What American Classic?

[300bhp/ton]

Darren156 said:

Hi everyone,

By the end of the year I'll have £5000 saved up to buy my very first 'Yank Tank' / 'Muscle Car'.

Now I know that this budget is small but it will be a 'Car For Life', as in that I'll want to spend a fair amount of money to make it something really special and unique over the course of the next 5 years.

I've been looking at Old' Cutlass's, Ford Fairlanes, an onslaught of Chevy's etc etc all of which will need some cosmetic work but all that run, drive and stop OK, with MOT's and TAX etc.

I'm after a working classic that can be enjoyed whilst fixing her up.

Does anybody have any suggestions as to what sort of car to go for, engine etc?

I'm mainly into 2 Door Coupes such as the Cutlass, Chevy Nova's and the such as that to me personifies the true meaning of an American classic. Obviously, if money could afford it I'd love a Mustang or a Charger but sadly I need to get something at the end of the year with a maximum budget of £5000 for a running and tested good condition American car.

I'm not into the 80's at all so would be after something from the 60's or 70's.

The reason I need to get the car at the end of the year is because I'm getting married in September next year and don't want the future missus throwing all of my hard earned car cash into the wedding, lol

All help will be seriously appreciated as the hunt is now officially on!

Thanks in advance,
Darren

Depends how odd ball you want to go and what preference you have on brand and styling.

Also does it need to site 4 or only 2? Do you want to be able to use it or keep it mostly for show use?

Do you want to cruise or have something with good performance potential?

On my list of "want to get" American classics:

1977/8 Pontiac Trans Am


1970.5-1973 Pontiac Trans Am


1979 Pontiac Trans Am


1964-67 Mustang



Saldy too expensive options would include:

1968/9 Dodge Charger 426 Hemi or 440


1963 Buick Rivera


1958 Corvette


1959 Cadillac Coupe de Ville


1971 Plymouth Road Runner

[Darren156]

300BHP, Most of those cars would be in my dream garage as well mate, superb looking cars.

Ideally I'm after something that I can just buy straight up for £5000 and keep for quite a long time. I'm more after style than speed, but would like a bit of grunt to go with the looks.

Upgrading wise I don't think I'll be modifying the engine in anyway on any car I do buy.

I viewed the 71 Camaro last night and it was brilliant, took it for a drive and absolutlely loved it, sounded insane and wasn't too slow either, the kickdown was pretty impressive. He wanted £6500 though which I sadly couldn't come up with.

I've been looking at this one though and offered £5000:
http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C51779

What do you reckon?

[ws6]

a "reluctant" sale by all accounts ?

http://www.pontiac.org.uk/cgi-bin/forum/Blah.pl?b=...

[Darren156]

That's the one I test drove last night! It was brilliant, but a bit out of my price range sadly.

[300bhp/ton]

Darren156 said:

300BHP, Most of those cars would be in my dream garage as well mate, superb looking cars.

Ideally I'm after something that I can just buy straight up for £5000 and keep for quite a long time. I'm more after style than speed, but would like a bit of grunt to go with the looks.

Upgrading wise I don't think I'll be modifying the engine in anyway on any car I do buy.

I viewed the 71 Camaro last night and it was brilliant, took it for a drive and absolutlely loved it, sounded insane and wasn't too slow either, the kickdown was pretty impressive. He wanted £6500 though which I sadly couldn't come up with.

I've been looking at this one though and offered £5000:
http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C51779

What do you reckon?

Me like

[ws6]

Darren156 said:

That's the one I test drove last night! It was brilliant, but a bit out of my price range sadly.

you rekon the reserve is £6500 ? or might not sell and he'll take a lower offer ?

Edited by ws6 on Friday 29th August 10:56

[Darren156]

He said he'd accept offers of around £6500, but I could have got it for about £6200 I reckon. He's only selling it to get his old car back, a 74 Firebird with a brand new V8 350 engine and 5 speed manual gearbox.

The car is near mint, only a few bubbles here and there, the interior is near immaculate as well, it's a blinder of a car. It's numbers matching as well, so everything tallies.

As far as I could tell it was a genuine RS, it had the RS steering wheel, the RS front end, the RS hidden wipers etc. I'd say it should be worth about £8000 at least, but sadly I can't even afford £6000 really.

It's a blinder though, I love it.

[ws6]

£6,260.00
Reserve not met

go on, make him a cheeky offer, he seems desperate to get his old Firebird back ;-)

Actually, tell him you're gonna buy his old firebird unless he sells you the camaro :-)

[patman52]

i bought a 66 charger for 1600, its the best musclecar ever built in my opinion although i have no arguements with the callenger, im runnin it on a 383 magnum, theyre great but a 440 is also good, if you have an extra 3 grand a 426 hemi is the best choice

[moparmick]

I sold a Plymouth Duster last year for £5000, it was a 383 with weld wheels and ran easy 12.7 at the strip.
Look on www.moparuk.com

[thunderbelmont]

If it were me, I'd be looking for a Buick Skylark GS, or if you like absolute muscle - the GSX Stage 1. Not only did it have plenty of urge, it handled, unlike nearly everything else in the muscle car market at the time.

The only issue with the Buick is the fact that their parts are harder to find than Chev/Ponitac/Ford/Mopar in a performance sort of way.

A 67 GTO would be quite nice too...

[JakesterUK]

There was a '69 4-4-2 Oldsmobile in classic american magazine this month with an asking price of £4995, which has got to be a lot of old school muscle for not many ££££..

[roscobbc]

Darren156 said:

300BHP, Most of those cars would be in my dream garage as well mate, superb looking cars.

Ideally I'm after something that I can just buy straight up for £5000 and keep for quite a long time. I'm more after style than speed, but would like a bit of grunt to go with the looks.

Upgrading wise I don't think I'll be modifying the engine in anyway on any car I do buy.

I viewed the 71 Camaro last night and it was brilliant, took it for a drive and absolutlely loved it, sounded insane and wasn't too slow either, the kickdown was pretty impressive. He wanted £6500 though which I sadly couldn't come up with.

I've been looking at this one though and offered £5000:
http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C51779

What do you reckon?

That was a good buy!