Top fun cheap cars for under $1000

Ever wondered what kind of a car you can get for under $1000 bucks? Some pretty good ones, it turns out. I surveyed a few online classified ads for cars under $1000, checked out a few deals, and drove a few cars. Some good, some bad, some ugly, but all in all, pretty fun.

The cars listed below are all over 15 years old, but they would all make fine daily drivers with a little TLC. Just mind the rust, torn interiors, squeaky breaks, and ticking engines...

Fun cheap cars for under $1000
Click the links for more information from WikiPedia and RWUsed Car Reviews.

• Dodge Mitsubishi Colt - great little cars that keep running and running. Not pretty, not slick, but they handle well and are bulletproof reliable.
  
• Subaru Justy - where else can you get a 4x4 car that's great on gas, cute as kittens, rock solid reliable, and really fun to drive--for the price of a set of tires?
• Mazda 323 - well built, peppy engines, easy to modify, and they run for ever and ever. Amen.
• VW Rabbit - quick and nimble, nice interiors, classic looks, and one of the best engines ever assembled.
  
• Honda Civic - Honda quality, easy to work on, also cute as kittens, great on gas, and they don't know how to stop running
• Chevy Cavalier - not particularly fun to drive, but dang if these things don't keep going and going...
• Suzuki Swift - great fuel economy, good looks, and arguably one of the funnest to drive

There are more good cheap cars out there of course, and this is only a partial list based on the time I had. Watch for more though, because in this economy the emphasis is on the cheap part of Fun Cheap Cars.