Spitfire on my daily drive - need another now!

[D18OCK]

This morning I decided to take the Spitfire on my daily drive and it was simply awesome kept up with traffic no problem and was far more fun than my Civic on the B roads and comfy too!

Problem is that now I am getting more and more bored of my civic and I am contemplating swapping it for either something alot more fun like this

http://pistonheads.com/sales/2272923.htm

Or buying another classic as a daily driver.

What do you guys recon? Budget realistically £3-4k. I drive around 30 miles a day mostly B Roads!

Daz

[Nigel At]

smart for two

Suzuki Cappuccino

classic Mini (inc. Rover, Riley, Wolseley, Austin, Morris)

Diahatsu Charade (for GTti check with club before buying)

Hillman Imp

Rover P6 (heavier on fuel than most here)

Ford Cortina Mk1 or 2 (estates can also be useful)

Morris Minor

Reliant Scimitar (I'm not sure about prices on these)

Toyota MR2 (Mk2)

Volvo Amazon (I'm not sure about prices on these)

as with all cars you could run into good and very, very bad examples of all above, a good example will be fun and ones that are not good will not be fun or could be nightmares

all would be more intersting than the Honda on a 15 mile journey

you get a lot of attention in the Spit but you'll get even more in a Minor, P6 or Capp

ETA: MG BGT

Edited by Nigel At on Thursday 20th January 11:49

[kiethton]

Porsche 924?

it should combine the fun/comfort/classic requirements

something like this???

http://pistonheads.com/sales/2366615.htm

eta. link

Edited by kiethton on Thursday 20th January 11:51

[Nigel At]

only a personal opinion but 924/944 more suited to higher speeds and perhaps longer journeys than 15 miles

and V8 petrol consumption on that one, until you've run a high petrol consumption car you just can't appreciate how high high can be

mind you 60/70s classics are not particularly good on petrol consumption, unlike the smart or Capp (even with their air-cons on)

[kiethton]

Nigel At said:

only a personal opinion but 924/944 more suited to higher speeds and perhaps longer journeys than 15 miles

and V8 petrol consumption on that one, until you've run a high petrol consumption car you just can't appreciate how high high can be

mind you 60/70s classics are not particularly good on petrol consumption, unlike the smart or Capp (even with their air-cons on)

Fair point, i only mentioned it as it won't be too shy of the integra whilst being a classic and being that little bit more fun.

A standard one can be bought in budget which would be a lot more economical

[D18OCK]

Nigel At said:

smart for two

classic Mini (inc. Rover, Riley, Wolseley, Austin, Morris)

Hillman Imp

Volvo Amazon (I'm not sure about prices on these)

Edited by Nigel At on Thursday 20th January 11:49

Any of those would be very cool to own but I'm not sure it would fulfill the pistonhead urges in me to kick the living daylights out of a car every now and again! Suprisingly now the Civic is quite good fun on a twisty road - I think that is what makes me want an Integra.



That 924 is very cool but I think I would rather have a standard one!



Perhaps this is a silly idea, the civic will do 35-40mpg on a run I'm never going to get that out of any of these cars, luxury will go out the window and all could end up costing me alot of money! The Spit hasn't exactly been easy on my pockets!



By the way it has rained loads today and with the hardtop on the spit hasn't leaked a drop - very impressed!

[Nigel At]

D18OCK said:

Nigel At said:

smart for two

classic Mini (inc. Rover, Riley, Wolseley, Austin, Morris)

Hillman Imp

Volvo Amazon (I'm not sure about prices on these)

Any of those would be very cool to own but I'm not sure it would fulfill the pistonhead urges in me to kick the living daylights out of a car every now and again! Suprisingly now the Civic is quite good fun on a twisty road - I think that is what makes me want an Integra.

Perhaps not the smart (unless it’s a Brabus) or Volvo Amazon but a good Mini or Imp on B-roads will be great fun, perhaps you need to research their race pedigree a bit

Also look up Charade Gtti, great fun and B-road speed, as is Capp

D18OCK said:

Perhaps this is a silly idea, the civic will do 35-40mpg on a run I'm never going to get that out of any of these cars

35-40 mpg on a run - Mini, Imp (I’d guess but not sure), Minor, MR2 Mk2 possibly

More like 45-50 mpg for Suzuki Capp and smart

D18OCK said:

luxury will go out the window

a good P6 must be one of the best riding car you can travel in

real, real, wood and leather (I think) in Riley and Wolseley minis plus full air-con – windows open

D18OCK said:

and all could end up costing me alot of money!

any car classic or new can cost a lot but get a good example and costs are as low as can be

Sorry I’m no good for modern cars as the Capp, smarts or Diahatsu Copen are the only modern cars that have held my interest, you would like an early Honda S2000 but they would be costly

D18OCK said:

The Spit hasn't exactly been easy on my pockets!

I’m sure it’s not been anywhere near as bad as it could be – “buy a classic, costs nothing to run and they don’t deprecate in price”

D18OCK said:

By the way it has rained loads today and with the hardtop on the spit hasn't leaked a drop - very impressed!

you wouldn’t need the hardtop to keep the rain out on your Spridget soft top

Good luck in your search

[Nigel At]

Darren I thought you might be interested in a photo I've just found on an old back up disc
v
v
v

It's a very rare photo as it shows my GT6 actually on the road
v
v
v
v

[Nigel At]

And of course just before (or after, or both) the above photo was this
v
v
v
v
v

a not so rare photo
v
v
v
v


another smell of petrol, I had so much trouble with petrol leaks from both different sets of carbs and three diffent lots of fuel pipes amoung all the other problems

[slomax]

how have we got this far without the suggestion of an MX5 yet?

[itiejim]

Go for the Integra Type-R, one of the best fwd chassis made, a stunning drivetrain and 30+ mpg is do-able if you don't go mad.

I've had a Spitfire for years in various guises - currently a 2.5 lump pushed a bit further back in the chassis and also have a TVR Cerbera so I'm not stuck for interesting rwd cars to drive. However, whenever I use the Integra (my daily driver) I never feel short changed so to speak, it's just different from its rwd stablemates. A genuine every day car that is equally competent doing a hill climb or a trackday.

There are lots of reasons for wanting a Moggy or and P5 or something, but inspired, swift, B road driving really isn't one of them.

Just make sure that it's not rusty and that it's been looked after and you'll be fine.

ETA - just looked at the ad you linked and that car wouldn't convince me. No Recaros _I'm fairly sure all Type_rs had them - no titanium gearknob - idem, and the wrong wheels - type-R ones are very light 15" rims, seller says it used to be orange when Type-R's of that year were only available in white iirc. Find a real one!

http://pistonheads.com/sales/2466186.htm for example

Edited by itiejim on Tuesday 8th February 21:32

Edited by itiejim on Tuesday 8th February 21:33

Edited by itiejim on Tuesday 8th February 21:35

[Hooli]

How can you say a Spit is poor on fuel? I had a 1500 Midget (same engine) & even driving like a tt it never went down to 30mpg let alone got expensive! Infact I got high 40s out of it a few times doing long runs at 65mph ish - never knew why the manual stated much lower figures.

[Throttle Body]

Nigel At said:

Rover P6 (heavier on fuel than most here)

Much as I like the P6 (I had a 2200TC), they are not nimble. If the B roads are twisty, it might not be that much fun.

I like the idea of a GT6 or an MGB because they are easy to maintain, and parts are easy to get hold of. More recent would be an MX5. Is a Puma a classic yet?

[Spitfire2]

Hooli said:

How can you say a Spit is poor on fuel? I had a 1500 Midget (same engine) & even driving like a tt it never went down to 30mpg let alone got expensive! Infact I got high 40s out of it a few times doing long runs at 65mph ish - never knew why the manual stated much lower figures.

My Spit is pretty good on fuel (in general). A high speed (As high as our ears could take - lol) 100 mile run down the M74 gave me about 37mpg and in general I'm getting 34 upwards when being driven like a Spit has to be drive (is it possible to drive these things subtly?????).

[anonymous-user]

I think that running a classic car as a daily driver is a great idea if you are realistic about the niggles and the wear and tear. I tried it years ago with a Triumph Vitesse Mk 2, ran an S4 Interceptor as a daily driver for six months a few years ago and have, rather madly, been running a rather better Mk 2 Interceptor for a year, not doing mega mileage but including one 3000 mile grand tour of Europe and two trips from London to Scotland and back, all without serious mishap, but at some cost to my green conscience and wallet. In my area of London I see as daily drivers a Mk IV Spitfire, a nice pair of Bristols (411s), a Lancia Fulvia, several Jag XJSs and 80s Merc SELs, and legions of Morris Minors and Minis.

One advantage of driving a characterful heap is that people let you out at junctions, allow you to change lanes, and generally smile at you, so the stresses of driving are reduced.


How many other daily classic gluttons for punishment are there here?

Edited by Breadvan73 on Wednesday 9th February 12:42

[volvos60s60]

Spring/summer/autumn, weather permitting, use the TR4 for a 56 mile round journey commute around the North Circular twice a week. Love it.

[anonymous-user]

Nigel, I like your GT6 a lot. It's a much underrated type, I think.

[rallycross]

Get yourself a well looked after 944 lots of reasons to enjoy, you will get a nice 16v model (190 bhp) or a 2.7 8v - terrific chassis/steering/brakes, looks and feels like a sports car, cheap to run if you are sensible about it.

And the link to the add is not a genuine Type R looks like an SiR that has had an engine transplant.

[Nigel At]

Throttle Body said:

Much as I like the P6 (I had a 2200TC), they are not nimble.)f the B roads are twisty, it might not be that much fun.

I had a 3500S (3.5 litre V8 with manual g/box) with power steering great fun on the twisties – power steering best no matter which engine tho'

Breadvan73 said:

Nigel, I like your GT6 a lot. It's a much underrated type, I think.

Thanks, unfortunately after years of wanting one I didn’t like it and mine was a particularly bad one

I’ve got a Spridget again now

[anonymous-user]

I am sorry to hear that, but at least the GT looked good.