Musclecar as a daily driver? Yes you can!

My old 1994 Buick LeSabre that I've used and abused as a daily driver for the last few years is on it's last legs. The a/c quit working recently, and the CV joints are going out, and it's getting to the point that fixing it would cost more than the old beast is worth, no matter how faithful a friend it has been up to now. I've looked at some new and late-model used cars and trucks, and I've decided that theirs really nothing out there that I like enough to sign up for $500 a month payments for five years for.  The Nissan 370Z -I know-blaspehemy-a rice rocket-, and the new Boss 302 Mustang were quite tempting, but I just don't need a $40,000 loan hanging over my head right now. Friends have said  "Sell the Hurst / Olds and pay cash for something nice and low mileage. " I cannot swallow getting rid of the H/O for a Camry or an Accord or a compact pickup, or whatever.  I'd have to committ hari-kari. So my plan is to sell the Olds and use the proceeds to buy a good-condition musclecar that I can drive to work every day. I'll answer the obvious question-"Why not just drive the H/O?"  Two reasons-one-4.11 gears suck if you do any freeway drving at all, and I've had the car 18 years. I guess like a worn-out recording of a favorite song-we've just been together too long. I've rebuilt the 455 three times and the last time the crank let go I put a Chevy crate engine and tranny in it to avoid ruining a numbers-matching block. I figured my luck was going to run out sooner or later, and I wasn't going to stop driving like a madman, so that seemed like a viable solution. I'll put an ad on Craigslist and in Hemmings and on here detailing all it's features and the price. I'll sell it with or without the Chevy crate engine however the buyer wants to negotiate.  Anyway-back to the subject at hand-What musclecar should I use as a daily driver?  Since it's going to be a driver, it can't be an ultra-nasty bastard-( The H /O was, as was my Judge, I'm too old for that now ). No,I don't need  "King Kong"-I don't have to be the fastest guy around, but I want something that I can take a 200 mile trip in without worry and still not have to take crap from soccer moms in V8 Cherokees, Old men in Northstar Cadillacs, or little boys in Honda Civic Sis.  I've always liked Pontiacs, so I've narrowed it down to two models-a 1969-76 Gran Prix or a 1974-79 Trans-Am. I have experience with both these cars. My sister had a 400 powered 1972 J model in high school, and my cousin had a 1974 SJ with a 455. Both of these cars had power everything, and both of these cars felt like a GTO when you hit the loud pedal and showed their taillights to quite a few shocked Camaro and Mustang drivers. I had two Disco-era T/A's back in the '80's and I regret selling the blue one and wrecking the black one. The black one had the Herb Adams "Fire-Am" treatment-headers, a Holley Street Dominator intake, re-curved distributor, re-jetted carb, and a TransGo shift kit. I loved that car. It was fast enough to back up it's image, the seats were comfortable, the a/c blew cold, and the suspension didn't rattle your fillings loose. Anyhow, in my just-started search I've narrowly missed out on a few spectacular deals. My limit is $20,000-but believe me-you can find some awesome cars out there for under 20K if you look hard enough. I missed out on a 428, 4-speed 1969 Grand Prix for 15K, and the same guy had also just sold a 400, 4-speed 1973 GTO for 12 grand. Both were in excellent condition. I missed out on a 1972 Hurst SSJ GP with the 455 / TH400 powertrain as well.  The one that really hurt was I barely missed a 1979 10th Anniversary, 400, 4-speed, WS6 T/A with 66,000 original miles for $14,900!!  ArrrrGGGhhh!!!  The same website ( They specialize in musclecars, but especially T/A's )  also has a gorgeous 400, 4-speed, Chesterfield Brown 1977 model listed for $18,900, a Martinique blue '78 with a 400 Pontiac, an automatic, T-tops, and the WS6 package with 88,000 original miles that's just gorgeous for $17,995.  They also have an unbeleivable 21,000 mile original Nocturne Blue 1979 model with the 403 Olds TH350 powertrain for $20,900!!  They also have a 400, 4-speed 1979 DKM "Macho T/A" with Recaro seats for sale for $17,900.  If I can sell the Olds real quick or arrange financing with these guys, I'm going to buy one of those T/A's.  If that doesn't work out, I'll just have to wait until the right buyer comes along for the H/O, but's it's gratifying to know that there's such high quality stuff out there for reasonable prices. They also had some awesome 1970-73 T/A's on there, but they were priced well above my 20K ceiling. ( However, If I hit the lotto anytime soon that SD 455 / 4-speed Brewster Green baby is mine!!! )  Anyhow, I was thinking you could do the same-1969-73 351 Mustangs make great drivers, as do 1970-72 Monte Carlos, or '71-74 Chargers, or '74-80 Corvettes. There's a lot of stuff out there that would make wonderful drivers for somebody-priced under 20 grand.  Join me and don't drive an electronically nanny'd new car with a rev-limiter and a back-up camera, drive a musclecar and be a rebel!!  Mastermind