> I'm in the process of buying a new (used) car because my current one is trash. I've got a maximum of US$5000 to spend, and I'm looking into getting something fairly sporty (which tends to limit my options to 80s Asian cars). Right now I'm heavily considering the Nissan 300ZX in the 85-89 range... anyone have any thoughts?

I'd recommend Mercuries to anyone who doesn't have a pile of money to spend. In my experience, they're fairly cheap, reliable cars, get good mileage, and have a top speed considerably higher than anything the meter can display (not that I know by first-hand experience, of course ;-}). As for "sporty"... well, I don't really even know what that means. I fear I cannot offer you much assistance with that.

Whatever you get, though, it would be appreciated if you got a car that had a nice concealed spot in the engine compartment, for the convenience of those of us who may want to give you a surprise gift of a bomb.

Dar "I ain't a terrorist, I just bomb a lot" ien