In need of advice.

Ok so some background.  Had a conversation at the farm and the point was raised of me having my own private car.  This was news to me but I like the idea and have started saving, I could probably afford the roughest jimny out there but couldn't yet put it on the road so I will keep saving. 

If I were to get another car then I don't see much point in replicating temeraire just so as it's mine as I still have her. So I thought I'd look at an alternative and that's either a mk1 kia soul or a k11 micra and while both are very nice I don't have the intimate knowledge of either that I do for the jimny. So I then started thinking about another jimny hotboi much like I did with dreadnought only going further down the rabbit hole because of not being constrained by needing it to work on the farm. To give you an idea of what that might look like it would be another automatic but with permanent rwd only so no transfer box or front drive line just a custom prop off the main gearbox to the back axle. Lowered suspension and low profile stickie tyres to compensate for losing the transfer box, full disc conversation with vented fronts, and maybe a 1.5 or 1.6 swap. 

My problem is that the jimny is going to cost me as much as a finished soul or k11 just to buy one worth having. A none jimny will also distract me to a certain extent from jimny life. A none jimny is always going to be a little bit front wheel drive. 

What to do?

I guess this really comes down to a heart vs head thing... not sure anyone can really advise you on a rational level. Certainly not me, I'm a total petrol head (well, diesel too). And have somewhere between 6 - 9 vehicles... including maybe four with V8 engines 

I can see the appeal of a road racer Jimny, but Jimny's are fairly desirable and hold their money well, plus a load of mods will make it a more expensive project.

The other 2 cars I'm sure are fine. But would seem to be more in the category of "transport" rather than a fun fuelled vehicle you might take to a car show.

I don't have any experience with the K11, in their day they were rather unloved, although they are lightweight and compact. I think they have seen a bit of a resurgence as a cheap rally car or maybe a slammed hatch. I guess you can tune them, but I'm not into the scene for them. Although if modding one of these, it could get just as pricey as a Jimny. Are there many K11's left though? I'd have thought the scrappage schemes may have seen many of them vanish.

The Kia Soul I love the looks of, my brother used to work at a Kia garage when they came out. Nothing wrong with them, funky looks and a practical interior, but there weren't much to write home about in terms of driving.

Oh I should not get mixed up in this, I have no head for cars only heart I guess.

SJ416 1986 lwb hanging in my garage gets some parts now and then but way too little time spent on it.
SJ410 1984 gets what it needs and is a running project and a good investment if I ever sell it.
2005 Jimny is a hobby, travel, holiday, workhorse and a daily. There will never be any budget or investment plan or "head" -Only heart.
2006 VW T5 workhorse, horsebox puller, camper and daily driver and the wifes car. Costly to maintain but so be it.
2007 Suzuki swift 4x4 on loan to my daughter.

Way too many projects that take way too long to complete.
Edit -I actually have an app on the phone with to do lists for each of the cars with work to be done for every one of them, way to long to bore you all with

I think the most sensible thing for me would be to own one sensible car to use for transport and get it to a garage whenever it needs repairs and pay for it, and use whatever I got left of my savings and spare money for my hobby. And just to have a single project/hobby car that i actually had time and money for.

My advice is to make sure you have the spare time for the project and hobby car(s).

I take the point here that a kia is not exactly exotic and is more suited to the car park than the arena at a show, but that is also something of it's appeal, that it shouldn't really be there but it is never the less. And as to being a bit dull to drive I have almost my entire driving life held that driving a dull car at 95% of it's capability at 10% of your own ability is far more rewarding than driving a car at 10% of it's capability while at 95% of your own. Adding to that nowadays there really isn't an option for a good long spirited drive, there's always someone else in the way or a camera in 20 yards.

Regarding having a lot of projects on the go I think more linear than that, I have to finish the current one before committing more than thinking time to the next one and I have had enough land rover and jeep products to be over having to worry that I might need to work on a car instead of just getting in it and driving.

Don't get me wrong, nothing agains the Kia Soul. I have rather a soft spot for the Chrysler PT Cruiser, although the majority of the UK car enthusiast base would disagree...

A "proper" lowered jimny,  cut front axle, rear wheel drive , cut springs and shocks moved up, would be mint