Personally I think the best bang for the buck in SEP airplanes are late model non turbocharged Cessna 210’s. They carry lots, have a very comfortable cabin for 4 and can go to 6 for short trips, very pleasant instrument platforms and have a reasonable speed. By the N model Cessna had sorted the gear and the one I used to fly was very reliable.
My favourite story in this airplane was a hurry up approach. The terminal controller completely screwed the vectors to the ILS and then said “I need you to go really fast or I will have to take you off the approach”. In the N model you can go to redline airspeed with the gear down, so I left high cruise power on flying down the glide slope. I then get a frantic call from ATC telling me to slow down because I am catching up to the 737 ahead
