Modern Aston or classic ???

[bentley01]

Aiming to buy a V8 Vantage roadster as a sunny day car later this year. Now my brother who is a classic car nut is trying his best to get me to buy an Austin Healey 3000 instead. I know nothing about old cars but I would like to know from people who do the following.
Which one is the best to buy, for future value, most fun to drive and reliability etc. Can a guy like me who is used to modern motors enjoy a car like this

Edited by bentley01 on Saturday 27th July 17:22

[DocArbathnot]

bentley01 said:

Aiming to buy a V8 Vantage roadster as a sunny day car later this year. Now my brother who is a classic car nut is trying his best to get me to buy an Austin Healey 3000 instead. I know nothing about old cars but I would like to know from people who do the following.
Which one is the best to buy, for future value, most fun to drive and reliability etc. Can a guy like me who is used to modern motors enjoy a car like this

Edited by bentley01 on Saturday 27th July 17:22

You may get some enjoyment, but don't expect to have weekends away/long distances covered with ease and comfort. It's a more "hands on" car and not so much of a "lock up and leave"

[RichB]

bentley01 said:

...I know nothing about old cars

To be honest if you know nothing about old cars and by the sound of it aren't that keen to learn I'd steer clear.

[Yertis]

RichB said:

bentley01 said:

...I know nothing about old cars

To be honest if you know nothing about old cars and by the sound of it aren't that keen to learn I'd steer clear.

I know quite a lot about fiddling with old cars and am always learning more - so I'd buy the Aston.

[JMC1]

From my experience with modern Aston's the old car may be more reliable.

[Hooli]

I'd get side tracked & buy an older Aston, best of both worlds then.

[Chewykneeslider]

Im lucky enough to own a 997 C2 and a Triumph TR6 as weekend/nice weather playthings.

It depends on what floats your boat. The TR6 may be more fun than the Porsche, considering that you can chuck it about with abandon on 165 section tyres, and with 125 bhp, you can drive it on the limit almost all the time in the dry, and scare yourself stupid at comparitively low speeds.

The old car will teach you all you will ever need to know about DIY on cars though, it helps to have a keen mate who has done it all before.

See if you can test one?

[NigelStn]

bentley01 said:

Aiming to buy a V8 Vantage roadster as a sunny day car later this year. Now my brother who is a classic car nut is trying his best to get me to buy an Austin Healey 3000 instead. I know nothing about old cars but I would like to know from people who do the following.
Which one is the best to buy, for future value, most fun to drive and reliability etc. Can a guy like me who is used to modern motors enjoy a car like this

Edited by bentley01 on Saturday 27th July 17:22

Just sold my AM V8 Vantage and bought a partially restored 1955 Aston MArtin DB2/4 Mk I. My long terms thoughts being that doing 70 in a 1955 car is as exciting as doing 100+ in a modern car, though I expect my running costs will be similar long term

[a8hex]

NigelStn said:

Just sold my AM V8 Vantage and bought a partially restored 1955 Aston MArtin DB2/4 Mk I. My long terms thoughts being that doing 70 in a 1955 car is as exciting as doing 100+ in a modern car, though I expect my running costs will be similar long term

I'd have thought that doing 70 in the DB2/4 would have been a lot more interesting than way over 100 in the modern, apart from the thrill of will I won't I go to jail if they spot me. In the classic you have the thrill of knowing it is you doing the driving, not some collection of computers. But the biggest difference is when you take depreciation, the modern will loose a load of its value, a DB2/4 will more than likely go upwards, owning both might balance things out.

[LordBretSinclair]

I'm lucky enough to own both a modern Aston and a 49 year old MGB.

They are as different as chalk and cheese but both great fun in their own ways. Difficult to advise you though on which to go for as everyone's tastes/skills/etc are different.

[RichB]

I'm lucky enough to own a classic Aston DB MkIII, a TVR Griffith 500, a modern Porsche and until recently a Healey 3000 so I guess am well positioned to make comparisons. I could say a lot about the Healey like despite it being almost the years newer than the Aston it always rattled more and didn't have that feeling of quality. It used to give me problems with a sticking needle valve in the float chamber, nothing more than ten minutes work to fix but to someone who just want so get in and drive maybe an irritation. It would also overheat and could flatten its battery for no apparent reason, oh and the boot was tiny! Lovely looking car though. The DB MkIII is, on the other hand superb and having taken it on a 2,100 mile tour of Europe this year, including a couple of hours around Monza, I can vouch for its reliability. Having said all that, I got the impression that the OP was not particularly into old cars which is why I suggest the V8V as being more suitable. As he's not been back to this thread we don't know what desire has to start on the road towards learning about classic cars. I would always opt for the classic but then I've been working on cars for over 40 years and once rebuilt an MGA from the chassis up.

P.s. Nigel, welcome to the world of Feltham Astons it's nice to have another on Pistonheads

[aeropilot]

bentley01 said:

Aiming to buy a V8 Vantage roadster as a sunny day car later this year. Now my brother who is a classic car nut is trying his best to get me to buy an Austin Healey 3000 instead.

Healey 3000 wouldn't be my choice, although for a sunny weekend toy, it would definately be a classic.
Can't see the point in buying a modern car as a toy

bentley01 said:

I know nothing about old cars

However, as someone has already pointed out, if you don't know anything about old cars, then yes, buy the modern Aston don't buy a classic.