Just had my mid life crisis also looked at Porsche, but found a 98 Mitsubishi 3000GT w/ 40,000 mi. Std engine, but it holds corners like on rails and has all the power you want for passing. Unfortunately not a convertible, but the sun would burn my bald head. Total cost incl tax, lic etc $12,000. The hatchback was perfect for two sets of clubs. Had never even considered Mitsubishi until started to research maintenance on Porsche.
Get an RX-8 . . . worked for me . . . I love it and itās almost bulletproof.
you know, 00-04 v6 mustangs dont have alot of power, but you can put a turbo in for like $1500 my brother did that with only 4 lbs of boost and has added 100hp! you can even like buy a GT with a V8, which is what id like to do.
I know exactly how you feel. I was in the same position. At 59 and the kids gone, we could finally look into something like that. I read a ton of reviews and everything came back to the Nissan 350Z. For the money, few things in its class can touch it. I found a 2004 covertible with every option including navigation system with 36,000 miles for $23000. The thing is amazing.
Jeff; I donāt know how old you are or what physical shape youāre in, but it will have some bearing on what you buy. A friend of mine sold his business and bought a sports car to have fun with. He is a little overweight and has a bad back. The fun lasted all of one month when he sold the car at a loss and bought something with better seating position and easy to get into. He settled on a Mazda 3 Sport, since he also mmissed the back seat in his sports car.
In other words, borrow or rent the car of your dreams for a weekend trip; if afterwards you can still walk upright without pain, buy it.
Most sports cars, including the Vette, are lousy on a long trip.
I would personally be more inclined to buy a Lexus, Infiniti, or Acura 2 door sports sedan. These handle great, are quiet, and are wonderful on a fast trip across the Rocky Mountains! Ford originally wanted the T-Bird to be such a āPersonal Carā. Sadly, it never lived up to expectations.
How about a Porsche replica. a 550 Spyder or a 356
i donāt know that a Porsche and a Ferrari have comparable maintenace costs. An '84-'90 3.2l 911 is my dream car and they can be easily found in good condition and the maintenance really isnāt that expensive. Furthermore if it is in good enough shape there should be much you need to do other than keep it up, those cars were made to be utilitarian as well as fun. you can run that thing up to 300k miles at least.
While not in the exotic range, the Saturn Sky is a neat little car. Got a chance to look one over a while back and must say I like it a lot.
The iffy backwards trunk lid could be a bit of an inconvenience though and my understanding is that putting the top up and down is a pain in the neck.
I saw a lady at Wal Mart a while back with a Sky and she was really wrestling 3 or 4 bags of items in an attempt to get them past the clamshell and into the miniscule trunk.
The car definitely does not have a load carrying capability but then again, thatās not what itās made for.
Iād like a Porsche Carrera (it aināt gonna happen though) and I see nothing wrong with suffering mid-life crisis or even arrested development. Heck, Iām 58 and still like fast cars/motorcycles along with cranking AC/DC up on the CD player so I say go for it no matter what you get. LIfeās short, enjoy it. 
BMW E-46 (older 3-series) M3 convertible or new 3 Series M3(with a V8)dont know if convertible is here yet. M3 coupe is great or roadster
BMW E30 M3 - the first and still the best. the rest are just 3 series with bigger engines.
To those that dont know the BMW M series cars are very special but still aforadable
My wish would be for a used BMW Z8. If you think Ferraris are affordable then these may be in your price range also. I would need to win the lottery before I could justify owning one of these.
Just purchased a low mileage c6 m/t and its been fun thus far. No regrets. Was looking at 04-06 911 but the IMS issue and overall cost of maintenance had me looking elsewhere.
Friend of mind owns a 2017 C7 vette and I had it in my garage for a few days as his garage floor was being epoxied. Great vehicleā¦Iām seriously thinking about getting one next year when I retire. As @ jtsanders pointed out back in 07ā¦the Corvette is by far the best real sports car bargain. A vehicle that has performance of the Corvette can easily cost you 2-3 times more.
Enjoy the vette.
wow great perspective. I was debating between the c6 and c7 but found a 12 c6 on carvana with only 17,xxx, i had to pull the trigger. since buying in late august, just had my first fish tail while the traction control was onā¦the cars a true beast.
I think the C6 was the first generation of vette where the transmission is in the rear which makes it an extremely well balanced vehicle. A lot of people who buy these vehicles donāt put a lot of miles on them. Especially here in the North East where you can only drive it 6 mo a year.
I like the C6 styling better that other recent Corvettes. If I were to rank them, styling only:
C2
C6
C4
C1
C3 (steel bumper)
C5/C7
C3 (rubber bumper)
Havenāt seen the C8 on the road (odd, Iām 2 miles from a big Chevy dealer), so the juryās still outā¦
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Each person has their own preference.
My favorite based on styling ONLYā¦
C1 - Iād love to own one. But to get one fully restored is super expensive. Far more then a new C8.
C2 - Same as the C1.
C7 - Great styling and very feature rich.
The rest of them - I donāt have a preference. But I like them all.
The C5 had the distinction of the first Corvettes to have the transmission in the back. C6ās were very similar cars with a different body and some improvements in noise control. I prefer the C6ās styling over the C5 the exposed headlights give it a smaller, but more athletic look.
And the C6 looks good in nearly every color available on the car. I canāt say the same for the C7. The sharp-edged styling looks great in black or silver and bright or dark red. The white or blue, not as nice.
Thanks for the clarification.
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