Some less than premium or "off year" models that can be a bargain....

If your willing to lower your sights a little you can still find some screaming deals. Here's several good examples. # 1. 1976-79 Pontiac Trans-Am / Firebird Formula 400. I see 1970-74 RAIII,RAIV, 455HO and SD-455 T/A's priced at 40, or 50 grand or more all the time. However-a Disco-era bird can be a screaming bargain. I saw on Trans-Am Specialties website the other day a 1978 400, 4-speed, WS6 T/A with 44,000 original miles for $17,950!!  They had a '79 Formula with 33,000 original miles for $22,000. These cars were mint and flawless. They had a rust-free driver quality 10th Anniversary T/A for $13,000. Do the math- only 3,196 T/A's were built in 1970, 2116 in '71, 1,286 in '72 ( the year of the UAW strike ) and 4,802 in '73. There were 46,000 T/A's built in 1976, 68,000 in '77, 93,000 in 78 and 117,000 in '79. The later ones are going to be way cheaper and with minimal work-intake, exhaust and an axle-ratio change on automatics-( 4-speeds usually have 3.23 or 3.42 gears, while the slushboxes have 2.56s ) they can equal or surpass the performance of the much pricier early models.  # 2. 1971-74 Dodge Charger. Everybody and his brother want' the "Dukes of Hazzard / Bullitt" '68-70 model. However they are scarce and pricey. You can buy a nice '71-74 model for what people want for a rust-bucket '68-70. Seriously-I saw an interview with the Stunt coordinator of the "Fast&Furious" movies and he said he paid $16,000 for a basket case '69 Charger they were going to wreck in "F&F 5". He said they paid over $30,000 for a decent one that was going to be the camera car with the fake blower. By contrast a buddy of mine bought a really nice 440 powered '73 model for $6,000. I saw a nice 383 powered '71 Super Bee model in Hemmings for $8,500. There's a lot of them with 383,400 or 440 cubes under the hood for bargain prices. 318 models are dirt-cheap-and you can swap in a storming 360 or a big-block. # 3. 1977-80  Camaro Z/28. No they don't have a fire-breathing LT1, but they do have a 350 V8 backed by a 4-speed or a TH350 and 3.08, 3.42 or 3.73 gears and F41 sport suspension very similar to the Pontiac Trans-Am. There's more speed equipment available for small-block Chevys and '70's F-bodies than anything else on the planet. # 4. 1971-73 Ford Mustang / Mercury Cougar. Everybody wants the '67-70 models, and the high prices reflect this. However-the '71-73 models are a screaming deal-and almost all of them have the venerable 351C for power.  # 5. 1967-68 Chevrolet Impala SS. People fight with with machetes for the 1962-66 models, yet these are largely overlooked. And their fairly plentiful-75,000 were built in 1967 and another 38,000 in 1968. 427 models command a King's ransom but 327 and 396 models can be bought relatively cheap.  Any of these cars make great drivers and cost less than half of their more sought after brothers.  Mastermind