The Bulldog seems a nice enough plane if you can find one with some hours left on the wing... but 110 kts cruise on 200 HP would be a factor for me.
Re the earlier mention of the Citabria. It could have been called the 'Aeronca Super Champ', in an analogy to the Piper Super Cub: Like a Champ I've found them to need a lot of muscle although spades make an improvement - I flew the same plane before and after. Citabrias are also slow for the power.