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The $5,000 dilemma

18 July, 2017

If you’re anything like us here in the office, you’ll spend a good chunk of your time imagining what car you’d buy in any given scenario. The Powerball winners garage makes for a good afternoon of daydreaming. So does thinking about finding a daily that could be used on track days without blowing the insurance premiums out of the water.

But let’s start with a question for the ages, an old favourite: what would you buy with $5,000 cash? We put the $5k dilemma to a few of the team and here’s what they had to say:

Jaden Martin — Staff writer at NZ Performance Car

Subaru Legacy RS wagon (BF): There’s not a lot in the realm of 5k that still has an ounce of fun left in it without being thrashed beyond its usefulness. To be fair an RS wagon is probably no exception to this, but hey, they seem to soldier on like champs and still look cool as hell with a slight height adjustment and a properly suited set of wheels — plus who could resist giving it a squirt out on gravel back roads in the middle of nowhere?

Lachlan Jones — Staff writer at NZ Classic Car

Volvo 850R Wagon: Anyone remember the only wagon to ever compete in the BTCC in the 1990s? This is it. And now they’re as cheap as chips but still a blast. I love the box like dimensions that somehow enhance the styling. Quick, comfortable, practical and cool. 

Ashley Webb — Editor of NZ Classic Car

MG Midget: Why? Cause it’s the only bloody thing I can think of that costs $5k and a lot of fun at an affordable price.

Todd Wylie — Editor of NZV8

Ford Pinto wagon: Simply because I saw one for sale recently and thought it was just so ugly that it was awesome. The seller only wanted around $5k from memory, which was stupidly cool for what could be a great little daily driver.

Connal Grace — Assistant editor of NZV8

BMW 318i (E30): For the modest price of $5k, the world of second-rate used cars is your oyster, and after much deliberation, I’m choosing a BMW 318i (E30) with a manual transmission. I’ve always wanted to own an E30 BMW. They look good, drive well, and I really need to write something here before I change my mind. 

 

Honourable mentions:

Peugeot 309 GTI — The 205s less popular non-identical twin. The reality is that he’s just as good and a touch more practical. Sure to start spiking in value like the 205 soon enough.

Suzuki Samurai — Bugger all power and a propensity to cock a wheel at a sniff of wind or a 40 degree corner at over 25km/h but these things weigh less than a Labrador and go just about anywhere. Weekends of fun to be had.

Jeep Grand Cherokee — A good number of them are used by passionate 4×4 fans and adventurers who keep the maintenance up to date and fix issues as they arise. The bulletproof 4L engine appears to be a survivor as you keep looking after her. Proportions are just right and even the interior has aged well.

Toyota GT Starlet — A brilliant starting point for any budding car enthusiast. Small, economical, reliable and quick enough to put a smile on your dial.

Last Tango in the Fast Lane

30 April, 2026

In the mid ’80s, I locked into a serious Nissan/Datsun performance obsession. It could have kicked off with my ’82 Datsun Sunny, though this would have been a bit of a stretch of the imagination, given its normally aspirated 1.2-litre motor — not the sort of thing to unleash radical road warrior dreams. But it did plant a seed, and it was a sweet little machine and surprisingly quick, in contrast to all the diabolical English offerings I had endured.
I was living in South Auckland at the time and was an unrepentant petrolhead. Motor racing was my drug of choice, and I followed the scene slavishly. Saloon car racing, with the arrival of the international Group A formula, was having a serious renaissance here and in Australia and Europe. There was suddenly an exotic air in local racing that had been absent for 15 years.
I was transfixed by this new frontier of motor racing that had hit our tracks in 1985–87 and the new array of machinery on display. In 1986, the Nissan Skyline RS DR30 made a blinding impression on me. The Australian Fred Gibson-run, Peter Jackson-sponsored team of George Fury and Glenn Seton were the fastest crew of the 1986 Australian Touring Car Championship. But Kiwi legend Robbie Francevic snuck through to win the Aussie Championship in his Volvo 240T after a strong start and consistent finishes.

NZ Classic Car magazine, May/June 2026 issue 405, on sale now

26 April, 2026

Reincarnation of the snake
We are captivated by a top-quality sports car
The Shelby NZ build team at Matamata Panelworks has endured a long and challenging journey, culminating with the highly anticipated public unveiling of the 427SC and firing up of its sonorous V8 at the 2026 Ayrburn Classic Festival of Motoring in Queenstown on February 20. This is a New Zealand-built car with loads of character and potential.
The car is now back in Matamata, and I finally have an opportunity to get up close and personal with it. But before then, the question that must be asked is, “Why would ya?”
The first answer is easy, as mentioned in the last issue of New Zealand Classic Car (#404). It was a great way to use up all the surplus Mustang parts acquired while converting brand-new Mustangs into Shelbys. The unused new Mustang parts would be great in any kit car, but the 427SC in front of me cannot be classified as one.
This is not a kit car. The reality is that it is a high-quality, factory-made production car.
Possibly the second answer is because the CEO of Matamata Panelworks, Malcolm Sankey, wanted to build a replica of the car that is a distant relation to the Shelby Mustangs scattered around his showroom floor, a car created long before the first Mustang was even thought of, and the brainchild of Carroll Shelby back in the early ‘60s.