Want to stand out, then? Start with an off-beat automobile. And if buying an under-appreciated car means finding a barren aftermarket, well that's where we come to your rescue with this handy roadmap to the less-explored territory of today's modifiable—though very attainable—performance cars.
In order to make The Drive's list of the top easily-modified first cars, a vehicle needs to hit these three criteria:
You can actually get one: We were able to find one near a population center, in respectable shape, and less than $10,000.
You can modify it: Does it have a large aftermarket following?
It's cool: It's not the first thing you find in a Craigslist search for cheap cars.
We identified 10 cars that fit the above criteria. Each hit the sweet spot of being volume cars and not yet uncommon finds, are old enough to be cheap, and weren't popular enough to be bought (and crashed) by people who treat the Monster Energy logo the way new money treats Louis Vuitton. And most importantly, each one has a respectable amount of aftermarket support, and some are ideal platforms for engine swaps.
