What about an AA-5 ?
What a lovely aircraft to fly! Like a little sports car compared with the PA28 and 172. The 180HP Tiger performance with a fixed pitch prop takes a VP prop on the 172/PA28 to match it. Slow speed handling can be an issue for ab initio instruction. Any bounce on landing demands an immediate go-around. The castoring nosewheel is a delight for precise, confined-space parking but takes some practice and is tricky taxi-ing in a strong crosswind. We used to have an old example at the large flying school where I worked near London before they went bust and I always bagged it for Trial Lessons because I enjoyed flying it so much. The interior was pretty awful though, not loved by the owners.
I did a 2nd year revalidation flight with one of our club members in his AA5 Cheetah the other day and it reminded me what a pleasant aircraft it is to fly. It's a good instrument platform, too.
The downside is the quirky construction, especially of the wing around the tubular spar. Great until you get a snag. Repairs to AA-5 and AG-5 models are typically more difficult and more expensive than to C172/PA28 types.
Apparently the later AG-5 models aren't so nice as the earlier AA-5 examples. Grumman sold the tooling to American General who produced the AG-5 Tiger and apparently there are plans for yet another company to produce more.
TOO