VTS Saxo phase1/mk1 1.6. Future classic?

VTS Saxo phase1/mk1 1.6. Future classic?

Author
Discussion

TooMany2cvs

29,008 posts

127 months

Wednesday 13th July 2016
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PunterCam said:
I think most of us have forgotten the fun of driving - it's all about speed now. I think these will appreciate once we all realise how utterly bland and boring speed for speeds sake actually is.
<applause>

s m

23,243 posts

204 months

Wednesday 13th July 2016
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Antj said:
Yes they will be, simply because they were the first car along with the VTR that opened up car finance to the youth market, The finance and the free insurance ( on the VTR) were what made them so popular as you could have a nippy car at 18 and not worry about £3k insurance if you could afford the finance payments. I'd go as far as to argue that the Citroen saxo actually spearheaded the late 90's car modding scene and thus was all before Internet and YouTube really existed and car mags and local meets were how you got your fix of cars.

They were good days, life was easier, I feel old now
I was old enough back then to get the free insurance on the VTS as well smile

ChrisDogDiggety

16 posts

123 months

Wednesday 13th July 2016
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A mates just sold his vts swapped vtr but it was actually a great little car. Had a great setup. Decent suspension but nowhere near slammed, decent tyres and gti6 brakes. Cams and bolt ons on the engine and a decent ecu. Made about 140ish bhp maybe a bit lower. Handled great on track and nearly kept up with my old 170bhp crx.

The power to weight is what makes the saxo a giggle.

Don't worry one day all the barried cars will be gone and the gems will be left. if they haven't been bought for track cars that is.

adingley84

337 posts

163 months

Wednesday 13th July 2016
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I'll never forget chancing a test drive of a ph1 VTS from a car dealer in the early 2000's whilst I was poor at uni, dreaming of hot hatches!

An absolute riot hooking from 1 roundabout to another, very grippy and lively on the way in, and like a scalded cat out the other side. Gave it back 30 mins later with no fuel left! &#128512;

The interior is soooo budget though, but not in an endearing way like an 80'so hatch, that's my only gripe.

It's definitely a future grower though once the last of the current owners 'graduate' into a [Insert chosen German marque here] PCP deal.

Pezonee

Original Poster:

24 posts

94 months

Wednesday 13th July 2016
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kaikyoung said:
WJNB said:
Oh please, if you're going to ask silly questions about the most dreadful pimply tattooed teen sink estate Chavmobile of all time then PH 'ain't for me.
Going by all of your posts, you don't seem to like any cars, or anybody... or anything at all actually.

Aaaanyway. When I was at uni, me and a mate won an eBay auction for a p.1 VTS one evening after a few too many *appletizers*. 4 years later and he still has it; cracking car, and the best couple hundred quid I've spent at least. It's pace does make driving windy rounds into somewhat of a cubist event though.
Burn! He does seem like a bit of a sap

Pezonee

Original Poster:

24 posts

94 months

Wednesday 13th July 2016
quotequote all

Luckily i got a 99 model before the facelift,
I think when the 2000's came cars started looking all sci fi like kind of spaceships looking.
I like that straight line look. Not keen on the phase 2 saxo though as the front end looks too happy for me!! I know its never going to be as saught after as the generation before like a mint 205 gti or xr2/3 ect. Saying that though the kids 15 years younger than me loved these like we loved them so who knows

Edited by Pezonee on Wednesday 13th July 22:35

ChocolateFrog

25,500 posts

174 months

Wednesday 13th July 2016
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WJNB said:
Oh please, if you're going to ask silly questions about the most dreadful pimply tattooed teen sink estate Chavmobile of all time then PH 'ain't for me.
Bye then.

For me it epitomises the hot hatch of circa 2000. IIRC the VTS was in double the insurance group of the VTR (14 versus 7) although that is stretching the grey matter somewhat. I also remember citroen offering free insurance on the VTR which made the VTS a pretty rare sight on the roads.

There's no doubt good clean examples will make decent money in the future, although I think 106 GTI's will be worth more. Better looking, rarer and with the half leather interior.

Edited by ChocolateFrog on Wednesday 13th July 22:38

castex

4,936 posts

274 months

Wednesday 13th July 2016
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I'm sure they're fun, but the generation before has the reputation of doing it better.

TooMany2cvs

29,008 posts

127 months

Wednesday 13th July 2016
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Pezonee said:
Luckily i got a 99 model before the facelift,
I think when the 2000's came cars started looking all sci fi like kind of spaceships looking.
I like that straight line look. Not keen on the phase 2 saxo though as the front end looks too happy for me!!
An even better reason to be happy with the pre-facelift cars... When the facelift came in, they were changed to multiplexed electronics.

Fermit The Krog and Sarah Sexy

13,031 posts

101 months

Wednesday 13th July 2016
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I owned a 2002 Saxo Vtr new out of the showroom from new. I decide on it for a few reasons, great finance, free insurance, and because it was, for me included, the must have car then for teens to 25. I owned it for four years, and had a lot of laughs in it. I really did love it at the time. Of course, when I swapped it for a 172 Cup it did feel dreadfully slow (it was sat in dads garage for three months before I bothered selling it....)

I have been thinking this for a while now, buying a clean sub £1000 Vtr/s, just use it for 50/100 miles a month (which could of course go out the window, and just (hopefully) watch it appreciate over the course of maybe 10 years. Like the OP and others suggest, I am convinced that as they dwindle, which they shall massively I'm sure, they shall become sought after. To me at least it's better odds than keeping the money in the bank. Shame that we're renovating (and shall be for a few years) a house, every spare £grand we get ATM is needed for something!

Pezonee

Original Poster:

24 posts

94 months

Wednesday 13th July 2016
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castex said:
I'm sure they're fun, but the generation before has the reputation of doing it better.
Actually beats the 205 on paper but looks wise no way. Im getting rid soon as i get a chance of getting my hands on a 205 gti

V8RX7

26,905 posts

264 months

Thursday 14th July 2016
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Of course it will be.

Classic cars become so when they were desirable and you couldn't afford one at the time OR in this case when you owned one when you were young and want to recapture your youth.

When the 17-20yr olds become 40-50 they'll want one again just as I want 205GTi, Golf Mk2 etc.

s m

23,243 posts

204 months

Thursday 14th July 2016
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castex said:
I'm sure they're fun, but the generation before has the reputation of doing it better.
Certainly have the reputation .... not sure they actually did it any better

PoopahScoopah

249 posts

126 months

Thursday 14th July 2016
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TooMany2cvs said:
205GTi values are already silly,
No they're not, yet, but they are going that way at long last. There are some supposed low mileage minters that have gone up for sale for crazy money (do they actually fetch that though, by and large?) that has lead to dreamers trying to get similar figures for tattier examples. But the good honest ones can still be picked up for a few grand, which is a value they rightfully should have had for years, just like Mk1 and 2 Golfs were. But sure, as numbers dwindle, and more are restored, and more crazy speculators push the prices up it won;t be too long before average prices are around £10k for average examples.

Oh sorry, this was about the Saxo wasn't it?! Back on topic....

PoopahScoopah

249 posts

126 months

Thursday 14th July 2016
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HerrSchnell said:
However R5s also looked like this;



and were never molested in the kinds of numbers which the Saxo was.

The R5 is part of a first generation of it's particular niche with a broad motorsport heritage behind it, the ruination of a relatively small number of the type hasn't polluted those elements of it's history which lead to it's current status as modern classic.

The Saxo VTS enjoys neither the honour of being part of a trailbreaking group nor of an association with flame spitting halo breed racers whilst also having been the de facto choice for barryfication and thus any merits it may have are overshadowed by the whiff of McDonalds car parks and fibreglass resin.

Snobby, fickle and unfair it may be but that is the nature of the game.
Perfectly put.

I admit to quite liking the look of the Saxo VTS, but I don't think I could bring myself to drive one as I just cannot shake the barry boy image from my head. It may be utterly unfair, and it may make me shallow, but it was the defacto chav car of it's time. I'm a long time 205 GTI owner, and yes they did get barried too (no hatches have ever really escaped that treatment), but it just wasn't as common.

That said, I have no doubt the Saxo will slowly rise in value. Whether it makes it to true classic status, who knows, stranger things have happened! In fact, how does one define a classic car these days? I've seen some very questionable examples of "modern classics"!

sider

2,059 posts

222 months

Friday 15th July 2016
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Did anybody have the 'fake' Westcoast edition?

Looked very similar (wider arches etc) but with a lesser powered engine and weird interior trim I believe.


s m

23,243 posts

204 months

Friday 15th July 2016
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sider said:
Did anybody have the 'fake' Westcoast edition?

Looked very similar (wider arches etc) but with a lesser powered engine and weird interior trim I believe.

Even worse than the VTS 'Cirrus' trim? smile

nct001

733 posts

134 months

Friday 15th July 2016
quotequote all
PoopahScoopah said:
TooMany2cvs said:
205GTi values are already silly,
No they're not, yet, but they are going that way at long last. There are some supposed low mileage minters that have gone up for sale for crazy money (do they actually fetch that though, by and large?) that has lead to dreamers trying to get similar figures for tattier examples. But the good honest ones can still be picked up for a few grand, which is a value they rightfully should have had for years, just like Mk1 and 2 Golfs were. But sure, as numbers dwindle, and more are restored, and more crazy speculators push the prices up it won;t be too long before average prices are around £10k for average examples.

Oh sorry, this was about the Saxo wasn't it?! Back on topic....
My trade policy paid out (from a total loss claim) over £5k as trade value for a 92 205 gti 1.9 - beautiful car with thousands spent they saw its retail value as £8k...

And they are probably right as to replace it cost me £3800 for an example that didn't even run! If you know 205 gtis there are certain models which are worth a lot more.

Ie late model phase 2 1.9 non sunroof non cat with later interior very hard to find.

BuzzBravado

2,944 posts

172 months

Friday 15th July 2016
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sider said:
Did anybody have the 'fake' Westcoast edition?
I had a Furio which looked like a VTR but with a 1.4 engine, then a VTS then a VTR.

strada84

621 posts

113 months

Friday 15th July 2016
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A surefire future classic. Already very hard to come by genuinely good, unabused, original examples.

Everything will become a classic when it gets old enough, but some obviously achieve classic or "retro" status earlier than others.

I actually prefer the look of the phase 2, but phase 1 models are earlier, rarer and more retro already. Aside from the element of them being thrashed and questionably modified, they were extremely flimsy in a lot of respects, so even when they were relatively new, finding a good example wasn't that easy.

Saying that the previous generation of hot hatches did it better isn't correct. They were more ground-breaking in their day. The next batch just followed on what they did without any major leaps forward until the generation after that came along!

The fact is, the VTS is very raw, basic and a simple, pure formula that hold appeal for that very reason.

Five or ten years ago I remember people on forums saying that the MK5 and MK6 Escort RS2000 would never be a classic or worth anything like the RWD Escort RS's were. Now in the past 18 months they've rocketed in price. Sure, a comparable MK1/MK2 is still worth a lot more, but it's 20 years older and yes it does have more heritage and is a "better" classic, but people will get starry-eyed about cars from their youth that they used to own or wanted to own, but couldn't afford at the time. Also, cars pick up new fans as they age.

I am of the age that would have bought Saxo VTR and a VTS models when they were new-ish and the king of the hill of the Max Power crew. Back in those days I wouldn't have touched any Saxo with a barge pole, but on the very rare occasion you see a tidy, standard, unabused Saxo VTS (I don't see any on the road if I'm honest), I think it looks good. It's also a great experience to drive a good one. It's not massively powerful, it's just light, revvy and with no frills. I'm just a bit too tall and big-footed for one as the pedals are pretty close together, but that aside I've recently become a fan of a car I really couldn't stand when they were all the rage, and that's another thing that makes a modern classic.