Ten grand. It’s not unusual to lust after a watch that goes for that much or more. As far as new cars go, however, 10 large could be anywhere from an impressive to acceptable down payment — indeed, it’s somewhere around 20 percent of the entire cost of some of our favorites. But a used car is a different story. A used car may be your first car or your city commuter; it may be your winter beater or a weekend toy. Around the office this week, we leaned into the thought experiment: spend no more than ten thousand dollars and get something you really, really want. If we had a [limited] blank check, this is what we’d pick up.
1966 Triumph Spitfire
Admittedly, I’m on a British roadster kick at the moment, for whatever reason — I’m even in the process of convincing my mom to pull the trigger on a British racing green ’79 MG B with a saddle tan interior. (It’s a deal; the seller just doesn’t want to fix one minor thing). So given a budget of $10,000, this slightly warn Triumph Spitfire was calling to me. I always loved the look of the Spitfire, which from 1962-1980 hardly changed because it didn’t have to. With that said, this particular Spitfire doesn’t look too beat up, but I’ll rest easy knowing I have an extra $5,500 to cover any minor repairs the English mid-century engineering feels like throwing my way. — Bryan Campbell, Staff Writer
Mileage: 76,000
Original MSRP: $2,155
