Ok, under £500 classics.

I'm in the process of flogging my old, faithful Golf GTi because I'm in the mood for something a bit older. I have a few problems.. I'll only have about £500 to spend, and I'd like something taxed and tested I'd like something fairly quick and preferably rear wheel drive but I'd like it to be fairly reliable and comfy as it'll be my only car

I've owned and enjoyed the following and would like to get my grubby mitts on something similar, but don't think I'll be able to find a nice example of any for the money..

Mercedes 280TE Jag SIII 4.2 Granada 2.8i Ghia X Granada 3.0 Ghia / GXL Vauxhall Royale / Monza / Senator 3.0 Capri 3.0 Rover SD1 V8 Rover P6 V8 (but the vapourisation problems are a bugger) Triumph 2500S BMW 528i Alfa 75 Sierra XR4x4 or 4x4 Ghia Estate

Am I in cloud cuckoo land? I've bought tidy examples of all of these (apart from the Vauxhall or Triumph) in the past for £500 or less, but I suspect the prices have risen on all of them.

Even a Cortina 2000E 2.0 S or Ghia would be nice (I'm a dab hand at void bushes)

Suggestions welcome.

Pete M

Reply to
Pete M
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Unless you lucky.... Yes

Reply to
Tim Anderson

If you were willing to go front wheel drive, and were happy with someth= ing from the late 70s / early 80s, then there ain't anything more comfortab= le than a big old Citroen, and you should be able to pick up an untidy but=

legal CX for 300. Make sure it's been maintained by someone who knows w= hat they're doing though, otherwise it'll be as realiable as Geoffrey Arche= r as a history teacher.

Dylan Harris

--=20 By emailing e100_per_email snipped-for-privacy@ntlworld.com, you shall give the "International Campaign to Execute Spammers" e100, and you waive all ri= ghts if ICES finds you've committed spam.

Reply to
Dylan

Most Senator 3.0 fetch a lot less than £500, and as a consequence are dogs. Royales are ALL rust buckets by now, if you can even find one, the last I saw was in a scrappie about 4 years ago. Monza's fetch tidy sums, as they were considerably longer-lasting than the royale, again you'll have difficulty picking one up for that money that isn't a dog.

Out of these three, the Monza is probably the best, but the Senator is the one you're most likely to come across.

Alex

Reply to
Alex

If you were willing to go front wheel drive, and were happy with something from the late 70s / early 80s, then there ain't anything more comfortable than a big old Citroen, and you should be able to pick up an untidy but legal CX for 300. Make sure it's been maintained by someone who knows what they're doing though, otherwise it'll be as realiable as Geoffrey Archer as a history teacher.

Ah, a CX, not seen one of those for years, but they've disappeared into "cost a bomb classic price stratosphere" haven't they? I'd like one thought, even if it's unfortunately FWD

Pete M

Reply to
Pete M

You could get a reasonable 2.3 Magnum or Firenza for that, though not a Droopsnoot. You might get a rough Sportshatch, they're quite practical being an estate car. Also I know someone who just picked up a very tidy Vauxhall VX2300 for under £500.

HTH Mike.

Reply to
Mike

There are a few old-boy-owned nice ones about; the local free-ad rag is normally the place

I'd have thought that you could find a Mk1 Senator for that sort of cash..Might be white and have manual windows...ex-Police issue

Old Beemers are worth nowt, even if they are okay, so that's a possibility.

Try and find an XR4x4 without a noisy transfer box for that money, though...An XR4i would be within reach, though.

Maybe not...

Reply to
Phil Howard

Not round here (Brissel). £500 just gets you one that's broken and it's pushing £1,000 for one that's going to run for a year without major surgery. I think they're starting to get a little rare, if you want a good one, or an estate.

Reply to
Andy Dingley

Four figures for one that's going to last without major surgery, sure

- 500 gets one that runs, but with tinworm - three in this month's Citroen Car Club mag.

Would a Vauxhall be any more solid?

Reply to
Ian Dalziel

Perhaps not, but the bits might be a darned sight easier to locate!

Reply to
Phil Howard

In article , Jon Tilson writes

Unless things have changed in the last couple of years, the 2500S is generally similarly priced to a Dolomite 1850, and much better value. Not that Dolomites are bad cars - I've owned three - but I'd definitely go with the 2000 range for preference.

That said, my 2500S is up for grabs (sincere apologies to Ken who came to look at it when I was being unbelievably incompetent), but it's a major restoration project.

Reply to
Robert Pearce

I ought to join that (when I have some money) My XM has just died (fatally, this time) and I'm on the lookout for an estate. A V6 XM would be nice, or a CX. I wouldn't have another 4 pot XM though.

No, but my Alfa 164 V6 only cost £600 for one in pretty good nick (barring the usual Alfaness of crap upholstery and tacky switchgear). I believe I paid too much too !

Reply to
Andy Dingley

A 75 V6 is a nice car (i.e. I want another one !), but I'd regard a twinspark as distinctly boring. The V6 is also cheaper to maintain, more reliable, and no heavier on fuel.

Reply to
Andy Dingley

That's opposite to the information I've been given.....

V6s are generally reliable, but the cambelts are a bit of a PITA to keep on top of, and head gaskets aren't as strong as on the twin-spark.

The V6 is also a lot heavier, which upsets the balance of the car slightly (the TS are more or less perfect 50/50 weight distribution).

2.5V6 isn't worth looking at at all (negligible power advantage over the TS) - even the V6 isn't _that_ much quicker - about 30bhp more power, but 200kgs more weight.

I love my TS - 150bhp from an 8-valve 2lt is quite respectable - especially as the VVT system gives you heaps of low-down torque. Nice burbling exhaust system helps, too.

Reply to
SteveH

Theres an '84 Nissan Sylvia 1.8 Turbo for sale from a dealer as a part ex to clear in my local rag (Cambs), 7 months on the ticket £250.00 :-)

Ok so it's stretching "classic" a bit beyond the limit of elasticity, but they are getting on a bit and do the getting a move on pretty well.

Reply to
Samuel Clemens

Try that link there, who knows ??

formatting link

Reply to
Igundwane

I owned a Mk2 Granada for a while (though mine was a 2.3 not the 2.8 you are considering). They don't suffer from tinworm too badly, and are a nice drive in the fine weather, but somewhat tail happy in the wet.

Most of the problems I had with mine were when I first owned it, sorting out things the previous owner had done wrong, and after that it was well behaved and reliable. I once did a Bath-York-Bath round trip in a day, without aches and pains the next day, so it would be a practical commuter vehicle.

The Ghia X was not your typical repmobile, but they are not particularly collectable either, so you might pick up a decent one for 500 notes.

Jim

Reply to
Jim Warren

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