My comments were based upon top-notch cars I have seen advertised and personally know about, and cars I have personally inspected.

I also agree that there are some cars sold more on reputation (skill of the driver) than on the basis of the level of design, engineering, and execution on the car itself.

For $7k - $10k, you should easily be able to get a very nice, solid, reasonably quick top 1/3 of pack car. I have found that the incremental investment to move from there to first or second place performance is high and seems disproportionate, and agree with the comments about investing in the driver.

Good luck!

Rich