WTB: Fast 4 Door

[ViPER1313]

Life is too short to drive a Toyota Corolla. Trying to keep the budget to 5g or less; this will be a 3rd car, and I likely won't keep it for much over a year or 2.

Wants

1. 300+ hp. 400+ preferrred
2. RWD or AWD
3. Large. 5 series sized or greater
4. 4 doors
5. Not a basket case. I don't want to drop thousands of work into it as soon as I purchase it. I am willing to do one major mechanical repair (new engine, new transmission) if the body and interior are in good shape, I just don't want to do major engine work + new wheels + new tires + body work + refurbish the interior. Body + Interior condition > mechanical condition.
6. I would prefer something German or American. 
7. Traditional automatic (not DCT or similar.) Manual is OK too depending on the car. No DCT or anything similar.
8. 1998 or older, or if newer, something that can be put through a MD state inspection within 30 days. If newer than 1998, the car can't have any engine swaps / removed emissions or similar, and must be in very good shape.
9. Value for the money. I am trying to be in and out of this car for as little as possible over a 1 or 2 year period. Ease of resale and maintenance costs do factor into this.

I don't drive very much at the moment, so overall reliability is not a terrible concern so far as I can reasonably put 5-10k miles on the car over a couple of years. So far I have looked at a 1998 Jaguar XJR and 1998 BMW 750il, and both were basket cases that would have needed another 5g worth of parts right away for them to be semi functional.

Edit:

Cars I have been looking for

BMW 540i w/ M-Sport appearance
BMW 750il
Jaguar XJR
Mercedes W140 S500 / S600
Audi A8 / S8 (only recently, not very familiar with these, and am not super hot on the VAG)

[JPolen01]

In to see if you can actually pull this off and not get basket case car for under $5k. I have no idea what kind of car you can get for that price with 300+ HP that wasn't someone else's never finished project. This will be interesting.

[ViPER1313]

Another 2 things: I want the car to be somewhat unique. BMW 540i non M-sport and 200X Mercedes S500 need not apply. I also don’t want to go over 100 miles from 21716 to pick it up.

I think I can pull this off because I *am* willing to go for a car that needs a 1 or 2g repair and may be inoperable so long as it was decently maintained prior to having the engine/trans blow.

The XJR was right at the top of my price range, but all 4 wheels were curbed, tires were from 2005, leather was worn, door cards were trashed, it had pretty bad paint work, was leaking coolant / oil and the entire suspension was original. 750il had a misfire, ABS light, airbag light, a huge dent in the rear quarter, rust on the drivers door trim..... and more and more. I was at 3-4g just to make it road worthy *if* the suspension was not also throwing faults.

I’m looking for a car that is high mileage but well maintained or has suffered a recent issue where I can put a $1500 motor in a decent $3500 car

[Senor_Taylor]

Pls no.

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[WRXtranceformed]

Man I'm curious if you can pull this off too. I would though steer you away from the XJR no matter what, just imo

I also hate to recommend an old Audi with unknown mileage, but it's boosted and has a warranty? Put some money into a tune and you're there: https://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-sale...elCode1=A6

Didn't these have 300ish hp? Motors have always been bulletproof:
https://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-sale...lCode1=G35

My personal favorite, probably not fast but throw a junkyard turbo on it and VIP it out?
https://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-sale...ode1=LS400

[ViPER1313]

Pls no.

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You think you are a car masochist? Hold my beer.

Curve ball: I have also been looking for the better part of 2 years for a very specific Chevrolet S10. Basically, I want a 9/10ths or better condition version of the truck my great grandfather used to have. If you can find one that is on the east coast, I will pick that up instead, but I am very specific as to the specs of the truck.

This truck right here is 95% of what I want - has everything I want except the vinyl bench and the fact it is in California: https://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/detai.../overview/

1990 or 1991 Chevrolet S10
Blue w/ non 2 tone paint job
4.3L w/ Automatic
Standard Cab
RWD
Long Bed
Blue Interior w/ Vinyl Bench Seat

[ViPER1313]

Man I'm curious if you can pull this off too.  I would though steer you away from the XJR no matter what, just imo

I also hate to recommend an old Audi with unknown mileage, but it's boosted and has a warranty?  Put some money into a tune and you're there:  https://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-sale...elCode1=A6

Didn't these have 300ish hp?  Motors have always been bulletproof:
https://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-sale...lCode1=G35

My personal favorite, probably not fast but throw a junkyard turbo on it and VIP it out?
https://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-sale...ode1=LS400

Audi 2.7T doesn't really do it for me, and that example is the type of ex project ragged out example I am trying to avoid. G35 is way too safe of a choice. LS400 is cool and I have thought about picking one up on several occasions, but they pull a major Lexus premium and fall too far on the luxury end of the spectrum. I am generally writing off anything Japanese for the time being out of principle, unless you find me a good condition Toyota Crown in my price range.

[ViPER1313]

Not to keep replying to my own post, but I am seriously looking for leads on 540s / 740s / 750s from all you BMW fools from forums / enthusiast sites that I don't frequent.

This is the type of lead am looking for, if the owner would reply to emails

https://washingtondc.craigslist.org/nva/...17762.html

Not perfect, dosen't look terrible.

[WRXtranceformed]

Man I'm curious if you can pull this off too.  I would though steer you away from the XJR no matter what, just imo

I also hate to recommend an old Audi with unknown mileage, but it's boosted and has a warranty?  Put some money into a tune and you're there:  https://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-sale...elCode1=A6

Didn't these have 300ish hp?  Motors have always been bulletproof:
https://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-sale...lCode1=G35

My personal favorite, probably not fast but throw a junkyard turbo on it and VIP it out?
https://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-sale...ode1=LS400

G35 is way too safe of a choice. 

So you're saying you want this to be an unsafe process?

[ViPER1313]

So you're saying you want this to be an unsafe process?

Just the tip

[.RJ]

This is not going to end well.  

[CaptainHenreh]

LS/GS430 is probably your best bet.

[SlimKlim]

A $5k 540i will raid your wallet, drink all your beer, trash your house and slap your wife.

[Ryan T]

Mid-90s Impala SS? Pretty bullet proof LT1, RWD, Huge. Seems to check most of your boxes.

Early 2000s Mercury Marauder? Same deal as above.

It's only a 2 door, but you could pick up a minty looking low mileage Lincoln MKVIII for 5k.

[JPolen01]

Mid-90s Impala SS? Pretty bullet proof LT1, RWD, Huge. Seems to check most of your boxes.

This is the only good idea in this thread. The rest sound like basket cases. And they do like bitchin.

[davej]

Audi 2.7T doesn't really do it for me,

A $300 out of the box tune will net you ~320hp/380tq you can easily get 15,000 miles of fun with out doing anything anal retentive about maintenance and dump if off when you're done. 
https://harrisonburg.craigslist.org/cto/...70489.html

I have another bad idea, but it's coming in a PM. We don't need the peanut galleries input just yet.

[ViPER1313]

That S4 would be interesting if I didn’t have to get it through MD inspection, also would prefer something in 6 or 8 series. I would have to at least put cats back in that and sort the CEL, and it’s already going past the price cap.

I do love the Impala SS... panther bodies are cool too... really trying to scratch a German car itch though.

[WRXtranceformed]

You could always just be "that guy" and get an old police cruiser as a project: https://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-sale...1=CROWNVIC

This came with a v8...hemi right?: https://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-sale...lCode1=300

You could start a separate "personal driver" business on the side with this thing: https://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-sale...de1=LINCTC

If you can find another one of these, I think these would be one of your best bets. I still think these are cool for some reason: https://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-sale...=LSLINCOLN

[Ryan T]

You could always just be "that guy" and get an old police cruiser as a project:  

This came with a v8...hemi right?:  

You could start a separate "personal driver" business on the side with this thing:  

If you can find another one of these, I think these would be one of your best bets.  I still think these are cool for some reason:

Old police cruisers are awesome, but they are rode hard and put up wet, every day for years on end. They would definitely require some maintenance after purchase.

I'm all about a Lincoln Town Car. 

Only shitty thing about the Lincoln LS is they put that 3.9L V8 in it instead of the 4.6.

[davej]

I like the old cop car idea. Get a crown vic with the two tone brown scheme, push bar and spot light still and watch the highway part like the red sea for you.