Neons and Calibers start at $300 needing a few hours and a hundred dollars in parts. Rusty drivers start at $500 and end around $1200

Cab-forward cars are the same thing. These cars are in the 2000's and I don't see what is "sad" about reliable fuel injection, most have air conditioning, and get 40 miles to the gallon?

First and Second gen Rams start at $500 and go up. I got my last 2 First Gens for $300, and $900 and they both run, drive and pass a safety.

There are also tons of great small displacement motorcycles for cheap.

I'm not really sure why you have an M body as an "expensive" example. First of all, why would you shame a Teenager into driving one of those Turds, and secondly, those cars are completely obsolete. A teenager would get laughed at if they went into a parts store looking for something. You need to look at a different era of vehicles, this isn't 1979 anymore. If you want to survive being a teenager, Pick and Pull is where you spend your time. Rarely do they have anything older than 1990.