Top five affordable drift cars

Business at the front, party at the back. That’s the way we like our drift mobiles, right?!

Affordable machines that can double as a reliable daily driver while being ready to tear up the local skid pan on the weekend used to be commonplace. Think Ford Escort, Holden Torana, Datsun 1600, Nissan 240Z, etc…

The problem is most of those cars have now either rusted themselves to heaven or been restored to the point they’re no longer affordable for many.

But there are still plenty of of rear-drive cars out there priced under $10K, less than 20 years old and, in many cases, complete with a manual gearbox. Here’s our pick of them.

Every drift fan knows the ultimate sideways Bimmer is an E46 M3, but you won’t find one of those for less than $10,000 (unless you’re super lucky).

So here we’ve gathered the next best thing: E46 3 Series Coupes for less than $10K. Most of them are built after 1999, but alas there are few out there with a manual transmission and just make sure they don’t have a lethal NADI Takata airbag fitted. Not convinced? Watch this.

Pretty much any Falcon will do – just try to get one with a five-speed manual like these and keep an eye out for the infamously indestructible AU (1998-2001).

Anything later is a good choice, too – BA, BF or FG. Unless you’re a P-plater, find a late-model XR6 Turbo for under $10K and you’ll be laughing!

It’s not the most nimble option, but Holden’s humble Commodore is probably your best bet when it comes to a rear-drive manual for under $10K.

Plenty of VE SV6s are creeping under the five-figure mark, and there are a few earlier V8 examples on offer too now. The bonus is you’ll have plenty of interior and boot space, and if you break anything at your next amateur drift comp, there are still plenty spare parts available!

There are plenty of awesome Japanese cars you can drift, but they don’t all fall within our price range.

However, there are dozens of Mazda RX-8s priced under $10K, many of which are manual and some of which can be had for less than $5K. Finding a low-mileage example that’s been routinely warmed up, cooled down and serviced will be more difficult.

If you’re prepared to buy an older car, but still built post-1990, there are plenty of sub-$10K rear-drive alternatives, like the Nissan 300ZX, Mazda MX-5 and even the old family favourite, the Toyota Cressida.

If your grandparents didn’t have one of these bad boys, there was surely one elsewhere in the family. The good news is there are a few of these rear-drive sedans for sale on carsales right now. The bad news is they didn’t come in manual, so the money you save buying one might need to go towards a gearbox conversion.

The lightweight two-seat Mazda MX-5 roadster might not be a fireball either, but brings the added bonus of being economical and allowing you to cruise with the top down when the weather’s good. This original NA manual is pretty neat and so is this one in British Racing Green.