Mid-life crisis car?

[miniman1983]

Personally I would go for an older 911 (968), Boxster or the S2000.

Having said that, Ive got a TR6, MGBGT, MGB Roadster, Minor Conv, Herald and Im looking to expand!

[Andyg]

Definitely won't be doing track days - don't think we even have a track down this way. Isn't the SLK even more "girly" than the MX5? Don't think I've ever seen a bloke driving one.

Good lad, just checking :D but my brother had one (but then he has also had a Mazda RX7) - poor boy.

Ok - so track performance is not so important therefore "image" and "look" becomes more important.

In which case how about one of the following - all available for less than £15K:-

BMW Z1 - only available in LHD, but so what :D
BMW 8 Series - a lot of car for not a lot of money (get the 840i)
Merc SL500
Corvette Stringray late 1970's
Ginneta G33
Lancia Monti Carlo - same engine as the mighty Fiat 131 world rally car.
Lotus Europa - old one or new one - both a lovely providing you can fit.
Alpine GTA - real head turner and Uber Rare.
TR 5 or 6 - an Englishmans car. Personally I would go for a TR6.

And I have saved the best to last
http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/2615803.htm

Jimmy D would be proud of you :D

Andy

[clockworks]

A rather eclectic mix of cars there!

Always fancied a Montecarlo, but the part of the car's name that you left out (Beta) puts me off. My dad had a Lancia Beta that was less than a year old - biggest heap of junk he ever bought. Drove well, but you could see it falling apart before your eyes.

Beetle kit car - not for that kind of money.

At 6'1", I think I'd struggle with a Europa.

The GTA is certainly a good looker (if a little dated), but it's a plastic Renault 25 with the engine in the boot, IIRC.

Couldn't live with LHD, not on the twisty lanes we have here.

Big Merc, 8 series and Stingray are a bit thirsty, and not really suited to the sub-10 mile journeys that make up most of my annual mileage.

TRs are actually quite common down here, and they do look nice, as does the rather rare G33 (only 90 made, according to a quick google search).

[Jake]

Just got one of these recently :mrgreen:

Wish I had done so a long while ago .... with this glorious weather at present there is nothing better than blasting along B-roads with the roar of the straight 6 2.8 in my ears :twisted:

Cheers

Jake

[PDE]

A W129 SL for me every time!





Dan

[Andyg]

A rather eclectic mix of cars there!

Always fancied a Montecarlo, but the part of the car's name that you left out (Beta) puts me off. My dad had a Lancia Beta that was less than a year old - biggest heap of junk he ever bought. Drove well, but you could see it falling apart before your eyes.

Beetle kit car - not for that kind of money.

At 6'1", I think I'd struggle with a Europa.

The GTA is certainly a good looker (if a little dated), but it's a plastic Renault 25 with the engine in the boot, IIRC.

Couldn't live with LHD, not on the twisty lanes we have here.

Big Merc, 8 series and Stingray are a bit thirsty, and not really suited to the sub-10 mile journeys that make up most of my annual mileage.

TRs are actually quite common down here, and they do look nice, as does the rather rare G33 (only 90 made, according to a quick google search).

So you are actually going to use it - rather than just having it for a Sunday Best and you want it to be OK with the petrol.

Cool - I shall refocus my efforts.

Ref the Lancia - I had a Beta Couple for 5 years and loved it - even the rust :D - the upside is that the vast majority of those cars have long passed into the big garage in the sky so only the good ones remain. As for reliability mine was a daily driver for all of those 5 years and I clocked up over 80K in it before a coach wrote it off. Died the death of a true Viking :cry:

Ref the Ginneta 33 - there is one for sale on Pistonheads as we speak.

Ok then how about

Porsche 993 or 964 C4 - my 964 C2 (seriously tuned) does about 28 mpg so not bad. I suggest the C4 as you will be able to drive it in the snow if careful :D
Porsche 968 Cab - lovely bit a kit and perfect for the summer.
Merc SL 300 - same as the 500 but a V6
Alfa Spyder - Mrs Robinson :wink:
Austin Healey - Frogeye - cheap/fun motoring - if a bit chilly in the winter
BMW Z3 Coupe - seriously quick, not to expensive to run, has all the modern aids
Nissan 350GT Skyline - I hate Jap cars but I would consider one of these :D

Andy


Land Rover Defender SWB Pick-up - very practical or failing that a Merc G-Wagon

[Andyg]

If you have the money you could do a lot worse than this

http://www.classiccarsforsale.co.uk/...p/carno/119585

Andy

[vRSG60]

You have a Fiat so stick to Fiat. A 500 Abarth, the 695ss edition. Super cool, tried and tested.The girls will think your cool. The ego maniacs don't look twice. When you need the power you can soon blow away these crappy so called prestige cars.

ish

And the winner so far is -

[Andyg]

You have a Fiat so stick to Fiat. A 500 Abarth, the 695ss edition. Super cool, tried and tested.The girls will think your cool. The ego maniacs don't look twice. When you need the power you can soon blow away these crappy so called prestige cars.

ish

And the winner so far is -

Very nice indeed

Check this little puppy out - a dream car for me

[urlhttp://www.classiccarsforsale.co.uk/classic-car-page.php/carno/93376][/url]

But also a bit on the pricy side :bigsmurf:

Andy

[trick cyclist]

Got passed by a SLK350 yesterday, giving it the berries, sounded really meaty, and has that aggressive styling that I like, much better than the knackered child-carrier I was in.

Why don't you save yourself a packet of money and get one of these? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b9XAC-BvUyo Shonky swears by his!

£29.90 from Amazon - http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_nos ... ound+racer

[lewisanderson]

The S2000 is a great car but as some other posters have mentioned it can be a tad twitchy.

[clockworks]

Had a chat with the car nut at our RC club last night. He currently owns an EVO and an Octavia VRS, but used to have a series 1 MX5. He agreed that an MX5 would be my best bet.

Spent today looking at MX5s with my brother. I decided to look at an early series 2 1.8 for £2000 first, then work my way up the price range. It was being sold by a commercial vehicle dealer operating out of a farm. The car was superficially OK, but had rusty sills and the interior was quite tatty. Looked like it had been wound back to the indicated 80,000 miles. From the state of the steering wheel, I'd guess at double that - the plastic coating had worn away in places, exposing the foam core.
The car drove OK, but had a nasty clonk from the RHS front suspension. Biggest problem for me was getting my left knee jammed under the steering wheel, which made operating the short travel clutch pedal tricky.

Next, we had a look at a '54 plate 1.8 Euphonic. This was a really clean car with a genuine 40k on the clock - all documentation available to support this. One sill had been repaired, and the other was on it's way, so I guess this is a weak spot on the series 2 cars? Drove beautifully, but I had the same problem with my left knee and the wheel. The car was being sold by a lady operating out of a very nice house with a yard (20+ cars for sale) and workshop. Problem was the sticker price - £6k. Top end for a series 2, but she was prepared to do a deal.

Final car was a '56 series 3 1.8 at the main dealer. As we arrived, a couple were being shown around the car, so we hung back and watched. My brother spotted that they were looking to trade in a 2000 1.8, and he went over for a chat while the salesman was inside checking some figures. He said that I might be interested in buying their old car, and then pinned the salesman down to some proper figures - discount for a cash sale, versus the price with the trade in. We now had a base price on the '56 car, and a likely price for their old one. They gave me their number, and said to call them after the weekend.
I really wanted to drive a series 3, so we "hid" round the back of the garage while they had had a test drive.

As soon as they had gone, I asked the salesman if they had bought the car. Gone away to think about it.
Car was immaculate, 26k on the clock, £8k sticker price. Black with leather interior, A/C and heated seats. Had a test drive, and I could actually fit properly. While it was a little bit less punchy than the series 2, it was a much nicer car to drive, with a classy, solid, interior. Made even the late series 2, with it's cheap plastic mouldings, feel like a kit car.

Time to do a deal! Sent the salesman off to get his best price, after telling him I'd buy it on the spot if the price was right, while we had a ciggy. Came back at £7650, with a proper 12 month Mazda warranty, new MOT, full service, and 6 months tax - result, especially considering the fine weather meant that they had already shifted 9 used MX5s in the past week - no shortage of buyers for good cars at a fair price, it seems.

While we were inside doing the paperwork, his phone rang - it was the couple who were looking earlier, phoning back to buy it! Too late, it's mine. Should pick it up Saturday week.

Although I bought at the top end of my (sensible head) price range, I feel I got a great car at a very fair price. This one should be a keeper.

[NJH]

No doubt about that, ours covered 34K miles in our time with and never missed a beat. Bullet proof basically, just put fuel in and service each year cost the same as any normal cheap car. You will like the heated seats in the winter, they get properly hot and quickly too.

[Foxy100]

Good choice. Photos please, as soon as you get it!

[meridian]

Mechanic- good choice had 3 of em ,buggers never go wrong!

[Tony-GB]

Good result. Happy motoring. Don't forget the pics! :D

[vRSG60]

Well done, the old adage again - snooze & lose :D

[clockworks]

Thanks guys. I'm getting quite excited about this. I'll be the first "driver's" car I've had in over 20 years. An endless succession of Escorts, Cavaliers, Mondeos and Vectras, with a few old Granadas and Carltons thrown into the mix when I ran old bangers instead of company cars. I did have a Probe for 6 months, but the least said about that, the better!

Hopefully the car will be ready Friday week (salesman said they were open on royal wedding day?), because I'm working all the following weekend. If the weather's good, I'll try my hand at some location shots.

[kungfugerbil]

..My brother spotted that they were looking to trade in a 2000 1.8, and he went over for a chat while the salesman was inside checking some figures..

..As soon as they had gone, I asked the salesman if they had bought the car..

..Sent the salesman off to get his best price, after telling him I'd buy it on the spot if the price was right..

..While we were inside doing the paperwork, his phone rang - it was the couple who were looking earlier, phoning back to buy it..

Sneaky :D

Good result. A great drive but without histrionics, smile-on-your-face motoring that you can use every day. Top car. You did well buy buying at the top of your range and spending the cash on a good 'un. Enjoy!

[b11ocx]

Great cars, used to have a Mk3 myself.

Only thing to be aware of is the alloy wheels. For some reason, Mazda had a load of problems with prematurely corroding alloys when the Mk3 came out. If they are, they will replace/refinish them, but worth having a very careful look at them before collection.

[clockworks]

Thanks for the heads up. The wheels looked fine when we checked the tyres, but I'll be sure to check carefully before I drive the car away.

[PhilipK]

It's worth joining the MX-5 Owners Club (yes, I know it's missing an apostrophe, but that's what it's called). Our local region are a friendly bunch, and it's quite fun going on an organised run with lots of similar cars.

The club magazine - Soft Top Hardtop - is pretty good and the forums on the website are full of people who are as enthusiastic about their MX-5s as we are about our watches.

http://www.mx5oc.co.uk/

[speedish]

You have a Fiat so stick to Fiat. A 500 Abarth, the 695ss edition. Super cool, tried and tested.The girls will think your cool. The ego maniacs don't look twice. When you need the power you can soon blow away these crappy so called prestige cars.

ish

And the winner so far is -

or this.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ys6uf3_4YM

ish