My sugestions...
If looking for a 50s,60s or 70s car, get a Chevy.....parts are cheap and plentiful
If something newer, try a Mustang or Camaro....same as above....parts are cheap.
Harry




in the 70s....."G.R. Patterson III" > wrote in message >...
> Eric Martin wrote:
> >
> > Hi, I'd be interested in opinions from this newsgroup on what a good first
> > collector car for a beginner with limited mechanical skills and tools would
> > be, given these parameters:
> >
> > 1) Price ceiling of low teens.
> > 2) Desire a daily driver.
> > 3) Chiefly interested in early to mid 1960s styling.
> > 4) Convertible is preferable, but not essential.
> >
> > I'm presuming that to use the car as a daily driver, I'll need to upgrade
> > the brakes and tires, so that has to figure in the price (and possible
> > makes) as well. Thanks for any ideas!
>
> I see a fair number of Impalas still on the road. That implies to me that parts
> and repair service are still readily available. The '63 model year is the most
> popular. A quick check of ebay shows that a perfect one tends to sell in the
> high teens, so you should be able to get a runner for the low teens. The '65
> Mustang is another car that's pretty easy to keep running. The smaller the
> engine, the cheaper those will be.
>
> Having driven vehicles from that era for decades, I don't see a problem with
> keeping the original braking system, as long as you stay out of deep puddles.
> Take a drum brake through water over about a foot deep, and you won't have much
> in the way of brakes.
>
> I would also recommend staying with the type of tire for which the car was
> designed. Putting radials on a car from the early 60s is likely to produce an
> uncomfortable leaning tendency in turns. These cars really need the stiffer
> sidewalls of the bias-ply or fiberglass belted tires.
>
> George Patterson
> God grant me the senility to forget the people I never liked anyway, the
> good fortune to run into the ones I like, and the eyesight to tell the
> difference.