Just spent the best part of £10000 on a kitchen diner bought a Merc c270 cdi estate (£1900) last week and the wife says no !

Car in question is a Volvo 145 estate going for £800 2 owners from new last owner 38years ! MOT for a year insurance is £145 a year !

I’m struggling here…

It’s a Volvo. 😀

Seems an odd choice. It’s not fun or fast or pretty or interesting. It’s a practical car that’s far less practical than a modern car. In general classics make excellent 2nd cars if you have the space. Should be cheap to run and if you buy well you shouldn’t lose too much money.

She can probably tell the difference between an old car and a classic car, ask her to explain it to you 😉

a classic will cost just as much time/money to look after as a modern sports car without the performance, handling or efficiency, but with added stripped knuckles and swearing. 😀
you have to REALLY want one IMO

MSP explain ?

Go for it,sound like a cracker I really like the old Volvos.

Tell her your doing your bit for the environment by saving it from going to a scrappers and by the reduced running costs compared to a modern motor.

Lets face it a whole car that costs about the same as some modern forks,maybe sweeten the deal by letting her by a new Lipstick.

sweeten the deal she just got a new kitchen…

Hard work to drive, slow, crap handling, expense of repairs.

I’ve done it, I have a “modern classic”, MX5, that’s OK, but I’d only have an old one as a 2nd car now.

it would be a 3rd car as I have a 12yr old Micra with 24000 miles on the clock !

A volvo 145 is hardly a classic.

Is it really a classic car or just an old one? I can totally see why your wife doesnt want you to get one!

MX5 all the way 😉

Cheap, easy to work on, good fun to drive and loads of parts about.

No idea what parts are like for the Volvo, but my guess is they are not going to be cheap.

I rather like the idea of “ordinary” classics. For example, a Mercedes W123 is an “ordinary” car, but if loved and cherished is cooler than a penguin’s pantry.

Sort of agree on that.

Recently seen old Cortina’s or dare I say it a Princess, and actually found myself thinking I could have one… but then sense kicked back in.

I’d have a Mk1 Golf GTi in a flash if I had somewhere to keep it.

If you have genuinely always wanted a Volvo 145 then why not. If you are just wanting to have a go at “classic” car ownership then wiat for somwthing you really want to come along

Why do you want to look like a Geography teacher from the early 80’s?

Are you a Geography teacher from the early 80’s?

exactly its a sensible ordinary classic car…the type filled with happy memories from the 70’s ! (my cousins and another uncle had one his was burnt orange! )

Its a great idea… but…

Parts can be hard to find and expensive,
Old economical is not the same as new economical (my VW camper does less than 18mpg)
Emissions… can be hard passing MOT’s mine only passed by restricting the fueling so it barely ran, then sticking the sensor in,
Safety (not very, even if it is a volvo)

Hard to resist?

Maybe in 1978 😆

I ran a 122 estate for five years back in the 90s almost as a first car, the mechanicals are identical to the 145. Dead simple to work on and parts are plentiful. I drove mine from Orkney – Newcastle – Bergen to the Baltic and back. The dynamo brushes wore out in Oslo. A Bosch motor factors had them on the shelf. Half an hour had them fitted and I was back on the road again.

Get one with an overdrive.

If you are handy with DIY go for it. Al’s needed constant attention, which was a shame as he had to have everything done for him.

Cheap insurance and no road tax should offset fuel costs.

Not even in 1978 I’m afraid.

Pull yourself together man!!!!

Are you a Geography teacher from the early 80’s?

A Volvo owner earlier

Do it. Ignore the haters.

Are you a Geography teacher from the early 80’s?

It’s more Tom and Barbara from the Good Life.

still got to pay the tax ! £215 a yr as its a 1974 model

This is a classic Volvo

As is this

But this ?

As a owner of a classic car, albeit a fair bit older, I would say that you have to time to commit to it, they need to be used and don’t necessary work when you want them to. If you are prepared to invest the time, they are great fun and a much more demanding and satisfying drive than modern cars, which hardly break into a sweat within the speed limits.

One of my greatest regrets is not taking this off my Dad’s hands – it was my wife, strangely enough, who talked me out of it (she said ‘no’, basically).

Standard Vanguard;

Oh, and in the same warehouse, but sadly not available to me was this;

If you have the space, why not?

Then again, it’ll never be as nice to drive, as economical, as quiet, or as safe as your Mercedes C270.

If you see it as just another cheap car, then don’t bother – use the Mercedes. If, on the other hand, you have a perverse attraction to mustard/beige cars and love that whole Swedish style, then get it bought.

Me? I’d not bother. I had a 245 for a while (and a 265 a bit later) and they were the Toyota of their day – efficient, solid, and dull. And really, really thirsty – even the 245 (a GLT, no less) managed no better than 22mpg as an average, and far worse on short trips. Better than the competition at the time, but that was a long time ago.

I enjoyed my two (had them in the late 80s), but I drove a 244 a couple of years back and was amazed at just how dated it felt.

This thread has made me feel very guilty about my old MGB which hasn’t turned a wheel for over 2 years. I used it as my ‘main car’ for 4 years and it never let me down but after spending a fair bit on a stage 1 tune something minor went wrong and I never got round to fixing it.

And there-in lies the problem, unless you are an enthusiast, it’ll just become an expensive and time consuming chore 🙁

Hmmm volvo doesnt do it for me

Now i live back within riding distance of work im thinking of replacing my sensible boring van with something interesting ( to me ) and old just looking for a tidy example with a good history.

Long as you dont rely on a garage to do all your work otherwise it will become an incredible drain and youll get fed up. My choice of vehicle was chosen because i know my way round them well now 🙂

Along with all the other life consuming tasks maybe a classic car doesn’t fit in !

Children and work not forgetting the other-half take up all my time !

Still 2 owners from new…I have to see reason on this one…bye bye Volvo 145 !

Whatever else it isn’t it is certainly a classic. I’d love to have room for it.