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2025 Subaru Impreza ReviewCritics’ Choice: $10,000 Project Car
Building the perfect project car requires an imperfect starting point. Our writers scour listings for a worthy candidate under $10,000.
Battle of the Budget Build
Embarking on a project car is a fateful decision, both for your wallet and your sanity. A major hinge for how joyful and/or stressful you’ll find your project depends on what you choose for a car. The car you choose for a project is both the canvas (medium for you art nerds out there) and the subject matter of your automotive art. Just as the formal structure of the haiku or sonnet helps inspire, rather than hinder, the poet, so too will the make, model, and history of a car serve to inspire the project car owner. Will you painstaking restore a pre-war Packard? Or make a Baja truck out of your Geo Tracker? The only limits are your imagination and your budget.
As to that latter point, this month’s Critics’ Choice asked our writers to find a project car candidate for at or under $10,000, theoretically leaving room for further investments in powertrain upgrades, interior overhauls, and Pimp My Ride-levels of extraneous LED screens scattered seemingly at random across your build.
Chris Kaiser
2005 Lexus LS 430
Short List
2004 Porsche Cayenne
1954 Lincoln Capri
2001 Mazda Miata MX-5
This Critics’ Choice has been a thorny one. My automotive tastes tend to be eclectic so that narrowing down to a single project car to pour blood, sweat, and a good deal of money into was most challenging. We all have our automotive fantasies. Cars we’d buy with lotto money, and then there are the cars closer to reality, ones that might, just maybe in some possible future end up in our garage.
To wit, my first line of thought was building an overlanding rig. Cheap Porsches, like all used German sports cars, tend to be expensive to fix, but if one were to be your project car, the money pit potential is kind of baked in. Therefore, it was without reservation that I considered a first-generation Cayenne Turbo, with its 4.5L twin-turbo V8 as the basis for an overlander. Posh luxury (when equipped with street tires) and serious off-road ability (with another change of tires) seems like a potent project car combination, to say nothing of the rabbit hole that is the world of overlanding gear.
An NB Miata (second gen 1998-2005) was also a possibility. Cheap thrills, a thriving online community of enthusiasts, and great parts availability make the Miata a prime candidate for anyone looking for a project car. Sadly, at 6-ft tall, I find the pint-size Miata a bit too cramped for comfort or it might have been my final pick.
While the above offer plenty of opportunities for personalization and customization, a real project car would be, in theory at least, a more thoroughgoing affair. For a long-haul project that’s a labor of love, one that might test the bonds of matrimony and the depths of your financial commitment, choose an old heap from the 1950s or earlier. And for that I was very close to picking a 1954 Lincoln Capri in a beautiful aqua green with matching aqua green interior. Sure, it needs a complete overhaul, but to be forced to seek out nearly impossible to find hardware and exotic interior trim pieces would be the charm (or curse) of such a project.
My actual pick, however, isn’t quite so demanding, quite the opposite in fact. I chose a car that is perfectly fantastic all on its own, a 2005 Lexus LS 430. So why make a project out of a car that doesn’t scream for modification? Because I have a deep affinity for those early Lexus, the LS 400 and LS 430. I almost chose the former, but the 430’s interior is just so, so nice. (The example I found has black leather upholstery and trim contrasting with the rich walnut wood trim throughout.) So, what would I be “projecting” in this already great car? First, I’d slap a Ford SVT supercharger onto the 4.3L V8. Sure, it already makes 290 horsepower, but why not more for the ultimate in luxury highway cruising.
I like the car’s black-on-black color scheme already, so for visual updates I’d swap in some beefier bumpers and side skirts, not too wild, just big enough to know they’re not stock. To contrast with the black, bronze trim pieces would replace all the shiny bright work and badging, along with new bronze wheels. Lexus did gold badging as an option on early LS models, so the bronze helps differentiate our build while nodding to those early LS 400s.
Jesse McGraw
A Pair of Volkswagen Beetles
Short List
1946 Ford Coupe
1957 Plymouth Savoy
1991 Volvo 240 Wagon
I’m picking out a project car for under $10K? While I’d like to indulge in my JDM fandom, I decided to broaden my horizons and see what other classics would make for a fun project. I found a couple of old Volvos for sale that would allow me to follow in the footsteps of Paul Newman and his LS-swapped wagon. There was also a rusted-out Plymouth Savoy that piqued my interest with those old school tailfins. I even thought about picking up an old ford to hot rod out. In the end, I landed on a “buy one get one free” listing that’s hard to pass up.
These are a pair of early ‘70s Volkswagen Beetles listed for just $8,995. Each has their issues and different missing parts, but mashing two versions of the same model together to get one great ride is what project cars are all about. Plus, the Volkswagen Beetle is an ideal choice for a project car as it has a huge international following, has a substantial amount of history behind the model, and there are even some unique kit cars that can be put together with them.
Now, I’m not looking to recreate my own version of Herbie the Love Bug. For my ideal end product, I’d like to make a classic Baja Bug racer. These Southern California dune buggies came into popularity in the ‘60s for off road use and have even been introduced to the motorsports world with their own specific classes for events like the Baja 1000. All I’d have to do is reinforce the body, got out the insides, install some racing seats and harnesses, raise the suspension with a kit from Fox Racing, add a roll cage, install some heavier duty bumpers, get some old KC HiLites on the roof, and give it off-road rated tires. Simple enough, right?
The only thing left to do is update that engine in the rear to something a little more powerful and reliable like a Honda K series engine with a turbocharger. Then I’ll be flying though the sand dunes in no time. Plus, I’ll have some spare VW parts back at the garage should I get a little too rough in the desert.
Jesse Batson
1991 Dodge Stealth
Short List
2002 Ford Thunderbird
1990 Chevrolet Camaro
1995 Jeep Wrangler
Which car is my project car? In other words, which car is the one I’m going to pour my money, time, effort, and emotions into? I went with the 1991 Dodge Stealth that’s priced at $7,500 with 1,000 miles. The Dodge Stealth is sometimes overlooked, but it was an exciting ‘90s sports car. It’s the Dodge version of the Mitsubishi 3000GT. Thanks to Mitsubishi’s partnership with Chrysler, the U.S. and Canada got in on the fun, too, with the badge-engineered and mechanically identical Dodge Stealth.
This 1991 Dodge Stealth is in pretty good condition already. It’s got a brand-new 3.0-liter V6 engine and manual five-speed transmission, and the windows are tinted black. The cassette player and the previous radio were removed and replaced with a 6.2-inch media kit that includes Bluetooth, AM/FM radio, a 6.2-inch screen, a USB port, and an auxiliary input. It looks to be in good condition, based on the photos. It’s got 235/35 R19 Nexen tires, which are nice, but I’d probably replace the rims. Despite all the upgrades, there’s other work to be done, too.
I’d maybe put a racing stripe along the side. I’d also probably give it a new paint job, just to refresh it a bit. Inside the car, the rear seats are leather, but the front seats are cloth. I’d definitely be changing that out. I’m not sure what the condition of the leather seats is, so I may be changing out all of it. The passenger window doesn’t work, either. It looks like there’s some plastic from the door panel that is missing.
A lot of people will say that your project car needs to be your passion car because that’s what will drive you (no pun intended) to keep at it. You’ll want to take a weekend off, give up working on it, or just sell it before it’s finished. That may be true, but the 1991 Dodge Stealth isn’t actually my dream car. I’m OK with that. It’s a fun, quick car to drive. That’s all the motivation I need to start this project. There’s more to consider than just getting your dream car. For example, how expensive is it going to be to get your dream car into not just working condition, but your ideal condition?
The result of a restomod would provide a great sense of accomplishment, but the price tags along the way? I’m not sure I’m ready for that level of commitment. Realistically, there’s only so much time in my schedule that I could really dedicate to a project car. The same thing goes for my budget. There’s some wiggle room, but it’s probably better, at this point anyway, to go with a project car that’s a little less expensive and a little less time-consuming.
Another thing to consider is how easy it is to find parts. That goes hand-in-hand with the price of parts. The nice thing is that between the Mitsubishi 3000GT and the Dodge Stealth, I should be able to find most parts I’d need to fix anything that wears out. Some Stealth parts may still be hard to find, of course. However, I’m hoping that with enough searching, enough online listings, and searching social media, I wouldn’t have that much difficulty getting the parts I’d need to upgrade or make fixes. I don’t anticipate them being insanely expensive, either.
Another reason I went with the Dodge Stealth is that it’s not filled with too many electronics, so I don’t need a bunch of sophisticated machines to determine every issue that comes up. The engine bay doesn’t look too cramped. There should be a decent amount of room to fiddle around in. Plus, a quick online search shows results for tutorial videos from other DIYers. From the climate control panel to speaker repair to issues with the Stealth not cranking, there are videos that I can at least turn to get a starting point on the repairs.
The look, the listing price, the work that’s already been done, the work that’s left to be done, and the possible price of parts all add up for me. This coupe would give me something to do, a feasible endpoint, shouldn’t break the bank, and would be a heck of a lot of fun when it’s done!
