Classics ?

Pixbarmy

Pixbarmy

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I often look at the listings for "classic" cars and motorcycles and am amazed at the prices. Many of these "classics" were rubbish when they were new. I remember lusting after a Ford Capri, then hiring one and being sadly disappointed! My old Wolseley 1500 was far more comfortable, despite being a bit slower. Handling was very similar!!!! Roll on the corners and no rear end grip! Even the Honda 50 has "classic" status and a price to match! I must be getting old! I wasn't disappointed when I bought my first "Grace, Space and Pace" S type 3.8 and cried a bucket when a practical, modern alternative "had to" be purchased (according to SWMBO)!
 
Pixbarmy said:
My old Wolseley 1500 was far more comfortable, despite being a bit slower.
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Indeed. I inherited my father in law's 1500 and it was a pretty decent car for the 1960s.
 
Pixbarmy said:
I remember lusting after a Ford Capri, then hiring one and being sadly disappointed!
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I had loads of varying marques ( all 3.0l) back in the day, then there was the 2.8 is (injection special) wider wheels LSD was a totally different animal from the normal models,
including its predecessor, the 2.8i ( pepper pot wheels ) Great fun.
My only regret was that I couldn't afford the Brooklands special back then, and certainly not now.
 
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Pixbarmy said:
I often look at the listings for "classic" cars and motorcycles and am amazed at the prices. Many of these "classics" were rubbish when they were new. I remember lusting after a Ford Capri, then hiring one and being sadly disappointed! My old Wolseley 1500 was far more comfortable, despite being a bit slower. Handling was very similar!!!! Roll on the corners and no rear end grip! Even the Honda 50 has "classic" status and a price to match! I must be getting old! I wasn't disappointed when I bought my first "Grace, Space and Pace" S type 3.8 and cried a bucket when a practical, modern alternative "had to" be purchased (according to SWMBO)!
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It's an expensive game now that's for sure. I will agree a lot of stuff is overpriced though! But people have anything that's over 20 years old now and it's a 'classic' Many years ago something over 20 years old was 'an old banger'

I'm glad I got in when I did really but if I had to hey into it now I'm not sure I could justify the costs involved.
 
For around five years, my mate and I used to buy (auctions mainly) and sell classic British (mostly) cars, doing them up at evenings and weekends. I wish I had some of them now. My first car was an 1850HL Triumph Dolomite in Inca Yellow with black velour seats and wood trim. My favourite was a 1972 BMW 2002 which I bought for £220, wonder what that would be worth now.
 
I have an old Honda Cub over in the Greece house parked up as a resto project when i retire over there next year , they are very much in vogue now, its in reasonable shape but still cost me close to 1000 Euros plus the horrendous back DVLA taxes I had to pay to register it, in Greece if you take a bike/car of the road for 10 years and then put it back on wether you have used it or not you have to pay all the back tax on it , I had to pay 12 years about 300 Euros just for that.
 
Nostalgia is an expensive luxury.

Our son is quite inclined to cars of the 80s and 90s, and I give him some good-natured teasing about the old sheds he's desired and sometimes driven. Japanese vehicles especially seem to have a draw for some.
 
Many of my old bangers are now expensive classics: Ford Anglia 1200e, Ford Anglia 1000, Sunbeam Stiletto (wish I still had that), Ford Capri 2.0l Mk1 Facelift, Porsche 924Lux, although some are best forgotten (Renault 10, Vauxhall Cavalier, Vauxhall Carlton). I have been tempted recently to get something classic but modestly priced as a retirement project (if I ever retire) as there are some relatively modern but classic cars around.
 
I guess we've owned a few classics: Triumph MkIII Spitfire and a Hillman Imp, 3 Citroen CXs, 2 Deux Chevaux, some might also consider a MkIII Cortina Ghia to be a classic too.
 
ancient_mariner said:
I guess we've owned a few classics: Triumph MkIII Spitfire and a Hillman Imp,
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The Imp is possibly the most aptly named car of all time, as in "one of Satan's imps"!

I swear I could still pull out the engine, detach the head, clean the head and engine surfaces, fit a new gasket and put it all back together in record time. :sulk:

After doing it four or possibly five times, I found an engine out of a breakers yard for £25, put it in and never had another problem. :naughty:
 
Wasn't the Imp a mould breaker in that it was a "first" with an all alloy engine???
 
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Think the lesser marques become more desirable when the true classic marques become prohibitively expensive to the majority.
 
I’m into bikes rather than cars but the same thing applies especially over lockdown prices went mad as people were looking for something to do up
I bought my LC the bike in my sig, a long time ago for £400 it’s worth silly money now , wouldn’t sell it anyway it’s far too much fun to ride
 
True classics,
Volvo P1800s in red, cow horn bumpers
TR2 long door in midnight blue.
Both didn't cost that much and sold for not that much, at the time.
I shudder to think what they would be worth now.
 
AndrewFlannigan said:
The Imp is possibly the most aptly named car of all time, as in "one of Satan's imps"!

I swear I could still pull out the engine, detach the head, clean the head and engine surfaces, fit a new gasket and put it all back together in record time. :sulk:

After doing it four or possibly five times, I found an engine out of a breakers yard for £25, put it in and never had another problem. :naughty:
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My Stiletto went through three engines from breakers yards before I found one that wouldn't fail in a horrible way. My mechanic loved seeing me turn up on a breakdown truck!
 
my mums cousin has an old e-type jag, a ford lotus cortina ( with 4 spare engines) and a mark 1 landrover in his garage piled high with junk in and on top of them , he will as he says" get round to do them up one day, he sold a ford cortina consul last year at Mathewsons auctions that had 20 miles on the clock, never registered and still had the original air in the tyres and oil in the engine ( he initially bought it as a donor for the above ford lotus)..they will be worth a bob or 2 but he has no inclination to do anything with them, he does tinker with the landrover to be fair...ive a pic on my phone but its too big for the server to show you..
 
as i said under all the crap piled on top and inside is the jag, just at the back of it under more crap you can just see the lotus

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About 20+ years ago the VSCC (vintage racing Car Club) were concerned about the number of vintage cars being brought up by pension funds etc as an investment.

Luckily there are still some Vintage car collectors who still feel they need to be used.

I know of one collector who has an 1898 Benz as part of his collection, Insured for 3M+ but in reality priceless
 
munch said:
About 20+ years ago the VSCC (vintage racing Car Club) were concerned about the number of vintage cars being brought up by pension funds etc as an investment.

Luckily there are still some Vintage car collectors who still feel they need to be used.

I know of one collector who has an 1898 Benz as part of his collection, Insured for 3M+ but in reality priceless
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A few years ago, I was chatting to a VSCC member about this and she thought that the current (private) owners of the cars would carry on using them as they do (this was at a hillclimb meeting) but the non-racing offspring very much had their eyes on the bottom line. Many of the current owners picked the cars up for a song when they were just obsolete old cars but some are now worth significant sums. A quirk in the CGT laws means that cars aren't subject to it (Capital Gains Tax) since they're expected to wear out which makes them attractive investments.

The only car I've owned which I think is a "proper" classic was a Mk 1 "Frogeye" Sprite but I've seen almost all the models I've owned in classic car shows...
 
Back when “classic cars” were just “cars you bought because they were cheap in the 70s” I had several : Ford Anglia, Vauxhall Victor, AH Sprite, MG Midget. Don’t think I paid more than £85 for any of them and the Midget was £25 !

The one thing I really regret selling though is a Velocette Venom 500cc bike, bought for £90, sold for £135 and thought I’d made a killing. Beautiful thing and worth silly money these days of course.
 
I would love to own a classic. I kind of do, but we'll get to that.

Car wise, my first car was a MK5 Cortina. I often look around the classic sites to see how much they are now, prices vary wildy but £3.5k gets you started.

I would though love to get my hands on a Mk2 Cavalier. I owned 3 or 4 after the Cortina, my first one was a 1.3 L, I worked my way up the models, ending up with an SRi 130. That was a flying machine, by the day's standards. I would love another SRi.

My potential classic is my motorbike. It doesn't quite have classic status just yet but it is 20 years old now. It still looks fresh and modern, calling it a classic doesn't quite feel right. It's a Honda CBR F4i, in Rossi colours, to mark his 500CC Championship. It actually seems to be going up in value at the moment. I'm sure I could sell it now for more than I paid for it 3 years ago. Rossi has retired too, which makes my bike a bit more collectable.

Off the motorised theme, I had a Raleigh Chopper, the black one with silver decals, I loved that thing. They are going for silly money now. With hindsight, I wish I'd kept mine, not because of its potential value but because I would just love to still have it.
 
LCPete said:
I’m into bikes rather than cars but the same thing applies especially over lockdown prices went mad as people were looking for something to do up
I bought my LC the bike in my sig, a long time ago for £400 it’s worth silly money now , wouldn’t sell it anyway it’s far too much fun to ride
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I bought my Vincent Comet and Garrard sidecar for £15 as a non-runner, before my 15th birthday. I did a nut and bolt rebuild and repaint job and sold it for............................... £55! I took my test on a Capri 80 scooter and went straight to the Vincent! It was old fashioned and had no street cred with my mates, so, under pressure from (mainly) mum and dad, it was sold and replaced with a Wolseley 1500. Not bad when others had minis and A30's!
DAK1AR0.jpg

I recently found it again, after it had been over the pond and back in the intervening years. Trouble was, SWMBO wouldn't let me buy it back!
 
I think the reality is that all old cars were terrible compared to those today - back in the 60's and 70's some cars were just about OK and most were terrible, and there are no bad cars available today.

The new ones have no character but are safe, economical, comfortable and efficient. The old cars had plenty of character but it was bad character. . .

My worst was also my first, a sit-up-and-beg Ford Popular with a max speed of 50 (the speedo said 70), rod-operated brakes, it couldn't corner and the diff used to break at the drop of a hat. Even top cars were rubbish, I used to drive an Austin-Healey 3000, but my VW Golf goes 30 mph faster and uses half the fuel.
 
I stripped and rebuilt a Ford Pop prior to my 17th birthday, ready for myself but my sister's car broke, so the Pop was commandeered into action. It ran backwards and forwards (literally !) over the Pennines for a couple of years whilst she was at college, so I must have done a half decent job. The skinny tyres were great for snow driving and she would often pass "better" cars going up t'big 'ill in the days before the M62. The "Woolworths" black, hand painted gloss did a sterling job at keeping tin worm at bay! She got a good price for it when she part exe'd it for an Anglia estate when the needs arose!
 
Not that I have owned either of these two.....

I knew a guy with an Austin Healey 3000, it had an annoying habit of jumping out of gear...his solution was to machine an new gearstick knob out ot silver steel, it weighed about 3lbs i.e. enough weight up counter the jumping out of gear!

Re: Triumph TR 6
I had the opportunity to drive it and it was IMO quite a good car. A real kick in the rear when accelerating:). I was due to share the drive to a north Wales climbing trip but it was cancelled:(

As for me....
I had 1966 my MG Midget and after that a 1959 MG Magnette ZB Baritone
The Midget drove like it wax on rails on Semperit tyres.
The Magnette for all its money-pit needs was a lovely touch of class, even on its cross-ply tyres the ride was good and it cornered well.
NB a pity it was so strong, it was a favourite of the demolition Derby crowd. They only made 36,000 across the ZA, ZB & ZB Varitone.

oh, a school mate turned up a pub get together one day and said he had got his first car a Morris Minor Traveller......he saying it was so easy to start on the hand crank! We gathered round and he showed us.....we who knew what his naive joy meant said how well does it drive "not much power he said..........and does use a little oil. ..." He did not appreciate what low/lack of compression meant :LOL:
 
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Garry Edwards said:
I think the reality is that all old cars were terrible compared to those today - back in the 60's and 70's some cars were just about OK and most were terrible, and there are no bad cars available today.

The new ones have no character but are safe, economical, comfortable and efficient. The old cars had plenty of character but it was bad character. . .

My worst was also my first, a sit-up-and-beg Ford Popular with a max speed of 50 (the speedo said 70), rod-operated brakes, it couldn't corner and the diff used to break at the drop of a hat. Even top cars were rubbish, I used to drive an Austin-Healey 3000, but my VW Golf goes 30 mph faster and uses half the fuel.
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Dont forget the populars trick of the windscreen wipers going slower the faster you went
 
Brendan Mulachy said:
Dont forget the populars trick of the windscreen wipers going slower the faster you went
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That's partly right.
Most Fords of that era had wipers that were powered by inlet manifold depression, which all but disappears when the throttle is opened. And when windscreen washers came in they worked on the same principle. Later models with disc brakes worked better because of course they had a vacuum tank.

The wrong bit is that the sit-up-and-beg Popular (103W model I think) only had a single wiper, hand-operated by the driver. And the little lever that had to be moved side-to-side was quite sharp.
 
I was only young when we had a pop..i do remember my mum having to open the glove box and hand operate the windscreen wipers in heavy rain
 
As for the comments above about Wolseleys, my Grandfather had a Wolseley 24/80, which always seemed to me to be a nicer car than anything my parents had, even though it was a bit older. And it had that grille badge that lit up, which fascinated me no end......
 
At one time my Dad had a Morris Oxford, which I part learned to drive in, but passed my test in a MKI Escort.
My first car was an A35 van. I doubt that 2 out of 3of those would be classics, but its just a memory from the past.
 
I learned to drive in an Austin 1100. Nothing more I can say about that, except that I fail to understand why the Police had them at the time.
My ex-father in law had an A35 pickup for work (he had a sheet metal works), said he was once stopped for speeding in it in a 30mph zone, he told the copper to take the vehicle and see if he could get more than 30 out of it as he never had! He also had a Ford Corsair in beautiful nick, I doubt he capitalised on its value now when he traded it in for a Datsun Sunny.
 
Cobra said:
At one time my Dad had a Morris Oxford, which I part learned to drive in, but passed my test in a MKI Escort.
My first car was an A35 van. I doubt that 2 out of 3of those would be classics, but its just a memory from the past.
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TBH, all 3 of those would now qualify as "classics". IIRC, James Hunt used to have an A35 van as his daily driver since he could drive it flat out pretty much everywhere and not get into too much trouble!
 
lindsay said:
I learned to drive in an Austin 1100. Nothing more I can say about that, except that I fail to understand why the Police had them at the time.
My ex-father in law had an A35 pickup for work (he had a sheet metal works), said he was once stopped for speeding in it in a 30mph zone, he told the copper to take the vehicle and see if he could get more than 30 out of it as he never had! He also had a Ford Corsair in beautiful nick, I doubt he capitalised on its value now when he traded it in for a Datsun Sunny.
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I used to drive either an A30 or A35 van, company car. It was horrible. In fact. I pretty much learned to drive in it, very unofficially. I was the "boy" and assistant at weddings, my boss was a good photographer but could never refuse a drink, and sometimes couldn't even walk back to the van, let alone drive it. I was stopped by police once, I explained that I had to drive it because he was drunk and the officer told me to finish my journey but not to drive again until I had a licence. How times have changed!
Brendan Mulachy said:
I was only young when we had a pop..i do remember my mum having to open the glove box and hand operate the windscreen wipers in heavy rain
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Maybe a different model, I can't see how the driver could reach into the glove box anyway. My one had the wiper lever directly behind the wiper, above the steering wheel. This is the model https://www.classicandsportscar.ltd...03E's were manufactured,and 30bhp at 3000 rpm.
 
Box Brownie said:
Not that I have owned either of these two.....

I knew a guy with an Austin Healey 3000, it had an annoying habit of jumping out of gear...his solution was to machine an new gearstick knob out ot silver steel, it weighed about 3lbs i.e. enough weight up counter the jumping out of gear!

Re: Triumph TR 6
I had the opportunity to drive it and it was IMO quite a good car. A real kick in the rear when accelerating:). I was due to share the drive to a north Wales climbing trip but it was cancelled:(

As for me....
I had 1966 my MG Midget and after that a 1959 MG Magnette ZB Baritone
The Midget drove like it wax on rails on Semperit tyres.
The Magnette for all its money-pit needs was a lovely touch of class, even on its cross-ply tyres the ride was good and it cornered well.
NB a pity it was so strong, it was a favourite of the demolition Derby crowd. They only made 36,000 across the ZA, ZB & ZB Varitone.

oh, a school mate turned up a pub get together one day and said he had got his first car a Morris Minor Traveller......he saying it was so easy to start on the hand crank! We gathered round and he showed us.....we who knew what his naive joy meant said how well does it drive "not much power he said..........and does use a little oil. ..." He did not appreciate what low/lack of compression meant :LOL:
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I had a Midget as well, the one after the frogeye model. It had sliding perspex side windows and no locks on the doors (made by MG like this! ) So to get in you just slid the window open and reached inside to pull the door handle. Then some idiot of a previous owner had glued the ignition key into the barrel, so the only way of stopping the thing being stolen was to use a krooklock. Not that anyone in their right mind would’ve stolen it… it was hand painted in black household gloss by Stevie Wonder in a sandstorm and was absolutely riddled with rust. I ran it for about 6 months before it spectacularly failed its MOT on about 15 different things. Somehow I still got £20 for it as part ex on an Austin 1100.
 
boogie man said:
I had a Midget as well, the one after the frogeye model. It had sliding perspex side windows and no locks on the doors (made by MG like this! ) So to get in you just slid the window open and reached inside to pull the door handle. Then some idiot of a previous owner had glued the ignition key into the barrel, so the only way of stopping the thing being stolen was to use a krooklock. Not that anyone in their right mind would’ve stolen it… it was hand painted in black household gloss by Stevie Wonder in a sandstorm and was absolutely riddled with rust. I ran it for about 6 months before it spectacularly failed its MOT on about 15 different things. Somehow I still got £20 for it as part ex on an Austin 1100.
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Ah! the Austin 1100.....dad bought one, effectively for me & my brother. The deposit for that was a very tatty & rusty Minor 1000 that my brother bought.

As for oddities, my Midget had seen a couple of resprays. I learned in heavy rain one day that a previous owner had not put a few bulkhead grommets back properly......so it also rained inside!!!

We did all own servicing on the Austin including clutch change without an engine hoist :)

Actually, the Midget and Magnette all had the TLC from me.
 
Dale. said:
I would love to own a classic. I kind of do, but we'll get to that.

Car wise, my first car was a MK5 Cortina. I often look around the classic sites to see how much they are now, prices vary wildy but £3.5k gets you started.

I would though love to get my hands on a Mk2 Cavalier. I owned 3 or 4 after the Cortina, my first one was a 1.3 L, I worked my way up the models, ending up with an SRi 130. That was a flying machine, by the day's standards. I would love another SRi.

My potential classic is my motorbike. It doesn't quite have classic status just yet but it is 20 years old now. It still looks fresh and modern, calling it a classic doesn't quite feel right. It's a Honda CBR F4i, in Rossi colours, to mark his 500CC Championship. It actually seems to be going up in value at the moment. I'm sure I could sell it now for more than I paid for it 3 years ago. Rossi has retired too, which makes my bike a bit more collectable.

Off the motorised theme, I had a Raleigh Chopper, the black one with silver decals, I loved that thing. They are going for silly money now. With hindsight, I wish I'd kept mine, not because of its potential value but because I would just love to still have it.
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I love the idea of re-owning the cars of my youth, but there's always the thought that they wouldn't be terribly reliable and require some kind of attention.....daily.
Saying that though, what could go wrong with a MK5 cortina that you couldn't fix with garden hose or a pair of tights..lol
Anyway, I had a MK3 first, then a MK5 and my comparable Cavalier SRi was an Opel Manta GTE.
Had a Lotus Sunbeam in and amongst but I hellas would not like to be maintaining that in 2023.
My Chopper was red, with yellow decals, I remember the black ones but the decals weren't just silver, they were chrome.
The thing with Choppers is, we just don't fit them anymore, just like I didn't fit my sisters Chipper back in the day...:)
 
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