4 seat classic car

Not for under GBP10,000, I hope.....and it's not a Ferrari ;-)>.

David Betts ( snipped-for-privacy@motorsport.org.uk) The Classic Car Gallery:

Or if they are too big, a Dolomite or Vitesse?

Or if you want something a bit older, the P5B. Surprisingly nimble for a big car.

Other suggestions on the MG line, a Magnette ZB, or something as quick as a B but with lots more room - a Land Crab....

I'll get my coat too :-)

Jim

Well it was either that or a snotty remark about the length of string or speculation that the OP was a troll.

There's been a nice Merc 350SL parked nearby for a while, which has me drawing on their similarities. I'd guess all the above could apply to both.

Well I've lived with a BGT, which is very cramped int he back. A GT6 is considerably less spacious, cosy for two. The rear seat kit is something of a joke...... We've been living with a 1968 Triumph 2000 Saloon as daily transport for the last five years. It's been quick (a relative term of course) and very reliable despite living on the road outside. The price of a brace of Bs whould pick up something very special (concourse 2.5PI?), just one mediocre B would have paid for ours and it's entire running costs for five years..... Another option might be an MG ZA or ZB, mine always felt much quicker than a

1950s built 1500 ought to. This is another easy car to live with, all mechanicals are straightforward with good commercial support. Many MGA and B upgrades are suitable for these cars if you're so inclined. Really your choice will depend on how adventurous you are, few desireable classics will give you the easy parts availablility of the popular MGs and Triumphs. If the car is to be a pampered pet then that may not be an issue, it's all down to your plans for the car, Cheers, Bill.

Excessively tempting - though with only 80 made (and probably some of the survivors real dogs by now) finding a decent one might be tough.

A Lancia HPE might be a contender, too - if you could tolerate FWD and if you could find a decent one (this might be hard).

Does this come anywhere close to being a 'decent one'?

Reserve not met, so might still be available ...

Hmm, front wheel drive, angular, Italian, hatchback ...

Alfa Romeo Arna.

I'll get my coat.

In article , o'Really

Personally, I'm still having nightmares about the three sub £10k 'supercars' featured on Top Gear last week.

£10000 for cars that won't even get you from Bristol to Surrey ... ... one of which had apparently just had a £10000 engine rebuild, yet produced 90BHP (?) of its original 180, and blew up in a very messy and expensive way.

In article , o'Really 'supercars' featured on Top Gear last week.

And those were the cheap, simple "everyday" cars produced by those three manufacturers. For the full gory horror, replace the 308 GT4 with a 400, the Merak with a Khasmin and the Urraco with an Espada (and you could probably find examples of all of those which /looked/ OK for that sort of money). It doesn't bear thinking about.

Yup. That said, I've got my own thoughts on someone who takes a car with a newly-rebuilt (and not yet run-in) engine, flogs it aroud a race track and then expects something nasty to not happen..

Well that certainly got everyone talking. It's fairly easy to think of a classic with two seats, but four, is a bit more difficult. But what a fantastic load of suggestions, from a bus to a Ferrari. My oldest daughter actually likes buses and always like to get a few pics when we're at shows!! But I wonder, is a bus just about as practical as a Ferrari (think about it) However, that GT4 sounds interesting, I've already started looking at the cost of spares - - oh dear is that a very slippy slope I see in front of me.............................

Thanks to all who made suggestions, it's certainly given me lots to think about. Wouldn't it have been great if 90% of respondents had of suggested the same car !!!!But then again, I suppose we would all be driving one.

Cheers Colin M...............

Vertiginous, I'd say ;)

Ah, but there's the problem, you see. Trying to choose one classic to cover all your needs is too much of a compromise. If you expand your fleet to 2 or more, you can have both fun and practicality.

I've recently been thinking about a 4-seater myself, and have reached the conclusion that it has to be a V8 engine, not fussed if manual or auto, must have a soft-top for summer use, preferably tax free and be appealing to my eyes. Result, triumph Stag, either original or rover engined. Now to try and find one that is good and solid, no major issues. sensibly priced and not a million miles from the North of Scotland!! Anyone know of such a beastie? Badger.

Careful with the Rover engined ones, I've heard (though have no experience as such) that it often does funny things to the front end handling. It's to do with the Rover unit being a different weight and also a slightly different place in the car.

Standard Stag handling is great, fantastic fun at track days.

David

The trouble with the HPE is the negligible rear luggage space in the back of one. For what's ostensibly a "large" car from the outside the slope of the rear window makes it awfully small on the inside.

The XJS Eventer looks even worse for this. And the 8K+ reserve on the eBay one is ridiculous for any sort of XJS

How about an XJS hearse ? I've seen a pair of them and they were a nice looking car. They still had usable rear seats too, if you folded the coffin shelf up.

On Fri, 09 Dec 2005 12:48:02 +0000, o'Really 'supercars' featured on Top Gear last week.

Friend of mine has a Diablo (RichardK can probably guess who). The horror stories are an amusing read....

A Herald / Vitesse is a usable 2+2 but it's stretching things to call it a 4 seater. The convertible is even smaller at the back.