Project car for enthusiast: City Type 2 v/s Octavia vRS Mk1 v/s Gypsy

I want to enjoy the build process and will use the car as a weekend runner.

BHPian speedfreak77 recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

I have decided to get a project car, something which I can build step by step & enjoy the build process and even try to put some wrench time of my own into the car. There are so many options for a project car and I just don’t know which will be the best first project car. I am trying to keep things minimalistic and the car will be a weekend/event runner and I will document its journey every step of the way.

My options as of now are:

1. 2003 Honda City Type 2 VTEC
2. Skoda Octavia VRS Mk1
3. Maruti Gypsy

These are some of the options I considered, new options are welcome and my purpose of this build is to create something with my own knowledge, experience and taste. Gypsy is a car I wanted to own for a long time but Type 2 has been my first love for decades. Would like to know your suggestions Team!

Here's what GTO had to say on the matter:

Even the newest example of the Type 2 Honda City will be 20 years old, so it is best avoided. Spend your time dating, with your family or learning something new instead.

If you like Hondas, get the Civic. They go for dirt cheap money and you'll get far superior models than the old City. I sold my "very good" condition 2007 Civic in 2015 for 2.25 lakhs.

You haven't specified your budget, but Civic / Laura 1.8 TSI / Gypsy would be the perfect project cars to play around with. Even consider something like the Swift - it has the potential to become a great, cheap pocket rocket.

Here's what BHPian Sanidhya mukund had to say on the matter:

When it comes to project cars, the first thing to go out the door is rationality. However, of the cars you have listed, the Gypsy will be the easiest and the most fun. Plenty of cars in the market, easy availability of OEM parts, a huge community of owners and a large market for mods and aftermarket goodies. Being an unconventional car, it will give you the most thrills per rupee, more so than the Honda and Škoda, which are essentially everyday road cars that happen to be more fun than their regular counterparts.

The Honda and Škoda are great project cars too, but the only problem with them is that they are simply too old and too rare. Parts could become a pain to source. The Škoda parts will also be quite expensive.

My suggestion would be to look for all three in the market and just pick the best example of whichever one you find.

Here's what BHPian KebabBoi had to say on the matter:

How about a hatchback from the Maruti stable, something like the older Alto k10 or Swift?

• As per my understanding the cars are fairly primitive and easy to work on and so would serve as amazing starter project cars, with a flatter learning curve.
• Sourcing parts won't be a hassle and you can easily find numerous DIY tutorials to work on them. Even the neighbourhood mechanics are well-versed with them.

The satisfaction in throttling the life out of a cheap, flickable, light economical hatchback is just something else.

Here's what BHPian Maverick1977 had to say on the matter:

Been there and done that. I too got this bug a couple of years back. After evaluating multiple options zeroed down on the Skoda Laura, 1.8L petrol, MANUAL. The last one was important as the automatic could have been an issue.

The Skoda will give you plenty of options to upgrade from exteriors to interiors and a wide band to play around with the engine. I enjoyed the car to the last day. It was CV19 which made me sell it with a heavy heart.

The next owner was also an enthusiast and spruced it up even further.

The best part of it all - it was reliable, I took it long distances and never worried something would go wrong.

Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.