Every year one of my mates does a 'Gumball' type race for fun with old uni mates, from Newcastle to the Nurburgring and back, and I am thinking of joining in this year. They go in teams of 2-3 and have to buy and prepare a car for less than £500 excluding insurance/breakdown etc.
So my question to you is what car should I consider?? The main priority is fun so I was thinking RWD/2 seater etc. but would consider anything really, comfort is not an issue , I am planning on totally stripping the interior out anyway. I am handy with a spanner too so it doesn't have to be too reliable .
So far I have thought of MX5, MR2, MG TF, Honda CRX/Prelude etc.
Any suggestions/advice/info etc welcome!!

 

How about a Primera GT

Very good suspension, and the GT is based on the Touring car

Could get one for around £500

 

we used a porsche 944 for the scumball, it was reliable, fast and economical. winner.

 

MR2 is a good shout if there is only a couple of you. Might be able to pick up an Alfa GTV for that money or a Fiat Coupe?

Quite like the Audi 80's, good strong car.
Mitsi FTO if you look hard enough
Volvo 850?

 

Thanks for the replies guys, I'll be on eBay all night now! There seems to be loads of mondeo ST24's for cheap, a 5.4L V12 Jag XJS could be interesting...

 

not to mention thirsty going to Germany and back lol

 

Check out the vauxhall omega 3ltr's, a few bargains to be had there

Tony

 

omega! genius. and they come with brembos iirc?

 

MGF is a no, trust me, if the headgasket does not go then it will spit you out into a hedge with no warning the first time it rains. You will struggle to get a decent Mr2 or Mx5 for £500 but those omegas, even the 2.5 V6 is a brilliant car for the money.

 

we looked at a few omegas, funnily enough they all had HGF! lol

 

It doesn't have to be decent haha, infact less decent = more fun!

Omega may be a good shout, most of the ones for sale seem to be autos though :s . What are they like to drive? They look like they would have barge-like characteristics, I suppose the rwd would help though

 

They have a lovely feel and grunt to the engine but do not actually go that fast, the rear wheels will spin when you need them to though and I found the one I had to be brilliant fun. Not a sports car but definately not a barge either.

 

These are two £200 bangers I ran around with and were absolutely solid:

MKII polo 1.3. Fix the PCV valve first though to stop it spraying oil everywhere.

N13 Nissan Sunny 1.3....just make sure the gearbox is OK.


I used both and had them well past 100mph and averaged 30mpg miniumum no matter how I drove them.

The polo died from a crash, and the Nissan was scrapped due to a broken headlamp (although the gearbox was as noisy as hell)

 

Fine looking beast prob quick too

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1997-NISSA...item2a1886d5be

 

Am I confused here? Gumball is the US trek yeh? the under £500 thing is the Scumball yeh? I tried looking into it and Im not entirely sure anymore, a little more info would be cool though, interested in taking part in the Scumball myself

 

Scumrun, thats what Im thinking off. Everything else is the expensive runs, no?

 

Yes sorry I meant scumball, it's not an organised one I will be doing or anything, just something arranged ourselves, we'll probs have around 8 cars altogether I think

That primera looks ace! We still have a few months get the cars so I'm just seeing what's out there at the moment, I'm liking the amount of cheap beamers to choose from

 

Just have to look harder some bargains to be had out there, shame this one sold!

http://www.pistonheads.co.uk/sales/3514598.htm

Tony

 

auto and too much

 

I used to own an omega v6 2.5. They are pretty good on power and very comfy to drive, like a giant arm chair, head gasket went on mine too though and ended up in the scrap yard as it had a few other issues too including needing a new clutch

 

have you seen this?


https://www.scoobynet.com/scoobynet-...-for-sale.html

 

Plenty of Alfas, 3.0 v6 Alfa 166 or 2.5 v6 156, plenty of either for £500 upwards on Trader, should on budget via ebay or a rude offer?

More thoughts Volvo T5 or you could ads to the demise of Saab by killing a 9000 turbo!

D

 

MX-5 FTW.

 

An alfa he said he was handy with a spanner not Jesus of nazareth.

 

Old Merc 190 or a rusty C/E class.

Engines and gearboxes bombproof and a comfy place to be for long distance cruising!

5t.

 

This guy knows it!

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/3550011.htm

 

double post...

 

+1 (Very underated motor)

 

DId you find one I was offered a very nice 02 plate v6 omega today for £650

 

Yeah but this beast is still only at 360 quid. Got to be worth 180 as scrap too!

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2709043374...84.m1423.l2649

5t