I got my 1989 240sx in 2004 for free. It has 50,XXX original miles on it, but the chassis was rusted pretty badly and things were starting to fall apart.
I ended up trading it for a car, 3 months later, in physically worse condition, but mechanically better... 1985 Corolla GT-S.
I drove the corolla around until just 4 months ago. It had 267,XXX miles on it before I rebuilt the engine/rear diff and sold it. It wasn't a complete loss b/c I got a 1986 Corolla GTS from the junkyard for $300.
http://www.86garage.com/forums...=1459
Recently I needed a new car to get to work so I bought a 1992 240SX SE with 132,XXX on the clock. Seems like a good place to start.
The stock steering wheel was in pretty bad shace on the grip so my dad gave me his Nissan Ital Volante wheel he's had lying around for years.