I had a variety of cheap winter beaters, but maybe the most interesting was a 1967 Opel Kadette station wagon. It had a 1.1 liter engine that was about the size of a sewing machine, and it was probably the rustiest car I ever owned - for example, the driver's side A pillar was completely rusted out where the door hinges were attached, so that door would actually fall off the car if I opened it. As a result I had to crawl in from the passenger side. A previous owner had 'fixed' the rusty quarter panels by screwing in pieces of those flexible blue plastic mini-toboggans, then they smeared Bondo over them and painted over it all with spray bombs.
However, it started every day no matter how cold it was outside, and it was remarkably good in the snow. That tiny little engine got pretty good mileage, too.
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