Buy a gen II miata, or even a gen 1, and turbocharge it. I owned, (and built), a 300 rwhp turbo Miata with many mods that would do an honest 165 mph, GPS verified, dyno verified power. It was not, however, a $10k car. More like $30k at the end of the day. Still, you can have stupid fun with a 150-200 Hp Miata and still run on pump gas, humiliate most other cars in the short distance stoplight runs and enjoy it tremendously in the twisties. Not to mention, you can toss the keys to anyone and not worry about it too much. At 300 Hp, you have to be very, very careful about where, and when, you drop the hammer. Track time for the most part.
The Honda is a fun car, and well made, but as has been said, you really need to wind it out and be on the VTEC to feel like you're driving a performance car. It's smooth, but also qualifies as a economy vehicle when not on the VTEC cam. The Miata is more fun at lower speeds, but feels faster and has a higher grin factor.
Depending on how he drives and what he wants, he can find a nicely pimped Miata for his price point or a hopefully well taken care of, but higher mile P-car that will be expensive to maintain. The BMWs are fine, but never exicted me much. The Boxter S is worth it, if you're going to go down the Boxter path.
FWIW, I owned and wrenched on Miatae for money for about 12 years. I know the NA cars inside, outside, upside down, the NB pretty well, and nothing about the NC other than it uses a lot of RX8 parts and a Ford engine, but is a good car too. A good deal on the NC generation car would be worth while for a mid life crisis car.
Hope that helps
