You'd prob pick up a reasonable 1.6i Orion in your budget. Prob better value than a lot of people want for XR3i's and the like now, but it's the same car essentially, just a bit more practical.

Or if you don't mind something a bit newer, MK6 Escorts are plentiful, cheap to maintain, not bad to drive, and if you get a Ghia/Ghia X can have decent spec too.

Or if it's pure hack about; MK1/2 Mondeo are hard to beat.