These Are The Cars From The Early 2000s You'd Keep As Classics

Just like the Thunderbird, going with what might be unpopular: Lexus SC430.

I have always liked it, but totally understand why other people didn’t. BUT… in a world moving to BEVs and CUVs, what we have here is a RWD V8 hard top convertible from an automaker who knows how to make long lasting and dependable cars. There isn’t a lot of them out there, but as other options age out and disappear, the number of viable 25 year old RWD V8 hard top convertibles that are actually worth your money a few years from now will dwindle to single digits. Maybe it’s already there.

And this is a car that is an exhaust and suspension update away from being really good. Damn. Now I want to buy one.

2003 Infiniti M45. 340hp V8 rear wheel sedan. Clean, simple tasteful lines. Still looks good today.

FJ Cruiser. Of the 40+ cars I’ve owned, it was one of the very most fun, trouble free vehicles. Not everyone’s cup of tea but I miss mine, having moved on to a Silverado 2500 because I needed a working truck. I wish I could have afforded to keep it squirreled away in my shop.

The Plymouth (and Chrysler) Prowler:

“Classic” meaning “it’s withstood the test of time and is considered way cool” certainly is a match for the Prowler. Given the sea of generic blob cars at the turn of the century, the Prowler is a complete knockout—the production hot rod with the head-turning looks when Plymouth went out with a bang. (So the Prowler continued for a couple of years as a Chrysler product.)

Like I wrote before, if I had a three-car garage, the Prowler would be the third set of wheels.

A lot of good cars already mentioned, so I’m going to offer a pair that I didn’t see mentioned yet:

The Kappa twins.

The ergonomics weren’t great, but let’s look at the upsides:

- RWD

- available manual transmission

- drives and handles well

- available with a turbocharged engine that made more power than the contemporary Porsche Boxster; and can be easily tuned to make more power

- GM mechanicals, so parts and maintenance not a challenge (body parts are a different story)

- haven’t hit collector status yet, where the prices put them out of reach (except for maybe the ultra-rare GXP Coupes)

This platform was actually pretty advanced for the time; using hydroformed frame rails like the more expensive Corvette. This platform also won SCCA, proving that America could build a small roadster that could perform and handle well. I think these deserve to be preserved and enjoyed well into the future; I doubt GM will ever do anything like this ever again.

I like weird, quirky cars, and none fits the bill more than the first-gen Honda Insight. It looks like a car you would see in a movie that takes place “in the future”, all while returning an EPA-estimated 60+ MPG. Plus, it’s one of the few hybrids that could be had in a manual (the only other I can think of is the CR-Z). With its half-covered rear wheel and slippery drag coefficient, it almost fits the “Probe” name better than the actual Probe. Now that I don’t need anything more than a small car to do life things, I would nab one of these in a heartbeat and live the “hypermiler” dream.

Aside from a lot of good vehicles mentioned (and a few bad ones... cough *M45* cough), I’m gonna suggest two vehicles... first... the Tesla Roadster... particularly the early ones that had the shifter:

Original Roadsters are already being preserved... and doing that isn’t cheap... especially when the battery pack is due for rebuilding.

But it’s a landmark vehicle that got Tesla off the ground.

My second suggestion... the Mazda RX-8. I’ve driven them and they are very sweet rides:

Of course if you buy one, you have to educate yourself on all the extra maintenance and preventative things you need to do to keep these reliable and running well.

So they’re not that cheap to own, they’re not the fastest, but they are a sweet , good looking and technically interesting ride.