Past Masters PH cred ratings?

[300bhp/ton]

Reading another thread it got me thinking that if you want a fast car, even by today's standards but on a budget that actually there are some good past masters out there.

OK many such as Impreza Turbo's, e36 328i's and so on are are remembered and frequently feature and mentioned here on PH.

But what about the forgotten ones?


To cite a few:










Some of these can be had for under a grand and even the most costly ones are only circa £3k, so well within the bounds of most people.

But all offer up Focus ST rivaling performance or better in some cases (and certainly some with plenty of tuning scope too).




Are these these still PH worthy?

And what other forgotten past masters are out there for this budget that represent huge VFM in performance and/or speed terms?

[DanDC5]

I wouldn't class an FTO as Focus ST rivalling, or tunable to be honest. An FC RX7 is tunable but certainly not cheaply. The others are pretty good shouts though.

[Bisonhead]

Bought an MR2 Turbo the other week for a shade over a grand. It is almost 23 years old but is as fast a car as I have driven in the real world. Fantastic VFM and still shifts!

All the mid-late 90s hot hatches are excellent value for money and there are plenty of rapid barges i.e. BMW 540i, SAAB HOT Aeros etc.

[300bhp/ton]

DanDC5 said:

I wouldn't class an FTO as Focus ST rivalling, or tunable to be honest. An FC RX7 is tunable but certainly not cheaply. The others are pretty good shouts though.

True. Although I wouldn't call them slow, the FTO has 197hp and weighs 1200kg or less. That's 6.8 0-60 (7.5 0-62) and 140mph top whack. Reckon that's not a million miles off an ST.

[DanDC5]

They never seem to be that quick though, not sure why, on paper they're a good shout but just never seem to deliver in reality. They are great looking cars though, and if you're patient enough/willing a VR4 engine does fit

[Fastra]

Performance Cars "1989 Under 10k bargain"