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Buying an everyday classic

The problem with VW Beetles, etc. is too much aftermarket support. There's a million suppliers, the competition is ruthless and the market will only suffer the cheapest possible price and therefore lowest possible quality.
 
DownwardDog said:
The problem with VW Beetles, etc. is too much aftermarket support. There's a million suppliers, the competition is ruthless and the market will only suffer the cheapest possible price and therefore lowest possible quality.
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I know what you are saying.
If I want replacement panels I either have to buy dogshit Chinese steel panels or buy a doner vehicle and cannibalise it.

But at least there are parts available. A 50 year old vehicle yet quick and easy access to replacement parts (whatever the quality) is a thumbs up from me.

I can't imagine not being able to use my vehicle untill after I've been to a number of autojumbles (as and when they crop up) to find a part.
 
DownwardDog said:
The problem with VW Beetles, etc. is too much aftermarket support. There's a million suppliers, the competition is ruthless and the market will only suffer the cheapest possible price and therefore lowest possible quality.
Click to expand...
I only really use one place for my Volvo which is extremely good with all parts coming from either Sweden or Holland.

Not that I really need much apart from yearly oil filters, but a new radiator turned up in 24 hours earlier in the year.


Simon always sends a little selection of sweets with each order too, which is nice. :)
 
I think my R32 GT-R had the best aftermarket support of any vehicle I have ever owned. I could get anything for it and the part was invariably very high quality but had to be obtained at vast expense from Japan.

I think I might sell my Hachiroku and get an R35.
 
It's not a classic unless the parts are virtually impossible to get hold of.
I have been trying to get a piece of trim for my Alfa for 2 years now 🥺
 
I have been looking at this, oh it's a TVR, great performance, not.
www.bridgeclassiccarscompetitions.co.uk

Enter to win our 1976 TVR 2500M!

Our 1976 TVR 2500M beautifully shows off the bespoke nature of the marque and celebrates the handmade nature of British motoring history. Enter now!
www.bridgeclassiccarscompetitions.co.uk www.bridgeclassiccarscompetitions.co.uk
 
Might not be great performance from that Triumph 2.5 straight six, but like all TVRs, it'll be fun to drive. :)
 
I know it's not a true TVR but it's more correct than the later ones. It would be better if it were the 3 litre. It's looks fun but lacks in performance, certainly in comparison to what I already have 😁
 
It is a true TVR, a Martin Lilley era car, made in Blackpool with an M Series chassis, can't get any truer. 😄
 
Probably better done than the Longbridge original. :D

I really like the interior colour. :)
 
Griff said:
This just popped up on one of my Facebook groups, looks adorable and a decent price for a nice Traveller. :)
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Chacun à son goût and all that but I absolutely despise that. They are a miserable driving experience and basically have to be completely rebuilt every 8 years. The French cars of that era do budget motoring so much better with a mixture of quirkiness and practicality.

My first GF had a Morris 1000 and I often had to re-engineer the ignition system using only the contents of her handbag before we could go anywhere in it.
 
DownwardDog said:
Chacun à son goût and all that but I absolutely despise that. They are a miserable driving experience and basically have to be completely rebuilt every 8 years. The French cars of that era do budget motoring so much better with a mixture of quirkiness and practicality.

My first GF had a Morris 1000 and I often had to re-engineer the ignition system using only the contents of her handbag before we could go anywhere in it.
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Never driven one, so from me it's something I just go by looks alone, but see where you're coming from.

A bloke on Pistonheads bought a Minor on looks alone a year or so back and just hated the whole experience of it. Slow, noisey, horrible handling, you name it. :D

Rose-tinted glasses and all that. :)

Which is why I love my Amazon, looks that date back to 1956, sporty to drive, chuckable round country lanes, surprising acceleration on motorways (65-85 which is instant:no overdrive), starts first time, every time and is entirely predictable and reliable.
Lovely drive round the M25 yesterday morning coming home at 6.00 seeing the sun come up. :)

Could do better than 26mpg would my only small gripe, but hey ho.
 
Griff said:
Never driven one, so from me it's something I just go by looks alone, but see where you're coming from.
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i've only ever driven a van version, and the springs in the driver's seat were a bit tired so i was possibly not in what the designers had intended as the ideal driving position, but fairly meh.

impression of sitting in a jelly mould, and just various curved bits visible, small (by today's standards) mirrors, and standard spluttery petrol engine until it's warmed up a bit.
 
The B series engine is an easy fit into a Minor. Improves the performance. (Upgrade the brakes!)
 
On the subject of shite old car experiences, this is another that bucks that trend:

Went to the Laon Circuit in around 2006 (old street circuit in France where all the old cars gather and drive for the weekend) and our TVR Vixen constantly broke down finally ending up with the clutch going :( ( what a fucking weekend!)
But one of the people we ended up chatting to offered to drive us round in his MG Y Type, like this:photo-11-1-768x444.jpg

What a delightful old thing it was.

Sporty (for a 1950 car), sounded lovely, wonderfully comfortable, looked great, walnut everywhere and worked how it should work.

He used it as his only car too and swore by how reliable it was and how easy to maintain it was.
 
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I only had a very brief drive of a Morris Minor back in the 80s. It wasn't very inspiring. I remember it being slow but that's about it.

I guess the appeal (in the UK at least) is the looks, simplicity and availability of parts.
 
My dad had a very old black minor in the garage for years. If I’d passed my test at 17 rather than 34 then there’s a fair chance I might have been driving it. He used to fix it himself but I think a gearbox failure was beyond him. He did get hold of another one for spares, which he then scrapped on the driveway over several days including what seemed like several hours sawing through the frame with a junior hacksaw to get it into small enough pieces to take it to the tip in a camping trailer. It was eventually sold to a friend of a friend for a few hundred quid but not sure it was ever restored, the plate is now on a Porsche cayenne.
 
2011 R35 with blown turbos and God knows what else wrong with it incoming from Adelaide... Also needs paint so I have broken my own golden rule of car projects. It was "cheap" though.
 
Godzilla is here. 🦖

It doesn't run and the paint is absolutely fucked as it seems to have spent 10 years parked under a fig tree.

1695088287527.png

It needs 2 x turbo, O2 sensors, intercooler and a battery as a bare minimum to get it moving and registered.
 
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