Yahoo Autos Here's $20,000. Buy a fun car for the weekend
Sometimes you don't have to care about practicality or efficiency. In this week's fun game of spending imaginary money, even reliability isn't as important as affordability and the ever-important fun factor. We're diving into the world of vehicular play things; cars that aren't meant to be daily drivers and don't really need to be relied upon for anything other than having a blast on the weekend.
Of course, the budget is important. A whole lot of people would love to have the kind of cash necessary to blow a couple hundred thousand bucks on a stable of fun cars and trucks. We want to be more rational than that. We set the bar at $20,000 or less for this exercise, which seems about right at less than half the cost of the average new car. It's also a sufficient amount that there are plenty of interesting choices, some old and some comparatively new. On-road sports cars, off-road roamers and even some vehicles you can sleep in overnight could all qualify.
Here are the rules:
You can spend no more than $20,000.
You can spend less than $20,000, but buying a crapper for a few Benjamins and pocketing the rest just means you're not good at playing this game.
You have to prove that your chosen vehicle can actually be bought at this price in drivable condition.
And here's what we picked ...
Jaguar XJS V12
Senior Editor Jeremy Korzeniewski: A guy on the street I grew up on in Suburban Toledo had one of these, and my pre-teen self thought it was just about the coolest thing I had ever seen. It's definitely a classic, but it's an attainable one. The big grand-touring Jag was popular when new, and that means they aren't hard to find on the used market. I'm pretty sure I'd look for one with a V12 engine in order to fulfill a twelve-cylinder hole in my car ownership history. I'd go for a late-model example from 1992 or later to benefit from streamlined manufacturing techniques introduced by Ford after it took over the British operation. The 6.0-liter V12 produces more than 300 horsepower and sent those ponies to the rear through a bulletproof GM 4L80-E transmission, incidentally the same tranny that can pull 10,000 pounds in my big block Suburban.
I'm sure much of our staff is going to choose a lightweight coupe for this exercise. Well ... I'm getting older and crankier by the day. Grand Touring sounds relaxing and rewarding for me, my wife and our fluffy dog. Point us in the direction of a winery several hundred miles away. We'll put the top down and see you in two days.
E39 BMW 540i M Sport 6-Speed Manual
Senior Editor James Riswick: I already have a fun weekend car with only two seats and minimal practical value, so with $20,000 in fake money to spend on an additional fun car, I'd want something I could bring my 3-year-old son along in and also go someplace to have fun beyond the drive itself. I considered an Audi S4 Avant (be it the supercharged first-generation or V8-powered second-generation) as well as a BMW 135i and Honda Prelude, but ultimately, I couldn't get the E39 BMW 5 Series out of my head. I really want one of these. An M5 is out of the question at this price point, but you can get a seriously nice example of the next best thing for less than $20,000: the 540i M Sport with the six-speed manual. Ideally, it would be in an actual color such as Sienna or Royal red or this Topaz Blue example that sold on Bring a Trailer back in May for $19,500. Titanium Silver would work too, as it just fits this car. There's also a world in which I'd find a 540i Touring, aka the wagon, and do a 6-speed manual swap and still be under $20,000. Now I want to do this for real.
