Mid Week Match-Up: Best Two Seater Hardtop
It’s Wednesday, so that means it’s time for another edition of Daily Turismo’s better than flying around the world in a glider with Carrot Top and a beehive game also known as Mid Week Match-Up! There are plenty of times when you need a back seat in your car, but there are also times when you don’t want a back seat, vestigial 911 size or not. For this week, find the best 2-seat hardtop (no convertibles please) for less than $15k.
I’ve been a fan of Nissan’s Z car for years and (with a notable few exceptions) they just keep getting better. The 370Z is just out of price range for this MWMU, so I would pick a 2007-2008 350Z NISMO edition, like this one here on eBay
currently bidding for $5,000 reserve-not-met. The NISMO edition of the Z was a limited production (1607 total for the 2007-2008 model years) version of the 350Z that added a chin spoiler, side skirts, rear wing, huge wheels and big brakes to the VQ35HR (306 horsepower and 268 ft-lbs of torque) V6 with 6-speed manual gearbox. It might be a bit flashy, but it provides all of the speed and handling you and one friend will ever need.
What 2-seater hardtop would you pick? Comments below.
Roadmaster Estate with the two back seats folded down 😉
Rule bender: 2011 Mazda Miata with Power Retractable Hard Top in Vancouver, BC for 14,900 USD at current rates.
[img] images.craigslist.org/00o0o_92uTybZWZp8_600x450.jpg[/img]
The answer is always Miata…
I've always wanted one of these and here's a nice one for $14K. This one is apparently #313 of the 741 produced that year.
I spy a back seat!
Care to sit back there? You were born with legs? That's surprising. When did that happen?
I think if you buy one of these you're required to carry a switchblade in your sock and roll your cigarettes up in your sleeves.
No mullet? Dang. I wanted a mullet.
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Honda 2000 would be on my short list … ebay.com/itm/Honda-S2000-Base-Convertible-2-Door-2002-honda-s-2000-base-convertible-super-clean-/281631863068?forcerrptr=true&hash=item419291311c&item=281631863068&pt=US_Cars_Trucks
J.
I have never driven one but it has to be epic. Maybe find a salvage title for 15????
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Would you really buy an Elise with an R title?
No but I was trying to bend the rules a little. You know, like having a back seat 😉
Elises get totaled for a busted front clamshell, anything that scratches the tub, etc.
They don't have a BMW E65 7-series worth of electricals in them, you don't have to worry about water damage turning the thing into a haunted house.
So, yeah. As salvage titles go, as long as the tub was not majorly thumped, it may not be a bad buy.
Har har! We don't follow no steenkin' rules and we just do whatever we want! We're like James Dean in "Rebel Without a Car".
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Somewhere there's one a few bucks cheaper:
C5 Z06
I don't think C5 Z06s are realistically sub $15000 cars but C5 Corvette FRCs (fixed roof coupe) which are the same body style as a Z06 have long been one of the cheapest ways to go very fast for under $20k
here's one for just a little over our limit
2000 Corvette FRC
The C5 Z06 is the correct answer to this question, and the C6 Z06 is rapidly approaching the target as well. The C5 FRC is also a good answer, but I think the Z06 will maintain value better over a short or long term ownership.
C6 Z06 is rapidly approaching the target? Think it's got a ways to go to get to the $15K number, I'm watching some of those fairly carefully.
Lots of Porsche 914's laying around………maybe even one with a converted bigger motor. Mid engine, great handling,looks, and the Porsche mystique.
jpb
sold my 914/6 -big mistake !
Let's go Brit!
Let's go 'Murican!
Let's go…uh, German!
Let's go Italian!
Let's go Japanese!
Or you could just buy…Tony? And forget about 2-seater coupes.
How about a fiero replica
[img] images.craigslist.org/01111_dghPzriaROH_600x450.jpg[/img]
Did you see the newest Top Gear? At least, the newest one released here in the States?
i remember the one a few years ago with the replica rutledge drove
Last Monday's episode "raced" two replicas in Italy. It might have been a repeat; probably was, given the current brouhaha. As usual, it was a stunt played as a gag so it was their typically beaten to death formula that has little to no life left in it whatsoever. Still, one of the replicas (a 355 I think – I don't care about Ferraris) actually looked pretty good.
UK Top Gear, BTW.
I find all of the other TGs completely unwatchable, so I doubt I saw Beardie beating on a cross-dressing Fiero.
BTW, when Pontiac brought out the Fiero, buyers got P-car'd. Did you know that?
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No? Nothing? Tough crowd.
I see your whatever and throw down the ultimate, with lots of change to renew it to perfection….before Miata was the answer, CRX Was the answer and still is. Sacramento CRX. Assuming i did the formatting right….
I had a similar thought, R. But I couldn't find a $15K CRX that I was interested in. This was as close as I could find and I just couldn't bring myself to post it here. I have the feeling DTers would love it, but…I…just…couldn't…do…it.
And then of course my mind goes to the convertible made for robots, the del Sol; the VTEC specifically. I found one that's sort of near our $15K price point…but still, no love I think.
No love for the RX-7?
E46 BMW M3 can be had for sub $15K. 330hp from a 6, breathing normal. The plus 2 in those ain't worthy of being called seats…
[img] smartridez.com/img/upload/2423/Smart_Car__Orange.jpeg[/img]
hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
Shoot………… thats huge…. break the internet I guess
Looks like a shopping cart my boys would enjoy
This got silly in a hurry. Probably because the 350z would be one of the best choices in contemporary cars. For something a bit older Porsche 944S2 or Porsche 968
"I spy a back seat!" wrote Sean Scott.
I owned a 951 and I could fit back there better than an F-body…sideways, of course. But the 968 Club Sport did come with the back seat deleted…so that would be a good one, Anonynony. As I'm sure you already know, there were quite a few CSs made (nearly 2,000). But they don't pop up for sale very often and it's highly likely that they will be more than our $15K price cap. There was one in Germany for sale last year (don't know if it sold) and they were asking roughly $70K for it.
"…got silly in a hurry." You do know where you are, right? This ain't Jalopy Nick, Bring Your Trainers, Otto Flog or any one of those other highfalutin blogs…
Let's go SoCal-style!