Ideas for a classic car for my 17 yr old lad

[LC926]

I have discovered that buying and insuring a car for my son is a joke. Over 2 grand insurance for a 1.0 car.
So i went down the classic route, first thought a 1.2L Nova 1989 ( as i spotted a bargain 1 owner car), but although 23 years old is not on the classic list yet.
Some cars make the list at 15 years, example Beetle.
I got quoted for a 1979 MGB GT £1126 TPFT, so you see where i'm coming from.

Budget is a measly £1500 for car, so there lies my problem.
It needs to be pretty good nick, not pissing oil out and not going to need me working on it every weekend.
Its not going to be garaged either.
Oh, and Original Minis are out as they are too dear.
Any cars i should be looking at or anyone recommend something ?
Am i dreaming thinking i'll find something decent

Edited by LC926 on Thursday 31st March 15:46

[mattman]

LC - couple of suggestions for you, assuming he'll want to carry some mates around

Might be able to squeeze a 1.3 Mk2 escort, but would have to be a 4dr at that budget, or else Herald, Viva (2 door coupe), Austin 1300 (not much street cred I guess), MG Metro, Mk3 escort, XR2, Dolomite/1500, Beetle, E30 or E21 BMW. Mk1 astra?

Hope that helps - fleabay might be a good place to start, or else - www.carandclassic.com always has a good selection

[Old Merc]

No matter what car a 17 year old gets, he/you will pay silly money for insurance,and if its old he/you will be spending lots of time and money keeping it going.All the cars mentioned are simple to work on and would be good for the lad,but will it be a good classic or a banger??.I do not understand that quote of yours for an MGB!! are you sure?? I just played on one of these insurance sites,17yrs full time student living at home etc etc, I picked a little 1.1 1972 Peugeot, and got 10 quotes from £3K - £4K.

[wackojacko]

early MX5
really old school Merc uber wafter
MK1 Golf driver
Mk1 Mr2
Bit more money but Landy defenders are stupidly cheap to insure and strong enough to with stand a 17 year olds abuse
Cortina
E21 3series

try Footman James insurance a few mates have their cars on classic policies with them.

[LC926]

It was Footman james that quoted, i read on another thread they are one of the only ones that will insure 17 yr olds on classic policies.
Their website doesn't say this, it still says about drivers being over 21 etc, but i called them, it's legit

[Old Merc]

wackojacko said:

early MX5
really old school Merc uber wafter
MK1 Golf driver
Mk1 Mr2
Bit more money but Landy defenders are stupidly cheap to insure and strong enough to with stand a 17 year olds abuse
Cortina
E21 3series

try Footman James insurance a few mates have their cars on classic policies with them.

Footman James would not quote for a 17 year old!! If you go older than 1972 it will be road tax exempt,think only a simple 1000cc or less saloon.I had another go with a 1970 Beetle on Go Compere TH/P/F/Th £1771?? its coming down.Trouble is classic car policies have lots of conditions like very low annual mileage,no daily use,must be garaged etc.

[wackojacko]

Old Merc said:

Footman James would not quote for a 17 year old!!

I think you'll find they do.....

have 2 friends that have MK2 Escort and Mk1 Golf driver on bike carbs with Footman James.

[john_r]

You could try looking at something 'less trendy' to keep the insurance down on a 17yr old?

I added my 17yr old daughter to the insurance and it cost less than £400 a year extra - even if she owned the car and had me as a named driver it still only came to £860 (£1k excess and fully comp). And that's on a '98 Passat Sport 1.8i Estate. The same insurance company quotes £2.5k on a 1998 Golf 1.6 for the same cover!

A guy at work just brought his 18yr old son a Focus diesel estate as it was the cheapest thing he could find that was 'safe' and cheap to insure...

[LC926]

john_r said:

You could try looking at something 'less trendy' to keep the insurance down on a 17yr old?

I added my 17yr old daughter to the insurance and it cost less than £400 a year extra - even if she owned the car and had me as a named driver it still only came to £860 (£1k excess and fully comp). And that's on a '98 Passat Sport 1.8i Estate. The same insurance company quotes £2.5k on a 1998 Golf 1.6 for the same cover!

A guy at work just brought his 18yr old son a Focus diesel estate as it was the cheapest thing he could find that was 'safe' and cheap to insure...

i know what you're saying John, but i've tried them all, although only through online quotes, so maybe i need to call some of them up and see if they can do better, like i did with the Classic quote.
I even tried Beige Volvos !!

[ClaphamGT3]

W123 series Mercedes - ideally the 200/240D. Well within budget, a classic to insure & he'll never kill himself in it.

[Tuscanless Ali]

The cheapest quote I got for my youngest son was adding him to my Admiral Multicar policy, got his original quote of over 3k down to 1200 fully comp.

Believe me I tried every insurer, for a 2001 1.2 Corsa.

Added my daughter on her A class Merc too and it halved her insurance,(Although she only gets 10 months insurance, but a whole years NCB)

Definitely worth getting a quote off them.

[NormanD]

Have you thought of Kit Cars

That worked for my kids in the 90's

[ARH]

NormanD said:

Have you thought of Kit Cars

That worked for my kids in the 90's

I recently sold a quamtum 2+2. a 17 year old came to look at it and found he could insure it for £900. http://www.quantumowners.co.uk/qoc-about.html. based on a fiesta, so reasonably reliable. and dirt cheap.