can put the time and money into maintaining it, by all means proceed.
I figured it would be something like that. Thanks for the advice. Any cars you would reccomend? Mustangs any good? I like the 05' body style.
A mustang from that generation should make a good babby's first fast car
A C3 is a pain to maintain. The body is fiberglass, it flexes and destroys the paint. On top of it, the last C3's made less than 200hp. It's a sad car overall. Your Buick is probably faster desu. If you really like the style though, it still is a doable car. But I wouldn't plan on beating anyone for years.
I would look at a C4, Firebirds, Camaros. Might be able to find a LS1 Camaro or Trans Am or 2004 GTO for 8k. Or a 2005 Mustang GT too. If you're in a position to finance, a C5 corvette would be good.
duluth.craigslist.org
>C3 corvettes
they are cheap for a reason
Owned by a nigger. I'd be cautious.
price-wise a little high. remember that mods don't add value. also notice that all the shit he added was mostly cosmetic, so he's likely not much of a car guy. 130k miles on a car that's stored every winter means he's probably bullshitting. Plus people who rice for appearances are the same who rip burnouts everywhere and hit the red line for every single shift. those giant wheels will make for no traction, lose tire tread easy, and be expensive to put rubber on
go for 10k and get an import
why?
You want a C3. Oh boy.
corvette c3 will be a little smog constrained
also with crude suspension and chassis
but hell I say go for it
they have a pretty good interior
and will be much better performance with only a few changes to fuel delivery .etc
perhaps some new dampers if you want to go all out
speeddirect.com
Why are you not looking at this one, OP?
brainerd.craigslist.org
Those pipes are neat on the blue one but this yellow one could be a real opportunity. I like buying other people's projects though - as long as they drive good.
Do not buy, circled the problem.
Also the 4.6 is kind of a dog. 8k should be enough for an ls1 transam/camaro.
A 1981 corvette came with 180hp standard
2k is not going to fix that
I have a hard time believing an 81' would still be on the stock untouched engine, but it just could be.
Don't get a c3 unless you know what you're doing OP.
C3 is factually the best looking corvette, C7 is in second place.
>best looking corvette
Yep, you're confirming what I first thought.
I'm not OP though. the C3 is just the best looking corvette.
thats a weird way to spell C1 bubble top you also uploaded the wrong pic but i got you senpai
Buy one of these m8 you wont be disappointed
Early C3's year, but after the longre bumpers and the sloped rear, and such I don't like them as much personally. I know the basic design is the same but a bunch of the little stuff on Older C3's push them above the later ones.