Ah, but we are talking about you, not flat brim hat goomba.

911 has a small back seat, NSX has the same back seats as a 914

V8 M3

edit: Anyone who had access to 2 big afterburners whenever the mood struck them seems unlikely to be entertained by 4 or 6 un-turbocharged cylinders unless the car is crazy light (e.g. Caterham CSR)

2nd car?<iframe width="613" height="345" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/SqVQ4iozX5s" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

89 Turbo Trans Am or a Grand National.
Porsche 928 or 968.
Maserati Gran Sport or Gran Turismo

Ever own a VW bug? I bought my first beetle, a Baja bug after owning numerous Porsches. That bug creates smiles, waves, and thumbs up everywhere it goes. Even more than my Slantnose.

Do you want Cool and Quirkey for weekend, or Fun but reliable

Lotus Elise vs VW GTI

For the shear joy of driving fun, you can't beat them. I think they handle better then the G body cars For sure better then my 930 and that thing is tricked. Get the rs up and its a quick car.

I was thinking AC cobra replica with a 427 but then you mentioned back seat required, you say that you are not a fan of 4 doors, have you driven a BMW e39 M5, quite a fun car 400hp and a 6 speed.

Turbo 944 (951). Buy a nice driver and it will likely hold its value.

Dont, run fast, they are a pain in the kazoo! I have one and its a headache, find a air cooled 914 its much better...

996. It drives almost as good as the 997 at much less money. I think the head light looks are improving with age.

Not my experience, and no backseats (per the OP) in the 914. ;)

Most really fun chuckable cars were never sold in the US.

Brought the topic up with the wife and she’s sold on an old Mustang. Cool with spending money for upgrades and it was her mom’s first car (probably why.)

So it sounds like the decision is made!

is her name Sally?

Cool! Get a hardtop coupe and save an enormous amount of money in that alone. What mods are you eyeing? Street or Track, Maier Inc., Global West, Detroit Speed, Cobra Automotive...lots of outfits willing to take all your money!! Pelican icemann427 probably knows plenty about all of it.

How old are we talking? A first gen vert is cool for Sun Diego.

Referencing an old '90s movie?

That is the plan. Hardtop coupes seem to be around $10-15k in pretty decent condition. Definitely suspension stuff immediately and then some engine stuff as time goes on.

I've never really been too keen on convertibles. I had a 2003 Dodge Viper SRT10 convertible and always wished it were a hardtop. The wife and daughter would probably love a convertible though... So perhaps I'd consider one if the price were right.

I used to own a 1970 Mustang convertible that belonged to my grandfather. 302, automatic, front disc brakes, pretty average classic Mustang. These cars are by no means a sports car, or even a sporty car. In stock form they drive like an old truck. If you invest probably an easy $15k to fundamentally overhaul the suspension including the geometry, brakes, and convert to rack and pinion steering you might have something that at least handles and steers like a semi-modern car. Even if you buy something with more punch than a standard 302 you’ll be dealing with the “charm” of a carbureted classic. I sold mine to my dad because I concluded I would never get it driving the way I wanted.

Not trying to be overly negative but this doesn’t tie with your original criteria, just go into it with your eyes wide open. $20-$30k gets you a good clean fastback Mustang, so budget more for upgrades to make it a reasonable driver. There are guys who have spent $100k on a full up resto mod muscle car and they still drive like crap compared to any modern sports car. Or for that matter, a modern Mustang which are really great cars.

Get a frame from the Roadster Shop and don't even mess around with trying to fix the stock suspension.

Seriously.