– Everyone loves the Miata. We have a whole show about building one and you guys love it. But what if you don't want one? I mean, maybe you're six-three, maybe you need to carry
more than just a backpack, maybe your taste is just different. Well, you're in luck
because we put together a list of amazing project
cars that aren't a Miata. They're all lightweight,
they're all super fun to drive, they're all super plentiful, they all have a lot aftermarket
support, big communities, and best of all, they're all affordable. – So buckle up Buckaroo,
fire up your Google machine, this is The D-List. Big old thank you to Upstart
for sponsoring today's video. Listen, I know you're just like me and we have a problem with
owning too many broken cars. So we keep swiping that credit card, we keep buying part after
part because I swear it'll run this time, mom.
Yeah, turbos are cool, but
buying a house is cooler and being debt-free is way cooler. Well, thankfully Upstart
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reviews on Trustpilot. Head over to upstart.com/donut
to find out how low your Upstart rate can be. Now, back to the show. – [Announcer] Foxbody Mustang. – The Foxbody Mustang
makes a great project car for one reason above all other reasons. For being over 2 million.
There's a bunch of different
body styles, trim levels, engines and other options. You want it a hatchback? Got you. You want a notch back? Gotcha. You want hunchback? Sorry bro, you're gonna
have to go fricking Notre Dame for that one. And it's a Ford, so the
parts are shared across a bunch of different platforms. So the potential is astronomical. The one you want is the five liter V8, which is not a screamer out of the box, but it's got a ton of potential
which has basic botons that you can buy for pretty cheap.
My buddy Jacob has one,
he lives in Canada. End of anecdote. The next car on this list
is actually three cars, but it's also actually just one car because all three of
those cars are the same. – [Announcer] Laser, Eclipse, Talon. DSM Triplets. – These triplets were the
result of a joint partnership between Chrysler and
Mitsubishi back in the late 80s called Diamond Star Motors or DSM. Basically they were
doing the same thing that Toyota did with Subaru or
that Toyota did with BMW, but they took it one step
further and gave it a name. There are some street cars that came out of this partnership. We're talking 3000 GT and Dodge Stealth, those are the same car, but the Laser, Eclipse and
Talon are by far the best because of five little words, 4G63 baby, which is also the same engine that came in the fricking Evo. Now, when I was in high school, these were the cars they didn't mess with.
These things are so cheap to make fast. Like you knew you were
gonna lose a drag race. One time when I was in high school I drove a totally stocked 240 SX,
and I had a girl in my car for one of the first times ever. And we pulled up next to these like two, just like nerdy identical twins, which is ironic because they
were driving an identical triplet car. And she leans out the window, she's like, yo, wanna race? And they just like in unison, just like, look a really go, you'll lose. And I did. I knew I would, I was so embarrassed. Now these are not attractive triplets, but you buy them for one reason, the same reason those twins
bought 'em, to go fast. And they can handle a ton of boos. But the one thing you
do have to look out for is a little thing called crankwalk. ♪ To go fast you up the boost ♪ ♪ Look out fore that crankwalk woo! ♪ ♪ Woo, do that crankwalk boi ♪ ♪ Do that crankwalk boi ♪ ♪ To go fast you up the boost ♪ ♪ Look out fore that crankwalk woo! ♪ ♪ Woo, do that crankwalk boi ♪ ♪ Do that crankwalk boi ♪ – But what is crankwalk? Crankwalk is premature
thrust bearing failure.
When the thrust bearings wear out, the crankshaft will walk back and forth, which will put a lot of
stress on the bearings, which is not something that
you want when you are pumping way more boost through a motor
than the factory intended. This is really common
with the 4G63 motors, you can't do things about it, it's just something to be aware of. – [Announcer] Golf GTI. – Of all of the cars ever
made, the Volkswagen Golf is one of the ones with the
most aftermarket support ever. And it's because it's been around forever. The other totally amazing
thing about the golf is that the VW culture and community, no matter how big or
small your question is, there's gonna be a forum thread for you. In fact, a lot of big players
in the automotive industry right now came from VWVortex. Vin from Hoonigan, Ryan
Scotto from Hoonigan, Jason from Rotiform, Ryan from Rotiform, Matt and Brad from Fifteen52, Jamie Orr from Orchid Euro.
I was on VWvortex when I was 14 years old. Mk1s and Mk2s, that's the
first and second gen Golfs are gorgeous cars, and
if you can find one, they're really cool. But my personal pick for this list is whatever GTI you can afford,
I'd say go for a Mk3, which is my personal favorite,
I've owned about 16 them, or a Mk4. Both of those are relatively easy to find in pretty decent shape, especially if you live on the West Coast. Mods are still super cheap. Mk5s are great, Mk6s, Mk7s,
Mk8s, they're all amazing. Get yourself GTI, super duper fun car. And just like the Miata,
these things are meant to be driven and enjoyed.
In fact, I can only think
of one car which is meant to be driven and enjoyed
even more than this one, and that is, – [Announcer] Honda Civic. – They have made 11 generations of Civic. So it's safe to say that there's a Civic out there for everybody. There's only four Miatas,
the math speak for itself. Yep, checks out, 10 is more
than four, therefore… You really can't go wrong with
any generation of a Civic. And if you do a quick Google
search will provide a cool, modified example of all of them. My personal favorite, and
honestly it's probably based on my vintage is the sixth gen. This is the one I grew up with, this is the one my friend Jared had. You got your EK hatchback,
which I think is beautiful. And then you got the EM 1
Coupe, which is amazing. The SI for that generation
is the Coupe only, and I think it's one
of the coolest looking compact cars ever made.
But whatever Civic you get,
invest in some antitheft stuff. I'm talking kill switch,
removable steering wheel, alarm system, because
these things are cool, they're easy to steal,
they're easy to take apart and a lot of people want the parts so they do get stolen a lot. If you pay attention to
the used car market at all, you probably know that the Porsche 911 is super-duper fricking expensive. No matter what year, no matter what spec, no matter what condition,
you're not gonna spend any less than dozens of thousands of dollars. And let's be honest guys, not
all of us are Magnus Walkers. What if we want a P car, but
you only have like $5,000. What if you want a Porsche, but you only have a thousand dollars? Believe it or not, there's a P
car for you, the Porsche 944. The 944 is literally the opposite of 911.
911 engine in the back,
944 engine in the front. 911 air cooled, 944 water cooled. 911 face melting expensive, 944
surprisingly cheap, for now. We actually found one
on Facebook this weekend for a thousand dollars
and we almost bought it. Max, Jeremiah, Joe, Joey, Nolan, me, we all pledged 200 bucks
to pitch in and buy it until we realized that
nobody has the room. And there's a hard no project
cars rule at the new office. So we didn't do it, but we could have. And I know you're all thinking
nothing's more expensive than a cheap Porsche, and you're right. But the good news here is that
the 944 is pretty reliable, and also Porsche made
over 160,000 of them.
And over half of those
ended up in the States, so there is a lot of parts
there if you need them. But if this is your project car, you might want to engine
swap in any way you can do LS or our friend Mikey Day
is putting in O7K in his. That's the same engine
that's going in my Golf, that's very cool. Okay guys, the last two cars on this list were honestly a toss up, and it really could have
gone to either of them. So coming in second just
because you're gonna end up spending a little bit
more money than number one is the Nissan 350Z.
We love them here at Donut. It's one of the best
chassies I've ever driven. They're cheap, the VQ is
very decent out of the box as long as you don't try
and to interpret charge it. You can do suspension,
wheels, tires, brakes, a seat, and you have yourself a race car. Before, we went totally
crazy with high car, high car was one of the
best cars I've ever driven. I loved it, it was an amazing Canyon car. And there's a reason that
almost everybody who drifts has one for a practice car. This is the 240 SX of today. Because 240s are too expensive, and this chassis is better. The top of the tree this week, the king of the hill this week, the best project car which isn't a Miata is the incredible – [Announcer] BMW E36.
– This bad boy was made
between 1990 and 2000. But that's just where the story begins. Ever since it was born people
have been monitoring the E36. It really is one of the
most customizable cars that you can buy. And the reason people
put so much faith in them is because of how solid
a base they are for mods. The chassis is outstanding. Literally everyone who drives
them say that they drive like a dream, and with
a couple of really quick and inexpensive suspension
mods, maybe some coil overs, some stiffer up stuff, some nice tires, not only will it look amazing, it will totally transform
the driving experience. Now there's limitless trim
levels and specs for this car, they made it for 10 years, but you wanna try and get
one with a six cylinder.
Between all the different engine codes it can get a little confusing. You got M50, M52, S50, S52. But no matter how you cut it,
BMW is really, really good at making straight six engines, because they've been
making straight six engines since the 1930s. And straight six engines are sick. Like I said before, the
reason that this car is at number one over the 350Z is because one they're cheaper, and
also this is a video about awesome project cars that aren't a Miata, and BMW literally made a
Miata version of the E36. It's called the Z3, it looks great, it's really fun to drive. There's two parked outside right now. It's basically a three
series without a roof. So if you insist on looking
like my step-mom on the highway, you might as well do it with a legendary straight six under the hood.
The Miata, all he's got four cylinders. I'm out. (soft music) Listen up class, I've been
asked to come to you today and talk to you about
a thing called bundles. And we're offering
different themed packages at an extreme discount. Stop laughing. Stop laughing, Jessie, this is serious. We've got the starter pack,
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the boost creeps bundle, the Mo Powa Babeh bundles. Guys, this is an insane opportunity, once in a lifetime really. You get a great deal on an amazing collection of Donut Media merchandise. (upbeat music) So go to donutmedia.com
and get yourself a bundle, wrap the set, this is really
exciting, I love you guys.
You know what? I knocked Miatas in this episode, but they really are phenomenal cars. And there's a reason that
we made an entire show revolved around modifying one. To check out that show hosted
by my good friend, Zach Joe, click this link right here. If we missed anything that
would be on your list, I wanna hear about it, let me
know in the comments below. Hit that subscribe button,
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