Top 5 project cars

There's a nice modded one possibly for sale on Porka.net the owner works in a family run body shop.

Oh yes.

It's a maligned engine by some, the yanks got a mistaken idea about them corroding quickly - which is odd as I have a knacked block in the back garden that is fine apart from the steel bits which have rusted.

And so forth.

Not a modern, fuel-efficient engine, but damned choice power to weight as these things go, and over the whole of the rev range.

Plus the gorgeous bark - you have to hear an unfettered one roaring to really understand, I don't know of a better sounding engine. (Really!)

i'll keep an eye on that site, thanks.

Mason

*drools*

it's on ronal turbo's.

love those wheels on euro cars. I wanted some for the R5.

Not spending any more money on her though.

Mason

Darren Peart has a nice Modded Manta.

Backend looks a bit like a Jag backend nowadays though :-/. Wonder if he borrowed something.

------------------------------------------------ "We are all individuals" "I'm not!"

None of the above.

300ZX or Skyline, right make wrong cars. You just need to look at the baby of the Nissan turbo sports coupes. Nice little sleek fastback 2+2 RWD coupe goes for peanuts. Lower Cd and less frontal area than big bothers, so every bhp does more. Lots lighter than 300ZX or liner to start with so every bhp does more. So that list will be.

1: 200SX RS13 (got it £3000 4.5 years ago)

2: 200SX RS13 (got it £150) 3: 200SX RS13 4: 200SX RS13 and er well it will be 5: 200SX RS13 £1000 to buy good runner and £1000 to put body right and start from there, or realy cheap if both engine and body needs work.

Beware people buy them, have fun, sell them to get RX7's, EVO's, 300ZX or Skylines thinking they will get more of the same but find they just don't do it quite the same, so they have to go buy another 200SX. The only replacement for a 200SX is another 200SX, many owners are on their 2nd, some on the 3rd and others are just plain greedy by having more than one at the same time. Luckily there are still people around who don't have clue what they have got or think they can find a better car or can't cope with the idea of having a classic car as a daily driver for the rest of their life and are willing to sell theirs.

Please remember a 200SX is for life, not just Christmas.

But I don't like Jap cars. :-(

There's not one single Japanese car I'd actually go out of my way to drive, never mind own. Apart from an MX5.

For every Jap car, there's a European one I'd rather have.

Skyline? - 911. Evo 8? - 911 Impreza? - Integrale

200SX? - E30 M3 MR2 - TR7 V8 MR2 Turbo - TR7 V8 Supra - Capri 2.8i Supra Turbo - Capri 2.8i

I just don't "get" Jap cars. They've never put a nice interior in a car to date, they've still not made a car that I look at and think "ooooh, I've got to have one of those". The nearest the Japs have got to a well styled car is the last of the RX7s.

I don't agree we can really compare these, especially the newer style supra's :) As the Supra is fast, and modern, and stuff, and the Capri is rusty, and a Ford, and, as such, shit :) Note - NEVER driven a Capri, i'm just not a fan, and as it seemed so lively on here tonight, i thought i should chirp in with some more debate :)

In news: snipped-for-privacy@individual.net, DanTXD decided to enlighten our sheltered souls with a rant as follows

The newer style Supras may be fast, but they're 'orrible. .

Supras just shout "I go out with 14 year olds"

Whereas Capris just shout 'I like to relate to myself... constantly'.

My E30 325i was proven to be faster than the one that thought he'd have a go, and didn't come with a free goldie lookin' plastic medallion and chain.

In news: snipped-for-privacy@individual.net, JackH decided to enlighten our sheltered souls with a rant as follows

Yeah, the 325i is quicker. Nowhere near as much fun to drive though.

As for the Chav factor. Welcome to 2004. In fact, welcome to the 21st century. You're much more likely to see a chav in a BMW than a Capri.

Yea well, who gives a f*ck what people think when you have 400bhp, 2 turbo's and 6 speed manual :D (i'm getting one when and i'm 25 and i've just decided thats what its gonna have............probably.......)

I've had both - I disagree.

Both can be tailhappy when provoked - the 325i is far more controllable in a drift, both in terms of getting it to break away when you actually want it to, and get back into shape when you don't.

That'll be because BMWs don't rot like a Dagenham Dustbin.

HTH

In news: snipped-for-privacy@individual.net, DanTXD decided to enlighten our sheltered souls with a rant as follows

"Please Miss, 'Uncle' Dan's here to pick me up in his big shiny car"

In news: snipped-for-privacy@individual.net, JackH decided to enlighten our sheltered souls with a rant as follows

I've never had a problem getting a Capri back into shape.

Compare the prices. E30 325i vs 2.8i Capri.

I think you'll find the Capri is worth more, and going up in value, whereas the 325i is just another Shite old BMW.

A decent 325i Sport, is worth more than a 2.8i Capri, in general - granted, a mint 2.8i will fetch loads due them being extremely thin on the ground.

And the BMWs are still relatively in abundance, whereas most Capris have long gone to their grave - it's their rarity and the affection for their '80s Essex Boy' image, plus things like re-runs of The Professionals that's pushing prices up, not their capabilities.

Most have, as I've already said, rotted away, whereas there are plenty of

325is left - once the shit ones of these have passed on and left only the minters, these will, as reflected in recent times, keep aspiring up to a point.

I'd take the BMW every time over a Capri - a much better built, safer, equipped with more toys and gadgets such as ABS, faster, more practical and far less likely to meander off into a tree, car.

And surprisingly cheap to maintain as well.

I chopped in a Fiat Panda against a Capri just after my eldest was born, and found I had *less* boot space to cart things like a pushchair etc., around in, ffs.

In news: snipped-for-privacy@individual.net, JackH decided to enlighten our sheltered souls with a rant as follows

It's finding a decent 325i Sport though. Ok, too many Capris succumbed to the evils of Richard Grant bodykits, but 2.8is tended to avoid that.

It's the Brooklands Turbo ones that fetch *huge* money. I know of a Brooklands Turbo with less than 100 miles on from new. Never been registered, just sits in the corner of a warehouse on axle stands. Gets the oil changed every 3 or four months, brake fluid etc done every 6. Thing is stupidly mint, still on the original Motorcraft battery and original tyres etc. Guy who owns it has been offered £20k for it and not sold it. I think it's a waste of a car, but at the same time I'd be tempted to buy the bloody thing, even at £20k. After all, the depreciation of actually using the thing for six months would still be less than that from driving a new car out of the showroom.

It's the "meandering off" that makes a Capri fun. As for ABS and all that bollocks, I'd rather do without.

Oh yeah, Capri boots are useless :-D. That's why I have the Merc :-) 580 litres :-o

If the 911 is 4wd and turbo'd, you are looking at quite another price tag.

No contest on looks, but the Integrale is best left in the garage as it seems to develop major costs every 5000 km, swifter if modded. It's a fabulous car but only for those who have free access to a professional race-shop.

My interests in a car where I have to pull the engine in order to remplace the alternator have subsided when a friend bought one. Exactly 4 weeks later the alternator developed a short circuit. No warranty of course, with Italian cars the warranty is through once you're out of the workshop (experiance on both sides).

But then again: if I am attacked by an EVO2 or EVO3... I might throw caution (again) to the wind.

Not the same league. Around here a good E30 M3 is about 5-8 times more expensif than the 200SX. A new pair of cams for the M3 are about the price of the complete 200SX.

Nor TR7 V8 nor Capri 2.8i were very popular over here. MR2 turbo was never imported.

The only thing about the Capri 2.8 I remember was: "Where 's the power?" The Manta 400 drove circles around it.

Don't look at a NSX then. I saw one and had to have one, once achieved that I got rather attached to it... It's a Ferrari without the troubles of a Ferrari, has a brilliant gearbox, it nevers breaks down, does not use a drop of oil, service is unbelieveable cheap.

Hard driven (circuit) it uses exactly half of what a non-turbo 964 needs.

The latest model of Supra as well as the Nissan 300 ZX are nice cars, even to the eye. 350Z took some time to get used to.

But the NSX is of an other breed.

Tom De Moor

In news: snipped-for-privacy@news.telenet.be, Tom De Moor decided to enlighten our sheltered souls with a rant as follows

Yeah, and even if it isn't, I'd still rather have a 911 than an Evo 8 or Skyline.

I've changed the alternator on both of my Integrales, and neither time have I had to pull the engine. The specialist I used to go to for servicing used to pull the r/h front strut off to change an alternator. After he fitted one and it blew up, I discovered it's one hell of a lot easier to remove the header tank from the bulkhead, and unbolt the alternator from above. It can be done, takes an hour or two, but it's not that hard.

You can pick up a reasonably tidy E30 M3 for £4-5000. A 200SX is probably half that for a nice one. I'd save up.

Yeah, but a Manta 400 is *very* rare here, and therefore stupidly expensive. I always preferred the Capri anyway. That's why I've still got one.

Another car I'd choose the 911 over.

I don't like the 300ZX, far too fat and flabby looking (and yes, I do mean the 4wd job). The Supra looks ok, but 90% of the ones I've seen have been ruined by fake Jap street racing crap all over them.

It's the nearest the Japs have ever got to a Supercar, that's true enough, but it's still like sitting in a fast Prelude.