Reply With QuoteCitroen DS for me.
Beautiful looking and beautiful to drive too. :)
Hi all
I am currently looking for a classic car and it is proving to become quite a journey!
I have spotted a 380SL Mercedes and wondered what you would choose with a similar budget (say under 10k)
There must be a few enthusiasts on here, I have only been looking for a couple of hours so I can't say I am a professional just yet! :D
Citroen DS for me.
Beautiful looking and beautiful to drive too. :)
Cheers,
Neil.
Few ground rules needed GMTMaster.
Self-maintaining?
Frequent use?
Garaging facilities?
Preferred car production period? (i.e. pre-war, post-war, 60s, 70s, 80s etc)
Family or sports?
What area do you inhabit may I ask?
The last of the Daimler XJ40's. I bought this one 2 years ago from an elderly gent who couldnt drive anymore.Had 16,500 miles on her, serviced by Jaguar every year,back seat had never been sat in.Gorgeous and it does 35 mp gallon on a run. Perfect for 'Wafting' around North Wales country roads. AND, I get all my dive gear in the back. Regards. Kev
Difficult one. If it was me, I'd be looking for a basket case Lotus Elan to restore or an 80's Porsche 911 SC to turn into a 2.7 Carrera RS replica, but that would require a lot of work and money. Although I could be tempted with a Mk2 Lotus Cortina as the last one I had got thrown in the Thames by the BBC (long story).
635 CSI:
Karmann Ghia maybe:
There really is a lot of scope at this price range!
Probably will self-maintain eventually! Will need to build knowledge from zero.Originally Posted by unclealec
Will be in frequent use more than likely
Garaging facilities yes
Period would be from mid 60s to mid 80s
Sports
Manchester
:D
I would suggest something German or Japanese. German cars were galvanised from the mid-1970s, it's a very good idea to get something that probably isn't going to rust (or at least if it does it's easy to treat). Two of my favourites (I own an example of each) are Porsche 924S and Mazda MX5. The Mazda certainly doesn't need much maintenance, can be used every day, covers lots of bases and is a lot of fun. Have a look at BBR for their turbocharged version. The 944 S2 or at a stretch a 968 Sport would be my choice in that price range but they're both 1990s really. The Merc is a good option too. Do not under any circumstances think about an MGB or anything similarly rust-prone, I'd avoid everything British. Get an MX5.Probably will self-maintain eventually! Will need to build knowledge from zero.
Will be in frequent use more than likely
Garaging facilities yes
Period would be from mid 60s to mid 80s
Sports
Manchester
:D
"A man of little significance"
Still a massive range to choose from...
American Mussle: Mustang, Corvette or Camaro?
Sports: Lotus Esprit S2, Porsche 911 or XJS V12
Convertible: Alfa Spider, MGB Roadster or Triumph TR6
Coupe: BMW 635 CSI, Merc SL, Volvo P1800e
Beat me to it.635 CSI:
There are so many [s:2nq4cvzf]money pits[/s:2nq4cvzf]opportunities at that price.
For today, I'll go for either a Porsche 911 SC, or a Jag XJS
The end.
Honda S800. Remarkably free revving engine, buckets of fun, unusual and reasonably economical. Get one that's been converted to unleaded though.
My choice
Dan
MGB? Lots of other enthusiasts to get advice from. Well restored examples seem to make sensible prices. I'd have an MX-5 (Mk1) any day though, but then I'm not remotely handy with a spanner.
Just too cool. 8)Beat me to it.635 CSI:
From experience, there is no such thing as a cheap Elan. I bought a basket case, and it currently stands me at near £30k and it's not quite finished yet, and this is with me doing half of the work myself. It's just about perfect, but I could've bought a perfect one to start with for about £25k at current prices. A proper respray alone on a fibreglass car is £4k minimum (if you want it to last more than a year)...
Within the 10-15k budget my choices would be:
Alfa GTV (1750 or 2000)
Lancia Fulvia Sport Zagato (preferably 1600, but 1300 would do)
Triumph TR6, the best buy IMHO at the moment.
Lotus Europa (the Renault engined ones are under priced and a great buy)
This - the end!Just too cool. 8)Beat me to it.635 CSI:
Cheers,
For classic sports cars in that price range I would say MG or Tiriumph. Both are cheap to maintain, have excellent spares back up, are easy to DIY, have fairly solid value & there is a car to suit every budget. Decide on a model & buy the best you can afford. Personally I prefer Triumph TRs as they as that bit rarer & also a bit more of a man's car. MGs are ok but they can be a bit girlie.
Pick of the crop at that price - TR6
Wow, it seems there is a lot more than I originally thought and this will need a lot more time to choose the right car.
I might pick up an MX5 for now (because everyone seems to love them!) until I find the right el-classico.
:D
There is a whole host of choices out there for classic cars.
I whittled my choices down over time with various critera matching methods, cost, number of seats, availbility of spares etc, for me the 635 CSI came out on top, judging by comments, seems a lot of people agree.
If in doubt, buy an MX5 and have some fun!
:D
An Alfa Spider 2000. Relatively simple to work on, a hoot to drive, spares plentiful. Many have been restored at vast expense and are now worth a fraction of their rebuild cost. So there are lots of good ones around.
Just about everything else suggested so far is heavy, thirsty, complicated and very expensive to repair. This is nimble, light and entertaining.
An early one of these should sneak in for under £10k...
Another vote for the Karmenn Ghia here. Beautiful & practical as well as easy & cheap to maintain. Convert to unleaded & you really have a real world highly desirable classic you won't be afraid to actually use.
That is gorgeous!! Where would you find one!?Another vote for the Karmenn Ghia here. Beautiful & practical as well as easy & cheap to maintain. Convert to unleaded & you really have a real world highly desirable classic you won't be afraid to actually use.
You could start looking at Karmenn Ghia Motorworks, who are based in Nottingham & have some beauties in stock at your budget. Mainly all imports so rust free & all upgraded to run on unleaded as far as i can see. These are guys who were recommended to me & do everything from respray & complete refurb for your car to sourcing a particular year or model to speccing the cars to your unique requirements. Great website with loads of reference pics.That is gorgeous!! Where would you find one!?Another vote for the Karmenn Ghia here. Beautiful & practical as well as easy & cheap to maintain. Convert to unleaded & you really have a real world highly desirable classic you won't be afraid to actually use.
If you're not going to be doing a lot of mileage, I'd have one of these in a heartbeat.
Eddie
Whole chunks of my life come under the heading "it seemed like a good idea at the time".
It was my first choice but the insurance was wacked :(If you're not going to be doing a lot of mileage, I'd have one of these in a heartbeat.
Eddie
You do know about classic car insurance? For vehicles over 15 yrs old? I have my Rileys and a "G-WAC" Land Rover Discovery on a classic policy for about £170 the lot.
Well I got a quote on the SL in my original post today via confused.com at £300 but for cars like this 8 series it comes back in the thousands, is there any good sites you can recommend for classic car insurance like confused.com?
Thanks :D
Not the most flashy of classics but I love my MGB GT :-)
It never fails to give me a grin when I give it some beans on the twisties.
Easy to work on and stacks of parts available. Easy intro to the classic world :)
I will be looking at either a GT6 or a TR6 for my next "fix". Yummy :D
If you are in Manchester you are more than welcome to come and have a poke around my 1985 500SL
I wrote a thread on it a while ago
http://www.tz-uk.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=175676
I'm with Footman James and have no cause for complaint.Well I got a quote on the SL in my original post today via confused.com at £300 but for cars like this 8 series it comes back in the thousands, is there any good sites you can recommend for classic car insurance like confused.com?
Thanks :D
http://www.footmanjames.co.uk/
Only for <15yr old cars though.
Thought it worth commenting that actually I love the car, and now that I know what to look for would unhesitatingly recommend one.
The looks, the feeling of class and the modern road manners make it an ideal classic.... and bought well a reasonable financial proposition compared to many.
Insured with http://www.heritage-quote.co.uk
I had same conundrum I had 10K to blow. Got a Merc SL320 (R129) more reliable than the earlier models.
Use it everyday for work, bomb proof and makes me smile every day. Paid 9K with 43000 miles on her nearly had it 2 years
:roll:
One of these to go with my E30 M3 :)
Worth noting that while classic car insurance is great, and quite a few companies do it, but it does come with a few conditions.
Quite often the policies are based upon it being a second car and almost all are restricted mileage. They also do not tend to accumulate no-claims bonus. My SL is about £200 per annum with an agreed value so great value in my case.
In terms of which car.... I would recommend really analysing what you want to do with it. I have found in the past that if a car is truly impractical for your needs you will end up leaving it in the garage. If you want to do touring like I did, comfort and luggage space may well be more important to your passengers than to you.... so unless you want to be lonely :lol:
Also remember the most crucial thing of all..... you are still maintaining a car which was expensive new in many cases. Parts are often nowhere near the price of those in a new car, but even so my SL is a £100k car in modern money. (£43k in 1985). For that reason you have to expect the odd heavier bill.
Your SL is gorgeous!!
Specialist or Owners Club insurance is worth a look. Our TVR cover allows track days, European cover...
:lol:
The end will come on a hard shoulder somewhere with you helplessley watching an electrical fire
MGB ticks all boxes as classic car.Great history,goes well,really easy to maintain,great fun.
For what I've read you're a newby when it comes to classic cars and classic car maintenance. Don't make things too complicated. Stay away from mid 80s electronics and early injection systems (like Kugelfisher or Lucas in Triumphs). Keep it simple!
Be sure that there's a vivid club scene / serious internet forum for help. Not really different from TZ-UK: you ask help, you get help.
Don't be tempted to get a car with limited spares on the shelfs or little to non suppliers.
A short list:
- carb. engined Jag. Like a MKII!
- Volvo: Amazon, P1800s - not the Jensen version, 140 or 240 series.
- Older Mercedes (not the 'Pagode' spares are easily found, but very, very expensive).
- Older BMW, pref 2002 series, not the TIi version.
- Austin, Wolseley Landcrab; a remarkable nice car to drive.
- MG
- Triumph TRs, Stag (all coolant problems are sorted, by now), carb. engined saloons
- Rovers with the V8 (convert to LPgas!)
- Saab 99 or early 900
Stay away from:
- (Very) large engined Jags.
- Citroen DS if you're not capable of doing things yourself
- BMW with Kugelfisher injection
- Porsches without known history. Bills are astronomical!
- Everything Italian (exception for the smaller Alfas)
- Most French cars (rust!)
Restoring cars provide me with a healthy yearly income. I run a Triumph TR3A at the moment. More or less a moving ad: it shows the quality the boys in the workshop achieve. At the moment, they are busy restoring a Volvo 1800 S. The client brought in a great car. Only one rust spot on the car: the battery tray. If this Volvo stands for all mid 60s Volvos, I would suggest that you get one of these. The engine had done about 90K mls. When we opened the engine, it virtually looked unused! Same goes for the g/box.
Menno
These are nice - the 840CSi Sport is the one to go for and not the 850CSi.If you're not going to be doing a lot of mileage, I'd have one of these in a heartbeat.
Eddie
Overall (totally biased of course) I would also nominate the E24 635CSi. Loads of car for the money (if you know what to look for).
For info the Insurance on my M635CSi is £300 Fully Comp. Ok, I have a mileage restriction on it, but then, it is a 3rd car.
My Rallye Golf
Insured through Hagerty.
The problem with most classic cars is that whilst they look great - they drive shite and parts are unobtainable (especially trim items).
Far too many choices;
BMW CSL Bat-mobile - saw the one that sold at Bonhams Dubai (BMW museum self off) in Sydney - got some pics somewhere.
Merc 190SL
BMW 507
Porsche 356
Just so many lovely cars I would have in my all time garages.
It's just a matter of time...
That is lovely!My Rallye Golf
Insured through Hagerty.
The problem with most classic cars is that whilst they look great - they drive shite and parts are unobtainable (especially trim items).
If you don't mind me asking, what do they go for these days?
£3500 for a shit one through to £10,000 for a VERY low mileage mint car.
Average is about £5000 - £6500 for very good examples, cheap if you compare the way E30 M3s, Ur quattros and Integrales have shot up. This is my 2nd.
The one classic I'd love is a 70s Nissan skyline 2000 gt-r... However their rarity puts them out of my price range :(
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