cheap impreza wagon, good plan?

[Terror Factor]

Hi all,

I've been thinking about getting a cheap impreza wagon (turbo!) and putting it on lpg, so I'd end up with a cheap daily driver, that's fun.

I currently drive a 1994 mx-5 1.8 turbo. A couple of reasons why I am thinking about a change:
-tax advantage with the impreza wagon (60 gbp (+0 for lpg) vs 250 gbp(+120 for lpg), I'm from belgium, and the impreza can be registered as a cargo vehicle)
-mx-5 is not exactly legal (engine tuning is not allowed. A turbo is difficult to hide. Passing the technical inspection every year is about having luck. My setup does look pretty OEM, but still.)
-more relatively cheap power for the impreza
-technical issues with the 5 (overheats when giving it the beans, leaky headgasket is probably the cause, map needs to be tweaked)
-lpg has less negative influence (bootspace/weight distribution)

Pro mx-5: looks more special (lowered + oem bodykit), cheaper parts, cheaper insurance (by 120 gbp), no hassle to find another car/sell it, steering wheel on the right side (would probably get an impreza from the uk, as they are a lot more expensive and rare here), *should* be more of a drivers car

The main reason is the tax advantage.
I had a couple of passenger rides in impreza turbo's (non wrx/sti, 1 stock, 1 stripped), and drove the stock one myself for a bit. Can't really say if I like it better or worse than the 5.

So, cheaper tax vs cheaper maintenance, and looking for a car vs sorting this one, hoping it passes inspection every time (can be fixed by getting a 1600 chassis, as they made a mazda approved turbokit for that, but finding one and switching all the parts costs quite a bit of money and time).

What would you do?

[Terror Factor]

Thanks for the answers, some stuff I forgot to mention:

I would be looking at a classic, not only the price, but the (lack of) weight is an important consideration.

Impreza's themselves aren't that rare, but the wagons seem to be. The cheapest impreza turbo here is between 5000 and 6000 euro (4-5k pounds roughly). It might be better in Holland or Germany, but still, it's not comparable to the UK

The MX-5 -with a good map- should be able to make 230-250 hp. A mapped impreza will probably be slightly faster (but probably feels a lot faster, the kick of the turbo is a lot harder than in the mx5).

[Terror Factor]

@ScoobyWRX: I'd prefer an early classic, I don't think the extra stiffness is worth the 100 kg weight penalty?
Is there a good reason to go for a more recent classic?

Headgasket and rotten arches, kinda sounds like my mx5 at the moment
Are the arches a hard/expensive fix on one of these? Multiple layers of metal on the inside?

[Terror Factor]

Thanks guys!

I'm not really that fussed about the look, they all look pretty decent imo, it would be hard to pick one.
The main reason for the classic, is the weight, price, and low-tech (well, that's all very relative of course). Less electronic stuff that can go wrong, and I don't really care about that anyway

Anyway, thanks again. It'll be hard to decide what to do lol.

[Terror Factor]

Thanks guys! I'm getting the mx-5 properly fixed atm. Maybe the need to change lessens if it drives like it should lol.

I still have the feeling that the impreza would be a step in the wrong direction. I'd probably have fun in it, but ultimately, I'd like something as close to a street legal gocart as it can get.

I'll probably put the mx-5 for sale for a rather high price, and see what it does. If someone would want to buy it, I might change. I'm just not looking forward to having to sort another car out etc etc. If I can sell the 5 for my price, I'd have a bigger budget and should get a pretty decent car without too many potential failures.

Being rich would help lol, no need to choose, just buy them all!