First car?????

[lewisvelzian1]

I passed my test about a month ago now and I still haven't got my own car! I really want to get an old car that I can fix up and modify but what would be a good car for a new DIY mechanic?
Cheers
Lewis

[AlexIT]

I'd say anything from the 20th century

[theaxe]

When I was 17 I had a 1967 mk3 Triumph Spitfire. It looked great, was easy to work on (the front wings move out of the way with the bonnet), was zero-tax rated (IIRC) and was very cheap to insure.

That combined with the soft-top and RWD made it great fun...

[kambites]

Something on carbs. Fuel injection is the work of the devil.

Mine was an MGB, but if I was doing it again I'd probably go for a Midget/Sprite.

[jamieduff1981]

Seriously now - I enjoy a tinker but do you actually need the car? Old cars need rather more time and money than most people first think. It's not so much a case of you choosing when to have a fiddle with it, but more that the car dictates when you need to work on it.

Carburretors have a certain appeal - I've got a pair of SUs on the kitchen table at the moment - but they are an extreme faff compared to fuel injection.

What I do know for sure is that when running a car on a budget and with a job, modifications or upgrades seem to just never happen as the volume and cost of remedial work just to keep it going can be relentless.


Do buy something interesting, and I do hope you enjoy it. Just go in with your eyes open though. Something like a Spitfire is a good shout, as might be a Spridget. Both simple and cheap to work on whilst being cute/interesting and cheap to buy. They'll both teach you to drive properly too, so that you don't grow up to be a fanny who thinks you need AWD and dynamic stability control to be safe with a big engine.