Cheap motoring with "classics"

s_b

old cars are rubbish as forgotmyname says
do i want to run an old car to save 10 bob?
no
why not?
because i had them when they were common and they were rubbish
all ok for a sunday tootle of course
then back under the cover
i wont entertain old cars and the thousands of problems they had and this was back when everyscrapyard had loads of the things for bits to scavenge

sorry non starter idea in my opinion and come the first cold spell thats what most of them will be
non starters

CrazyRatLady_2

I'd like to weigh in on this.

I currently own a 1994 VW Golf CL - I got it for free (it was my mum's, she gave it to me 3 years ago when she emigrated and I passed my test), but it's probably worth about £300 as the body work is pretty dented and rusty because people have a tendancy to drive into it then drive off! Over the time I've had it its cost me approx: £700 in tax, £2300 in insurance (this years was £532) and about £350 getting it through MOT. My insurance is due for renewal in April and will probably be circa £450, MOT is due in August and it won't pass without a fair amount of money being spent on it. Basically it's not economically viable to keep going with this car much longer.

In 7 days I'm picking up my new, and for the mean time, second car - it's a 1969 ford capri so it's tax exempt, it has 9 months left on the MOT (with no advisories from the last one) and it's in good solid condition. Only 'problems' are the paint has been badly touched up (in the wrong shade) on the front of the bonnet and the interior is pretty knackered. I paid £2.5k for it and the insurance cost me £300 with a named driver.

Plus points for the Capri: no tax costs, a head turner, generally easier to work on than a modern car when something goes wrong, shouldn't be much less economical on petrol that my Golf (both 1.6l)
Negatives: attractive target for theft, will likely need more parts replacing than a new car, no mod cons (if that's something that bothers you)

Aside from that my boyfriend owned a 1974 classic mini - he had it for 3.5 years, bought it for £500 and spent about £6000 having various body panels replaced, bigger custom built engine etc. Then it was stolen in October and we got a £4.5k insurance pay out. He now has a 1976 leyland mini pickup that cost him £3.4k and is currently being totally rebuilt in our garage. Obviously both those cars require tax payment so no savings there, but they are good on petrol, fun to drive and look great.

Overall I prefer classic cars - they can save you money on some aspects, although in others they can cost more. They hold their value and are fairly easy to mantain. The biggest downside as someone pointed out is that they are easy to steal - we've learnt our lesson (ie. too many people want to take what's not theirs rather than work for a living) so both our 'new' classics are going to be armed to the hilt with safety features which will of course have an initial outlay. I think classics tend to instill a certain amount of pride in people - they're more likely to take care of them and people are more likely to be careful around them.

Not to mention most modern cars look the same - boring boxes with ugly as sin back ends. There is so much variety among the classics and some of them are real beauties.

mikey72

We use ours as daily drives, so no major rebuilds, just kept in reasonable, rather than concourse.

I couldn't really say they were dear to run, but then none of our cars usually require any major work for the mot.

Certainly classics are more interesting.

As to the insurance, go for agreed value, then hopefully if you need it, you'll get the right payout.

motorguy

justjohn wrote: »

What about old land rovers?
Parts are plentifully and have a great user base
Built like tanks.

Drawbacks - heating,fuel consumption and comfort (however that can be sorted)

Mind you they are easy too nick lol

Chassis rot is a big problem.

Do your homework on what to look for first, but can be good cars.

mikey72

The bulkhead is the killer for a lot of them.

Notmyrealname

Joe_Horner wrote: »

With a little "updating" of their corrosion protection (essentially cavity and underbody wax) and the washing you should give any car when there's salt on the roads, there's no reason at all that they shouldn't last. When they were new did people have to lock them up when winter came???

No. And at 10 years old they were having sills welded up, spring hangers repaired and chassis legs replaced or they were in the scrapyard.

verityboo

There is also an advantage for anyone who likes to drive their car to the limit

The racing driver James Hunt drove an Austin A35 van for various reasons (including financial) but loved driving it until his death in 1993 as he had to drive it flat out just to keep up with the old granny in more modern cars pottering to the shops (and no risk to his license)

Joe_Horner

Notmyrealname wrote: »

No. And at 10 years old they were having sills welded up, spring hangers repaired and chassis legs replaced or they were in the scrapyard.

As are 10 year old Ford KAs, Nissan Micras and Vauxhall Corsas today!

On the other hand, I can't remember the last time I came across a broken road spring on an old car (pretty regular on many moderns thanks to high tech materials, light-as-possible springs and overweight bodies)

Joe_Horner

s_b wrote: »

old cars are rubbish as forgotmyname says
do i want to run an old car to save 10 bob?
no
why not?
because i had them when they were common and they were rubbish
all ok for a sunday tootle of course
then back under the cover
i wont entertain old cars and the thousands of problems they had and this was back when everyscrapyard had loads of the things for bits to scavenge
sorry non starter idea in my opinion and come the first cold spell thats what most of them will be
non starters

Odd - remember those "cold spells" we had the last couple of winters? Neither of ours at the time (one Daf one Triumph) had a single problem starting - and the Daf is running 6V electrics with dynamo charging with halogen headlamps, halogen spots and a 40W stereo (running through a 12v converter).

Reliability is entirely down to how they're maintained. Personally, seeing as I enjoy working on them, an hour or so servicing every 3 or 4 months isn't really a hardship!

We also had no problem getting traction in the snow when everyone elses TC was telling them to stay at home

mikey72

Joe_Horner wrote: »

...........Reliability is entirely down to how they're maintained. Personally, seeing as I enjoy working on them, an hour or so servicing every 3 or 4 months isn't really a hardship!.........

I think that's the difference.
Either you enjoy working on cars for the odd hour, or you trundle it off to the garage, and read the magazines in the waiting area.
If you're the latter, it's a run of the mill car and kwikfit.

The mini never missed a beat last winter, even when we had had to dig it out of the snow.

We've five vehicles, they see the garage for the mot, and that's about it.