There aren’t really any cheap small cars anymore. Sure, GM is doing the market some favors with its new Chevy Trax and Buick Envista compact crossovers, but I’m talking cars that are available new for less than $20,000. There were holdouts like the Mitsubishi Mirage and Kia Rio, but the former may be getting the axe soon, and the death of the latter was recently announced. Cars & Bids may be able to help you out if you want something small and cheap, though: There’s a brand-new Plymouth Neon currently listed for sale.
This 2000 Plymouth Neon is interesting. Not only because it’s a brand new car from over 20 years ago from a defunct brand, but because it’s actually a museum piece. The Neon you see here is owned by the Petersen Automotive Museum. This gives it a bit of, as Cars & Bids describes, “provenance,” but it’s also strange. From the looks of things there’s nothing particularly special about this Neon. Given that it’s a 2000, it’s not the last as both Plymouth and the Neon were killed off in 2001. It’s not a performance model either, since the ACR, R/T and SRT-4 trims were only reserved for Dodge.
It is pretty clean though. It even still wears the original dealer plates from L.A.’s La Brea Chrysler Jeep which closed over a decade ago now. It’s very basic though. The original window sticker included with the car reads it cost just $14,775 in 2000. It’s so basic that the three speed auto and A/C were options for $600 and $1,000 respectively.
That’s in addition to other standard features like crank windows (!), 14-inch wheels and a 2.0-liter 132 horsepower I4.
While this thing has no reserve which is a good, some folks in the comments pointed out a couple of concerns. For one, it’s currently registered as Planned Non-Operation with the California DMV, so there may be a fee involved in getting this thing road going again. Also those six miles are a blessing and a curse. This Neon is going to need a bit of work as it’s essentially not been driven for the past 20+ years. That means replacing belts, hoses, fluids, and more — which might end up costing more than you’d expect.
If nostalgia is pulling at your wallet, and you want to bid on this thing, head on over to Cars & Bids while you still can. As of this writing, bidding is currently sitting at $7,346 with three days left on the auction.