Which classic - Max budget £2.5k?

[Skienzy]

Hi all,

I've been itching for a beginner classic as a second car for a while now. Maximum budget will be around £2-2.5k. I have a '98 Rover Mini Cooper Sportspack at the moment so I wouldn't mind something a bit larger although it's not a major issue. Prefer something with a bit of character and fun factor. I'm not that mechanically minded but willing to tinker about if it's an easy fix. I'm 23 so insurance should be ok now, not sure which classic insurers will insure under 25's though, I've not had much luck in my research so far.

Based on having a quick think here's what I've come up with within my budget:

Land Rover Series III
MG Midget/BGT
Triumph Dolemite/Spitfire
Reliant Scimitar (not sure I can get one of these for my price range)
Maybe a American car of some description but again, don't this is possible with my budget.

I would be grateful for any suggesions.

Matt.

[550Hep]

XJS?

[slomax]

character and fun you say...
What about a citroen 2CV? They are very easy to fix and there isn't that much to go wrong with them. They are also pretty cheap to repair if anything does go wrong. They aren't very fast but everyone loves them.

[tangent police]

Do not get a petrol landy. You will fking well regret every last sorry dribble of fuel that you continually pour into it.

[smn159]

Land Rover Series 2a? Pretty much the same thing as a series 3, but with free road tax (unless you can find a very early Series 3).

Triumph Vitesse?

These are supposed to be good fun:-


http://www.pistonheads.co.uk/xforums/post.asp?h=0&...

[smn159]

tangent police said:

Do not get a petrol landy. You will fking well regret every last sorry dribble of fuel that you continually pour into it.

This is true. So much so that I put a 200tdi into mine (straightforward swap) and it now gets 35-40mpg

[Skienzy]

550Hep said:

XJS?

My uncle had one of these a few years ago that he bought for a relatively small sum of money and it turned out to be an absolute money pit. Constantly leaked oil and in the end he sold it to a collector for pittance. I do like them, especially in the V12 guise but I would have to pay alot more than £2.5k to get a decent one I feel.

slomax said:

character and fun you say...
What about a citroen 2CV? They are very easy to fix and there isn't that much to go wrong with them. They are also pretty cheap to repair if anything does go wrong. They aren't very fast but everyone loves them.

Not a fan of these to be honest.

tangent police said:

Do not get a petrol landy. You will fking well regret every last sorry dribble of fuel that you continually pour into it.

I've always had a soft spot for these. Any reason why I'd regret getting one?

smn159 said:

Land Rover Series 2a? Pretty much the same thing as a series 3, but with free road tax (unless you can find a very early Series 3).

Triumph Vitesse?

These are supposed to be good fun:-


http://www.pistonheads.co.uk/xforums/post.asp?h=0&...

Is that a Cappucino? I've heard they are supposed to be very fun and relatively cheap to maintain, even if they do have a slight hair dresser air about them.

[balls-out]

tangent police said:

Do not get a petrol landy. You will fking well regret every last sorry dribble of fuel that you continually pour into it.

Err what? I had a V8 110 and LOVED it.

[louismchuge]

You should get a nice Scimitar for two and a half grand but you'll need to keep an eye out because they don't turn up often

[Harry Flashman]

MGB.

Supposedly boring, but £2500 should buy you a pretty good chrome bumper GT, or a slightly ropey chrome bumper Roadster.

My very average roadster was £2400 10 years ago. I discovered that it was dirt cheap to run, stupidly easy to work on, and easily modified to become a nippy and characterful machine that was reliable and had decent enough handling.

Sadly (or not) I went a bit overborad with it, and it ended up with a 4.3 big valve V8 from a TVR, custom suspension and brakes, and a hillclimby demeanour. But before that transformation, it had been a slightly tatty but very mechanically sound car that was very pretty and an event to drive anywhere.

Still miss it, to be honest.

[Renn Sport]

Volkswagen Beetle?

Vic Elford learnt the Green hell in a hired one before he raced his works Porsche round it.

Nikki Lauda raced one as did Emmerson Fittipaldi and his brother. F1 world champions.

Damon Hill had a 63 that he got sideways around waterloo roundabout for fun. So have I.. but it was only fun after I collected it up.

John Button (jenson's dad) was a rally cross champion in his.

Dan Gurney raced one regularly in southern California.

Ferdinand Porsche chose to base his 'Porsche' cars on the mechanicals and design ethos... which incidently he created.


A car that contains 'awesomeness' [/kungfu panda voice]

[tangent police]

balls-out said:

tangent police said:

Do not get a petrol landy. You will fking well regret every last sorry dribble of fuel that you continually pour into it.

Err what? I had a V8 110 and LOVED it.

Range Rover axles in the 110, or the ratios.

I had a 109 1 Ton 2.6 Petrol. Low ratio axles, lower ratio T box. I couldn't find 9.00 16 tyres, so I was running 7.50's.

It did about 8mpg if you were lucky. You could pull a house down with it but it was fricking bonkers on fuel. It looked cool and was great, but the fuel. Deary me

[R11ysf]

Harry Flashman said:

MGB.

Supposedly boring, but £2500 should buy you a pretty good chrome bumper GT, or a slightly ropey chrome bumper Roadster.

My very average roadster was £2400 10 years ago. I discovered that it was dirt cheap to run, stupidly easy to work on, and easily modified to become a nippy and characterful machine that was reliable and had decent enough handling.

This. Or a Midget. I had both as between 18 and 21 and loved them both. MGB is a bit more practical and better proportioned, but a Midget will surprise a lot of things in the twisties. Neither are ever going to set the world alight speed wise but they will keep up with traffic and in the summer leave the roof permanently down. Also to save someone slashing the roof I never locked any of them in over 2 years.

[300bhp/ton]

Skienzy said:

Hi all,

I've been itching for a beginner classic as a second car for a while now. Maximum budget will be around £2-2.5k. I have a '98 Rover Mini Cooper Sportspack at the moment so I wouldn't mind something a bit larger although it's not a major issue. Prefer something with a bit of character and fun factor. I'm not that mechanically minded but willing to tinker about if it's an easy fix. I'm 23 so insurance should be ok now, not sure which classic insurers will insure under 25's though, I've not had much luck in my research so far.

Based on having a quick think here's what I've come up with within my budget:

Land Rover Series III
MG Midget/BGT
Triumph Dolemite/Spitfire
Reliant Scimitar (not sure I can get one of these for my price range)
Maybe a American car of some description but again, don't this is possible with my budget.

I would be grateful for any suggesions.

Matt.

I like most of your idea's so far.

Landy is not a bad bet for a bit of different fun, and your budget would get you a really good example.

MGB's I like, had a yellow B GT a number of years ago. I would however say a Triumph TR7 is a better car though, and you could buy a really nice TR7 for the money. Only a few months back there was a nice 16v Sprint converted TR7 convertible on Ebay for around £2000. Uprated brakes and suspension too.

I'm also a bit of a fan of the Triumph saloon cars, while the Dolly is an icon, I'm a huge fan of the 2000 and 2500. The wonderful straight 6 rumble is also very nice. There was a very nice 2000 in Retro Rides recently:









And on ebay there was a lovely 2.5PI just over your budget.


If you fancy something American, then it's possible, although a more modern classic might be more appropriate. Such as a Fox Body Mustang or 3rd Gen Fbody. Or even a mid engined Fiero.

[300bhp/ton]

smn159 said:

tangent police said:

Do not get a petrol landy. You will fking well regret every last sorry dribble of fuel that you continually pour into it.

This is true. So much so that I put a 200tdi into mine (straightforward swap) and it now gets 35-40mpg

wow 35mpg from a Tdi?? You must drive it pretty gentle, even more so as you don't have 5th (unless an aftermarket OD). But even so...

my 300Tdi 90 used to do 21-23mpg, but I did rag it, my current 200Tdi Disco (modded) does around 20-22mpg!

[smn159]

300bhp/ton said:

smn159 said:

tangent police said:

Do not get a petrol landy. You will fking well regret every last sorry dribble of fuel that you continually pour into it.

This is true. So much so that I put a 200tdi into mine (straightforward swap) and it now gets 35-40mpg

wow 35mpg from a Tdi?? You must drive it pretty gentle, even more so as you don't have 5th (unless an aftermarket OD). But even so...

my 300Tdi 90 used to do 21-23mpg, but I did rag it, my current 200Tdi Disco (modded) does around 20-22mpg!

It's got rangie diffs and an OD - plus it's a soft top so a fair bit lighter than a Disco!

If I'm absolutely honest I haven't checked it accurately, but others on the series 2 club forum report 35+ mpg and I certainly fill it up a lot less than I did when I had the petrol engine in it so that figure feels right to me.

[ROB 100]

Im for one of these, MK3 Cortina,
i love mine, you can get a good one for under £2000,
most spares still off the shelf, lots of cortina clubs out there to help out,
& the grin factor is fantastic,

[Matthew_Eames]

BMW E30 325i Sport

mabye not as old as you were looking at, but they are a classic, will become more sought after and you won't loose money on one...yes they rust but what classic doesn't?

Great all rounder that you can use everyday.

[oilslick]

As nobody else has said it yet...

MX5

I think a 20 year old MK1 probably qualifies as a classic by now, and you'll find loads within budget.

[nottyash]

I am into jap stuff and love the old Honda CRX or a Mark 1 Toyota MR2.
Both well within that budget