As a follow up to my story on beaters, here’s why I think it’s a good idea to buy a cheap old beater. Sometimes, it turns into a project and becomes a long term part of your life.

When my wife said she wanted to buy a house, I decided I needed a truck first. I’d seen some of these more rare early Jeep Cherokees, but until I started researching I hadn’t realized how hard they were to find. There are lots of Wagoneers of the same era, but finding these 2 door “wide track” Cherokees is becoming increasing difficult.

In the middle of a hunt I spotted this jeep DEEP in the corner of a lot south on Broadway in Denver. Here is a photo that I took with my state-of-the-art-at-the-time digital camera!

I didn’t take a photo from the other side, because it was all bent up - as was the back. It ran horribly, and the guy tried in vain to talk me out of buying it from him, but $400 later I was driving it home on temporary plates. That was one scary drive.. as the revs dipped, the power steering and brake servos crapped out, and I was suddenly fighting a monstor.

For about a year it sat in the driveway as I worked on the body one panel at a time. When we actually did by the new house, I dropped about $500 into some engine work, and miraculously I had my emissions pass and was on the road!

For THREE YEARS it looked like this!

It was my primary vehicle, although I had a motorbike for thrills, but in the same vein, it was a 1978 Honda CB750 picked up for $1000 that, after some love, looked much better than it was.

I modified this 1982 Jeep to 70s spec at the front for that retro grill and round headlights, and over three years probably spent about $300 / year on it. Parts came from the scrap yard if I needed them, and I did most of my own work - but it needs little to keep it going.

Eventually with all the dents and dings straightened out of it I setup a make shift cover in my driveway, bought a compressor and shot it with a weather resistant primer.

It stayed like this for a couple of years, but then one magical day, I dropped it off at Macco for this Orange paint job. It came out pretty well.

With the purchase price, engine work, new wheels, paint job and bits and pieces, I’d say that over the course of 8 years this jeep has cost me probably $3000 TOTAL, and on a good day I could sell it for that. It’s one of the reasons I’m sold on old cars.. I’ve got a Triumph Spitfire too, but it’s not the same dependable work horse as the Jeep, and I’m happy to leave the Porsche 911 Convertible in the garage all winter, and tootle around in Big Orange.

I dropped into the Salvation Army car sales in Denver today to prove a point to myself.. that you can pick up good cars dirt cheap.

When I say “GOOD” I mean either fun second cars or trucks that your friends will think are cool, or reliable transport that others will think are junk - but wouldn’t it be great to not care?

I was impressed with what I found. Here’s a sample. The guy on the lot told me that he’d dropped the prices by about 40% of what the stickers say. Some run fine and some have known issues, and of course none have a warranty.

My attitude is that you should spend your big money on the car that you really want instead of buying an SUV because you might need something that size once in a while. You should buy that convertible that you can use 90% of the time, and have some old clunker to satisfy the 10% of the time it’s snowing or you’re off to Home Depot.

Alternatively, spend your money on the sensible car that fills your needs, and drop a grand on something for fun.

I take my own advice.. I have a Porsche 911 convertible and it’s sat in the garage since first snow. Since then my daily drive has been an old Jeep that I picked up for $400 and put some love into! The Jeep goes anywhere in the snow, and is absolutely fine for round town transportation - and it’s cool.

A Subaru Legacy with 4WD goodness that could outlast us all

I’d say they’d let this one go for $800. That means you could buy the convertible you want, and crank this thing up once in a while. It’s a snow monkey and insurance will cost you pennies. I would buy this car before I would buy pretty much any new American saloon and have some fun with the money I save.

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Wow - Convertible Fiat Spider!

If I didn’t have a 1974 Triumph Spitfire, I’d think about picking this up. These things are easy to work on, cheap to run and fun. Don’t expect performance like todays sports cars, but this thing could bring you buckets of enjoyment, but only if you’re the kind of person who’s willing to roll up their sleeves and get stuck in. Rough around the edges, but a bargain - I bet you could get them down to $600.

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4 Suburbans! The ultimate Home Depot and Camping Trip Wagons!

I’m a big Suburban fan. The 70s and 80s models that were in this yard are probably there because they suck gas - and people can’t do it anymore. If it’s your once-in-a-while hauler and snow vehicle, that shouldn’t bother you.. as long as it get’s through emissions this is a great old clunker to have handy. If there had been a diesel here I might have been tempted to build myself a Grease Car.

Here are two:

Late 70s, simple as it gets. This one has flames on the side, and road runner on the back and some custom stuff.. Not to my taste, but for a few hundred dollars, this is a bargain.

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This one is more to my taste. Take off the hideous aluminum side runners and you end up with a simple classic shape. You could pick this up for $700, and you have your own bus. Interior was reasonable and included the third row seat. Big, throaty V8 that’s easy to work on, cheap to have word done to, and when you fill it full of kids / dirt / bikes / skis you’re not going to worry to much about it.

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Nissan 280ZX - Classic Roadster

I’ve always wanted one of these. $900 before discount and in need of a fuel pump ( throw in a $30 electric one to get up and running ) and you could be good to go. A brilliant 2+2 sportscar, although I’d shop around and see if you could get a cleaner one for a bit more money. I can’t count the number of times in my life I’ve looked at one of these and thought - I’ve got to get me one!

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Go Gangsta! 1978 Lincoln Continental in good shape

They’d be happy to get $2k for this thing, and to some this represents beauty. No doubt it goes like the clappers ( but not very well round corners ). Surprisingly good condition too.. a hard weekend of cleaning and buffing and this beast would look cherry. If you spend your day driving around being sensible in a Prius, this could be the bad ass weekend ride you’ve been looking for.

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So that should give you the idea. If you like cars then why not buy another one? Sure, it might turn into a project, won’t be 100% reliable, but look at the possibilities that open up if the car you buy for every day use doesn’t have to satisfy ALL of your requirements!