What car for my dad's 3/4 life crisis

[FredClogs]

So my Dad retired at Christmas and has near finished all the decorating jobs and various chores my mum instructed him to do to keep him out of harms way, he's now talking about spending £3 or £4k on a two seat sports car to give him something to drive away as fast as he can from my nagging mother and give him an excuse to dive into the garage of an evening. I think I've persuaded him to avoid anything too old, originally he was talking about and MGB GT or a Spitfire to relive his youth, but I think he's coming around to getting an late 90s early noughties car, I don't want to get dragged into supporting some kind of major restoration or fixing rust, must be a soft top. Obvious choices being...

MX5
MR2
SLK
BMW Z3
Mk1 Audi TT

Any other ideas?

[LordHaveMurci]

Spending a little bit more would get him into an early Boxster perhaps?

Honda S2000?

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/used-cars/fiat/barchet...

Edited by LordHaveMurci on Monday 7th July 13:49

[Tyre Tread]

S series TVR?

[tomsugden]

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Honda-S2000-12-Months-MO...

[Dapster]

He's presumably more interested in picking the paper up in style rather than doing track days so....




http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2014...

[GOG440]

Why keep him away from an mgb or similar?
Lots of routine maintenance to keep him busy in the garage,no nasty electronics to go on the fritz, big social side with runs out etc most of the owners in the same demographic so new friends to make sounds perfect for a hobby car to me.

I know 5 men over 65 that have bought sports cars over the last 18 months. They have bought 1 rubber bumper mgb gt, 1 chrome bumper mgb gt, an mg midget and 2 mx5's. AFAIK the guys with the mg's are having more fun.

[GOG440]

Has he considered a TVR wedge?
The only bit that can rust is the chassis (and that is relatively easy to replace/repair)
The engine/running gear are a mixture of ford and jaguar (and rover if it is a v8) and are relatively easy to find.
How about this?

http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/t...


And even if he is of advancing years my 71 yr old dad with knackered knees/hips can get in and out of mine ok

[g7jhp]

There's lots of choice (especially if you up the budget to £5k).

- Mazda MX5 (Mk1)
- Smart Roadster
- MG MGF
- Porsche Boxster (Mk1)
- Alfa Spider

Personally I'd probably suggest a nice original Mazda MX5 (MK1).

[Davel]

MGB - Chrome bumper!

[V8forweekends]

Fiat Barchetta

[hornetrider]

GOG440 said:

Why keep him away from an mgb or similar?
Lots of routine maintenance to keep him busy in the garage,no nasty electronics to go on the fritz, big social side with runs out etc most of the owners in the same demographic so new friends to make sounds perfect for a hobby car to me.

I know 5 men over 65 that have bought sports cars over the last 18 months. They have bought 1 rubber bumper mgb gt, 1 chrome bumper mgb gt, an mg midget and 2 mx5's. AFAIK the guys with the mg's are having more fun.

Totally agree. Retired bloke won't be interested in lap times or a modern blaster. Let him get something with a bit of character. Spitfire or MGB would be perfect. Saw a gorgeous MGB at the campsite we were at this weekend. Lovely old thing.

[FredClogs]

hornetrider said:

GOG440 said:

Why keep him away from an mgb or similar?
Lots of routine maintenance to keep him busy in the garage,no nasty electronics to go on the fritz, big social side with runs out etc most of the owners in the same demographic so new friends to make sounds perfect for a hobby car to me.

I know 5 men over 65 that have bought sports cars over the last 18 months. They have bought 1 rubber bumper mgb gt, 1 chrome bumper mgb gt, an mg midget and 2 mx5's. AFAIK the guys with the mg's are having more fun.

Totally agree. Retired bloke won't be interested in lap times or a modern blaster. Let him get something with a bit of character. Spitfire or MGB would be perfect. Saw a gorgeous MGB at the campsite we were at this weekend. Lovely old thing.

Thanks for all the replies the TVRs look interesting, bit ugly if you ask me but I'll suggest it, I know he'll say the SL is too big, the S2000 is a possible and the Alfa and Fiat suggestions are also things I hadn't thought of. I doubt he'd accept that a Boxster won't bankrupt him, but it would probably get my money, maybe a 944 is possible.

I've had my fair share of old rusty and badly restored cars (as an aircooled VW fanboy for many years) and my Dad is a bit of a stickler for detail, I can't see something like a Midget or MGB not being stripped down at the first opportunity and costing 2 times it's ticket price in welding and paintwork, maybe I'm wrong. Also my Dad has been driving 2 and 3 litre diesel cars for the last 20 years, he's no Lewis Hamilton but he does drive at a certain pace, although the romance of a 40 year old car and the charm of their look is a draw I'm pretty sure after 20 mins sat at 65 on the M6 he'd change his mind, he did say he'd like a Morgan Plus 4 though (have you seen what those things cost!)

[Tyre Tread]

I say again - TVR S Series - not much he can weld except the chassis and will give him hours of fiddling while allowing him some fun when required.