QOTD: How Much Privacy Will You Trade?

Interesting idea, but by the time you’ve refurbished that Nissan SE-R, you’ve spent a boatload of money on a car that would probably get walked by a current Sentra. Same is true of pretty much everything from back in the day.

I think most people who would want a sport coupe with a manual don't really care if some of the current vehicles could beat it from a stop light they want the feel of the sport coupe and the experience and enjoyment of shifting gears. That is one of the things I do miss about my 99 S-10 5 speed is that I was more engaged in my driving and I felt I paid more attention to my driving but old age and some pains in my feet and legs made it harder to do when I was in traffic. If I were buying a sport car I would get a Mazda Miata with a manual which gives you the feel of a sports car with Japanese reliability and yes it is not a drag racer but it would be fun to drive. The only thing is the Miata is a little hard for me to get in and out of but it is a fun little car.

Problem with restoring 1980s and 1990s cars are the plastics they used became brittle with age and would be hard to source. Same for antiquated electronics. But having said that, I have been in a Nissan dealership and at least one other dealership that had beautifully restored examples of their past offerings in their showroom along with the usual new cars.

If you picked just one or two cars to remanufacture - say, the E30 and the third-gen Integra, for a couple of examples that have rising values and a lot of demand - you could make new stocks of the parts most likely to fail at somewhat reasonable expense.

A second-gen Legend wouldn't be on the list, but it's the old car I own. If you just manufactured certain dash and vent trim pieces, the driver's power window switch block, window seals, steering wheels, and seat covers, you could repair many of the surviving Legends cosmetically. I'm sure there are also certain Achilles'-heel pieces for E30s and Integras that could be disproportionally helpful.

It’s already a thing with ‘90s and ‘00s pickups. Companies are refurbishing and resto-modding diesel crew cab 4X4 HDs, roughly for half price of new. Except light industry is behind the push, pre emissions obviously. It makes too much sense to continue that to sports and sporty cars plus specialties for buyers that prefer a turnkey with a short warranty even. Maybe with financing too.

But for the DYI, you want stick to the most popular mainstream for the best experience sourcing parts and how-to videos.

So when it comes to 0-60 times, remember slow car fast. god I miss my ‘85 MR2 manual. Stolen in ‘92, had to move on.

Oh and yeah, that’s what you get with soft touch plastics. They get wavy, shrink and get dark splotches.