If you're careful you can find an E39 BMW for that money (2001-older 7-series). Just be warned that radiators and catalysts are common failure points and VERY expensive to replace.
$8-10 will buy you a pretty nice 94-96 impala SS
It will also buy you a pretty sweet Lincoln Town Car. Get one of the later boxy ones with the 4.6L (since it is a rock-solid reliable engine) and most of the performance parts for mustang and F150 are easy to add. It will never handle really well, but a nice sleeper that will surprise a few ricers.
C4 vette
W210 Mercedes. Find yourself a 120-150k E300 turbodiesel (98-99). They are rock solid reliable to about 250k where you'll need some transmission work. Then they are rock solid to 350k where you'll need a head gasket. Otherwise they are smooth, one of the most reliable Benz models, super smooth, and a very solid buy. I paid $12k for one with 176k and knew it was a bargain. I sold it two years later with 200k for $12k.
Avoid volvo, saab, audi, VW, and jag. They tend to start having very expensive and very annoying issues. I run an import repair facility... ask me how I know.
Do not become tempted by the affordable prices on Land Rovers. There is a reason the pricing is too good to be true. We just bought a Freelander with 60k on the odometer for $1200, and we might make our money back after we install its third engine and second transmission.... in 60k miles. Many parts are only available from Rover. Today I just priced a CV joint for that Freelander at $640 wholesale, $780 retail. Considering we just paid $1200 for the vehicle, it was like salt in a wound. Nothing is worse than a worthless vehicle for which one part adds 50% to your investment.
I like the Lincoln LS idea.
BMW 5-series should be a nice idea. Don't be frightened off by BMW parts costs. Bimmer's parts structure is like a pyramid scheme. Bosch germany sells parts to BMW germany who sells it to BMW USA who sells it to regional warehouses, who sell it to dealers. By the time it gets upsold once, shipped to the states, upsold again, then upsold another 2-4 times on the way to the dealer, its ridiculous. I priced a coolant temp sensor for my E30 at the dealer for $76. I got online and looked up the Bosch part number, walked into an Auto Zone, they got it the next day from Bosch for $7.58. Most BMWs are easy to work on, and parts can be found cheap if you know where to look. They are also very reliable vehicles with a few electrical quirks.
In summary... Mercedes and BMW are the only European brands I'd consider. Mercedes seemed to peak in the late 90s, IMO with the 98-99 W210 E-class. BMW had some really high points from 1982-2001, after which I would only really look at an E46 3-series.
Japan has some nice options. I won't get into details, but Mazda hasn't impressed me. They have really started skimping on parts quality, partly a habit they picked up from Ford. Not that Ford is bad, just that once Ford and Mazda had their first child together, Mazda has started taking a plunge.
Toyota/Lexus has some nice stuff, but 1999-2004 has some bad marks on the roster. Automatic transmissions are somewhat fragile, and don't even think about rebuilding one. Again, I won't go into details, but we had two that ended up costing us one lawsuit and $4000 in repairs we did to try and rectify the situation.
Honda automatics are a nightmare from about 97-2004. Same goes for Ford FWD. I wish I had a nickel for every Accord and Taurus that comes through the shop for a transmission.
Nissan Automatics seem to be fine, but avoid the 5-speed automatics that started in 2003 or so. That story went very similarly to the Lexus story above.
For the most part, the Japanese are super reliable, but expect labor times to be high for simple maintenance. They don't leave any room for much work under the hood, and simple things like EGR valves are often buried under a complex intake structure which takes a normal job that should be 1/2 hour and makes it a 4.5 hour job that requires removing the intake, buying gaskets...
For all of the above reasons, buy yourself a 67 GTO. You can rebuild the transmission in an afternoon for $450, replacing an alternator is $35 and takes 15 minutes with two wrenches. A water pump takes an hour and you don't have to remove engine mounts, replace a timing belt, and work in 3/4" spaces to do it. It has absolute class, its cheap to insure, and will definitely get you laid regularly.
The 13 MPG... that's a different story.