Classic car. Why do I even want one ?

[JOEPRO]

Don't ask me for advice in this regard. I have 10x classic Mercedes at my house half of which I have restored and the other half (very) long term projects

 

[addjunkie]

Don't ask me for advice in this regard. I have 10x classic Mercedes at my house half of which I have restored and the other half (very) long term projects

And 46 sthil saws.

If it makes you smile keep it, if it doesn't get rid.

 

[Greeves246]

Of all the vehicles I have owned, and there are many, the two I would have now are a Ford Thames 15cwt and a Bond Bug. Just for the memories.

 

[ajlelectronics]

Of all the vehicles I have owned, and there are many, the two I would have now are a Ford Thames 15cwt and a Bond Bug. Just for the memories.

Commercial would have to be a Bedford CA for me. Luxury cruiser, the Granada / Scorpio range and for all round goodness, the Scimitar. One of the three wheelers, possibly a BNP or Mk3 Robin would be a fun car for whizzing around.

 

[sako243]

If I had the money I'd do it just to pizz off Khan and drive it through London with some two stroke oil in the petrol tank for that authentic classic haze

I have and old 1996 Toyota Surf that I absolutely love driving, a "practical classic" if you like. Tax, fuel and insurance are high cost but Fxxk it you only live once.
If only I could afford a 40 year old Landcruiser to avoid all the ULEZ and road tax etc.

That I must admit is the biggest incentive for getting the 6x6 running. I've had to go in to central London a few times recently and being able to do it in a 6 wheel drive Land Rover with a 4.6l petrol V8 doing about 10mpg puts a big grin on my face.

 

[8ob]

None of these old cars fair well sat about, for me it would have to be a practical classic that would get regular use. Still got a hankering for a p4 rover with a diesel conversion.

Bob

 

[bert]

You could always swap it for a more useable modern classic. The early mk1 Golfs are tax and MOT exempt now, so are the early Escort xr3's. Mitubishi FTO's don't take up much space, or a reliable Celica. It might reignite your interest.

If, and it's a big if, we get another classic it will have to be tax and MOT exempt and something where the parts are cheap and easy to get. I enjoy the resto bits but I'm at the stage now where I want to order a new ignition barrel and key for £20 to arrive tomorrow, like you can with a 50 year old Beetle, not pay £100 or trawl ebay.

The barrel won't fit bit you can at least have it next day

 

[graffian]

I have a land rover, that I haven't used for a few years. As the adverts say it was driven here.
Tax was free, it's registered as a tractor so I never MOTed it, Insurance was cheap, it's got a montego
engine in it and mpg is around 40. I didn't look on it as a classic, but as a cheap thing to run.



Of course I could stick a box[sidecar] on the side of my motorbike.

 

[Nick67GT]

Here a typical example of why I enjoy my classic car.

Just back from a 60 mile round trip to a church fete at Stoke Lacy (Herefordshire) home to the Morgan family.

A typical English summer event, with a great variety of stalls and activities, enhanced by the presence of around 60 classic cars, of which a good proportion of which were Morgans. The club to which I belong had been invited along to provide a mix of other makes.



A great afternoon talking to like minded people, as well as soaking up the atmosphere and chatting with those from the locality. Even the Morris men and local ukulele group were entertaining!

No, there weren’t any prizes or judging of the cars. Vehicles were welcome and admired whatever their condition. The organisers were also extremely grateful that we had made the effort to attend as an added attraction to their programme and of course, we had free entry as a ‘thank you’.

OK, it lasted for 4 hours and there was nothing spectacular or out of the ordinary, just nice people raising funds for a worthy cause and having a thoroughly enjoyable time.

At least I did!

 

[ajlelectronics]

A great afternoon talking to like minded people, as well as soaking up the atmosphere and chatting with those from the locality. Even the Morris men and local ukulele group were entertaining!

Let me know next time, I need to start attending shows again, but it's not so much fun having to do everything on my own.

 

[marlinspike]

The barrel won't fit bit you can at least have it next day

Lol. Yes, I've heard the reproduction parts for old VW's vary in quality a bit. At least you can still get them.

 

[truckdoctor]

Been thinking about this a lot just lately. I have had a few over the years, but I guess most of them were just "bangers" at the time, most memorable ones being Series 1 XJ6 and an XJ12, both SWB, A Sunbeam Tiger (scrapped) Opel GT, Datsun 240Z, Triumph Herald with a Rover V8, Opel Manta A, and a lot more mundane stuff.

Anyway, I also have a Rover P5B Coupe, which is the latest one, but has not been out of the garage for 16 years, so its a long time since I have driven a "classic" on the road, which begs the question .......... Do I even want one ?

I mean, whats the point ? What do I do with it when its running ? It conjures up visions of halcyon days of carefree motoring on sunny days with no traffic on out of town roads, blah blah. But the reality of that is more or less non existent, especially down here in the South East, too much traffic, too much concrete and signage etc. What exactly do I use it for ? You can't really do things like go to the seaside etc and leave it in a public car park, as more like as not, it will be damaged, nicked, or vandalised. Maybe I am just being paranoid, but it is not like a modern car, as you spend so much time and money "tittivating", investing some of yourself in it, I guess. To have it damaged or nicked seems much more personal. Then of course, there is the money pit aspect to consider.

Another thing for me, is that they must be kept indoors, as old cars do not fare well when left outside, and covers are not really helpful, especially in the long term, and sometime soon, I will have to lose the garage, as the house will have to be sold, and it will have to live in the garden for the foreseeable future. The garage BTW is at mums house, but she passed a long time ago now, and I have kept it on because of the vehicles (also have a Land Rover that stands in the garden) and the house has basically become a store for all the things I don't really want to get rid of, and have got no space here to keep them. Madness to keep the place on really, as its a drain financially, so realistically it should go.

So part of me says to let it go, and sensibly, and practically, I should, but I know I would never be able to afford another one, coupled with the fact that I have had it long time. It is also in better condition than most, which makes the dilemma worse. I could keep the Land Rover, because its more "me" and can live outside, although they are a magnet for thieves, or just get rid of everything ! But then I will be bored.

What to do, sigh. Sorry, just rambling really, but the bottom line is as I said, What really is the point of having a classic car ?

This may give you inspiration to get the Rover going

 

[Gareth J]

What needs doing to get the rover roadworthy? Would the work add enough value to the vehicle to warrant doing it?

You could start getting it ready for the road, tentatively, some small jobs that can be ticked off. See how that feels. If it feels like dipping the sea dry, maybe it's time to move it on and do without or buy something working.

If you move towards it being roadworthy with excitement, great - get there and see how that is.

Whatever you do, try not to do anything that will give it more inertia than it already has. Selling a vehicle is already challenge enough without it being in bits!

 

[Smallfry]

Irrelevant question, you have one.



Again a strange question, you get in it and you drive it just like you would with a monochrome eurobox. As for "money pit"; that's ridiculous. As a general rule classic parts are far cheaper than eurobox unique parts and far easier to replace.



Whatever gives you that impression? The only compulsion to keep them indoors is for agreed valuation insurance. Otherwise as long as the seals are in good nick, it will be perfectly happy outside.



Connected motoring. Something different, generally easier to maintain, attractive, no Big Brother overseeing you, enjoyment of motoring ( a nice auto gets over the traffic irritations), knowing that the value is going up and not down, free road ransom, sensible insurance costs, pride in driving something that you have a stake in and plenty more that you only get to understand once you ditch the monochrome eurobox fixation.

I certainly do not have a Eurobox fixation, nice and functional that they are, just boring and expensive, especially the depreciation !

Old cars though ARE a money pit, and parts are certainly not cheap, and you need a lot of them. Frequently, as repro parts just do not have the quality.

Sixties cars certainly do not last well if left outside if they are steel bodied, only need a very small leak through a seam somewhere, and its a big problem.

 

[Smallfry]

I can solve your predicament, I have the space and the time, plus I think the P5B.C is possibly the niceist classic to own.

So you can donate it to me, problem solved... pm me with collection details...

I will keep you in mind, but the transport costs will be too high I expect. When my Euromillions cheque arrives, it might turn up on your doorstep.

 

[Duisky]

Left the house last night in the sunshine and not 10 minutes later it was battering down with rain. No doubt others on the road were wondering much about the same as yourself; why would you want to drive an old car, let alone in this! All part of the fun..

 

[Smallfry]

Ah . . .
I owned a Stratos replica for a while 20 odd years ago - very close to an original (panels are rumoured to fit) and it was interesting with a single car garage and a narrow drive.

And I daily drive a 16 plate Dodge Challenger I bought in Houston, on the Goodyear's tyres I had fitted in the US, which gripped fine over there, on anything other then bone dry roads here, it's like driving on ice - hilarious until you need to stop. There's on junction on my commute home where even on tick over, it will not pull away without wheelspin - the traction control is very very relaxed!

But it has to be the most relaxing car I've owned - big power, enormous torque and happily cruises ignoring hills etc. it's a bit jiggly as it's a trac-pack version, but i get in after work, it rocks on the suspension in reaction to the V8 firing up and i start to relax . . . Quite a lot of the commute is window down in all weather's just to listen to whuffle from short shifting at low revs (it's a manual) or the ever increasing urgency to the exhaust bark if it rev it above 1500 up the gears - admittedly not too many of them as by third you are well into lots of points with three more to go

It's pretty rare these days that I get to work, or back home, tense and stressed from the drive

Find a way to do it - 5, 10 yrs time it might be impossible.

Back in the early 90s a mate had a Ford Torino, Starsky and Hutch thing that he bought from a US airman in East Anglia. 400 inch woolly engine. Loads of torque though, and a lazy drive. I had the engine off him when it finally rusted in half across the floor, but I digress ....... I remember it had Polyglas ? Goodyears ? and they were downright dangerous. In the wet, you only had to tickle the throttle and the wheels would spin. Easily and up sideways on a roundabout if not careful.

You are right though, in another ten years, all this may be consigned to the past.

 

[reb78]

I will keep you in mind, but the transport costs will be too high I expect. When my Euromillions cheque arrives, it might turn up on your doorstep.

Can I be in line too?! I also think the p5b coupe is one of the best looking cars ever made...!

 

[Smallfry]

If I had the money I'd do it just to pizz off Khan and drive it through London with some two stroke oil in the petrol tank for that authentic classic haze

I have and old 1996 Toyota Surf that I absolutely love driving, a "practical classic" if you like. Tax, fuel and insurance are high cost but Fxxk it you only live once.
If only I could afford a 40 year old Landcruiser to avoid all the ULEZ and road tax etc.

I have an old Unimog I could do that with. Tax and ULEZ exempt and smokes like the "Sir Nigel Gresley"

 

[Smallfry]

A P5B has pretty much the same running gear as the P6B. The engine can be made super reliable with electronic ignition, fuel injection, electric fuel pump and an oversized aluminium radiator, all readily available.
The gearbox would be a Borg Warner, reliable enough but if you wanted more relaxed cruising it can easily be replaced with a ZF mechanical 4 speed.
I would cheerfully drive such a car to the south of France without worry, it’s a really sensible daily. And the comfort levels are beyond any modern thing. Yeah, that’s what I’d do.

Having had loads of vehicles with the Rover V8, and converting many Land Rovers, I have stripped and rebuilt more than fifty of them, and I have to say I am not a fan. They are certainly not durable or long lasting, although the later ones are better. As for the gearbox, I have 11 ZFs and even now out the back is this ..