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Some cheap oddballs.
mid-80's LTD's - find an old copper, already has a 5.0HO in it, just like a 'stang
mid-70's Nova - ugly as shit but dirt cheap and a big block bolts right in for pennies
early to mid 80's Malibus - still pretty cheap and hold a small block or big block
mid-80's Fairmount - its a fox-body chassis, any performance part that fits fox body stang fits it- your brother won't see that coming
Really for performance on the cheap a small block Ford or Chevy is pretty hard to beat. The DSM's as already mentioned are probably the only thing close. Having never owned one I couldn't speak to problems associated with trying to drive one all the time, but a low 12 second Nova is daily driveable with a small block. A $2000 budget is hard to hit when you want to go fast safely and reliably. My big block Nova cost me about $1800 to build, but only runs in the high 13's. I don't know what your brother's Mustang has done but I have seen some damned unassuming ones. Was a guy in my area running an '84 automatic that he twin turboed himself(all done in his garage), still ran a stock 302 hydraulic roller bottom end even. He had some money in turbos, tires, cam, and intake but that was it really for high 10's. He was even using the stock heads. The good recommendation is to get a light car with a V8 thats rear wheel drive. Don't buy a '69 Impala 327 and hope for one second it is going to outrun even a box stock 5-O even though you can get them cheap. A first gen Nova with a warmed over 350 will move well, hopelessly out of your pricerange though if you want floors and fenders included. Imports can be built quite well now and are only getting better, but I still feel that right now there is just more bang for the buck(in a straight line) in a good ol' rear wheel drive V8 car.
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