Which classic car upto £15K

[Prof Beard]

fourwheelsteer said:

1972 Bristol 411 S3 I wish I could say that this ticks all the boxes but I think it was mre than £4,000 new. Even so, it has 4 seats, decent performance (the figures I have suggest 60 in 7 seconds), good spares availability and if I could afford the buy it now price I'd have bought it.

If the body really is OK and is not due to cost a packet, it looks like a considerable piece of value-for-money

[wilsongt]

Why not mkae the seller an offer? I see it didn't sell at auction

[roman]

You have a nice shortlist! I like all of them Nice E type or 911 hard to beat & Elan+2 great value.

As you seem to prefer '60s sports cars to '70s GTs what about a Sunbeam Tiger Mk2? - 289 V8, - like a 2+2 289 Cobra for 1/6th the price and surely less than £4k when new.

Lots of tuning potential and reasonable parts availability

[LuS1fer]

variorob said:

The car was styled by Tom Tjaarda for Ghia and despite suggestions to the opposite; a Deauville does not look as much like a Series I XJ6 as certain classic car magazines have suggested.

I thought the picture WAS of a Jaguar XJ with modified front and rear ends!


>> Edited by LuS1fer on Monday 3rd April 14:58

[justinbaker]

[Andrew Noakes]

An Aston V8, if that's what you're suggesting, is unlikely to be under £15k. And the OP asked for cars which were also under £4k new - the Aston would have been almost twice that.

[cheburator]

Hmmm,

Bang for the buck - difficult to beat one of these...

2+2
4.7/5.0/5.4 ltr all aluminium V8
300-350Bhp
Transaxle layout and 50/50 weight distribution
75% aluminium body
Double wishbone aluminium suspension all round
Sub 6.0sec for the 0-60 dash
165Mph+ effortless cruising ability
Electric everything
8:38 around the Nurburgring (on par with E36 M3)



Oh, yes, I am biased - I have covered 40K+ miles in my 2 x 928s over the last three years

[Andrew Noakes]

The original post said:

Initial purchase price new less than £4k

[Rum Runner]

How about a TVR Chimaera or Griff 500 mint with about 20,000mile on the clock. Plenty in the classifieds and becoming a classic for £15,000.So forget the other 2 people
Or buy a mint late 280 Capri and keep it tidy and watch it go up in price.

>> Edited by Rum Runner on Monday 15th May 23:26

[mcs135]

Just found this discussion and all suggestions would be of interest to me as well. One thing I am finding hard to find though, is the original list price of cars before the mid 70's. Are there any lists on the internet?

[Andrew Noakes]

Hello

I don't know of any resources on the net. Get an early-70s copy of Autocar or Motor from ebay for a couple of quid - they both carried a list of retail prices most weeks.

Or post the cars you're interested in here - somebody will find the prices for you, I'm sure.

[cymtriks]

Renault Alpine
Audi Quattro
Lotus Excel

There are some seriously cheap Alpines around.

[zumbruk]

fourwheelsteer said:

1972 Bristol 411 S3 I wish I could say that this ticks all the boxes but I think it was mre than £4,000 new. Even so, it has 4 seats, decent performance (the figures I have suggest 60 in 7 seconds), good spares availability and if I could afford the buy it now price I'd have bought it.

The problem being the projectile vomiting induced whenever you accidentally catch a glimpse of the exterior.

[prof beard]

zumbruk said:

fourwheelsteer said: 1972 Bristol 411 S3 I wish I could say that this ticks all the boxes but I think it was mre than £4,000 new. Even so, it has 4 seats, decent performance (the figures I have suggest 60 in 7 seconds), good spares availability and if I could afford the buy it now price I'd have bought it. The problem being the projectile vomiting induced whenever you accidentally catch a glimpse of the exterior.

Actually, apart from the grille, I think it's nicely understated

[fourwheelsteer]

zumbruk said:

fourwheelsteer said: 1972 Bristol 411 S3 I wish I could say that this ticks all the boxes but I think it was mre than £4,000 new. Even so, it has 4 seats, decent performance (the figures I have suggest 60 in 7 seconds), good spares availability and if I could afford the buy it now price I'd have bought it. The problem being the projectile vomiting induced whenever you accidentally catch a glimpse of the exterior.

I like the look of the 411. It is sober, elegant and understated; the proportions are just about spot on and the lines are nicely drawn. If it was mine I could spend hours just gazing at it. But I do not expect the things that appeal to me to appeal to everyone.

[tog]

I've just come back from driving round France in my Bristol, and can safely say that if you get a decent one it's perfectly usable every day. We did 1,900 miles in 10 days, almost entirely on back roads, and the car ran faultlessly, used no oil or water, and averaged just under 19mpg. Not bad for 5 litres of 37-year-old V8. However, since my late 410 was over £6000 in 1969, and the 411 at launch in 1969 was almost £7000, by 1972 it would have been a lot more than £4000 I'm afraid.

[LuS1fer]

tog said:

I've just come back from driving round France in my Bristol, and can safely say that if you get a decent one it's perfectly usable every day. We did 1,900 miles in 10 days, almost entirely on back roads, and the car ran faultlessly, used no oil or water, and averaged just under 19mpg. Not bad for 5 litres of 37-year-old V8. However, since my late 410 was over £6000 in 1969, and the 411 at launch in 1969 was almost £7000, by 1972 it would have been a lot more than £4000 I'm afraid.

My parents bought a nice 3 bed semi on the Wirral in 1972 for £6000....

[tog]

LuS1fer said:

tog said: I've just come back from driving round France in my Bristol, and can safely say that if you get a decent one it's perfectly usable every day. We did 1,900 miles in 10 days, almost entirely on back roads, and the car ran faultlessly, used no oil or water, and averaged just under 19mpg. Not bad for 5 litres of 37-year-old V8. However, since my late 410 was over £6000 in 1969, and the 411 at launch in 1969 was almost £7000, by 1972 it would have been a lot more than £4000 I'm afraid. My parents bought a nice 3 bed semi on the Wirral in 1972 for £6000....

Well a new Bristol Blenheim 3 from the nice man in Kensington would be about £150,000. How much for a 3 bed in the Wirral these days?

[prof beard]

tog said:

LuS1fer said: tog said: I've just come back from driving round France in my Bristol, and can safely say that if you get a decent one it's perfectly usable every day. We did 1,900 miles in 10 days, almost entirely on back roads, and the car ran faultlessly, used no oil or water, and averaged just under 19mpg. Not bad for 5 litres of 37-year-old V8. However, since my late 410 was over £6000 in 1969, and the 411 at launch in 1969 was almost £7000, by 1972 it would have been a lot more than £4000 I'm afraid. My parents bought a nice 3 bed semi on the Wirral in 1972 for £6000.... Well a new Bristol Blenheim 3 from the nice man in Kensington would be about £150,000. How much for a 3 bed in the Wirral these days?

So in real terms Bristols have never been cheaper ?

[skodaku]

BMW 635 CSL. Nice to look at, reasonable p[erformance, space, some nice ones about. And I don't even like BM's.