What classic would you buy for £20k?

[AceOfHearts]

So over the next few months I have some soul searching to do. I have a bit of extra money coming in and am debating between upgrading my Chimaera or selling up and putting the money towards a different car. Im not interested in moderns and was wondering what you would do with a theoretical £20k (ish) to spend on a car?

No real criteria tbh, i like British cars but nothing is a deal breaker. An e-type or Interceptor would be the dream but obviously out of budget

What would tempt you away from TVR?

[The Surveyor]

Difficult as the Chimaera is a fantastic all-round combination. V8 noise, beautiful convertible styling, practical and quirky, so if you really must move on and if you aren't tempted by a Tamora (very underrated) then you would get:-

A very nice Triumph TR6 for £20k, or

A decent Sunbeam Tiger (V8 engine Alpine) for £20k, or

A perfect Jensen Healey for £20k, or

A cracking Jaguar XJS Convertible for £20k, or

Oh and for information, when I sold my Chimaera I bought a Tuscan and kept it for 9 years and still very much miss it. Good luck.

[Bodo]

A good chance to brainstorm is to use search engines with powerful filter that match your expectations.

For example, go on ebay and browse to the Classic Cars category. Now you will only see classics. Now filter the search
- price range; example 15k...20k
- format: 'Auctions only' to hide fantasy asking prices
- 'show only' "Sold Items" to see what people actually were buying

http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/Classic-Cars-/29751/i.ht...

Some interesting and unexpected cars in there!

[P5BNij]

Mk2 Jag, plenty about at your budget, 3.4s are lovely things, even some of the later slim bumper / Ambla upholstery models are touching £20k now. Some exceptional '60s S-Types can be had in this bracket too.

You might still find a usable Interceptor within your budget but it will need work at some point.

£15-20k will bag you a mint P5B Coupe.

Bentley T1, if you can find one.

[crashley]

I'd look for an Alfa GT Junior, like this... but then when i move, this will be top of the list!

http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C675614

[Huntsman]

The Surveyor said:

A decent Sunbeam Tiger (V8 engine Alpine) for £20k

Where?

I'd buy a RR Corniche.

[The Surveyor]

Huntsman said:

The Surveyor said:

A decent Sunbeam Tiger (V8 engine Alpine) for £20k

Where?

USA... http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C652600

[Huntsman]

The Surveyor said:

USA... http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C652600

Thanks, interesting, I doubt one would find a RHD one for that.

I nearly bought a pair of cars from those guys earlier this year and now regret not doing it.

[Robert Elise]

you like Brit, classic old school and the Chim is good. Bingo.
So, what are you really looking for? what's lacking in the Chim? that would help the thread.
(Obvious man answer " i just fancy a change".)

[loose cannon]

The only thing that would currently tempt me away from from my tvr, would be an xjc or xj of similar era
But I have a long standing love of those cars so a slightly different view point to yourself,

[RobinSherwood]

Huntsman said:

Thanks, interesting, I doubt one would find a RHD one for that.

I nearly bought a pair of cars from those guys earlier this year and now regret not doing it.

That Tiger seems far too cheap, there has to be a reason when Auction prices for Tigers in the USA are so high. MK2 Tigers in the USA now seem to be $250,000 pound cars after all.

Sadly I would also say therefore that a decent Tiger at £20k would be out of the question now.

To answer the OP's question - How about a really nice early Pre HE Jaguar XJ-S preferably a manual?

[RobinSherwood]

Another good option for a bit of wafting £20k would buy a lovely low mileage Rolls-Royce Spirit/Spur or the Bentley equivalent but the RR versions are much rarer at that age so would be my choice.

[crostonian]

Plenty of classic cars I would buy at this budget but the majority are Italian or German.

Would a Griffith 500 be too close to the Chimaera?

XJ-S Convertibles and Merc SLs do the wafting thing well if that's what you want, what about a Mustang of some sort or some other Yank V8?

[AceOfHearts]

Cheers for the ideas guys, i have done the XJS thing recently as a daily but I dont think it really had the 'special' factor as a toy car. I do keep looking at DB7's but I dont know if it would be too much like the XJS (probably giving them a massive disservice) and the Ford switchgear is a real turn off even though I know thats really petty.

And yes the TVR does tick pretty much all boxes but there is a small amount of fancying a change (be it new car or building a monster engine for the TVR which I had been planning on for a while) but i still have this niggling feeling that I will be spending all of this money on a £10k TVR that I would never see back if i get to this same dilemma in 2 years time.

Mk2 Jag is definitely a good shout. And there is a £15k Interceptor just down the road from me on carandclassic but no doubt it would be a moneypit

[AceOfHearts]

crostonian said:

Plenty of classic cars I would buy at this budget but the majority are Italian or German.

Would a Griffith 500 be too close to the Chimaera?

XJ-S Convertibles and Merc SLs do the wafting thing well if that's what you want, what about a Mustang of some sort or some other Yank V8?

Griff 500 is a bit close i think, id rather upgrade the engine in my otherwise well sorted Chim. Yank V8's are a good shout but tbh I don't know much about them and dont think are really my style

Edited by AceOfHearts on Thursday 5th November 17:24

[Yertis]

Tuscan for me.

Or an R107 SL.

[Itsallicanafford]

M635CSI....thread end

[Digby]

Probably something by Mercedes for me..

http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C285307

[niagra]

My stock answer to these threads in this budget range: Sunbeam Lotus, should get a lovely one for 14k and spend the rest on an engine upgrade/rebuild.

[slomax]

Triumph TR3A, end of thread.

Prices for these are going to soar soon enough like the Austin Healey 3000