**Project Car Showdown**

Are you thinking of taking on a project car? Look no further! In this episode, we're counting down the top 3 best project cars that aren't a Miata.

First off, let's get one thing straight: nothing's more expensive than a cheap Porsche, and you're right. But the good news is that the 944 is pretty reliable, and Porsche made over 160,000 of them. Over half of those ended up in the States, so there are plenty of parts available if you need them.

If this is your project car, you might want to consider engine-swapping with an LS or our friend Mikey Day's O7K. That's the same engine going into my Golf, which is very cool.

The last two cars on this list were a toss-up, and it really could have gone either way. Coming in second just because you're gonna end up spending a little bit more money than number one is the Nissan 350Z.

We love them here at Donut, and it's one of the best chassies I've ever driven. They're cheap, the VQ is very decent out of the box as long as you don't try to rev it too hard. You can do suspension, wheels, tires, brakes, a seat, and you have yourself a race car.

The 350Z was one of the best cars I've ever driven, and there's a reason that almost everybody who drifts has one for a practice car. This is the 240 SX of today because 240s are too expensive, and this chassis is better.

And the top of the tree this week, the king of the hill this week, the best project car which isn't a Miata is the incredible BMW E36.

This bad boy was made between 1990 and 2000, but that's just where the story begins. Ever since it was born people have been modifying the E36. It really is one of the most customizable cars that you can buy, and the reason people put so much faith in them is because of how solid a base they are for mods.

The chassis is outstanding, literally everyone who drives them says that they drive like a dream, and with a couple of really quick and inexpensive suspension mods, maybe some coil overs, some stiffer up stuff, some nice tires, not only will it look amazing, but it will totally transform the driving experience.

There's limitless trim levels and specs for this car, they made it for 10 years, but you wanna try and get one with a six cylinder. Between all the different engine codes, it can get a little confusing, you got M50, M52, S50, S52. But no matter how you cut it, BMW is really good at making straight six engines because they've been making straight six engines since the 1930s.

And straight six engines are sick! Like I said before, there's a reason that this car is at number one over the 350Z is because one they're cheaper, and also this is a video about awesome project cars that aren't a Miata, and BMW literally made a Miata version of the E36.

It's called the Z3, it looks great, it's really fun to drive. There are two parked outside right now. It's basically a three series without a roof. So if you insist on looking like my step-mom on the highway, you might as well do it with a legendary straight six under the hood.

**Bundles and Deals**

Listen up class! I've been asked to come to you today and talk to you about a thing called bundles. And we're offering different themed packages at an extreme discount. Stop laughing, stop laughing, Jessie, this is serious. We've got the starter pack, the buff horses bundle, the lightning bundle, the boost creeps bundle, the Mo Powa Babeh bundles.

Guys, this is an insane opportunity, once in a lifetime really. You get a great deal on an amazing collection of Donut Media merchandise. So go to donutmedia.com and get yourself a bundle, wrap the set, this is really exciting, I love you guys.

**Miata Love**

You know what? I knocked Miatas in this episode but they really are phenomenal cars. And there's a reason that we made an entire show revolved around modifying one. To check out that show hosted by my good friend Zach Joe, click this link right here.

If we missed anything that would be on your list, I wanna hear about it, let me know in the comments below. Hit that subscribe button, hit that like button, that's the best way for us to know that we're doing well. Follow me on Instagram @JamesPumphrey, I love you guys.

WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: en- Everyone loves the Miata.We have a whole show about building oneand you guys love it.But what if you don't want one?I mean, maybe you're six-three,maybe you need to carrymore than just a backpack,maybe your taste is just different.Well, you're in luckbecause we put togethera list of amazing projectcars that aren't a Miata.They're all lightweight,they're all super fun to drive,they're all super plentiful,they all have a lot aftermarketsupport, big communities,and best of all, they're all affordable.- So buckle up Buckaroo,fire up your Google machine,this is The D-List.Big old thank you to Upstartfor sponsoring today's video.Listen, I know you're just like meand we have a problem withowning too many broken cars.So we keep swiping that credit card,we keep buying part afterpart because I swearit'll run this time, mom.Yeah, turbos are cool, butbuying a house is coolerand being debt-free is way cooler.Well, thankfully Upstartis here to help you guys.They aren't like otherlenders because they know youare more than a credit score.Upstart rewards you basedon your job history,you don't even have to worryabout driving your broken carto a bank because it's all online.They offer loans from $1,000all the way up to $50,000.And the best part is,once the loan is approvedmost people get their moneythe very next business day.Not all applicants willqualify for the full amount.So, free yourself from thatcredit debt and see why Upstarthas over 6,000 five-starreviews on Trustpilot.Head over to upstart.com/donutto find out how lowyour Upstart rate can be.Now, back to the show.- Foxbody Mustang.- The Foxbody Mustangmakes a great project carfor one reason above all other reasons.For being over 2 million.There's a bunch of differentbody styles, trim levels,engines and other options.You want it a hatchback?Got you.You want a notch back?Gotcha.You want hunchback?Sorry bro, you're gonnahave to go frickingNotre Dame for that one.And it's a Ford, so theparts are shared acrossa bunch of different platforms.So the potential is astronomical.The one you want is the five liter V8,which is not a screamer out of the box,but it's got a ton of potentialwhich has basic botonsthat you can buy for pretty cheap.My buddy Jacob has one,he lives in Canada.End of anecdote.The next car on this listis actually three cars,but it's also actually just one carbecause all three ofthose cars are the same.- Laser, Eclipse, Talon.DSM Triplets.- These triplets were theresult of a joint partnershipbetween Chrysler andMitsubishi back in the late 80scalled Diamond Star Motors or DSM.Basically they weredoing the same thing thatToyota did with Subaru orthat Toyota did with BMW,but they took it one stepfurther and gave it a name.There are some street cars that cameout of this partnership.We're talking 3000 GT and Dodge Stealth,those are the same car,but the Laser, Eclipse andTalon are by far the bestbecause of five little words, 4G63 baby,which is also the same engine that came inthe fricking Evo.Now, when I was in high school,these were the cars they didn't mess with.These things are so cheap to make fast.Like you knew you weregonna lose a drag race.One time when I was in high school I drovea totally stocked 240 SX,and I had a girl in my carfor one of the first times ever.And we pulled up next to these like two,just like nerdy identical twins,which is ironic because theywere driving an identicaltriplet car.And she leans out the window, she's like,yo, wanna race?And they just like in unison, just like,look a really go, you'll lose.And I did.I knew I would, I was so embarrassed.Now these are not attractive triplets,but you buy them for one reason,the same reason those twinsbought 'em, to go fast.And they can handle a ton of boos.But the one thing youdo have to look out foris a little thing called crankwalk.♪ To go fast you up the boost ♪♪ Look out fore that crankwalk woo! ♪♪ Woo, do that crankwalk boi ♪♪ Do that crankwalk boi ♪♪ To go fast you up the boost ♪♪ Look out fore that crankwalk woo! ♪♪ Woo, do that crankwalk boi ♪♪ Do that crankwalk boi ♪- But what is crankwalk?Crankwalk is prematurethrust bearing failure.When the thrust bearings wear out,the crankshaft will walk back and forth,which will put a lot ofstress on the bearings,which is not something thatyou want when you are pumpingway more boost through a motorthan the factory intended.This is really commonwith the 4G63 motors,you can't do things about it,it's just something to be aware of.- Golf GTI.- Of all of the cars evermade, the Volkswagen Golfis one of the ones with themost aftermarket support ever.And it's because it's been around forever.The other totally amazingthing about the golfis that the VW culture and community,no matter how big orsmall your question is,there's gonna be a forum thread for you.In fact, a lot of big playersin the automotive industryright now came from VWVortex.Vin from Hoonigan, RyanScotto from Hoonigan,Jason from Rotiform, Ryan from Rotiform,Matt and Brad from Fifteen52,Jamie Orr from Orchid Euro.I was on VWvortex when I was 14 years old.Mk1s and Mk2s, that's thefirst and second gen Golfsare gorgeous cars, andif you can find one,they're really cool.But my personal pick for this list iswhatever GTI you can afford,I'd say go for a Mk3,which is my personal favorite,I've owned about 16 them,or a Mk4.Both of those are relatively easyto find in pretty decent shape,especially if you live on the West Coast.Mods are still super cheap.Mk5s are great, Mk6s, Mk7s,Mk8s, they're all amazing.Get yourself GTI, super duper fun car.And just like the Miata,these things are meantto be driven and enjoyed.In fact, I can only thinkof one car which is meantto be driven and enjoyedeven more than this one,and that is,- Honda Civic.- They have made 11 generations of Civic.So it's safe to say that there's a Civicout there for everybody.There's only four Miatas,the math speak for itself.Yep, checks out, 10 is morethan four, therefore...You really can't go wrong withany generation of a Civic.And if you do a quick Googlesearch will provide a cool,modified example of all of them.My personal favorite, andhonestly it's probablybased on my vintage is the sixth gen.This is the one I grew up with,this is the one my friend Jared had.You got your EK hatchback,which I think is beautiful.And then you got the EM 1Coupe, which is amazing.The SI for that generationis the Coupe only,and I think it's oneof the coolest lookingcompact cars ever made.But whatever Civic you get,invest in some antitheft stuff.I'm talking kill switch,removable steering wheel,alarm system, becausethese things are cool,they're easy to steal,they're easy to take apartand a lot of people want the partsso they do get stolen a lot.If you pay attention tothe used car market at all,you probably know that the Porsche 911is super-duper fricking expensive.No matter what year, no matter what spec,no matter what condition,you're not gonna spend any lessthan dozens of thousands of dollars.And let's be honest guys, notall of us are Magnus Walkers.What if we want a P car, butyou only have like $5,000.What if you want a Porsche,but you only have a thousand dollars?Believe it or not, there's a Pcar for you, the Porsche 944.The 944 is literally the opposite of 911.911 engine in the back,944 engine in the front.911 air cooled, 944 water cooled.911 face melting expensive, 944surprisingly cheap, for now.We actually found oneon Facebook this weekendfor a thousand dollarsand we almost bought it.Max, Jeremiah, Joe, Joey, Nolan, me,we all pledged 200 bucksto pitch in and buy ituntil we realized thatnobody has the room.And there's a hard no projectcars rule at the new office.So we didn't do it, but we could have.And I know you're all thinkingnothing's more expensivethan a cheap Porsche, and you're right.But the good news here is thatthe 944 is pretty reliable,and also Porsche madeover 160,000 of them.And over half of thoseended up in the States,so there is a lot of partsthere if you need them.But if this is your project car,you might want to engineswap in any way you can do LSor our friend Mikey Dayis putting in O7K in his.That's the same enginethat's going in my Golf,that's very cool.Okay guys, the last two cars on this listwere honestly a toss up,and it really could havegone to either of them.So coming in second justbecause you're gonna end upspending a little bitmore money than number oneis the Nissan 350Z.We love them here at Donut.It's one of the bestchassies I've ever driven.They're cheap, the VQ isvery decent out of the boxas long as you don't tryand to interpret charge it.You can do suspension,wheels, tires, brakes, a seat,and you have yourself a race car.Before, we went totallycrazy with high car,high car was one of thebest cars I've ever driven.I loved it, it was an amazing Canyon car.And there's a reason thatalmost everybody who driftshas one for a practice car.This is the 240 SX of today.Because 240s are too expensive,and this chassis is better.The top of the tree this week,the king of the hill this week,the best project car which isn't a Miatais the incredible- BMW E36.- This bad boy was madebetween 1990 and 2000.But that's just where the story begins.Ever since it was born peoplehave been monitoring the E36.It really is one of themost customizable carsthat you can buy.And the reason peopleput so much faith in themis because of how solida base they are for mods.The chassis is outstanding.Literally everyone who drivesthem say that they drivelike a dream, and witha couple of really quickand inexpensive suspensionmods, maybe some coil overs,some stiffer up stuff, some nice tires,not only will it look amazing,it will totally transformthe driving experience.Now there's limitless trimlevels and specs for this car,they made it for 10 years,but you wanna try and getone with a six cylinder.Between all the different engine codesit can get a little confusing.You got M50, M52, S50, S52.But no matter how you cut it,BMW is really, really goodat making straight six engines,because they've beenmaking straight six enginessince the 1930s.And straight six engines are sick.Like I said before, thereason that this caris at number one over the 350Z is becauseone they're cheaper, andalso this is a video aboutawesome project cars that aren't a Miata,and BMW literally made aMiata version of the E36.It's called the Z3, it looks great,it's really fun to drive.There's two parked outside right now.It's basically a threeseries without a roof.So if you insist on lookinglike my step-mom on the highway,you might as well do it with a legendarystraight six under the hood.The Miata, all he's got four cylinders.I'm out.(soft music)Listen up class, I've beenasked to come to you todayand talk to you abouta thing called bundles.And we're offeringdifferent themed packagesat an extreme discount.Stop laughing.Stop laughing, Jessie, this is serious.We've got the starter pack,the buff horses bundle,the lightning bundle,the boost creeps bundle,the Mo Powa Babeh bundles.Guys, this is an insane opportunity,once in a lifetime really.You get a great dealon an amazing collectionof Donut Media merchandise.(upbeat music)So go to donutmedia.comand get yourself a bundle,wrap the set, this is reallyexciting, I love you guys.You know what?I knocked Miatas in this episode,but they really are phenomenal cars.And there's a reason thatwe made an entire showrevolved around modifying one.To check out that show hostedby my good friend, Zach Joe,click this link right here.If we missed anything thatwould be on your list,I wanna hear about it, let meknow in the comments below.Hit that subscribe button,hit that like button,that's the best way for us toknow that we're doing well.Follow me on Instagram@JamesPumphrey, I love you.