Edukator – Troll
Some interesting ideas on here, just one made me suck through my teeth, the Clio V6. It’s a short car with a 13m turning circle which means it’s sporting credentials are zero, nul, nix.

??? Interesting way of deciding whether a car is sporty there Edukator!

How is turning circle one of the main determinants of sportyness??

(BTW I would imagine if you have a rear drive Clio and a heavy right foot it would turn around in a fraction of the quoted turning circle)

OP if you go for the tr6, definitely get a UK one (I had a US version on Stromberg carbs – sounded nice, but didnt go well)

I’m going to go through my list of potential classics and write a few off on the basis of their number of cup holders! 😉

Ford Capri 280 Brooklands.

derek_starship – Member

Ford Capri 280 Brooklands.

2.8 V6?

South African export Ford Capri 302ci V8. 😈

Edukator – Troll
…Whatever you buy, let the love of your life choose, your life will become better I promise.

Bad advice. Mine hated this so I eventually sold it. She wanted something more comfortable so I bought a BMW.

R100GS… 🙂

The new pension regs are going to have a massive effect on this market. I’d seriously consider dipping into my pot when it’s available to fund a classic car, as will quite a few others.

Some interesting ideas on here, just one made me suck through my teeth, the Clio V6. It’s a short car with a 13m turning circle which means it’s sporting credentials are zero, nul, nix. Our current rather long people carrier thingy has an 11m turning circle.

Name one circuit with a corner with a 6.5m radius?

How quick the rack is is more important.

Erm, Clio V6s aren’t actually very good as track cars (plenty of info on ClioSport about the ‘interesting’ handling characteristics)

How is turning circle one of the main determinants of sportyness??

On my competition cars I used to machine out the ends of the rack to get a bit more lock, so why? Because you can turn tighter obviously but just as importantly so that you don’t run out of opposite lock. Even if you don’t understand the French this vid clearly demonstrates that the extra lock of the 5 Turbo means the most extreme situations are recoverable whilst the Clio V6 can’t be recovered from even quite mild drift angles.

[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LahZ_2MZUvU[/video]

This looks interesting… think fast!!

Fiat 500 Competition Saloon

This isn’t about what classic cars are good, it is what will be a future classic. Clio V6 will be for sure.
Lots of current classic cars are absolute dogs to drive.

Is a Ford Edsel, Vauxhall Viva or even a Metro 6R4 a classic, or just an old dog of a car. You’re lucky to get an original spec 6R4 off the drive without the cam belt breaking, at least the Edsel could and can be driven without fear of snapping something.

Real Classic cars are great to drive and always have been. The Escort Mexico was a bundle of fun (9m turning circle) and the 2Cv was and is “special”. They’re the kind of car we should be looking for in things that are still cheap today. Given an R5 Turbo, GT turbo, Clio Williams or the V6 and a closed road which would you take, Matt?

Given an R5 Turbo, GT turbo, Clio Williams or the V6 and a closed road which would you take

The Clio Trophy

Good call, but which one?

que? There’s only been one Trophy (unless you mean race ones, that don’t really figure here)

I nearly posted the same pic as it was the first result for “clio 2 RS3 Trophy”.

Conveniently it’s also the one that shows exactly what a Trophy looks like

So does this, but it’s a bit too recent to be in the “cheap now, budding classic”

I nominate my Alfa 159 3.2 Q4 Lusso
Why?
It is quite rare (certainly rarer that the Ti models).
It has quite a good turning circle (11.1m)!
It is stupidly expensive to run.
It is very nice to drive.
If it became a classic maybe somebody would buy it.

Edukator – Troll
So does this, but it’s a bit too recent to be in the “cheap now, budding classic”

No idea what that thing is. Never been a 200 Trophy in this country anyway

My first car was a Triumph Spitfire MK4
Stay away from the Triumphs They have a separate chassis
unlike a sub frame MG. The Spitfires and like most Triumphs are rust buckets
And at the time the triumph stags had converted Rover engines in them due to engine seize
on the triumph engine.

Lotus stay away from the one with the fixed non operating windows, basically gets dam hot inside.

Think one car to have would be an Escort Mexico
Or a Peugeot 206 GTI

Fiat X19

grantway – Member
…Stay away from the Triumphs They have a separate chassis
unlike a sub frame MG. The Spitfires and like most Triumphs are rust buckets

There’s an answer to that problem.

Put another body on it. 🙂

Sammio

I’ve had loads of cars and a fair few classics, and have fond memories of almost all of them! I’ve finally worked out that you can’t identify a “great car” in isolation; the roads you’ll be driving on and the use you’ll be putting it to are key factors.

Of all the cars I’ve had the 105 series Alfas (1750 Spider and 2000GTV) were my favourites at the time. Now, though, if I were to revisit anything I’ve had before it would be a Mk1 MR2. Whether they’re a “classic” is moot, but I think it’s fair to call them a “future classic”.

I know they’re a bit marmite, but might be worth a punt? I was a bit “meh” about them until a mate let me drive his, after which I was smitten. They’re a sweet little thing and reasonably fast, with a really characterful engine (designed by Yamaha I think) which effectively runs as a torquey 12v up to 4750rpm and then switches to a 16v revver and goes on to a 7700 red line. The handling is genuinely superb and ride is a real eye-opener – superbly comfortable. Don’t know where you’re based but if really rough back-roads are a regular part of your life, it’s great having something which doesn’t have to make allowances.

They’re also very reliable, will do 30-35mpg all day long, won’t leave you knackered after a 700-mile drive and can carry plenty for a week away (unless you’re traveling with Imelda Marcos). And as you can tell, they can really get under your skin – in a good way!

Only downside is they rust like buggery and the looks (inside and out) haven’t aged well to all eyes.

Having had three I’d say go for the earliest, non T-bar you can find, but as ever with these things that’s just a matter of personal taste and condition should be the main decider. If I didn’t live within spray-range of the sea I’d have another like a shot!

ETA:
After all that, I think I’d be happy to live with pretty much anything mentioned above, too. Some really good shouts. There are so many good cars out there (so little time)….

Thought I’d revisit this one, still going five days after I started it and to be honest swamped by so much choice I’m not sure I’m better off!

I’m not looking to buy a small hot hatch, regardless of how classic it’s likely to be.

I’d love to be able to garage the car, but my bikes are taking up all the garage space. For the right car I might be able to extend it though.

Lots of great suggestions, please keep them coming. I’ll get round to buying one eventually but I see myself having a lot of time spent looking and inspecting a lot of cars prior to parting with my hard earned.

I’ll add in a Mk1 Audi TT, either coupe or roadster.
You will have to get the original early model with the tan hand stitched leather and in silver with the very first 5 spoke alloys (must be polished) IIRC they started life out as the 1.8T 180hp versions and within a year went to the 225hp so the 1.8T 180hp it really should be. THe roadster also came in a fetching dark(ish) green too so maybe thats an option.
I have seen a smashing version of the roadster in silver with the tan leather, done 40k’s and FSH going for £5k, that really should be enough to temp you I reckon.

Failing that MK1 TT 3.2 DSG in Orange, but I’m not selling mine so bugger off. 😉