Good starter classic?

[vit4]

A while back I placed a thread asking about Aussie or Yank metal. Sadly, insurance and reality have since kicked in and so they are unlikely to be something I can aspire to for a few years yet.

However, later this year I would really like to get myself something old and generally a bit 'different'. Open to any ideas really. I have a few things that I'm looking for though;

- Relatively easy and cheap to get parts for
- Budget will likely be around £1500
- Easy to work on and give simple modifications

I've always loved my old Fords, so wonder whether a Cortina Mk5 would fit this criteria? Or something like a 100E. It will be a second car so won't depend on it hugely, but being able to do largeish distances would be nice.

The 'criteria' also lead me to believe old British metal would be good, but I'll admit I know very little about any of it, so any suggestions for me to research in this field would be excellent Big is good, small is good, but achievable insurance is a must as I'm only 18. Old 5-series BMW's (E28?) were suggested last time, and hold reasonable appeal, although I fear insurance may still be an issue.

Any general advice or things I might want to look at are much appreciated

[anonymous-user]

got to be an MGB GT to be honest, loads of the rubber bumper cars around for £1500 that need some love and loads of spares...

[saladin]

I would advise you look at Tax Exempt cars....That will help towards insurance costs if nothing else and if you are not using an an everyday car then a limited mileage policy will be a help as well.

As regards the cars themselves...

Scimitar GTE's (They have a Ford Essex V6 Engine) are still exceptionally good value when you consider how much car you get for your money... I bought an SE5A GTE in 1999 for £1500 and ran it for ten years and had a lot of fun

I will let the owners of other marques advise as to what they prefer

[BenMk3]

Would a Capri work?

[saladin]

BenMk3 said:

Would a Capri work?

If you hit it with a hammer hard enough

[neutral 3]

2.8i Capri. But your budget is too low , if you are very lucky, you may just be able to find one for 1,500 with a bit of searching. But they wont be this cheap for ever .
Roomy, practical, good spares availability, Club Back up, fastish, entertaining, the Specials ( 84 on are 5 speed ) have good cruising ability. Classic insureance.....etc etc

[mrtwisty]

BMC Mini of some description? £1500 should be just about do-able for one with tax & ticket and not too much tin worm.
The only one of your criterea it might struggle with is long distances. But then again they're so much fun to drive on smaller roads that the occasional long distance a & b road trip, avoiding m-ways, would be seen by many as a perk.
Cars don't come much easier to work on than these... a couple or three burly blokes can dismember and lift out the engine by brute force and ropes alone!

Edited for speeling

Edited by mrtwisty on Tuesday 18th January 22:32

[toast boy]

Minis are pretty simple to work on, but are a complete pain in the arse due to their small size, everything is crammed in! I'm not sure what kind of Mini you'd get for your money, prices are getting pretty strong at the minute. If you do though they're loads of fun, pretty rubbish for motorway journeys but not much to touch them for fun on any other road.

Realistically I'd suggest a Triumph Spitfire or an MGB. Personally I'd go for the MGB, GT preferably. Hard top so won't leak, built like a tank as long as the sills haven't rusted, agricultural engineering you can fix with a big hammer and if you get a decent one they should be pretty fun to drive. Also, when you get more money they can be made to go indecently quick with the right tweaks. Take your time looking for one if you decide that's what you want though, there's loads about so you can be picky, we've got 3 and they all drive differently, from sublime to ste so make sure you have a go in it and get a good one.

[vit4]

saladin said:

BenMk3 said:

Would a Capri work?

If you hit it with a hammer hard enough

neutral 3 said:

2.8i Capri. But your budget is too low , if you are very lucky, you may just be able to find one for 1,500 with a bit of searching. But they wont be this cheap for ever .
Roomy, practical, good spares availability, Club Back up, fastish, entertaining, the Specials ( 84 on are 5 speed ) have good cruising ability. Classic insureance.....etc etc

I'll be honest, a Capri is where my heart is but prices are getting higher fast Since I was about 7 I'd wanted either a Capri or a mk2 Escort as me first car, but prices are just too high now. Was looking at Capris earlier and they all seem either small engined, rotten or both at this end of the price range



To those who've said MGB; good shout! Didn't even consider those but they're probably realistically the best bet Probably a stupid question but reliability wise if they're looked after are they (relatively) ok?

And the Mini has appeal, purely cos I'm 6'2/3 and it'd look utterly ridiculous, but prices are a bit high and if I got one I'd want to sort it properly

ETA: Missed the Scimitar A quick search has brought up a couple that would be within budget including this one. Are prices for them pretty stable then?? I like that


Cheers for the ideas folk!

Edited by vit4 on Tuesday 18th January 23:42

[rudecherub]

saladin said:

I would advise you look at Tax Exempt cars....That will help towards insurance costs if nothing else and if you are not using an an everyday car then a limited mileage policy will be a help as well.

As regards the cars themselves...

Scimitar GTE's (They have a Ford Essex V6 Engine) are still exceptionally good value when you consider how much car you get for your money... I bought an SE5A GTE in 1999 for £1500 and ran it for ten years and had a lot of fun

I will let the owners of other marques advise as to what they prefer

The Scimitar GTE gets my vote too

[BMWChris]

Herald / Vitesse

[djone101]

Porsche 924?

Easily within budget and very good support network (PCGB TIPEC etc)

Early 944 is in budget too......

[Evangelion]

944 for me. Or what about a GT6?

[TheD]

How about a Triumph Dolomite? My personal favourite. Problem is getting one rust free but many were sealed and can be found. They can be in 1300cc 1500cc 1850cc and 2 litre although the sprint will be out your range on price and insurance.

[toast boy]

I'd have thought he'd struggle to get insurance on a Porsche, 924 or 944, I know when I was looking when I was about 21 I was struggling to get a sensible quote. Other than that, the 924 could be an idea but getting a good 944 within budget would be pretty tough and when it goes wrong the bills will be a lot bigger than some of the other suggestions.

vit4 said:

To those who've said MGB; good shout! Didn't even consider those but they're probably realistically the best bet Probably a stupid question but reliability wise if they're looked after are they (relatively) ok?

As long as it's looked after there's no reason why it shouldn't be reliable. They're pretty tough little things, as long as you appreciate that any classic is going to need a little bit of tinkering now and then they're fine. I used mine as a daily drive for over a year and drove it all through winter, no problems at all. In fact, because of the skinny tyres and not too much power it actually drove pretty well in the snow, even beating a lot of the neighbours driving more 'appropriate' cars!

[alolympic]

What will you be using it for?
If you need it for motorway stuff, that will change what I would recommend. Mini is always a great starter but not the nicest car to drive on motorways for example.
All round good compromise car would be something a little larger. Triumph Dolomite, Hillman Hunter, Mk1 Golf.....
Go through a classic car buyers guide book to pick out cars you like, then post up here for 2nd opinions.

[vixen1700]

How about this or similar for the amount you want to spend?

http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C180434/

[plastic orange]

Morris Minor - plenty around and easy to mod.

Pete

[War Pig]

vixen1700 said:

How about this or similar for the amount you want to spend?

http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C180434/

I would love that.

[dave de roxby]

vit4 said:

A while back I placed a thread asking about Aussie or Yank metal. Sadly, insurance and reality have since kicked in and so they are unlikely to be something I can aspire to for a few years yet.

However, later this year I would really like to get myself something old and generally a bit 'different'. Open to any ideas really. I have a few things that I'm looking for though;

- Relatively easy and cheap to get parts for
- Budget will likely be around £1500
- Easy to work on and give simple modifications

I've always loved my old Fords, so wonder whether a Cortina Mk5 would fit this criteria? Or something like a 100E. It will be a second car so won't depend on it hugely, but being able to do largeish distances would be nice.

The 'criteria' also lead me to believe old British metal would be good, but I'll admit I know very little about any of it, so any suggestions for me to research in this field would be excellent Big is good, small is good, but achievable insurance is a must as I'm only 18. Old 5-series BMW's (E28?) were suggested last time, and hold reasonable appeal, although I fear insurance may still be an issue.

Any general advice or things I might want to look at are much appreciated

Oh, how I wish I were 18 again!

But as an old geezer who's had oodles of classics over the years, I would like to offer the following advice.

1. At your age, insurance is going to be the biggest problem, not insurmountable but difficult. So before you go and break your heart, hankering after something which may have to wait until you're a little older, ring round the 'classic' insurers and see what might be possible. I suggest you have a few benchmark models to test the water at various levels eg Anglia 105E, Morris Minor, Triumph Herald, Spitfire, Midget, MGB, ..............Ferrari Super America (Ha ha, only joking!). I think you will find your list of possibles will stick well down the trail. But don't be discouraged, you have to start somewhere and the sooner you get some insurance, the sooner you can build up a 'no claims' record (so long as you drive sensibly!) and the early years will fly by and you will soon be in a position to move up the ladder.

If you buy carefully, you should be able to maintain or even improve on the capital value of your baby, rather than lose out to depreciation like the average motorist.

2. I would try to limit your first purchase to a front engined, rear drive car if possible (with the exception of perhaps a VW Beetle). These are the easiest to work on and need the minimum of special tools.

3. But regardless of the car, the thing I would strongly recommend you to do is:-

buy a Mig welder and learn to weld!!!!!!!!

It's easy when you know how and you will never look back! Needn't cost much but it will open up a whole new world of possibilities of cars you might buy for a song. Enrol with a college or night school - you'll soon be able to do things other people have to spend a fortune getting done for them and the main reason they have to scrap their old jalopies!.

I'm not a dealer but selling up my collection due to old age and have still got a load of Jags for sale within your price range (eg Daimler Series 3, only 26,000 miles, very solid, easy project, will take £1450 ono!) - but seriously, can't recommend them to a guy in your position. My first car at age 18 was a Triumph TR2, bought for £55 at an auction! Those were the days, and insurance was a doddle.

Best of luck,

David