classic advice for a work mate please (what car? thread)

[Y282]

right, i'm sat in the office with a mate atm and i've assured him that PH is a fine collection of knowledge and probably the best place to ask so here goes...

he's thinking about some sort of classic for short commutes and occasional jaunts to the country as if it's 1955, etc. must be stylish, his influences french, italian, english, the citroen ds, triumph vitesse, must have boot space for a hamper/tartan rug. you get the idea. number of doors not important but prefer 2, hard top or soft top. price range from 750 to 3k.

any thoughts chaps?

[vixen1700]

http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C234386

http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C235267

http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C235480

Edited by vixen1700 on Friday 8th July 12:03

Edited by vixen1700 on Friday 8th July 12:06

[Y282]

vixen1700 said:

http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C234386

http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C235267

http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C235480

Edited by vixen1700 on Friday 8th July 12:03

Edited by vixen1700 on Friday 8th July 12:06

i reckon the amazon might be the most in his style. i'll show him it. cheers!

[Faust66]

Tell him to go for the Amazon... great cars: well built, quick (ish) and easy to work on.

I'm biased as I have one myself.

[DazBock]

That exact Amazon has appeared in at least 3 what car threads today! No suprise really they are very pretty.

I myself would go for the Dolly. I think they are fantastic but then I am biased cos of the spit.

A Triumph 1500 Spitfire and a MK 3 GT6 are both in budget;

http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C225194

http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C223290

[greeneggsnsam]

God I want that GT6 so much. It looks amazing for that money- must be something wrong with it!

[Y282]

think he's more interested in style than performance tbh. likes the sort of cars that would have appeared in b&w french films, that kind of thing.

[greeneggsnsam]

Alfa then, for style?

http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C156620

[Y282]

that's more his thing, i've just sent him the link cheers

[greeneggsnsam]

Shame that one's been sold but with a bit of looking around there must be more. It certainly has style!

[anonymous-user]

I wish that I hadn't clicked on the Dolomite link. Does anyone have any experience of the Sprint? I have been thinking that I need to put less wear and tear on my Jensen (10,000 miles of four season driving in the last year have taken their toll on its bodywork and some mechanicals), and save a bit of money on petrol (20 something MPG would be heaven) so might need a new (old) daily driver.

[Y282]

Breadvan73 said:

I wish that I hadn't clicked on the Dolomite link. Does anyone have any experience of the Sprint? I have been thinking that I need to put less wear and tear on my Jensen (10,000 miles of four season driving in the last year have taken their toll on its bodywork and some mechanicals), and save a bit of money on petrol (20 something MPG would be heaven) so might need a new (old) daily driver.

never owned one but i've heard the engine is a bit highly strung on them, needs constant retuning to keep right. also they're not the most rust free thing ever built. i don't think it'd be a very strong choice for a daily driver.

[anonymous-user]

Thanks for your wise words. I shall calm down!

[Y282]

dunno if someone who owns one could shed more light, but that's what i've heard.

[anonymous-user]

My dad agrees, and he worked at Triumph in the 70s. The Sprints were good cars, he says, but not easy to live with, so better as a weekend toy than as a workhorse. I might go bonkers on some Lancia instead (yes, I know!), and anyway four door cars are not the thing for louchely dishevelled forty-something divorced dudes. OP, I am sorry for hijacking your friend's thread!

[cazzer]

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Vauxhall-Cresta-Luxe-1972-/1...

Very stylish

[varsas]

DazBock said:

That exact Amazon has appeared in at least 3 what car threads today! No suprise really they are very pretty.

I myself would go for the Dolly. I think they are fantastic but then I am biased cos of the spit.

A Triumph 1500 Spitfire and a MK 3 GT6 are both in budget;

http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C225194

http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C223290

Always puts me off when you see an advert for a spit and the roof isn't stowed properly...

[C8PPO]

Y282 said:

Breadvan73 said:

I wish that I hadn't clicked on the Dolomite link. Does anyone have any experience of the Sprint? I have been thinking that I need to put less wear and tear on my Jensen (10,000 miles of four season driving in the last year have taken their toll on its bodywork and some mechanicals), and save a bit of money on petrol (20 something MPG would be heaven) so might need a new (old) daily driver.

never owned one but i've heard the engine is a bit highly strung on them, needs constant retuning to keep right. also they're not the most rust free thing ever built. i don't think it'd be a very strong choice for a daily driver.

Back in the day, I had a few of these (well OK, 6 in total, not all Sprints but all variants of the same car). At the time there was nothing to touch them in the class, for speed and comfort/luxury, and they were certainly excellent daily drives. I do wonder how much of that is rose-tints these days. A little while back, there was one for sale near me, looked good from the outside, new MOT, etc, and it was up for £1850 as I recall. So the price on this one may be a touch sharp?

The engine issue is well documented, and as long as you look after it, it will be fine. I think (someone correct me) that there is a mod kit available now to lessen the probability of the overheating/head-warp problem. Other than that, it just requires regular carb, etc, tunes in teh same way that any 30+ year old car which ran points and twin carbs and produced respectable-for-it's-time power would do.

Rust certainly can be an issue though. I hung on to my last one for several years, garaged but not touched, and come the day I finally decided to start on it I cut one sill off to replace it and the steelwork inside was so far gone that I decided to scrap the car, the only time I've ever done so. Sad sad day!

[Y282]

slightly different vehicle (very different in fact) but the only car i ever had to scrap was my 1968 triumph 1300tc in old english white. was a student at the time and couldn't afford to fix her, kept the plates for nostalgia tho. they're still hanging in my garage, many, many years later.

lovely little car, lots of character and very english feel to it.

looked like this:

[anonymous-user]

I shall leave the Dolomite, as I already have two quick in their day cars with slightly nervy twin carb setups to faff about with, and probably need to think 1980s if I am going for something more everyday than my current 1970s heaps.