Budget Tuner?

Ok, so I'm looking for a car that has a lot of potential, but I can pick up for cheap. Right now my budget is $5,000. I want to get something for about $2,000-$3,000 and invest the rest into it, unless there is a better path. Any help is wonderful. So far I've looked at these but I'm not sure as to cheap parts, durability, reliability etc.

-180sx 200sx 240sx 280zx 300zx etc.
-323 turbo
-326i
-328i
-accord
-celica
-civic
-colt
-corolla
-corrado
-CRX
-Eclipse
-evo
-galant
-golf
-golf gti
-gti-r
-impreza
-integra
-jetta
-Lancer
-legacy
-legend
-Maxima
-mx5
-mx6
-Prelude
-Rsx
-rx7
-Sentra
-soarer
-starlet gt
-Supra
-Tribune  

it all matters on what you want to do with the car.

my pics are the 240sx, eclipse, crx, and a delsol vtec.  
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the godfather has spoken

I want the potential to slowly invest into the car, while benefiting in 1 of 3 ways everytime:
1-The car looks better
2-The car is faster
3-The car handles better.

Thats really all I want  

Well if your trying to be fast, try to find something that comes with a turbo stock, usually these cars look better than normal cars because they come with upgraded brakes and rims from the factory and a more aggressive stance.

If you want a car that handles better, avoid FWD platforms, and stick to either RWD or AWD platforms.

Take it from me as someone who's brother tried tuning 2 FWD platforms, you want to avoid them, especially CRX's and Del Sol vtec. A car that comes with 160hp stock has no chance of being fast unless you plan to run 16's in the quartermile (which btw, is considered very slow) or doing a $5000 motor swap to run any kind of a decent time.

Besides, its not hp that wins races, its torque. Whats the torque output on a del sol vtec? 100 ftlbs? Can it pull a tampon out of a bucket of grease? Probably not.  

dont listen to scrotum. he dont know shitt unless its a mr2. i have built everything, and i know what im talking about. just ask most of the people in this forums.  
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the godfather has spoken

It's true, the Civics are not drag cars. It'll take a lot more money to get a civic to run with, say, a gsx. However, if you're not concerned about pulling from a dig, than this shouldn't concern you. Obviously rwd and awd will perform better than fwd, but I see little wrong with starting with a cheap fwd (as long as you don't expect more than is possible).

Overall, I'd favor a 1st gen talon tsi or eclipse gsx.  
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1994 GTO Twin Turbo
nothin wrong with front-wheel drive, I just refuse to own one

the gt starlet are light as a cigerett paper and can be tuned to over 220 bhp or box shape 88 civic stripe it k20 h22a2 turbo or supercharger = 300+ bhp honda all the way gt starlet is a good start just turning boast up to 1.3 bar makes all the difference bmw`s to heavy evo and scooby with break ur heart and ur bank balance to unreilable and tend to go bang unless u spend all ur time and money on it mx5 for the looks and a s2000 engine box and running gear would be hitting 150 mph stock and u would have 9000 revs rwd vtec rocket mmmmmmmm