Ideas for first "classic", £3k

[Scott-0jfyb]

I'm currently looking to make my first foray into classic car ownership and having little success from the trawling of classified ad sites, ebay etc.

Appreciate any suggestions, broadly the brief would be as follows:

1. No newer than 1990
2. Plentiful supply of affordable parts and mechanically simple (as i am)
3. Relatively cheap to run (I'd like to avoid single-figure MPG such that actually enjoying the car isn't completely ruinous)
4. European or Asian (American cars generally don't hold appeal)

Budget is c.£3k. Obviously at this level i am not expecting something to be cosmetically perfect but as at (2.), I realistically odon't have the skills at the moment for a full-on project car.

Thanks
S

[aaron_2000]

205 GTI is and was my choice. You can find a usable one well in your budget. I paid £1880 for mine with 11 months MOT and a massive history folder.

[fat80b]

Depends what you want to do with it but I'd be thinking:

MGB

TVR S series

or possibly a Triumph Spitfire

[RazerSauber]

Calibra turbo. Aside the chocolate transfer boxes, they're pretty robust. Everything apart from body panels is readily available and they're starting to appreciate.

[Azzurrinick]

fat80b said:

Depends what you want to do with it but I'd be thinking:

MGB

TVR S series

or possibly a Triumph Spitfire

A TVR S at that price will end up a money pit, depends on how much time and money you want to put into the car to keep it running. Spitfire or Midget will be easy to buy and maintain, loads of support and easy supply of parts.

[Deep Thought]

aaron_2000 said:

205 GTI is and was my choice. You can find a usable one well in your budget. I paid £1880 for mine with 11 months MOT and a massive history folder.

Recently?

Very nice looking car.

[aaron_2000]

Deep Thought said:

aaron_2000 said:

205 GTI is and was my choice. You can find a usable one well in your budget. I paid £1880 for mine with 11 months MOT and a massive history folder.

Recently?

Very nice looking car.

2018. Completely original and standard car, spare wheel still had the original tyre on it. I've still got the ad saved from the nearly month I spent watching it before I finally bought it

https://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C1001632

[Deep Thought]

aaron_2000 said:

Deep Thought said:

aaron_2000 said:

205 GTI is and was my choice. You can find a usable one well in your budget. I paid £1880 for mine with 11 months MOT and a massive history folder.

Recently?

Very nice looking car.

2018. Completely original and standard car, spare wheel still had the original tyre on it. I've still got the ad saved from the nearly month I spent watching it before I finally bought it

https://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C1001632

Very nice.

[OverSteery]

MG midget
early MX5.

[aaron_2000]

Deep Thought said:

aaron_2000 said:

Deep Thought said:

aaron_2000 said:

205 GTI is and was my choice. You can find a usable one well in your budget. I paid £1880 for mine with 11 months MOT and a massive history folder.

Recently?

Very nice looking car.

2018. Completely original and standard car, spare wheel still had the original tyre on it. I've still got the ad saved from the nearly month I spent watching it before I finally bought it

https://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C1001632

Very nice.

It had an interesting bit of history. It was registered new to a holdings company that owned everything from dockyards to city buildings, and from what I can tell they used it as a travel car, and that's how it racked up nearly 140k in the 90's. I wish I'd done some real digging into it's history to try and find some old pictures

[JJ55]

205 gti
Mx5 mk1
Maybe a 944

[Karlsruhe]

Golf GTI MK 2

[oilrag1]

Reliant Scimitar GTE/GTC 3 litre ,tax & mot exempt ,£100 classic insurance
fuel consumption circa 18 /28 mpg
great spares back up , simple to work on , very good Owners Club,
they even go sprinting and hill climbing.

Why not ?

Edited by oilrag1 on Friday 17th April 18:58

[mrtwisty]

Given your purchase budget is 3k, two very important questions are:

1. Are you able to do your own spannering?
2. What is your ongoing borkage fund?

These 2 (especially the 1st) should inform recommendations/your choice.

[Jamescrs]

MK1 MX-5 seems.the obvious choice.

Fun car, loads of parts and advice available.

Pretty easy to.work on generally

[aka_kerrly]

Post 1990 brings you into a GREAT period for coupes..

Audi 80 - v6 an inline 5 engines an quattro models available.
Alfa GTV
Honda Prelude - 2.2 VTI or Jap spec is the way to go.
Honda CRX
Fiat Coupe - must admit I don't know a huge amount about these.
Toyota Celica - there are still a good number of 2.0 16v GT and plenty of the later 98> 140/190 VVTL models
Volkswagon Corrado - a later 2.0 16v is a solid choice, VR6 is the right choice, G60 much rarer
Vauxhall Calibra - 2.0 16v poss v6 models


2 seaters
Toyota MR2 - mark 2 or later MRS Spyder
The MX5 - the least rusty, mk2.5 or into early mk3 now!

[sparks_190e]

I paid £2k for my Mercedes 190e 2.0 auto last summer. I've since spent £2500-£3000 on bits here and there, most of it not essential but I'm fussy. They are starting to creep up in value. Might not be your cup of tea, but I adore mine. Parts are readily available and not too costly.

[toast boy]

mrtwisty said:

Given your purchase budget is 3k, two very important questions are:

1. Are you able to do your own spannering?
2. What is your ongoing borkage fund?

These 2 (especially the 1st) should inform recommendations/your choice.

This is pretty pertinent, the OP said that they didn't have the skills for a full on project car which rules a lot of things out.

Mk1 MX5s are fun but almost all of them will be needing welding on the sills. Something like an MGB/Midget would be sensible given the simplicity of them to learn to work on and parts availability. Either that or a 205/Golf GTI if in budget.

TVR S - great if you can do a body off chassis repair yourself (not too difficult if you can weld) but it doesn't sound like the OP wants that level of project.

[NDNDNDND]

toast boy said:

mrtwisty said:

Given your purchase budget is 3k, two very important questions are:

1. Are you able to do your own spannering?
2. What is your ongoing borkage fund?

These 2 (especially the 1st) should inform recommendations/your choice.

This is pretty pertinent, the OP said that they didn't have the skills for a full on project car which rules a lot of things out.

Mk1 MX5s are fun but almost all of them will be needing welding on the sills. Something like an MGB/Midget would be sensible given the simplicity of them to learn to work on and parts availability. Either that or a 205/Golf GTI if in budget.

TVR S - great if you can do a body off chassis repair yourself (not too difficult if you can weld) but it doesn't sound like the OP wants that level of project.

It's true that most mk1 MX-5s will have had or will need rust repairs, but £3k is still a reasonably generous budget and should be enough for a clean, straight example. Early (pre '94) MX-5s were seemingly made from a higher quality steel too, and often seem to last better than later cars.

If rust repairs have been carried out, it's important that it was done by an MX-5 specialist - the cills are put together in a particular way, and must be drained properly for the repair to last. An incorrect repair can do more harm than good.

MX-5s get criticised for rust, but the reality is they're old cars, and often get used ruthlessly because they're so mechanically robust. I should imagine a lot of other cars when subjected to similar use would be rusty after a couple of decades too! The main problem with rust repairs is the relative cost of the repair to the value of the car...

A totally rust-free Japanese import is an option, but I think not at £3k. This is provided an MX-5 isn't too 90's for the OP!

How about a 924? These may be more in budget than a 944. Maintenance on these transaxle Porsches can be complicated and expensive though - a clutch change requires rear-subframe removal, for example, and you may as well replace all the fuel lines while you're there. The VW-derived engine is (I think) cheaper to maintain than the 944's 'half a 928' engine. These cars rust too!

How about a mk1 or mk2 Scirocco?

[griffter]

Scott-0jfyb said:

I'm currently looking to make my first foray into classic car ownership and having little success from the trawling of classified ad sites, ebay etc.

Appreciate any suggestions, broadly the brief would be as follows:

1. No newer than 1990
2. Plentiful supply of affordable parts and mechanically simple (as i am)
3. Relatively cheap to run (I'd like to avoid single-figure MPG such that actually enjoying the car isn't completely ruinous)
4. European or Asian (American cars generally don't hold appeal)

Budget is c.£3k. Obviously at this level i am not expecting something to be cosmetically perfect but as at (2.), I realistically odon't have the skills at the moment for a full-on project car.

Thanks
S

Fiat X1/9