Classic (old, retro) cars for sale £0-5k

[Devil2575]

E24man said:

Skyedriver said:

JZZ30 said:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BMW-635-CSI-AUTO-RED-E24...

That is (looks) absolutely lovely, seems cheap, what's the catch.
Loved these since they first came out, especially in that red

The catch is red, well slightly browny-red, actually rust red and there can be a lot of it. A lot.

Otherwise pretty dependable electrics, bomb-proof M30 engine and head-turning styling especially when on 17" cross spokes like that one.

I like these and considered one a few years back. However after chatting to a few owners in the BMW owners club I decided against it. The general view was that they needed regular expenditure to keep in top of issues. They're at that age where things fail regularly just because they're old and they have the running costs of what was the equivalent of an £80k car.

[carinaman]

Kolbenkopp said:

Pricing in the UK seems to have been crazy, no idea what possessed them. Still a cool car IMO, see an odd Type 44 Audi 100 around here every couple of days. Love the styling, about as clean/functional as it gets. And the 5 cyl turbo engine is rather nice. Word of warning though: don't expect Merc or Porsche level of support for these from Audi. They have a lot of catching up to do in the heritage department.

I think the C5 A6 Avant is equally as good looking. Clean, functional but also good looking.

[Fast Bug]

JZZ30 said:

Fast Bug said:

JZZ30 said:

That's lovely

Have you seen the car at all?

No, but it was V12 AMG who originally posted it, looks like he knows the car?

Good point and well spotted!

[austinsmirk]

The Audi and Volvo win this thread for me !!

My friends dad had new company audis like that in the 80's and unbelievably as we passed our driving tests at 17, got to borrow them and take them on nights out !!!!

I swear the new fangled abs saved us on many occasions.

And on nights for me to drive it was my parents volvos. In fact my dad had 144's in the 70's too.


Much car love here from me

[irocfan]

a bit of love for the General this morning...




http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C606085





http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C591438



a little over budget...


http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C504452





http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C475112

[dbdb]

Kolbenkopp said:

dbdb said:

As an estate car I can see some point to it, though I still find its price difficult to swallow! The Avant Quattro turbo was nearly £29,000 in 1987 - if you bought a Mercedes 300TE instead, you could also buy a Peugeot 205 with the money you would have saved.

Pricing in the UK seems to have been crazy, no idea what possessed them. Still a cool car IMO, see an odd Type 44 Audi 100 around here every couple of days. Love the styling, about as clean/functional as it gets. And the 5 cyl turbo engine is rather nice. Word of warning though: don't expect Merc or Porsche level of support for these from Audi. They have a lot of catching up to do in the heritage department.

The saloon 200was just as crazily priced too - and sold in similarly tiny numbers. The 200 saloon's price pitched it straight at the Mercedes S Class, BMW 7 series and Jaguar XJ6. It couldn't compete with them, really.
The 100 was a very competent and modern looking car and always one of the market leaders at its price level. They didn't drive nearly so as well as the 5 Series, though they impressed in other ways. I guess in image terms, they were a kind of German Volvo in the 1980s.

I have seen it written a few times that Audi's parts support is pretty much non-existent, even for the quattro. It really surprised me. It is poor really, given there is still reasonably good parts availability for my Jaguar which is from the same era.

There seems to be a lot of interest in old Audis, Volvos, Mercedes and BMWs and I like to see that, since I am a big car fan myself. I wish there was more interest in Jags though. I wonder where Jaguar went wrong in the design which makes them seem to lack appeal here.

[dbdb]

CoolFool said:

http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C615036


http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C614847


http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C614785

The 205 is so pretty - it is easily my favourite of the Hot hatches.

The 260E looks to be in superb condition. I love the colour of it.

I'm not sure I would say the 260 was the best model in the series though. The 2.6 is a marvellously smooth engine - it really is a lovely unit, but I found the 260E lacked torque and was a bit gutless to drive. Very smooth though, if you're not in a hurry.

[dbdb]

irocfan said:

a bit of love for the General this morning...




http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C606085





http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C591438



a little over budget...


http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C504452





http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C475112

Vauxhall/Opel made some good looking cars at that time.

When I was a kid, my brother and I used to play a game of spotting Opel GTs when we went on holiday - you never saw them in the UK and we both loved them. They would have been fairly old cars even then, but seemed to survive in spottable numbers!

[Kolbenkopp]

carinaman said:

I think the C5 A6 Avant is equally as good looking. Clean, functional but also good looking.

Fully agree, and I think the A4 B6 also very much fits into that category. Not a big fan of what they do now, think it went downhill from the silly-frame grill on.

[gforceg]

dbdb said:

When I was a kid, my brother and I used to play a game of spotting Opel GTs when we went on holiday - you never saw them in the UK and we both loved them. They would have been fairly old cars even then, but seemed to survive in spottable numbers!

We moved to America in the early 70s and the Principal of my first school had a yellow Opel GT. It looked wacky enough to my young eyes but in a carpark full of USS Detroits it looked tiny and unique.

As I recall the only other small Euro car you'd see in any numbers back then were Beetles and MGs.

Imagine my excitement when a guy up the road had a SAAB Sonnet!

[Kolbenkopp]

dbdb said:

The saloon 200was just as crazily priced too - and sold in similarly tiny numbers. The 200 saloon's price pitched it straight at the Mercedes S Class, BMW 7 series and Jaguar XJ6. It couldn't compete with them, really.

No chance, agreed. Took them a long time to get into that end of the market...

dbdb said:

The 100 was a very competent and modern looking car and always one of the market leaders at its price level. They didn't drive nearly so as well as the 5 Series, though they impressed in other ways. I guess in image terms, they were a kind of German Volvo in the 1980s.

Yep, depending on the magazine here, they were starting to win group tests or at least be in the same ball park as BMW and Benz. Big news in Germany back then. The styling and the image helped, a welcome new option to get a premium German car without any connotation of showing off (Merc) or being a bit in your face (BMW). The higher echelons in sales loved them, drive something nice but no risk to show up in something "better" than your costumer.

I just like Audi stuff from that era, seems a lot more engineering driven than what they do now. Direct influence from Mr. Piech I guess.

dbdb said:

I have seen it written a few times that Audi's parts support is pretty much non-existent, even for the quattro. It really surprised me. It is poor really, given there is still reasonably good parts availability for my Jaguar which is from the same era.

Yeah it is hard to understand, not good for their image IMO. Think an early V8 e.g. would make a nice classic with a lot of usability. But seems to be difficult to keep in top shape, especially compared to a W124 or W126.

dbdb said:

There seems to be a lot of interest in old Audis, Volvos, Mercedes and BMWs and I like to see that, since I am a big car fan myself. I wish there was more interest in Jags though. I wonder where Jaguar went wrong in the design which makes them seem to lack appeal here.

Does not surprise me that much really. Speaking of the XJ, I don't think they went wrong at all. They just slowly evolved its very particular style over four decades. To me, they look XJ first and then a little bit "of the era". Not sure how many non-car-people can tell the difference between a Series III and an X308 . Only guessing, but people after a classic shape XJ might shop as late as X350 instead of looking at 25+ year old cars. Their time will come, but it has only been 5 years since the X350 has been discontinued.

[E24man]

Devil2575 said:

E24man said:

Skyedriver said:

JZZ30 said:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BMW-635-CSI-AUTO-RED-E24...

That is (looks) absolutely lovely, seems cheap, what's the catch.
Loved these since they first came out, especially in that red

The catch is red, well slightly browny-red, actually rust red and there can be a lot of it. A lot.

Otherwise pretty dependable electrics, bomb-proof M30 engine and head-turning styling especially when on 17" cross spokes like that one.

I like these and considered one a few years back. However after chatting to a few owners in the BMW owners club I decided against it. The general view was that they needed regular expenditure to keep in top of issues. They're at that age where things fail regularly just because they're old and they have the running costs of what was the equivalent of an £80k car.

I'd agree that they need regular attention to keep on top of issues but how much expenditure that entails would depend on how much you can do yourself. Your comment about 'they have the running costs of what was the equivilant of an £80k car' is nonsense I'm afraid. They cost buttons to run, most jobs are diy and service parts are cheap as chips. Occasionally a big expense cannot be avoided (welding, struts, front wings) but again, that comes out of how much attention you pay to keep it free of the dreaded tin-worm.

I've run a E24 for more than 20 years and will continue to do so for 20 more; in fact my M635 looks like it will outlive me and provide a cool carriage for my 7 year old daughter who adores it.

[masermartin]

Huntsman said:

Have we had a nice 2.5 Boxster in this thread yet?

We've probably had a 2.5 Boxster. Are there actually any nice sub-£5k Boxsters, though?

[Devil2575]

E24man said:

I'd agree that they need regular attention to keep on top of issues but how much expenditure that entails would depend on how much you can do yourself. Your comment about 'they have the running costs of what was the equivilant of an £80k car' is nonsense I'm afraid. They cost buttons to run, most jobs are diy and service parts are cheap as chips. Occasionally a big expense cannot be avoided (welding, struts, front wings) but again, that comes out of how much attention you pay to keep it free of the dreaded tin-worm.

I've run a E24 for more than 20 years and will continue to do so for 20 more; in fact my M635 looks like it will outlive me and provide a cool carriage for my 7 year old daughter who adores it.

Well it was a view I got from owners few years back. I guess a lot of it depends on who does the work. I knew a lad with one not long back and it was far from trouble free and while they aren't complicated compared to modern cars plenty is still beyond an amateur mechanic. I'd also challenge your definition of buttons. You can run a Fiesta on buttons but I've had an E36, E46 and E39 and none of them were cheap cars to run. Not ruinous but expensive enough.

[kiseca]

dbdb said:

Zad said:

W00DY said:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/AUDI-200-AVANT-QUATTRO-T...

Thud.

The 12 year old me would have killed for an Audi 200 Avant quattro Turbo! HUGE things, incredibly fast. Daddy of the RS2.

They were VERY rare cars even when they were new on account of them being so comically overpriced. I don't think I have ever seen an Avant - though I did see the saloon at an Audi dealership. My dad looked at them, along with the S class Mercedes and BMW 7 Series - though he ended up with a Jag. The Audi was a good car, but not in the same league as the other three.

As an estate car I can see some point to it, though I still find its price difficult to swallow! The Avant Quattro turbo was nearly £29,000 in 1987 - if you bought a Mercedes 300TE instead, you could also buy a Peugeot 205 with the money you would have saved.

Quite odd pricing, that. Audi 500s (the 100 here I think, don't know the difference between the 100 and 200) were very popular in South Africa in the '80s so I can only assume they were reasonably priced there. I don't think I ever saw an Avant though. Always the saloon. I quite liked them. I'm sure they had a longer instrument binnacle than the Avant in the advert.

[dbdb]

The entry level Audi 100 was under £13,000 - even the posh trimmed Audi 100 CD was under £15,000. They sold reasonably well; the price was competitive with the BMW 5 series and undercut the smaller engined W124s.

[J4CKO]

The 100/200 range was confusing, you could get a 2wd 200 and a quattro 100, a turbo 100 and a non turbo 200, the 200 was the higher spec model as a rule but the combinations were pretty strange, I had a 100 2.0 SE in the nineties as a 25 year old, what a lovely car, and surprisingly quick for a big car. Nearly replaced my 100 with a 200 Turbo but I went to see it and it had a heady aroma of burning oil.

That 200 Avant is really nice, though I much prefer the ones with the later dash.


Nearly bought a later model V6 avant auto a good few years later, the later model but it just felt like a proper old mans car with the auto and what was a nice but not very fast for its size V6.

[0a]

90s American brick. For some unknown reason I have always found the shape quite alluring (as a casual observer).

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Cadillac-Seville-1993-4-...

[E24man]

Devil2575 said:

E24man said:

I'd agree that they need regular attention to keep on top of issues but how much expenditure that entails would depend on how much you can do yourself. Your comment about 'they have the running costs of what was the equivilant of an £80k car' is nonsense I'm afraid. They cost buttons to run, most jobs are diy and service parts are cheap as chips. Occasionally a big expense cannot be avoided (welding, struts, front wings) but again, that comes out of how much attention you pay to keep it free of the dreaded tin-worm.

I've run a E24 for more than 20 years and will continue to do so for 20 more; in fact my M635 looks like it will outlive me and provide a cool carriage for my 7 year old daughter who adores it.

Well it was a view I got from owners few years back. I guess a lot of it depends on who does the work. I knew a lad with one not long back and it was far from trouble free and while they aren't complicated compared to modern cars plenty is still beyond an amateur mechanic. I'd also challenge your definition of buttons. You can run a Fiesta on buttons but I've had an E36, E46 and E39 and none of them were cheap cars to run. Not ruinous but expensive enough.

The E46 and E39 you have experience of are absolutely full of electronic skull-duggery which can make diagnosis of even simple things almost impossible for amateur mechanics and sleuths; the E24 is from the E23, E28 and E30 generation of BMW cars which has far more simple to diagnose electric control circuitry. Mechanically the E24's M30 engines are as bomb-proof as you can get and pretty much everything else around the car is fairly simple nut and bolt fixings unlike later generation BMW's. The E36 is from the E31/32/34 generation which is somewhat inbetween in terms of complexity, although the build quality of the E32 and E34 certainly stand scrutiny as perhaps the best built cars of the last 40 years.

[Zad]

0a said:

90s American brick. For some unknown reason I have always found the shape quite alluring (as a casual observer).

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Cadillac-Seville-1993-4-...

I thought it was a Lagonda for a second!