Folks have already said most of what needs to be said, so much depends on budget, what kind of thing he's into and where you live.
But one suggestion, not a classic, but 90's, cheap, simple and easy to fix are the old 8v Corsas. The 1.2 is low on power (only 45bhp) as it was the engine out of the Nova (55bhp) which they fitted a single point injector, cat, and detuned to meet emissions. They are a non-interference engine so even a timing belt going doesn't kill them. With regular servicing, and replace the water pump with the timing belt, they'll run for ever. The only killer is rot, but you can find some that have been garaged, done low miles, and they're dead simple little cars.
Insurance is usually cheap, some of them had immobilisers factory fitted.
(Not to be confused with the 1.0 Suzuki derived chain driven 3 pot engine which is best avoided.)
But one suggestion, not a classic, but 90's, cheap, simple and easy to fix are the old 8v Corsas. The 1.2 is low on power (only 45bhp) as it was the engine out of the Nova (55bhp) which they fitted a single point injector, cat, and detuned to meet emissions. They are a non-interference engine so even a timing belt going doesn't kill them. With regular servicing, and replace the water pump with the timing belt, they'll run for ever. The only killer is rot, but you can find some that have been garaged, done low miles, and they're dead simple little cars.
Insurance is usually cheap, some of them had immobilisers factory fitted.
(Not to be confused with the 1.0 Suzuki derived chain driven 3 pot engine which is best avoided.)
