Exactly, anything in this price bracket is going to have had circa 15-20 years of mods and abuse..........and will be just waiting to rape your wallet.
As the saying goes;
Fast + cheap = unreliable
Fast + reliable = not cheap
Cheap + reliable = not fast
If your downgrading for financial reasons, you should be getting a shed. It will be painful for a while but nearly ALL of the cars mentioned in this thread are potential money pits and look like chav chariots.
Whilst we're at it, why don't you just buy a speed boat?