Friday, February 21, 2014

10k: Unicorn Hunter: Find The Best $8-12k Four-Door Daily Driver

Last week we asked you to find us the best $2k-4k car for your sweetie for Valentine's day and the response was well...excellent...which is what we have come to expect from the talented craigslist junkies who frequent this website.  A particular favorite was the '74 Ford 4X4 Hi-Boy F250 suggested by AbnMike for his Siberian lady friend.  The F250 is covered in nicely patina'd blue paint and looks totally at home covered in snow somewhere near Anaconda or Butte...which sounds like a Sir Mix-a-Lot song now that I think about it.  Anyway, we continue the tradition of asking our readers to find us the best cars, this time we are looking for the best $10k 4-door daily driver.  My money would be on this 1999 Jaguar XJ8 with fuel injected Chevy LS1 V8 swap for sale in Okaloosa, FL for $10,500 via craigslist.


The internet is full of Chevy V8 powered Jaguar "conversions" but typically consist of older Jags with blown engines sporting ancient carburetor-fed Chevy 350s.  In contrast this car started with a Jaguar X303 generation XJ8 and now is powered by a Chevy LS1 V8 from a Camaro or Corvette.  Power should be at least 325 horsepower, but more is easily available with tuning, cams, intake & exhaust mods.


The nice thing about swapping a V8 into the XJ8 is that the folks who say "you should have left the V12 or inline six in it" can pound sand because the XJ8 was powered by a Jaguar V8 that was assembled at a Ford plant in the UK.  The LS1 is worlds better than the AJ series V8, more powerful, lighter, lower CG...basically no reason to NOT swap an LS1 into every XJ8 on the planet. Now you can safely drive your family around without worrying that you won't be able to pass safely on a two-lane road or do a fork-lift style turn into a parking space. 

What would you get for your family driver for $10k?  Comment below or send us a tip.
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12 comments:

  1. ScooterFebruary 21, 2014 at 10:20 AM

    I would drive this Audi S4 V8 6-spd.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Fleetwood T. BroughamFebruary 21, 2014 at 10:35 AM

    Since I got confused last week and posted this as my "classic" choice (that was a duh moment, sorry), let me use it more appropriately here:

    Bitchin 740i sport

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. ReneFebruary 21, 2014 at 5:30 PM

      Nice looking car.
      But I do have a personal bitch about owners stating that their car is low mileage when the car has over 100,000 miles.
      Am I the only one that thinks this way?

      Delete
    2. kaibeezyFebruary 23, 2014 at 9:30 AM

      Re 100,000 miles, yep. I'm old enough to remember when the average American car was a junker at 100k. Cars have a lot more longevity these days, but I'd still say "low" only really applies to something known specifically for extreme longevity -- MB diesel, older Volvo, early Lexus, etc. -- or a no-maintenance-expense-spared classic driver.

      Sellers should know they aren't fooling anyone with their "200,000 mile 1974 Cutlass only driven a low 5000 miles a year". Better to say "low miles for its age" or, let's be honest, "parked, tarped, forgotten, and now we need to clear space to build an in-law unit for the owner."

      Delete
  3. Jeff BFebruary 21, 2014 at 12:16 PM

    1958 Impala Wagon for your rat rod family
    http://newjersey.craigslist.org/cto/4298488323.html

    ReplyDelete
  4. AbnMikeFebruary 21, 2014 at 1:46 PM

    I submit this 1969 Nissan Sedan: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Nissan-Other-Sedan-1969-Nissan-Prince-Gloria-Sedan-RHD-JDM-Right-hand-drive-import-rare-/161230600461?forcerrptr=true&hash=item258a17b90d&item=161230600461&pt=US_Cars_Trucks

    It's Japanese so it's reliable as a daily driver, right?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. kaibeezyFebruary 21, 2014 at 3:53 PM

      That's very cool! Like a mini Galaxie.

      Delete
    2. kaibeezyFebruary 21, 2014 at 3:56 PM

      Here's a clickable link for the copy-n-paste challenged - click right here

      Delete
  5. OldsmobuickFebruary 23, 2014 at 8:44 AM

    64 Ford Fairlane 500 looking great in black
    http://www.ebay.com/itm/Ford-Fairlane-500-four-door-1964-Ford-Fairlane-500-Automatic-289-4-7-Power-Steering-Brakes-Front-/291085931280?forcerrptr=true&hash=item43c612d310&item=291085931280&pt=US_Cars_Trucks

    ReplyDelete
  6. kaibeezyFebruary 23, 2014 at 9:51 AM

    nice car - here's how to make a clickable link...

    1) copy this and paste it into the reply window: <a href="AAA">BBB</a>

    2) copy the URL from the address bar of your browser

    3) replace the AAA (not the quotes, they have to stay) by pasting in the entire URL

    4) replace the BBB with whatever words you want to be clickable (could be the URL again if you want, or you could say "here on eBay" or "here on Craigslist in Apalachicola" just like the pros do)

    so, here's what the code to create a link for that car would look like: <a href="http://www.ebay.com/itm/Ford-Fairlane-500-four-door-1964-Ford-Fairlane-500-Automatic-289-4-7-Power-Steering-Brakes-Front-/291085931280?forcerrptr=true&hash=item43c612d310&item=291085931280&pt=US_Cars_Trucks">64 Ford Fairlane on eBay</a>

    and here's how it comes out: 64 Ford Fairlane on eBay

    ReplyDelete
  7. OlsmobuickFebruary 23, 2014 at 3:35 PM

    64 Ford Fairlane 500 on Ebay

    ReplyDelete

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