Wow there has been a lot of input so far, first of all thanks to all involved!
I believe the OP is asking opinions for a twin to have fun with, not for a serious twin.
That's why I suggested the Tecnam. If I misunderstood, my apologies.
If I understood him correctly, another twin worth looking at would be the Vulcanair P68C (ex-Partenavia).
Good-looking, fixed gear, cheap and reliable and still in production.
The downside is the low SE ceiling.
@DirtyProp, you understood perfectly right, "a twin to have fun with" pretty much nails it
Love the looks of the P68C and the excellent prop clearance due to the high wing design. Read some disturbing things about spare part availability 'tho... The Tecnam is an interesting concept and I guess it would actually suit the mission as well as a PA44. However it is a pretty new airframe and prices for the Tecnam are still quite high, for the same amount of $$$ you could probaby buy a neat G3 SR22 which is a lot more capable.
@StepTurn
Fair enough, perhaps the OP was referring to a current production PA44, and I expect that The New Piper would support that well. Perhaps the OP is thinking of one as old as 1979, and I jumped to that conclusion too quickly....
This is a scary story. Yes I was indeed talking about something built in the 80s and simply assumed that the airframe will be more or less equal to the PA44 in production today. What happens with all those PA28s of this era? It is stunning to hear a manufacturer wouldn't want to support thousands of airframes, in the end spare parts is usually where the best margins are?
@Jetblu
The Seminole is an ok small twin for shortish bimbles as the op describes.
I have about 37 hours touring in it. 2 pob is probably ideal. The T tail is ok
and quite nice once you get used it. Take no notice of the T tail horror stories.
I suspect these stories originated from the inexperienced getting caught out or people spreading ill informed rumour.
If it's cheap twin flying you want, why not go for a Twin Com as suggested previously. Used parts are readily available in the USA on both ships.
160 knots on 50 litres doesn't get much cheaper than this
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Thanks a for sharing your first-hand experiences! I have exactly 1.0hrs in the PA44 and I was actually quite fine with the handling. T-tail needs some getting used to but nowhere near the horror stories I've read about it.
What's the typical cruise speed you would plan with?
The Twin Com certainly meets a lot my the criteria as well. But then, despite the fact that there is quite a community around this ship, I really don't like the fact that it is even older than the PA44 and there's no factory support. At some point in the future spare parts and maintenance will become an issue.