A full-size car may be the way to go for some low-budget muscle....

Everyone fights with machetes and sells their first-born children for '60's and '70's GTOs, Road Runners, Chargers, SS Chevelles,Camaros, Firebirds,Mustangs, and 'Cudas / Challengers, etc. Even base models are getting overpriced. I talked to a guy that was asking $6,500 for a '66 Mustang that was a total roach. It was a notchback coupe-not a fastback-it was an automatic, not a 4-speed, it had a 2bbl-289 not the 225 or 271 hp 4bbl versions,the interior was trashed, and it didn't have a straight piece of metal on it. I might have paid $2,000 for this piece of shit and then turned it into a ''60's style gasser tribute drag racer-but I wouldn't have restored it even if I could buy it for two grand-it needed so much work-that by the time you were done-you'd have been better off just paying 15 or 20 grand for one already restored!! Another clown wanted $4,500 for a '68 Camaro body. And when I say body-I mean just that. I mean this was an engineless,transmissionless,radiatorless,gas tankless,interiorless hulk. Again-if you took on this project-it would cost so much to restore that again-you'd be ahead of the game just paying 20 or 25 grand for a nice, complete car. That appears to be the current lay of the land. However-you can still find really good deals on '60's full-size cars.  A lot of them make great drivers-remember they were the top-of-the-line when new-and many are surprisingly fast even in stock trim. Here's my personal favorites.  # 1. 1960-68 Pontiacs. These are a screaming deal. While 99% of Chevy Impalas, Bel Airs, and Biscaynes of this era had 283 or 327 small-block motivation-( 396,409, and 427 versions are rare and priced in the stratosphere ) every Pontiac Catalina, Bonneville, or Gran Prix built in these years had at least 389 cubes under the hood-and some had 400, 421 or 428!! And the Pontiacs usually had upgraded interiors as well. There are a million ways to build power into a Pontiac V8, and any suspension or brake upgrades that fit an Impala fit these cars. # 2. 1960-69 Oldsmobiles. Like their Pontiac Cousins-the Olds 88s and 98s are a better buy than the Chevys because they had 394,400,425 or 455 cubes under the hood as standard equipment depending on year.  # 3. 1966-69 Buick Riviera. These cars have the sexy hidden headlight, fastback styling of the Olds Toronado-but are still rear-wheel drive. And they have 430 cubes under the hood. But with a Chevy bolt-pattern TH400 and motor mounts-you could put 572 inches and 720 hp under that long hood....Blasphemy, I know Buick fans,but just saying.... # 4. 1963-69 Fords. Galaxies and LTDs of this era are just like Pontiacs-most have 390 cubes under the hood and great interiors. My dad was ( and still is at 75 a gearhead ) so we had a lot of different cars. One of the coolest cars I remember my mother driving when I was a kid was a '65 Galaxie coupe. It had a sexy body-not quite as sexy as our '65 2+2-but it had factory A/C and bucket seats,with a console and the Ford t-handle-shifter. It had American Racing Torq-Thrust-mags on it and the 390 would burn rubber at the drop of a hat. The other Ford I always loved was the '67-69 T-Bird. The styling is still cool 40+ years later and they either 390 or 428 cubes under the hood. # 5. 1963-69 Chryslers. Plymouth Furys and Belvederes,and Dodge Polaras and Monacos all had at least 383 cubes under the hood-some '67 and later models had 440s. And they had the excellent Torqueflite automatic-which was light-years ahead of the early GM and Ford offereings. GM didn't introduce the TH400 until 1965 in full-size cars and 1967 in intermediates. The Ford C6 was late to the party as well.  All of these cars would make a cool driver. Mastermind