(Ben Jackson) writes:

I'll be flamed from all quarters here, but you might consider a "2 seater"
like the Mooney M20A. There's one on TAP right now for $30,500. If you
look for a bargain or stretch your budget you might be able to get into
a metal-wing M20. An M20 is going to be a lot easier to maintain than
an M10 since they all share many parts.

It cannot be easy to locate mechanics who are familiar with maintaining
and inspecting wood these days.

Read http://www.mooneypilots.com/woodwing.html, which is an interview
with Bill Wheat (a Mooney authority) about the wood-wing Mooney models
(the M20 and M20A).

I think you'd be looking at the low $40k range before you could get
into a decent 1962--1964 model year all-metal Mooney. That's quite a
bit out of the original poster's price range.

--
Matt Emerson
1963 M20D