it all really depends on what style your going for. there's jdm, show, performance/racing, low rider, etc... i would think about what you want to do with the car you choose... with my two cents, i would pick any civic 1990-2000 except coupes. im really into the jdm style. no civic coupes in japan. anyway... it's just my opinion... theres a lot you can do with a civic... it depends on the time and money you want to dump into it... with jdm it's pretty simple looking but clean... and it's all about the rarest of the rare.... rare rims, motor parts, suspension and especially interior.... for example a good setup would be.... 1996 civic sedan four door five speed... get the jdm bumpers with thin side moldings, jdm fenders with sidemarkers, jdm sir front lip, jdm head lights and tail lights, jdm foglights, jdm smoker visors, maybe a carbon fiber hood, and a good paint job... some 15 x 7 inch rims maybe like advan rg's... run it all on good suspension like some k sport coilovers and it'll look great... if you want performance and power..for get about fixing a sohc motor, unless you want to prove a point.... other wise it's a heavy car and you would need more power to go fast....just save up for a swap... if you want something simple with some balls and cheap... a b16 or gsr motor is good...if you got the cash a jdm k series is the best motor out but stupid expensive...but anyway if you got a stock sohc motor, dont worry about chipping the stock sohc ecu... it's retarded and a waste of money... and a custom exhuast is what i reccomend... especially if you do a motor swap... like say if you go with a jdm gsr with lsd and a chipped ecu... i would definitely run jdm integra type r headers, and run a high flow cat with custom piping .... and get a spoon sports exhuast ... costly but clean and a great sound plus more... for the interior.. theres alot of jdm pieces you can but such as the cluster, steering wheel, seats, changing the seat belts to harnests, climate control unit, even carpet... this setup is something you can think of... it's a clean setup and makes a pretty quick car... a but pricy with this setup.. your probably looking at .... 5000 for the car, 3000 for motor swap, 1000 for rims and tires, 900 for bumpers/moldings/fenders//lip, 400 for headlight/ taillights, 300-1000 for paint, 600- 3000 for interior, 400- 1200 for suspension, 600 on accesorries and just like 100 bucks a month on maintinance... sounds expensive but that without hook ups ... also, im not saying you need to do this all at once but give it time and if this is the way you want to go it's the easiest and cleanest....dont be discourage about what people say if you in your processes of fixing the car up and it's not as nice and not as fast... do what you got to do....just do things smarter not harder...dont go out and buy a sohc header knowing your gonna get the gsr swap...it's just a waste of money that your taking away from a better and faster goal....do your homework on what you want... if you want check out www.honda-tech.com and you might get way more answers to your questions and you will get to see pictures and see results on parts... sorry for writting so much and i hoped this helpped