r/Battlecars

Built it in 2015 but she's just rotting in my back yard now

Spotted in northern CO.

Took the Elantra to the Gambler 500 and am hooked. I used to off-road a truck on 33's back in the day and have been wanting to get back into the hobby, but I think the battlecar idea will better suit my needs!

Any AWD car suggestions besides Subaru? Nothing German either. Low budget.

I'm thinking a Jaguar X Type would be hilarious. Suzuki SX4 is another option. (dream would be Suzuki X90 but they're an expensive cult classic, plus I know it's technically considered a truck).

Open to any and all suggestions! Thanks!

If you want the comfort of a BWM while overlanding...

I've got this 81' Mercury Grand Marquis that I hit a deer with and insurance wants to call it a total loss and scrap it even though it's only a caved in fender. So I want to give it a new life as a battle car/Gambler 500/very low buck rally car. The first thing I want to do is lift it and put on some larger tires because right now it's sitting on 25" tall tires with 8" of ground clearance. What would be the best way to lift it to fit larger tires? I was thinking maybe 28"-30" tire height, similar sizing to pickup trucks of the same era. The car has tons of suspension travel but with such soft springs and shocks it only uses the bottom 4" of travel. Could I take suspension components out of another vehicle with heavier suspension like a station wagon or van to get it to sit higher or is there a good lift kit for these big body fords somewhere? Thanks for any help/leads

This one was on highway 50 in Chantilly VA. Driver was a cool guy, friendly