Are your classics from your era?

[AMGSee55]

Age 53 and my Alfa is a ‘72, so I would have been 5 when it rolled off the line. I was a car fanatic practically from when I could talk, but that would have been founded on the more ubiquitous makes in that era - Fords, BMC various etc, so no, Alfa-owning aspirations came much later in adulthood.

[Rob 131 Sport]

hilly10 said:

I was seventeen in 1974 and now own a 1974 TR6 which was always my ambition to own, would have loved Magenta but could not find a really good example so had to settle for my next favourite colour Mimosa

Edited by hilly10 on Thursday 4th March 19:10

Stunning colour

[beach bum]

I’m 45 and 6 of the seven classics I own are from the era 1960-1974.
My newest classic, a205 GTI 1.9, was my teenage dream.

I think that in the sixties and maybe the early 70s, cars were at their peak in terms of beauty. Also most of them are quick enough and stop well enough (disc brakes) in today’s daily traffic. They strike a perfect balance of being old but still highly usable.

[P5BNij]

I’m 55 and almost all of my classics have been from the 1964-73 period, the majority of which have been daily users. My love for and interest in cars of that time rubs along with the films, TV and music of the time too, I think it’s just ingrained in me somehow. A few things from the ‘80s and early ‘90s are starting to creep in (for example, ‘facelift’ Jag XJSs), but only just.

[348jeff]

My first car when I was 18 was a 12 year old Triumph Spitfire whilst my friends were driving more modern cars like Fiestas or Escorts. Although older than my friends cars it wasn't regarded as a classic yet - bit more like driving a battered MX-5 now LOL




Over the years I've had 5 MR2's - 1 being the boxy AW11 type followed by 4 Jap Imports - Auto and 4 turbos which were great.

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However, since as long as I can remember knowing what a car was (and even when I had my Spitfire) the ultimate car for me was a Ferrari......any Ferrari!!! LOL

Finally achieved my dream 10 years ago and not looked back since. People are always astonished that is over 30 years old - or do they mean me? ;-') LOL

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[sjabrown]

I'm 36 (1984) and have a 1982 Peugeot 104 and a 1979 Mk2 Escort so cars of a little before my time. Also have a Peugeot 205 GTI but I've owned that since the tail end of the 205s days as a used/abused boy racer car back when you could buy a good one for <£2k.

[Bogsye]

Good question OP.

I passed my test in 1993, but had already been tinkering around with a £90 Morris Minor and an AH-Sprite MkIV for a couple of years.
After graduating in 1999 I got my first job and bought a new (206 Gti) car. After 4 years of catasrophic depreciation I wasn't really too keen to throw more money into new things, unless I thought I could minimise the depreciation. A honda S2000 and Golf R32 followed which were relatively slow in depreciating.

Some how, I've now accumulated a few cars, all of which are from the 90's, 'modern classics'. I don't think I really did this consciously, it just unfolded like this.

1) Peugeot 2051.9 Gti (K-Plate Miami Blue)
2) TVR Cerbera 4.2
3) Audi S8 D2 (2000 Facelift)

The 205 was a childhood thing, and itch to scratch. It's currently a restoration project which I bought as a £1000 running car back in 2008.

The TVR really came around from a desire to have a '4 seat' car that could carry my youngsters (currently 6 & 9 y/o)

Finally the S8 is the practical saloon - 'small' by today's standards, but a really nicely put together thing. A good friend has an A8 3.7 V8 which I used for a week while my Saab at the time was needing some work. The A8 was a really nice place to be for my commute - in fairness this is a very well sorted example with fresh suspension. That convinced me that an S8 was worth hunting down.

Where next?
I'd like a 968 Sport or a 996 C4S - keeping it practical.
A mid-60's Riley 1.5 Saloon - My Aunt had one which I inherited as a student, and sadly had to let go. I'd love to build one and do a Monte Carlo Rally or simillar.
A Supercharged XJ6 would be nice to own at some point along with an XJS.

90's car I like because the tech made a useful step forward without being impossible to fix, while 60's and 70's is nice & simple.

[mbwoy84]

I’m 36 and have owned 100s of cars from the 1930s to the present day.

The oldest car I currently own is an early 1983 registered Ferrari 308 followed quite closely by a late 1983 registered Austin Ambassador. Two very unlikely stablemates I know!

I own several different variants of Subaru Impreza STi, which is guess is what would fall most closely into “my” generation of cars. As a very young kid I used to like the Subaru Brat pickups and then followed the Subaru World Rally team back when they ran the Legacy. So as an impressionable 8 years old when the Impreza came on the scene and they started producing very hot versions and Colin McRae and Carlos Sainz were flinging them around every WRC stage, it was always a hero car to me as a kid.

[ettore]

I’m 45 and have had cars from the 20’s through to today. Current batch were made 37 years before I was born, and the rest when I was 2, 13, 14, 44 and 45.

Considering additions/replacements from the 1920’s and 1960’s in addition to a developing urge for a 2CV!

Edited by ettore on Saturday 6th March 09:43

[Mr Tidy]

Maybe I'll be asked to leave because I don't actually own a Classic car!

Anyway perhaps I was a bit spoilt in years gone by because in the 80s (my 20s) I owned a MK2 RS2000 and a couple of Capri 2.8 Injections and just loved them at the time, but I'd never pay £20K+ for any of them now.

I also had a MK1 Golf GTi and a couple of MK2 GTi 16Vs in the 90s as cheap run-arounds that were also great fun.

So maybe it's a bit "been there, done that" but just over a year ago I bought a BMW Z4M Coupe for a fair bit less than those Fast Fords cost now and it drives so much better than any of them, and one day it may become a classsic assuming I last long enough!

The cars I lusted after growing up were Aston DB5 & 6s, E-Type FHCs and Ferrari Daytonas, but unless I sell the house and live in it I'll never have any of those.

I still love reading about Classic cars though, seeing as I can remember seeing many of them being used back in their era.

[lowdrag]

In my case the premise is both right and wrong I suppose. I was 15 when the E-type was launched but bought my car when I was 42, so out of sync somewhat at that time. The XKSS is really before my time, but I love it just the same

[Riley Blue]

Bogsye said:

Where next?
I'd like a 968 Sport or a 996 C4S - keeping it practical.
A mid-60's Riley 1.5 Saloon - My Aunt had one which I inherited as a student, and sadly had to let go. I'd love to build one and do a Monte Carlo Rally or simillar.
A Supercharged XJ6 would be nice to own at some point along with an XJS.

[velocemitch]

I was 7 and 11 when my cars were built, I was born in 1960.
So I probably Should fall into the category of buying cars I lusted after as a child. The problem is I didn’t, I was always interested in cars and came from a ‘motoring’ family, but the Cars I have ( Alfa’s) I was not conscious of at the time. That virus was caught when I was in my 40’s.

[AW111]

While I like the looks of cars of "my era", I was put off by the appalling engineering of 60's / 70's British cars once I got to car buying age, the Italians were out of my price bracket, and most Japanese cars of that era are worthy but not exiting.

I now own a mid-80's MR2, and have nearly purchased an 80's Maserati on several occasions.

Bikes? 60's / 70's Italian for sure - I've owned a 76 Ducati, but would love a Moto Guzzi of that era.

In my biased opinion, there's not much interesting made in Britain post the late 60's.

Edited by AW111 on Saturday 6th March 08:53

[PomBstard]

I was 5 or 6 when the 928 was launched and had a poster of it on my wall a few years later. Now have an 87 S4 in the garage, so kinda fits with the OP.

Tried a 205 1.9 GTi a few years ago and was underwhelmed, whereas the 944S2 I narrowly missed was awesome. I think either would have also been ‘of my time.’

I did once have a Mk3 Cortina that was only a year younger than me. It was terminally crap though, even if the various mechical upgrades made it amusing.

[LotusOmega375D]

The older you get, the more cars become “your era”. Pretty much every classic I have owned was built in my life time. I get the sentiment though that we often look to buy cars we couldn’t own when younger. That has always been the case and I have done the same. The difference with me is that I have usually been ahead of the game and not waited until prices have skyrocketed to buy (and sell!) said classics.

[Rob 131 Sport]

LotusOmega375D said:

The older you get, the more cars become “your era”. Pretty much every classic I have owned was built in my life time. I get the sentiment though that we often look to buy cars we couldn’t own when younger. That has always been the case and I have done the same. The difference with me is that I have usually been ahead of the game and not waited until prices have skyrocketed to buy (and sell!) said classics.

Your clearly ahead of the curve. The classics that I would consider Fiat 131 Sports, Strada Abarth, E30 325i Sport, or V6 Capri’s are way out of my price range. I wouldn’t want to spend more than £8k on a classic.

[LotusOmega375D]

Here’s some examples of what I have paid for classics over the past 35 years in the order of ownership. All were at least 10 years old when purchased.

1975 Hillman Imp. £750
1971 BMW 2002. £1000
1984 Renault 5 Turbo 2. £6000
1989 Renault GTA Turbo. £6000
1989 Lancia Integrale 16v. £5800
1997 Subaru Impreza 22B. £20,500
1991 Lotus Omega (only 5800 miles). £25,000
1991 Ferrari Mondial T cabriolet. £40,000

The value of the most recent one hasn’t increased, but all the others have, some ridiculously!

[456mgt]

This 'poster on your bedroom wall when you were a kid' thing doesn't apply to me, and I sometimes wonder just how common this is. I've got classic car-itis just as badly as anyone here, but where I grew up I never saw anything more exotic than a Datsun Z260. It's all come later in life when you think 'that looks a bit tasty' and before you know it you're hunting high and low for one. I have cars from every decade since my birth, and in my experience nothing marks out decades as well as windscreen wipers. It makes you appreciate modern cars, not so much for apple carplay, but for wipers that silently and efficiently clear the windscreen.

[LotusOmega375D]

Got to disagree on the windscreen wipers. I am frequently having to replace the ones on our modern Volkswagens. You might get two winters out of them, but then they go rock hard and make the most godawful noise! That’s OEM replacements too, both front and back wipers.