Buying an Alfa 1600 GT Junior

[jacklewisno1]

£150 jeez that's cheap. I dare not say what i would expect to pay compared to that. I nearly blew the seller of the Alfa out of his socks when i told him how much Elephant wanted for a standard 1600. He was paying £92!

[Elderly]

jacklewisno1 said:

Ive got untill Wednesday to make my mind up.

It's Thursday ??????????

[jacklewisno1]

Ha yes as i stated earlier i retracted the offer, although i am still in the hunt for one. The 2ltr engine presented insurance problems and the garage space i was going to use is not available at the moment. If you spot a good one let me know!

[Fantuzzi]

jacklewisno1 said:

Ha yes as i stated earlier i retracted the offer, although i am still in the hunt for one. The 2ltr engine presented insurance problems and the garage space i was going to use is not available at the moment. If you spot a good one let me know!

Are you dead set on the 105 idea Jack?

15k is a big sum! I know you were thinking about an S2 elise a while ago which would be in budget, I know the s1 insurance isn't too mental for us young people, so I doubt the s2 is that much more (although with insurance you never know!).

There were a lot of really tidy (looking!) S1 spiders in budget as well, I thought they fetched more than 15kish.

Or sell the Abarth and get an SZ...

EDIT - you might need 5k more for an SZ

[jacklewisno1]

Fantuzzi said:

Are you dead set on the 105 idea Jack?

15k is a big sum! I know you were thinking about an S2 elise a while ago which would be in budget, I know the s1 insurance isn't too mental for us young people, so I doubt the s2 is that much more (although with insurance you never know!).

There were a lot of really tidy (looking!) S1 spiders in budget as well, I thought they fetched more than 15kish.

Or sell the Abarth and get an SZ...

EDIT - you might need 5k more for an SZ

It doesn't have to be a 105, i was looking at Datsun 240z's last night. Lotus Elans are prettys things as well and can be had for similar money. Ive considered S1 spiders too as they are beautiful things as well.

Another option is a classic 500, it would be cheap to buy (ish), cheap to run and simple to fix. So it could be a good first classic car. Heres one i like the look of http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C507466. I know its a replica which isn't ideal but it looks like fun and would probably have similar performance to a real one.

Hmm Lotus Elise s1, thats tempting too.

It is a lot of money like you say, the idea is to have something to enjoy that will gain value. Rather than letting the money just sit in the bank and depreciate.

EDIT - Sell the Abarth!! Never!

[Fantuzzi]

jacklewisno1 said:

Fantuzzi said:

Are you dead set on the 105 idea Jack?

15k is a big sum! I know you were thinking about an S2 elise a while ago which would be in budget, I know the s1 insurance isn't too mental for us young people, so I doubt the s2 is that much more (although with insurance you never know!).

There were a lot of really tidy (looking!) S1 spiders in budget as well, I thought they fetched more than 15kish.

Or sell the Abarth and get an SZ...

EDIT - you might need 5k more for an SZ

It doesn't have to be a 105, i was looking at Datsun 240z's last night. Lotus Elans are prettys things as well and can be had for similar money. Ive considered S1 spiders too as they are beautiful things as well.

Another option is a classic 500, it would be cheap to buy (ish), cheap to run and simple to fix. So it could be a good first classic car. Heres one i like the look of http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C507466. I know its a replica which isn't ideal but it looks like fun and would probably have similar performance to a real one.

Hmm Lotus Elise s1, thats tempting too.

It is a lot of money like you say, the idea is to have something to enjoy that will gain value. Rather than letting the money just sit in the bank and depreciate.

EDIT - Sell the Abarth!! Never!

The 240z are very cool, uncle owns one, sound great. Elan would be my choice for a classic sports car I think, Harry Metcalfe's one was bloody quick when they timed it!

I think I will be going with the Elise S1 next, they prices are pretty sturdy and aside from a few racers and track day cars, there isn't really much else that I want!

I cant see the 500, it must have sold. I don't think there is any shame in tuning a 500 to Abarth spec, but more fun to do it yourself than buy one.

[jacklewisno1]

Hmm the 500 is on the website but the link doesn't work. If you want to see it search for 500's, its on page 4. Fiat 500 R LHD 1974 is the title. Converting one to an Abarth would be fun

I guess the S1 would be the most practical in terms of reliability and rust problems. Ill need to do some insurance checks first though.

If i did go for the S1 option before you got yours i'd be happy to bring it down to Devon(?) and let you have a look around/drive.

[Fantuzzi]

jacklewisno1 said:

Hmm the 500 is on the website but the link doesn't work. If you want to see it search for 500's, its on page 4. Fiat 500 R LHD 1974 is the title. Converting one to an Abarth would be fun

I guess the S1 would be the most practical in terms of reliability and rust problems. Ill need to do some insurance checks first though.

If i did go for the S1 option before you got yours i'd be happy to bring it down to Devon(?) and let you have a look around/drive.

Ill have a look for the 500.

That is an extremely kind offer to let me drive your S1! I'll certainly take you up on it if you get there before me.

I've done quite a lot of research into the S1s, its the best of all the elise variants and the values of them are really strong. There are a lot of specialists around as well as a host of upgrades - the dodgy gearshift feel is a £20 fix to make it like a Honda s2000s...at least that's what one PHer said!

Plus I cant really think of another car that handles as sweetly for the money, 723kg kerb weight is pretty impressive now more than ever!

With the hardtop I think they look ace.

[jacklewisno1]

It seems insuring 500's inst as easy i hoped it would be. Quoted £1100 one by Adrian Flux this morning!!!!!!!!!!!! Gobsmacked, Thats double what i pay for my Abarth. The Lotus would be cheaper to insure.

It seems standard cars are the way to go.

Ive noticed the Alfa i viewed is now at a reduced price of £13850.

Get the s1 Fantuzzi, do it.

[Fantuzzi]

jacklewisno1 said:

It seems insuring 500's inst as easy i hoped it would be. Quoted £1100 one by Adrian Flux this morning!!!!!!!!!!!! Gobsmacked, Thats double what i pay for my Abarth. The Lotus would be cheaper to insure.

It seems standard cars are the way to go.

Ive noticed the Alfa i viewed is now at a reduced price of £13850.

Get the s1 Fantuzzi, do it.

I tried Adrian flux for the MR2, way more expensive than with Privilege, plus named drivers build of no claims so its good if you want you put your dad on the policy to bring it down.

I'm trying to get an S1, but first I need the money and want to get the 'right' one.

Preferably black with no radio.

[arguti]

Do you no think that something like this might be more fun.....1300 but looks ok!

http://www.targaflorioclassics.co.uk/70-alfa-romeo...

[jacklewisno1]

Yes i have seen that one. It looks amazing, however is it even road legal? Plus i'd hate to think what the insurance would be like!!!!! Targa Florio were selling a little Fulvia that had been stripped out. It looked like fun and was a more reasonable £11700.

[arguti]

insurance would not be a problem - my cars are on a group policy and several are modified, imported, chipped, suspension, engine, brakes, etc and cost less than £200 each per annum.

If that car is done to a good standard, it is a veritable bargain at that price - dropping in a 2 litre Nord or even a twinspark is a relatively easy upgrade if required.

Would have not it would not take much to make road legal.

[TheRealFingers99]

jacklewisno1 said:

Targa Florio were selling a little Fulvia that had been stripped out. It looked like fun and was a more reasonable £11700.

They are a lot of fun! One of my regrets is never trying a GT Junior against a Fulvia HF.

[jacklewisno1]

Which insurance company do you use? And if you dont mind how old are you? Im finding it hard to get insurance for modified classics. Which is strange as my Abarth is modded and it only adds about £30 to the policy.

Yes the Fulvia looks more sporty compared to the junior, perhaps something to try out.

[corporalsparrow]

I use RH specialist insurance. They're on 01277 206519.

Always been very reasonable. (Don't expect track cover through.)

[velocemitch]

I use RH too, I've had brilliant service over the past 10 years, it even included cover for Rallying on private land. But last year they made my contact there redundant and the people who took over his workload hadn't got a clue. I doubt I will stay with them when it comes to renewing in the new year.

As mentioned to Jack in a PM, I am led to believe that Chris Knott will cover young drivers on Classics through the AROC scheme. Though I have no indication of how competitive they would be.

[arguti]

I used to use Adrian Flux as they were generally quite relaxed about modifications, imported cars ,etc but when it came to renewal time, the renewal quote did not list any of the mods declared in previous years and they could not explain when they had been left off which means I was potentially driving around uninsured. Also the values of some of my cars has gone up substantially over last 3 years so agreed values are essential.

Adrian Flux also wanted to charge £62 per car extra for agreed value - rip off as I have nine cars on the policy so moved to Footman James where all in included and the agreed valuation process is also easier and you can also add tools and spares,cover, salvage retention, etc - new policy costs £152 per car.

As an aside, I found an interesting insurance product the other day - not sure if can be applied to classical car insurance but essentially A Plan were offering a 25% booster for around £40 per annum. ie ie they would automatically pay out 25% extra on top of whatever your insurance policy paid out in event of total loss. Obviously not needed if you had GAP insurance but interesting nevertheless.

[Fantuzzi]

Regarding Adrian Flux, I phoned for a quote for the MK3 MR2, ridiculously expensive compared to the mass of Gocompare quotes fully comp.

I was really surprised, I told them that they were about double the price of others and they were meant to be for sports cars, they didn't have an answer.

[jacklewisno1]

Ill make some inquiries about insurance tomorrow. Today i was supposed to be going to look at a classic 500 restored in the style of an Abarth, looked like a good deal. However after driving 2 hours to to go see it, just before i arrived they rang me up to tell me they had sold it! A 4 hour round trip for no reason at all, fuming isn't the word!

The stupid thing is i was prepared to pay over the asking price too, i didn't even have chance to make an offer.