Stock - already got enough of it and its gone fast alright - but in the wrong direction.
I prefer to put my mad money in durable goods with near-instant returns...such as a sports car.
I actually started looking at the Porsche line before making the jump to BMW. A Porsche is like a warbird - you can get them cheap (relatively speaking) but the maintenance will kill you if you don't have a steady source of funding for it. I figured there are a lot more BMWs running around than Porsches, and hence used parts might be easier to find.
My plan is to get into a car for $5,000 or less, then spend another $7,000 over the next few months getting it dressed: intake and exhaust mods first with aftermarket brakes, rims and tires. Then, after the winter, strip the interior of nonessentials and install a rollbar, then a new coat of paint in time for my pilgrimmage to Sebring. I won't race it (don't want the hassle of trying to meet specs), but I want it to look like its almost race-ready, but still street-legal.
Looking at the long-term picture, I'm starting to favor a Miata. I could accomplish with a Miata what I want with a much lower bill than I would with a Porsche or BMW. And a retro-style paint scheme would look pretty good on it; maybe overall white with two blue racing stripes offcenter on the driver's side.
I'm in no real rush. I may change my mind about this whole sports car thing after the corporate quarterly reports are done and my continued employment is a bit more stable.
