Opinions on cheap convertible?

[upjeeper]

thinking about picking up a cheap convertible this summer.

I've found an 1985 Corvette with t-tops and an auto transmission - I'd have to swap in a 5 speed and do some work but I could get this for around 4 or 5k
OR
a 1985 Mustang (fox body) 5.0 convertible running would be around 3-4k.

any advice?

thanks!

[Mikey]

With all the ponycar parts available for the Fox Body, I'd go that route. Nothing against Chevy's or Corvettes, I just think that the cost of ownership, and the parts availability will be better on a Mustang.

[POPS 57]

The only advice i have for you is don't spend too much. I have a 57 chev. conv. nice shape wins trophys in all the shows i put it in. But after the Valkyrie has come into my life it sits most of the time. Now that the wife has a Spyder i'm sure it will sit even more.

[Hotrodwing]

I picked up a 97 sebring last year. Put on a new top, timing belts, and tires. 130,000 and it looks and runs and rides great. I bought it for my daughter to drive but she needs something better in the snow. Thinking of selling.

[Kaiser]

I've never heard anybody bad mouth a Miata.  I got to drive a co-workers for a few miles and it felt like a big go-cart.  Only problem was folding my 6-foot-3-inch frame into the driver's seat.  They are fun, reliable, have a TON of parts out there, and can be made SCARY fast if you want to go that route.  There is also a dedicated bunch that race them, if you are into that sort of thing.

I've also had my eye on a Honda S2000.

Perhaps solo1 will chime in here with stories of his Miata ownership.

[Titan]

The only advice i have for you is don't spend too much. I have a 57 chev. conv. nice shape wins trophys in all the shows i put it in. But after the Valkyrie has come into my life it sits most of the time. Now that the wife has a Spyder i'm sure it will sit even more.

Funny how people have different strokes.

I've been seriously considering selling the Valk to buy a 55-56- or 57 Chevy!

[R J]

If I had a choice between the Mustang, Corvette and a Sebring, I'd go with the Sebring.

My son's ex-wife, just had to have a Sebring after they got married. In 98 he bought her one, they got a divorce and she got the Sebring.  He still services and or fixes it for her, at cost.

I rode in it last night to get a Dairy Queen with my grandson.  It was his 9th birthday.  I asked her how many miles she had on it and she said 140+.  That car rides just as good as it did the day they bought it from the dealership brand new.

She beats the crap out of it.  She lives out of town and works here in town.  I think it is like 14 miles from her house to DSM city limit.   She runs it 90+ coming in and going home if possible.

It has only have regular maintenance done to it, + I think it is on its 4th top, 2 were vandalized, slashed with a knife, insurance covered and the slasher was caught and got 6 months in the pokey.

Have a nephew with a Corvette, that the son works on and it is in the shop at least once a month.

Son has a Mustang with a built 5.0 in it, well, it gets abused most of the time.  Like run on the drag strip and etc.   He is always under  the hood or working on the rear end.   He finally got the tranny fixed, it is a $2,400 racing tranny built by some company in NJ.

Just for your information to hopefully help ya make a good decision.

Happy hunting.

[Smokinjoe-VRCCDS#0005]

The only advice i have for you is don't spend too much. I have a 57 chev. conv. nice shape wins trophys in all the shows i put it in. But after the Valkyrie has come into my life it sits most of the time. Now that the wife has a Spyder i'm sure it will sit even more.

Got a picture of the '57 ? In my youth my Ol'man had many 55 -56-57 he also had a 64 SS Impala that was my favorite even as a 5 year old kid. I always thought " someday " I'm going to have a 1964 SS Impala just like that one...I just turned 50 and no 1964 SS Impala 

[Serk]

Joe, this'll make you sick, I don't remember what year it is, but my father in law tried to give me this, I told him no thanks, it just does nothing for me... (Condition of giving it to me was I had to hang onto it and keep it road worthy)



As far as the original post, I'd take a HARD look at a Miata... They did a good job taking a 1960's British convertible sports car and making it reliable and functional...

[POPS 57]

Titan watch out they can be a money pit. To get the car the way you want it either stock or modifided adds up fast. Mine looks stock on the outside other then the crager ss rims and larger tires. Under the car its all high performance 350 with around 400hp chevelle 12 bolt posi. rearend 411 gears and 4 speed auto trans.
Joe i need to learn how to put pictures on the computer one of these days. I get a kick out of all the posts like yours that tell a story with the great pictures. I has been a long winter here in the great white north and they help. Now the weather man says we could get another 16 inches this week.

[Serk]

Oh yeah, another option, but we're definitely moving away from the "Cheap" end of the spectrum and into the "You like to tinker and spend money, right?" end, but I've always been fascinated by these little critters:

http://www.monstermiata.com/

[fast black]

I've got a Miata,  was gonna get a 'Vette, but ended up with Miata, not saying 'Vettes aren't sweet but I plan on keeping the Miata for a loooonnnggggg time.

[solo1]

I've had a lot of big American cars which I enjoyed. I had the use of a convertible for one day  years ago.  It was a 1950 Mercury, great car, and was very popular with the chopped and channeled era.

Since then i always wanted another convertible.  Three years ago I bought a 1999 Miata.  It already had a limited slip rear end and the neccessary good stull like cruise, etc.

IT WAS A BLAST!   The Japanese looked at the classic British Sportscars like Triumph,  MG, etc and outdid themselves. The 1999 Miata was the "B' series , 1999 to 2004.  It was the best IMHO.

Miata's are selling at a reasonable cost.  There is a TON of stuff out there for them, like turbochargers, superchargers, sways, premium shocks, racing parts of all kinds. Exhaust, etc.  The Miata forum is like the Valk forum. Miata owners do much, if not all of their own work, and finally fuel mileage and maintenance costs are reasonable.  The Miata handles as well as any sports car and will outdo some because of its light weight.  While it might be considered a wimp in the power department, it is a well balanced sports car. A supercharger or intercooled turbo will  take it up there with  many of the hot rods around (excludung Corvettes and big hemis')

I reluctantly got rid of my Miata due to having to have only one car, not two like I had.  

Speaking to the quality of the miata, i ran it through the brush type car wash with only slight leaks around the window moldings.  That speaks well of a car that was 10 years old with the original vinyl top.  

I wish that i could've kept it but I'm better off with a 2011 Mazda Three which has a lot of the same cornering ability and all of the Zoom Zoom.

[Big IV]

My mom likes her Miata. Easy to operate and not a huge cost. My legs don't fit into the little go cart well, but Mom fits.

[olddog1946]

I bought an 84 Corvette 2 yrs ago in AZ for 2400 bucks and drove it back to Wa, getting 24 mpg on the trip..parts are expensive..too expensive, I traded it for the Valk and I got the better end of the deal..
So, 4-5K for an old 85 is too much, particularly if it needs any kind of work..
look elswhere

[flamingobabe #44]

Good luck deciding what you want....we have a 2007 Sky and love it...but we can pack more on 1 bike than we can in the Sky....just a different mode of travel....

[9Ball]

consider the Jeep Wrangler if all you want is a drop top...they will take you a lot of fun places that a car can't and you will have a year-round vehicle for those bad snow days.

your car insurance will be a bit less expensive too.  Some have put in small block chevy engines for a bit more grunt.

update:  oops, just saw your screen name...looks like you are aware of the Jeep convertible....sorry.

[Brad]

I've never heard anybody bad mouth a Miata.  I got to drive a co-workers for a few miles and it felt like a big go-cart.  Only problem was folding my 6-foot-3-inch frame into the driver's seat.  They are fun, reliable, have a TON of parts out there, and can be made SCARY fast if you want to go that route.  There is also a dedicated bunch that race them, if you are into that sort of thing.

I've also had my eye on a Honda S2000.

Perhaps solo1 will chime in here with stories of his Miata ownership.

I have a buddy that has a Miata and loves it except for one thing.  He has to take his wifes car when he goes to play golf because the clubs wont fit in the trunk.

[laserpat]

My cheap convertible. Fun to drive and gets decent mileage

[Sigrún]

Had me the Broady Kid, Mercury Capri onceuponatime

I'm sorry, did I say me...I meant I bought it for my dear wife 

The car cost me $100, came with a blown radiator, shot top, busted transmission and an interior that looked like a couple of German Shepherds had died in there somewhere. Got all that sorted and had a couple of fun years throwing the little go-kart around corners.



What happened, you ask, to the great fun car if it was so great?? Well like a total moron I over tightened the main pulley bolt when replacing the timing belt, cracked the crankshaft and after a few weeks the pulley, nay, BOTH the alternator/AC pulley and timing pulley came clean off. End of the story of that engine. At that time I did not have the time, money and garage space to rebuild the engine so had to sell the carcass on eBay..... but I sure am missing her.

It was fun to own a car ( for a while ) that you knew had a straight pedigree to a Ford Barchetta concept car.

[¿spoom]

Good luck deciding what you want....we have a 2007 Sky and love it...but we can pack more on 1 bike than we can in the Sky....just a different mode of travel....

Prolly holds about the same as my Solstice

[¿spoom]

No such thing as a cheap 'vette according to folks I know own them, too much stuff breaking down/off and replacement parts priced like Porsche...........

[Wetrudgeon]

As mentioned, the Mazda MX-5 is hard to beat.  Better than 30mpg, very reliable and reasonable storage space in the trunk.  Older models can be had for not-a-lot and even high mileage copies are generally relatively trouble free.  We bought an '08 model MX-5 (chose it over the Solstice and Skye because they lacked a trunk or any real storage space) and have been very happy with it so far.

For two up, they are plenty good (and cheap).

We trudge on.

[fudgie]

We had a 02, I think, Firebird convertable. It was awesome. Thing got better mpg then my Valk did. White with black top. Only had it till winter.
T-tops we had on a camero sucked because of the buffeting.
Vetts are great but can be time consuming if they are not maintained reg. Dad had a 1970. We would work on it every winner. Always a vac leak here or there. Everything ran off of vac. It was a great car. Being 16 and running it up past 120 mph on a 1 mile open stretch was cool.
If I was to get one I'd get a older one that actually has a frame. These unibodys suc. Well they suck if you have to be cut out of them. 

[Linedog]

I have never been a Ford man, but I have the greatest respect for that 5.0 engine. It was and is a barn burner.  Beside corvettes and Harleys are like belly buttons, everybodies got one! Linedog

[Chiefy]

Tough call, the 'vette is THE  sports car for so many.  But I've always had a soft spot for the Pony too.

Hmmmmmmm

I vote    'vette

[boss hoss bill]

I have had friends with Miatas who rave about them. Great handling, and very free of problems.

I am a V8 sort of guy. 
I had a 85 Mustang Gt I bought new and kept for 22 years. Threw on a set of Flowmasters and a K and N, man those Stangs sound sweet with that set up.
Towards the end, I had to replace the hatch because of rust and was getting serious rust around the top of the door frames. Never had one other problem with the Stang.It was virtually bullet proof. The Stang would be my personal choice.

I would steer away from a 85 Vette. The ride will beat you to death, and the repairs will pile on also. Finding parts is a pain.  I presently have a C5 Vette convert that I love. rides great and is much roomier then the C3 and C4. Electrical problems are unfortunatley present in mine, column lock problem and presently my Electronic Brake Control Module is shot. It's like a bad son, I love it but can't stand it some time!
My experiences for your information. Hope it helps

[f6john]

     I vote Corvette, but not the C4 1984-1996, C5's are far superior but of course I'm prejudiced,



     Money wise the Mustang will work but go with the 1986 and up versions. I bought an '86 GT new back in the day and it was the first year for multipoint fuel injection. They were even faster than the Corvettes and Camaro's of the same time peroid.

[bigfish_Oh]

If you go the convertible route keep in mind that the top is NOT a DIY project.  If the top is questionable or needs repair make sure to get some ball park prices BEFORE you buy.

I've put a top on a '65 Cutlass and a '63 Corvair, I would probably do it again(no fears, only prices)
I needed some help with the pita Corvair

Like some of you, I've had cheap convertibles
1968 GTO 4spd $400.  1977
1965 Cutlass 330 UHC $600. 1980
1964 Cutlass $75. 1980
1964 GTO 4spd $800. 1981
1963 Corvair $1000. 1987

[f6john]

Ehhemm  ,,,,, A Miata is a chick toy 

 I agree, just didn't want to blurt it out there

[solo1]

Ehhemm  ,,,,, A Miata is a chick toy 

Bull Chit!

[f6john]

    Well I know how many people like to point out their fact sources so I offer this as my proof. Stacey David of Gears says the Miata is the "quintessential girls car"

The Banshee [S1 Ep.3-1]	powered by Aeva

[hotglue #43]

Ehhemm  ,,,,, A Miata is a chick toy 

Maybe yer just a little insecure in yer manhood....   LOL

[Serk]

Ehhemm  ,,,,, A Miata is a chick magnet  

Fixed that for ya'...

[olddog1946]

    I vote Corvette, but not the C4 1984-1996, C5's are far superior but of course I'm prejudiced,



     Money wise the Mustang will work but go with the 1986 and up versions. I bought an '86 GT new back in the day and it was the first year for multipoint fuel injection. They were even faster than the Corvettes and Camaro's of the same time peroid.

That's a fine looking vette you got F6,,,,,,,however, by no stretch of the imagination could it be called a "cheap convertible".....unless you wanna sell it for $2400???

I should also add that the Miata, with a small block chevy or a FOMOCO small block would be a sweet ride...and for sure be a chick magnet but might draw the husbands as well, lol.

[f6john]

    Point well taken. Guess I got carried away after seeing the pics of convertible Bimmers and and new Sky's The wife wanted a convertible went I bought the Vette but I really wanted the fixed roof. At $2400 guess I'll have to drive it a while longer

[solo1]

Ehhemm  ,,,,, A Miata is a chick magnet  

Fixed that for ya'...

    I wouldn't know at 83 years old but there were some young girls (under 50) that blew their horn at me and gave me a thumbs up when i was driving the Miata.    Does that qualify?