Comment Around here for nine grand (Score 2, Interesting) 14
For nine grand I could get used and still serviceable: a motorcycle (new if I wanted a chinese bike), an atv, a pickup, a sedan, and have enough left over for a passable used compact tractor with the attachments. A little more upscale in price, I could get a cherry dune buggy all tricked out, a really nice datsun 4wd pickup that has been completely restored and customised, and then almost but not quite enough left over for that yanmar compact tractor.
All at once..for a sedan..hmm..performance, I'd look for a used porsche, or reliable and good mileage, look for an older mercedes diesel, a 240 or 300D, then make it run on veggie/grease diesel.
with that said, that's an interesting engine, never knew it existed. VW (group) comes up wioth some interesting stuff.
Hmm..nine grand...enough for an electric conversion kit for some smallish sedan or small pickup, minus batts. Another option.
Heard an interesting thing about electric vehicles the other day, there are some all electric Rav4s out there with more than a 100,000 miles on the original batteries.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyota_RAV4_EV
Also found out there are shops now that rebuild prius batt packs and it has dropped to under one thousand bucks for that. Started out around ten grand for a replacement pack. Quite a savings for just ten years or so down the road from when they were released.
generic related link
http://www.eaaev.org/eaaevsforsale.html
If I had the loot, I'd do one of those right now, plus get enough solar panels to keep it charged up well, before the dollar drops in worth more and all the imported stuff explodes in price. Just sayin...I *really* like the idea of a paid off transportation "stack". All I need is around a 50 mile round trip range for an electric, that keeps me within a "don't beat on the batteries" window.