Which Classic upto 10k - to be used everyday.

[Shed_Jensen]

Afternoon All,

I'm after picking some brains - This has been covered before but need a fresh set of eyes on it;

I'm contemplating purchasing a classic as an everyday car. Currently I have a 5 year old Range Rover that I use for a 15 mile roundtrip commute in West London traffic everyday and load lugging when neccesary, and I have a concours Mk1 Jensen Interceptor as a toy for the weekends.

The idea is to sell the RR and run a classic car through my company; it really needs to be pre-73 and current value probably upto 10k. Criteria is fairly loose - got to be ample room (I'm 6ft5) with a good reputation for reliability..

My thoughts so far are;

Volvo Amazon - Get a very nice one for 5-6k (solid as a rock and reliable)
Jaguar 420G - very nice one 10k ish. Even bigger than the RR! (lots of creature comforts)
Jag Mk2/S type.
Rover P5B..

Can anyone come up with any other ideas?

Fuel Economy wise; nothing will be worse than the Jensen and even my current diesel Range Rover I'm lucky to get 18mpg+ so as long as I can expect 20mpg + on a run I'll be happy.

Answers on a postcard....

Thanks all,

Steve.

Edited by Shed_Jensen on Tuesday 1st August 15:06

Edited by Shed_Jensen on Tuesday 1st August 15:07

[Pigeon]

Shed_Jensen said:

Volvo Amazon - Get a very nice one for 5-6k (solid as a rock and reliable)

As I said in GG, this is a great idea. Or the P1800, same mechanics, and you can pretend to be Roger Moore. Or the 1800ES for some more space. Should get 30mpg. Or the 164 for a nice straight six, should still do better than 20mpg.

[red_rover]

Rover P5B!!!

By all accounts, it was the Queens favourite car - and she still owns two of them!!!

They would have cost more than a Jag at the time too!

[Pigeon]

Or sticking with the Royal theme, a Scimitar

[shadowfax]

Very nice MGB GT for around £6K. Then upgrade suspension (or just the bushes - it makes a real difference), brake pads, breathing, maybe tune mildly with new cam ... change from £10K

Or a P6 V8S with decent 5 speed box - plenty of options at DJEllis or V8 Developments.

Or indeed the P5B. Sumptuous. And my next goal to make the fleet complete

[Alpineandy]

Triumph 2.5
BMW 2.5 or 3.0CS/L
Various mercs

[mark387mw]

One of these would be good www.dyna.co.za/cars/Mercedes_71_Cabriolet_280SEC_35_V8.jpg but I've not found one still for sale.

[claphamgt3]

One of the very first W107 450 SLC range. I think these were introduced in '72, just after the convertible so you should tick all the boxes

[winja]

£10k should get you a nice, useable MGC GT

[kurtiejjj]

TVR 3000M or taimar if you want hatchback, only around 6000 pounds and extremely good value I think with robust Ford Essex v6!

[Rum Runner]

A good TVR Chimaera can be had for this much money . And yes they are reliable they made nearly 6000 of them. Parts are cheap easy to work on ,lots of back up and guides .
Most important the rust can not be hidden , the chassis is the main thing to check ,but a good idea can be had by looking at the outriggers.
Great fun , good noise and as the mags have recently said the best bang for your buck, i bought a minter for less than £10,000 and i am very very fussy.
Insurance is also cheap as the cars over 10 years are down as classics.
There is due to be a big article in Octane mag about purchasing them soon ,as they said also recently with there buying guide to the griffith that the Chim was the performance bargain at present.

[Shed_Jensen]

Afternoon all,

After a good long search and trying a number of Amazons and P5b's I've bought a great condition admiralty blue Rover P5B Saloon. Let see how it gets on in London traffic!! Pic in profile.



Thanks for all the ideas.

Cheers,

Steve.

Edited by Shed_Jensen on Tuesday 22 August 09:06

[Gompo]

That looks great, always loved these. One day perhaps...

Let us know how you get on.

[Bobo W]

As with all classic choices perceived reliability is dangerous thing but here is a rather eclectic list of suggestions:

So we're talking large load luggers which generally means 4 doors so that counts out the MG option plus 2 door coupes and pre-73 so that cuts out the Chimaera !

The suggested Jags are great but have you considered a series 1 XJ or Daimler equivalent.

Another vote here for a Triumph Mk1 or early Mk2 2.5.

You could probably sneak a Mercedes 280SE in under the budget.

And a few wild cards - I can't help thinking that a Rolls Silver Shadow would be a hoot or what about a yank tank say a Mustang (I know it's a 2 door but a tad bigger than a european coupe) and don't laugh, a morris minor woody with a Fiat Twin cam has always appealed.

[Alpineandy]

The most important thing to do when looking for a classic to use heavily is check your local area for marque specialists (assuming you don't already have overbearing marque loyalty). Unless your a grease monkey (rather than a fiddler like most of us).

There's no point getting a Citroen DS if the one time the car won't start (for a really silly reason) you have to transport it from lands end to the specialist in john o'groats.

[dinkel]

[J1mmyD]

Lancia Zag is under £10k?

I do like this though (too fragile for every day use?):

Edited by J1mmyD on Monday 28th August 12:45

[dinkel]

J1mmyD said:

Lancia Zag is under £10k?

It surprised me as much as it did you! Not as mint as that luverly blue one though . . . The guy is currently building a Zag Spider . . . original drawings, color, etc. The man is an artist. Imagine, (t)his blue original '68 1.3S is unrestored and mint!

[Shed_Jensen]

Afternoon All,

Thought I would give an update for the interested parties, as you rarely see an update to these "what car?" posts.

I purchased the Rover P5B a month or so ago as a "Classic" Company car; and have been using it as my everyday car since, no problems so far - I have however just had new carpets fitted and the screen rubber replaced as it was leaking badly at the scuttle corners (years of leaks had ruined the wool carpets) Also changed the crossplys for some modern dunlop radials...

The commute is more interesting and its VERY comfortable on the 12 mile run into West London - seems to be happy at low speeds and a doddle to drive in traffic with the auto. No overheating problems even in the recent hot spell. The only problem seems to be with other motorists stopping for a yap whilst crawling in traffic…

Fuel consumption so far; around down at a low average speed it averages approx. 17mpg. On a 450 mile round trip to Devon and back it averaged just under 26mpg keeping up with motorway traffic. Not too bad considering and virtually identical to my 5 year old Diesel Range Rover.

As an upgrade and to further enhance the experience - I've just ordered an LPG kit which I'll fit over the next few weekends, should see the equivalent consumption about 28mpg around town and 40 on a run…The costs certainly stack up compared to a modern company car - and with the LPG conversion should be similar to fun fuel wise..

Cheers,

Steve

Edited by Shed_Jensen on Monday 25th September 13:48

[dinkel]

It's simple, practical, it's a vert, has a decent boot (with the roof in) and it returns 30 mpg. Most important: it can embarrass most Porkers, both in soundbyte as in performance. You can almost buy 2 for 10k . . . So they're a family cars as well