eBay Finds: 5 of the coolest cars we could find under $20,000
May 10, 2019
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- Image Credit: eBay / fuanlimited1
Awesomeness at affordable prices
It's that time again, time for us at Autoblog to share some cool stuff we found on eBay. And that's exactly the theme of this sampling: cars we found to be especially awesome. The only restriction was that they were all between $15,000 and $20,000. And we've got quite a selection from a classic sport compact to luxury coupes, and a couple things in between. -
- Image Credit: eBay / mn_deals
1988 Ford Escort RS Turbo
The Escort RS Turbo is a legend, predecessor of the iconic RS Cosworth rally homologation special. Ford's humble hatchback led a unique and sporty life in Europe, worlds apart from its low-energy identity in the U.S. It's fitted with a 130-horsepower turbocharged I4 driving the front wheels through a then-novel limited-slip diff. This one is in superb shape, and is left-hand drive to boot. The bottom line is that it's a relatively cheap way to get a super interesting European classic with a spiritual connection to Ford's rally heritage. The BIN is $17,900. -
- Image Credit: eBay / faunlimited1
1991 BMW 850i
For looks alone, the BMW 8-Series coupe is a classic. It's low, pointy, and athletic looking. And how can you not love that open hardtop look? They were great under the skin, too, thanks to a standard V8 or an optional V12. This 1991 BMW 850i has the latter, which would be enough to merit a spot on this list. But it gets better: This one has a manual transmission! It's beautifully clean inside and out, and the blue-gray interior is cool. Mileage is a tad high at 156,000 miles, but this looks like a well-cared for example, and at $19,500 or best offer, you'd be hard pressed to find another nice manual, V12 anything. -
- Image Credit: eBay / DragInt.com
1992 Mazda Cosmo
On the topic of cool luxury coupes, we have this 1992 Mazda Cosmo. This was a flagship luxury GT car only offered in Japan. Standard ones got the twin-turbocharged 13B rotary engine shared with the third-generation RX-7. The top-end models got a unique 20B three-rotor engine like this one. Sadly, Mazda never offered it with a manual transmission. But at some point in this car's life, someone took a second-generation RX-7 manual trans and swapped it in. So now you can have an amazing Japanese luxury coupe with the world's only production three-rotor engine, and you don't have to deal with a slushy '90s automatic transmission. -
- Image Credit: eBay / E&R Classics
1980 Citroen CX25 GTI
Few things are as awesome as old Citroens, purely for their radical styling. This 1980 Citroen CX25 GTI is no exception. The car was the successor to the DS, and you can see hints of the predecessor in the design with the sloping rear and the lines along its flanks that come together at each end. Just as the DS was a '50s take on futurism, the CX is a '70s and '80s take on futurism with sleek plastic panels and driving controls mounted in little pods on the gauge cluster. Despite the GTI part of this car's name, it's not especially quick with about 135 horsepower. But you can make the most of those horses with the manual. -
- Image Credit: eBay / Kurt Tanner Motorcars
1960 Triumph TR3A
This 1960 Triumph TR3 seems to be a bit of a Frankenstein job, but at least it appears to be done in an effort to improve the car. Originally offered with a 1,991 cc I4, This TR3A was at some point fitted with the 2,138 cc motor borrowed from the TR4A, which was also offered in the TR3's final year (1962) as a TR3B. This example looks to be in good condition, and that sky blue paint is really nice. We'd need a leather suitcase to accessorize that luggage rack on the rear.
