Lets see a picture of your classic(s)

[Sharknose]

200Plus Club said:

my new to me 993 Carrera 2S

My favourite 911

[Russwhitehouse]

Rapierdave said:

Bought this 1976 Cavalier Coupe three weeks ago, been stored in a lock up unused since 2011.
Now recommissioned & MOT'd

As found




Now with MOT & tax, plans are to smoke it around for a few months, take it to the annual VBOA rally at Billing Northants in July & sell it.

That looks utterly peachy now! Lovely job, well done sir.

[DonkeyApple]

Rapierdave said:

Bought this 1976 Cavalier Coupe three weeks ago, been stored in a lock up unused since 2011.
Now recommissioned & MOT'd

As found




Now with MOT & tax, plans are to smoke it around for a few months, take it to the annual VBOA rally at Billing Northants in July & sell it.

Very elegant car and a cracking colour.

It's almost impossible to believe that Vauxhall once had style.

[Lytham Stag]

Fresh MOT and ready for summer:

[S3_Graham]

TickingTappets said:

My 1981 W123 Mercedes saloon, after a quick wash and wax.

really like that, looks great in red too.

[FalconWood]

[FalconWood]

[bertie]

FalconWood said:

Pretty car, how do they drive?

[Finlandese]

Pictures..

Lotus Esprit S2


Lotus Excel



Maserati Zagato Spyder



And videos..

Maserati:

https://youtu.be/fWUopOlZcKY

Excel:

https://youtu.be/1sw3KwX7UkY

Esprit:

https://youtu.be/emOP0m9Af98?t=6s

Edited by Finlandese on Saturday 25th April 18:00

[FalconWood]

bertie said:

FalconWood said:

Pretty car, how do they drive?

The car is a 1968. It was rebuilt over six years and I was the first to drive after the rebuild with a total 45,000 miles on the clock. It starts first time every time. It is so smooth but wafts around and wallows round corners. It isn't fast really and the brakes are good enough. I love the car but would only consider taking it locally - probably no need to restrict it to that but you realise when you drive it that things have definitely moved on car wise since 1968!!

[Spottedlaurel]

Another vote of appreciation for the Cavalier Coupe. I've had a Manta A and really like early B's and the Vauxhall equivalent. One day, one day.....

I suppose it would be more achievable if I didn't keep buying Japanese stuff. Last autumn I bought this LS400 off a banger racer, maybe wouldn't be considered as a classic (though I think the early models are set to be) but it offers a lot of toys and performance for £500. As befitting its barge-like qualities, it 'sailed' through its MoT with just headlamp alignment being required:

1996 Lexus LS400 by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

Dodgy graphics have been removed. Makes a change from my sensible Avensis and has proved itself to be a useful back-up car during the winter.

Maybe more in keeping with this forum is this Datsun that I collected last Saturday, first seen some years ago:

1973 Datsun 1200 2dr (B110) c.2000 by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

It's been owned by the same lady from new, she bought it when in her forties as her first car and never saw fit to change it. I used to occasionally see it when we moved up this way in the late '90s. She stopped driving 3-4yrs ago, parked it in her garage and that was it. I have another banger racer to thank for this, as he told me she was finally putting it up for sale but it still took another two years to finally conclude a deal with her. Photos from collection day:

#5 Out at last! by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

#6 On the road again by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

#8 On the trailer and set for its new home by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

Thanks to my boss for the car trailer loan.

#10 A momentous occasion by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

Keeping my other Datsun company. It starts, drives, stops and doesn't seem too rusty, so it'll be going in for an MoT soon and we'll see what they say. My plan is to give it some sympathetic use over the next few years and deal with the immediate problems before time and money hopefully allow it to have the restoration it deserves. It appeals to my children too, they've expressed interest in driving it when they're old enough.

For those who don't know this model, it's the foreunner of the 120Y. It's RWD, very light and has a willing little 1.2-litre OHV engine. The 2dr saloon version was always rare, only sold for the last year here as a stripped-out price leader. No radio, clock or carpet for example (and no radio has ever been fitted!). Some coupes were raced and rallied back in the day, and I know of one in Scotland that's been built for historic racing. I've had some vague thoughts about doing some gentle historic rallying with it, as it's far from mint at present - an interesting and much cheaper alternative to an Escort Mk1! Question is, do I remove the plastic film that's still on the back seat and some of the interior panels, or unwrap the jack from the brown paper it's been in since new?.....

[Dapster]

TickingTappets said:

My 1981 W123 Mercedes saloon, after a quick wash and wax.

Love it! My father had pretty much exactly this car back in the day. SPR 892X, classic white, blue cloth. W123 200 manual 4 speed, with NO toys whatsoever. Came with the standard PAS and c/locking, but that was it. It was such a majestic car, and even though for the same money you could have an all-the-toys Granada 2.8 Ghia X Injection there was something seriously special about a W123.

SPR was a Poole, Dorset registration and he bought it used from Caffyns, the Mercedes dealers in Dorchester.

[dbdb]

Dapster said:

TickingTappets said:

My 1981 W123 Mercedes saloon, after a quick wash and wax.

Love it! My father had pretty much exactly this car back in the day. SPR 892X, classic white, blue cloth. W123 200 manual 4 speed, with NO toys whatsoever. Came with the standard PAS and c/locking, but that was it. It was such a majestic car, and even though for the same money you could have an all-the-toys Granada 2.8 Ghia X Injection there was something seriously special about a W123.

SPR was a Poole, Dorset registration and he bought it used from Caffyns, the Mercedes dealers in Dorchester.

They are lovely looking cars - this one is a particularly fine thing in bright red. I like the W123 a lot.

The 200 was a lot cheaper than the Granada 2.8 Ghia when this car was new though(the Ghia X had not then been launched yet).

A quick glance at January 1982 "What car?" prices a no-frills Mercedes 200 at £8,700 - the Granada 2.8 Ghia was £12,298 at that time.

The Mercedes 200 was closest in price to the Granada 2.3 GL, which was £9,600 list price. (At list - I'm sure you'd get a good discount on the Ford, but not the Mercedes)

Of course Mercedes held their value better than anything else back then, so a Mercedes was still expensive at a couple of years old. This was partly down to the quality of the car and the real prestige a Mercedes held back in those days, and partly down to rationing new cars coupled with the distortion of the second hand market by exporting.

Edited by dbdb on Thursday 30th April 14:28

[dbdb]

#10 A momentous occasion by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr



Wonderful photo!

[Dollyman1850]

dbdb said:

#10 A momentous occasion by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr



Wonderful photo!

is it me or is there just something about the most boring base level cars which used to be everywhere that you just don't see anymore?? Fantastic!
N.

[Sardonicus]

Lytham Stag said:

Fresh MOT and ready for summer:

Lovely example, what a car these are but got to be auto really suits the car IMO

[Spottedlaurel]

dbdb said:

Wonderful photo!

Thanks! Up to about 7-8 years ago I frequently had multiple Datsuns on the driveway and in the garage, but nowadays they're getting too rare/expensive. Rewind 20 years:

1979-80 Datsun 160J SSS (A10) x2 by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

Dollyman1850 said:

is it me or is there just something about the most boring base level cars which used to be everywhere that you just don't see anymore?? Fantastic!
N.

Cheers. I agree, but then I'm probably a terrible inverted snob. I'm afraid I find it far more interesting that some random, everyday car that by rights would have come off the road after 8-10 years has survived than a high-end sports or luxury car (not that I'm disputing that these are very nice). There's another one-owner Datsun fairly local to me that the old chap has had since 1974. He has my number and the car now appears to be on SORN, sod's law will be that now I've filled my garage I'll get a call....

[ChilliWhizz]

Taken 4 years ago, the old girl went into storage shortly after, and I retrieved her in October last year.... Now sitting in my garage next to the TVR...

She's called Dave

[CoolFool]

ChilliWhizz said:

Taken 4 years ago, the old girl went into storage shortly after, and I retrieved her in October last year.... Now sitting in my garage next to the TVR...

She's called Dave

Dave! What a name for a car!

[Martin350]

Especially a female car!