- Everyone loves the Miata.
We have a whole show about building one
and you guys love it.
But what if you don't want one?
I mean, maybe you're six-three,
maybe you need to carry more than just a backpack,
maybe your taste is just different.
Well, you're in luck because we put together
a list of amazing project cars that aren't a Miata.
They're all lightweight, they're all super fun to drive,
they're all super plentiful,
they all have a lot aftermarket support, big communities,
and best of all, they're all affordable.
- So buckle up Buckaroo, fire up your Google machine,
this is The D-List.
Big old thank you to Upstart for sponsoring today's video.
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Now, back to the show.
- [Announcer] Foxbody Mustang.
- The Foxbody Mustang makes a great project car
for one reason above all other reasons.
For being over 2 million.
There's a bunch of different body styles, trim levels,
engines and other options.
You want it a hatchback?
Got you.
You want a notch back?
Gotcha.
You want hunchback?
Sorry bro, you're gonna have to go fricking
Notre Dame for that one.
And it's a Ford, so the parts are shared across
a bunch of different platforms.
So the potential is astronomical.
The one you want is the five liter V8,
which is not a screamer out of the box,
but it's got a ton of potential which has basic botons
that you can buy for pretty cheap.
My buddy Jacob has one, he lives in Canada.
End of anecdote.
The next car on this list is actually three cars,
but it's also actually just one car
because all three of those cars are the same.
- [Announcer] Laser, Eclipse, Talon.
DSM Triplets.
- These triplets were the result of a joint partnership
between Chrysler and Mitsubishi back in the late 80s
called Diamond Star Motors or DSM.
Basically they were doing the same thing that
Toyota did with Subaru or that Toyota did with BMW,
but they took it one step further and gave it a name.
There are some street cars that came
out of this partnership.
We're talking 3000 GT and Dodge Stealth,
those are the same car,
but the Laser, Eclipse and Talon are by far the best
because of five little words, 4G63 baby,
which is also the same engine that came in
the fricking Evo.
Now, when I was in high school,
these were the cars they didn't mess with.
These things are so cheap to make fast.
Like you knew you were gonna lose a drag race.
One time when I was in high school I drove
a totally stocked 240 SX, and I had a girl in my car
for one of the first times ever.
And we pulled up next to these like two,
just like nerdy identical twins,
which is ironic because they were driving an identical
triplet car.
And she leans out the window, she's like,
yo, wanna race?
And they just like in unison, just like,
look a really go, you'll lose.
And I did.
I knew I would, I was so embarrassed.
Now these are not attractive triplets,
but you buy them for one reason,
the same reason those twins bought 'em, to go fast.
And they can handle a ton of boos.
But the one thing you do have to look out for
is a little thing called crankwalk.
♪ To go fast you up the boost ♪
♪ Look out fore that crankwalk woo! ♪
♪ Woo, do that crankwalk boi ♪
♪ Do that crankwalk boi ♪
♪ To go fast you up the boost ♪
♪ Look out fore that crankwalk woo! ♪
♪ Woo, do that crankwalk boi ♪
♪ Do that crankwalk boi ♪
- But what is crankwalk?
Crankwalk is premature thrust bearing failure.
When the thrust bearings wear out,
the crankshaft will walk back and forth,
which will put a lot of stress on the bearings,
which is not something that you want when you are pumping
way more boost through a motor than the factory intended.
This is really common with the 4G63 motors,
you can't do things about it,
it's just something to be aware of.
- [Announcer] Golf GTI.
- Of all of the cars ever made, the Volkswagen Golf
is one of the ones with the most aftermarket support ever.
And it's because it's been around forever.
The other totally amazing thing about the golf
is that the VW culture and community,
no matter how big or small your question is,
there's gonna be a forum thread for you.
In fact, a lot of big players in the automotive industry
right now came from VWVortex.
Vin from Hoonigan, Ryan Scotto from Hoonigan,
Jason from Rotiform, Ryan from Rotiform,
Matt and Brad from Fifteen52,
Jamie Orr from Orchid Euro.
I was on VWvortex when I was 14 years old.
Mk1s and Mk2s, that's the first and second gen Golfs
are gorgeous cars, and if you can find one,
they're really cool.
But my personal pick for this list is
whatever GTI you can afford, I'd say go for a Mk3,
which is my personal favorite, I've owned about 16 them,
or a Mk4.
Both of those are relatively easy
to find in pretty decent shape,
especially if you live on the West Coast.
Mods are still super cheap.
Mk5s are great, Mk6s, Mk7s, Mk8s, they're all amazing.
Get yourself GTI, super duper fun car.
And just like the Miata, these things are meant
to be driven and enjoyed.
In fact, I can only think of one car which is meant
to be driven and enjoyed even more than this one,
and that is,
- [Announcer] Honda Civic.
- They have made 11 generations of Civic.
So it's safe to say that there's a Civic
out there for everybody.
There's only four Miatas, the math speak for itself.
Yep, checks out, 10 is more than four, therefore...
You really can't go wrong with any generation of a Civic.
And if you do a quick Google search will provide a cool,
modified example of all of them.
My personal favorite, and honestly it's probably
based on my vintage is the sixth gen.
This is the one I grew up with,
this is the one my friend Jared had.
You got your EK hatchback, which I think is beautiful.
And then you got the EM 1 Coupe, which is amazing.
The SI for that generation is the Coupe only,
and I think it's one of the coolest looking
compact cars ever made.
But whatever Civic you get, invest in some antitheft stuff.
I'm talking kill switch, removable steering wheel,
alarm system, because these things are cool,
they're easy to steal, they're easy to take apart
and a lot of people want the parts
so they do get stolen a lot.
If you pay attention to the used car market at all,
you probably know that the Porsche 911
is super-duper fricking expensive.
No matter what year, no matter what spec,
no matter what condition, you're not gonna spend any less
than dozens of thousands of dollars.
And let's be honest guys, not all of us are Magnus Walkers.
What if we want a P car, but you only have like $5,000.
What if you want a Porsche,
but you only have a thousand dollars?
Believe it or not, there's a P car for you, the Porsche 944.
The 944 is literally the opposite of 911.
911 engine in the back, 944 engine in the front.
911 air cooled, 944 water cooled.
911 face melting expensive, 944 surprisingly cheap, for now.
We actually found one on Facebook this weekend
for a thousand dollars and we almost bought it.
Max, Jeremiah, Joe, Joey, Nolan, me,
we all pledged 200 bucks to pitch in and buy it
until we realized that nobody has the room.
And there's a hard no project cars rule at the new office.
So we didn't do it, but we could have.
And I know you're all thinking nothing's more expensive
than a cheap Porsche, and you're right.
But the good news here is that the 944 is pretty reliable,
and also Porsche made over 160,000 of them.
And over half of those ended up in the States,
so there is a lot of parts there if you need them.
But if this is your project car,
you might want to engine swap in any way you can do LS
or our friend Mikey Day is putting in O7K in his.
That's the same engine that's going in my Golf,
that's very cool.
Okay guys, the last two cars on this list
were honestly a toss up,
and it really could have gone to either of them.
So coming in second just because you're gonna end up
spending a little bit more money than number one
is the Nissan 350Z.
We love them here at Donut.
It's one of the best chassies I've ever driven.
They're cheap, the VQ is very decent out of the box
as long as you don't try and to interpret charge it.
You can do suspension, wheels, tires, brakes, a seat,
and you have yourself a race car.
Before, we went totally crazy with high car,
high car was one of the best cars I've ever driven.
I loved it, it was an amazing Canyon car.
And there's a reason that almost everybody who drifts
has one for a practice car.
This is the 240 SX of today.
Because 240s are too expensive,
and this chassis is better.
The top of the tree this week,
the king of the hill this week,
the best project car which isn't a Miata
is the incredible
- [Announcer] BMW E36.
- This bad boy was made between 1990 and 2000.
But that's just where the story begins.
Ever since it was born people have been monitoring the E36.
It really is one of the most customizable cars
that you can buy.
And the reason people put so much faith in them
is because of how solid a base they are for mods.
The chassis is outstanding.
Literally everyone who drives them say that they drive
like a dream, and with a couple of really quick
and inexpensive suspension mods, maybe some coil overs,
some stiffer up stuff, some nice tires,
not only will it look amazing,
it will totally transform the driving experience.
Now there's limitless trim levels and specs for this car,
they made it for 10 years,
but you wanna try and get one with a six cylinder.
Between all the different engine codes
it can get a little confusing.
You got M50, M52, S50, S52.
But no matter how you cut it, BMW is really, really good
at making straight six engines,
because they've been making straight six engines
since the 1930s.
And straight six engines are sick.
Like I said before, the reason that this car
is at number one over the 350Z is because
one they're cheaper, and also this is a video about
awesome project cars that aren't a Miata,
and BMW literally made a Miata version of the E36.
It's called the Z3, it looks great,
it's really fun to drive.
There's two parked outside right now.
It's basically a three series without a roof.
So if you insist on looking like my step-mom on the highway,
you might as well do it with a legendary
straight six under the hood.
The Miata, all he's got four cylinders.
I'm out.
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So go to donutmedia.com and get yourself a bundle,
wrap the set, this is really exciting, I love you guys.
You know what?
I knocked Miatas in this episode,
but they really are phenomenal cars.
And there's a reason that we made an entire show
revolved around modifying one.
To check out that show hosted by my good friend, Zach Joe,
click this link right here.
If we missed anything that would be on your list,
I wanna hear about it, let me know in the comments below.
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that's the best way for us to know that we're doing well.
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