Back in the day you could buy stripped down versions of Mustangs, Camaros, Firebirds, turbo Regals, ect., that had all the go fast goodies, without having to pay for all of the other, unneeded bells and whistles, and you could buy these cars relatively cheaply. Now days it seems like any car that has any performance at all is priced through the roof. Because of this I have been keeping an eye on the used car market, and even they are holding ridiculous resale prices. I was looking at C5 Vettes for a while, but those prices never seem to move. Nice C5s with a 6M are still going for $20K+. So then I started looking at gen 5 Camaros. They are also still selling at $20K+. Where have bargain performance cars gone?
Does such a thing as a bargain muscle/performance car still exist?
- Thread starter grampi
- Start date
The closest thing to a performance car bargain is the Tesla Model 3 Performance. Nothing else is even close.
Define bargain.
20K for a C5 seems like a deal.
For less money than a plebeian Versa you can get an attractive performance car.
They're easy to find with low miles for under twenty grand, since they're mostly bought as weekend good weather toys by older guys.
20K for a C5 seems like a deal.
For less money than a plebeian Versa you can get an attractive performance car.
They're easy to find with low miles for under twenty grand, since they're mostly bought as weekend good weather toys by older guys.
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Welcome to 2025, If you're looking for a Corvette then you'll need to pay to play in today's world. Cars, even used, have gotten more valuable since newer vehicles have gone through the roof & the market has done well over several years.
Gotta wait for a recession with factory to dealer incentives, then buy a new, big block Mustang.
depreciation-hit tesla 3 or Kia ev6 Gt; obviously a no-go at any price for some people
$20k is nothing. The cheapest (new) car in the US starts at $18k.
It'll be something electric.
The 13/14 GT500s were probably about the last of the true manual transmission muscle cars we will ever see, and even those had nanny systems on them...for good reason in most driver's hands, but you could turn them all off if desired but they are a handful of car to drive hard without them.
The performance bargains are used EVs as depreciation is intense as is acceleration.
Used cars are just more expensive now irrelevant to performance level except EVs.
Used cars are just more expensive now irrelevant to performance level except EVs.
A 10 second pass... Get that battery hot!
If you want high performance for that kind of money, buy a motorcycle.
Inflation
Is this going to be an annual complaint, Grampi?
Thread 'What happened to the bargain hot rods?'
https://bobistheoilguy.com/forums/threads/what-happened-to-the-bargain-hot-rods.383846/
Thread 'What happened to the bargain hot rods?'
https://bobistheoilguy.com/forums/threads/what-happened-to-the-bargain-hot-rods.383846/
Neither do modern ICE vehicles, right? I haven't seen a carb, disty, etc in quite a while. Except for my Oldsey, of course.
I don't agree with that.
I can buy a cold air intake, a performance throttle body, upgraded injectors for E85, headers, etc for my '24 Mustang. Parts are plentiful.
If I wanted to go all in, I can even get a Whipple from Ford, and get a warranty with it.
I can buy a cold air intake, a performance throttle body, upgraded injectors for E85, headers, etc for my '24 Mustang. Parts are plentiful.
If I wanted to go all in, I can even get a Whipple from Ford, and get a warranty with it.
