Classic what car

[patmahe]

You have a maximum budget of £7000 to buy the classic of your choice. The only restrictions are.

Must be fun in some way

Must be 1979 or older

Must be possible to maintain yourself (Consdier I'm a numpty) at reasonable cost

Must be useable on a regular basis

Would help if it had a big owner scene

Links to ads appreciated. Go for it.

[RichB]

How about a link to another thread, your budget is £2k more but other than that it's all here...

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a... car beginner - where to start

[robminiman]

mk1 escort
mk2 escort
mini
mgb gt
the list goes on

[patmahe]

Ok Cheers,

Any good websites (other than PH) for researching classics when I get one in mind. What's a good starting point?

[RichB]

patmahe said:

Ok Cheers,

Any good websites (other than PH) for researching classics when I get one in mind. What's a good starting point?

Here's a few

http://www.classiccarsforsale.co.uk/

http://www.oldclassiccar.co.uk/

[Forthright MC]

robminiman said:

mgb gt

gets my vote, Roadsters tick the boxes too, i'd love one!

here's another site,

http://www.classicdriver.com/uk/1000.asp

happy hunting!

[BLUETHUNDER]

Jaguar XJS. Appreciating classic.

[xj6executive]

Mine would be a Talbot Sunbeam Lotus, although its right on thre cusp of being pre 1979

[RW774]

Got one 1978 XJS with 46K for sale. I`ve had it for 5 years garaged.

[Travis Mcgee]

I would seriously look at a BMW 2002, either, the Tii, or the normally aspirated version. From memory 120 bhp 4 SPEED 100mph PLUS. 7k would get you a minter, but good ones come up for 3 - 4K
Try ebay, Car and Classic and also bmw2002.co.uk. I had an auto for 4 years, brilliant fun.

[aeropilot]

xj6executive said:

Mine would be a Talbot Sunbeam Lotus, although its right on thre cusp of being pre 1979

Speaking from having owned one for 16 years.....

It would fail miserably on half the OP's criteria....namely,

[b]Must be possible to maintain yourself (Consdier I'm a numpty) at reasonable cost

Must be useable on a regular basis

Would help if it had a big owner scene[/b]

Edited by aeropilot on Wednesday 11th March 21:44

[Travis Mcgee]

meant to say in my previous post, the 2002, ticks all the boxes you mentioned, just thought as well, for 7K you might be able to get the Cabriolet version, now that's what i would call fun on a stick.

[velocemitch]

Alfa Romeo Giulia Bertone coupe, this ones a 1600, but it's a nice tidy one.

http://www.alfaholics.com/cars_for_sale_menu/road_...

They range in price from 3 to 30K, but 7 should get you a fairly decent one.

You can work on them yourself, they are pretty reliable and brilliant to drive. For a car designed in the early sixties you get such luxuries as... All Alloy Twincam 1300cc, to 2000cc, twin carbs, 5 speed box, servo assisted discs all round , excellent handling and one of the classic body shapes of all time. Add to they are quite practical for two, with a good sized boot and plenty of front space. The rear is a bit tight though.

There is a very lively owners club and some useful web forums and they are a genuinely appreciating classic.

Edited by velocemitch on Wednesday 11th March 21:28

Edited by velocemitch on Wednesday 11th March 21:30

Edited by velocemitch on Wednesday 11th March 21:33

[mark387mw]

tax exempt and under budget. http://pistonheads.co.uk/sales/862880.htm

[lowdrag]

mark387mw said:

tax exempt and under budget. http://pistonheads.co.uk/sales/862880.htm

And oh-so-cheap to run, insure and do self maintenance - not!

We've not been told whether two or four seater but like the other recent thread MGB and Midget should be mentioned. And if you want a decnt Crapi - sorry Capri - would fit the budget with four seats.

[patmahe]

Hi all thanks for the suggestions.

To be honest I'm not to bothered about the number of seats, it would be primarily a car for fun and a bit of tinkering with. I'm open to anything from a Morris Minor to a Sunbeam Tiger provided it meets my criteria, No problem with cars that cost less than the maximum budget either.

[Coco H]

Morris Minor, MGB, etc

Personally I would buy an MGBGT V8 - I have been offered a couple of very sound ones for around 5k. Found this realtively easy to work on

[3Dom]

Not too sure about being easy to maintain, but you can get a Marcos 1600 GT for under 5K. They are gorgeous to look at, well crafted and use a relatively simple engine from a Ford Cortina MK II GT.
Though the laminated plywood chassis is the only thing that would put me off.

[aeropilot]

patmahe said:

Hi all thanks for the suggestions.

To be honest I'm not to bothered about the number of seats, it would be primarily a car for fun and a bit of tinkering with. I'm open to anything from a Morris Minor to a Sunbeam Tiger provided it meets my criteria

A Sunbeam Tiger certainley won't meet your budget criteria....

[Roman]

As you like BMWs, how about an E9 Coupe?

A 3.0Csi is not actually that different to a UK spec CSL and is much cheaper. A 3.0CSA or CS2800 are cheaper still and run carbs (IIRC) so may be easier to maintain for you.

Body condition is everything!