[Closed] Future classic cars?

Leaving the Mokka suggestion aside for the moment...

Would any of our 21st century SUVs make it into our STW experts'* lists?

*Liberal usage of this word.

cars that folk remember fondly as their first cars

TurnerGuy - Member
Caterham Super 7:

I think the Lotus 7 might have already claimed that spot

Turner Guy, apologies, just realised what you meant. I thought you were talking literally. 🙂

Sorry, I just don't like reto pastiches, for the reasons detailed above.

But that's what's good about these threads, we've all got opinions, none more valid than anyone elses. 😀

Would any of our 21st century SUVs make it into our STW experts'* lists?

*Liberal usage of this word.

Interesting. Really don't know the answer to that one.
Gut feeling says they seem like a bit of an evolutionary dead end, tbh.

Anything with a big petrol engine... especially without a turbo.

He designed the BMW MINI as well? Are you sure?

not now - I was sure I read that somewhere - maybe it was a different set of 3 super-minis - but I cannot find it now.

I remember I was surprised at how someone could design both the mini and the 500.

Any future classic will have to have been made in relatively low volumes and be distinct enough to be easily recognised in 20 years time.

Cobblers, loads of high volume / mass market cars become classics - go to a show and count the Cortinas, Anglias, Rover SD1s, Minis, Beetles.....

My first ever car (in this red)

[img] [/img]

The Alfa 4C will be a classic as soon as it hits the forecourts.
The Elise is already a classic, the Mk1 Exige, and 340R go for mega money. (my liz is staying in the garage)
It is really hard for common manufacturers like Toyota, Nissan, Citroen to be a classic, more cult cars. The Mk1 MR2 will be as close to classic as possible along with the Mk1 MX5.
Whoever said a Peugeot will have some classics are just so wrong. They have only done this with the 205 and that was because it was the benchmark. Nothing they have done since has come close to defining a generation of cars.
The Porsche GT3 and GT3 RS will be very cool along with rare variants of the Cayman.
Saabs have always had a cult following and anything pre-GM will be very popular. The quirkier the better (try buying a V4!)
If I were to wrap something in cellophane and forget it for 20 years it woud be a 4c, or a XKR, Alfa SZ, Exige V6 or Europa. All of which are low volume, aspirational cars, critically aclaimed and niech and the pinicle of burning hydrocarbon in its heydays before it becomes impossible to burn petrol.

To pull out of a garage in 100 years... I would wrap up a Tesla Model X.... or an early Honda Insight.

I remember I was surprised at how someone could design both the mini and the 500.

Well, they are both awful. 😉

hora - Member

My first ever car (in this red)

Mine too 😯

Didn't have a blue door & wing & a 'Vote Commissioner Gordon' sticker on the rear bumper did it?

Less than 300 left on UK roads. How sad.

[url= http://www.howmanyleft.co.uk/ ]How many left?.com[/url]

First/best/last of a style is often a good indicator

as above Mk1 Honda Insight is a good one, probably not been a better hybrid since.

Mk1 Espace? The first MPV nobody knew they even needed one till Renault made it now MPV/SUVs are everywhere, makes me sick.

E46 M3 CSL and E90 M3 CRT

Carrera GT last of the proper supercars and has a proper gearbox.

TVR Griffith 500 if not already

Another vote for the Puma. I had an early 1.7 for 5 years. Sadly went via the scrap scheme, 12yo and the bodywork was shagged 🙁

This...

[img][url= http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8084/8389568594_7d782dfed1.jp g" target="_blank">http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8084/8389568594_7d782dfed1.jp g"/> [/img][/url] [url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/65239715@N05/8389568594/ ]Untitled[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/65239715@N05/ ]artaylor910[/url], on Flickr[/img]

Another vote for the Brera here. The picture above just doesn't do it justice. Although that 8C is quite nice in a crazy kinda way too.

The MokKa LOL Really ? Dont forget the Agila 😉 There hasnt been a decent Vauxhall except where Lotus has been involved and cant see a Lotus badge on it anywhere.
I am going ultramodern with the Subaru BRZ/ Toyota thing, with rwd and funky styling.

The Aguila was just a rebadged Suzuki Wagon R.

I always thought that the Street Ka was begging to be a classic. Not many of them about and look great fun for posing round town in the mythical sun.[img] [/img]

mk1 impreza
mk1 mx5 (just sold wifes because of baby, sob)
mk1 mr2
elise
audi TT

First/best/last of a style is often a good indicator

^ this

Another vote for the Brera here.

I can't get past thing that the Brera was where they designed the spider first and then thought

'hey, if we put a roof on it we have another car'

which is why the brera shares the tight rear seat arrangement of the spider. at least people can sit in the back of the GT.

The thing with the Brera is that, although it looks pretty, from what I've read it isn't that great to drive. I think to achieve acclaimed classic status, particularly for an Alfa, that's kinda important.

Brera vs GT its worth considering the 3.2V6 in the GT is the last of the Italian built Arese (sp?) engines with the lovely chromed inlet pipes. one of THE best engines ever

the Brera 3.2L has a GM unit which although it sounds pretty nice is not very characterful (brera is also a very heavy car)

My dad has the 3.2 spider that matches the brera and damn its pretty and sounds amazing but its v heavy and the skuttle/shake through the chassis is terrible! a true cut the roof off and do nothing to stiffen it up approach

and a teaser image to finish 🙂
[img] [/img]

Or two
[img] [/img]

going a bit left-field, as much as I hate them, I think the original BMW X5 will become a classic.
First generation of the not-fit-for-purpose desirable roller-skate ****-mobiles.

[img] [/img]

The X5 looks particularly fetching in that shade of norovirus brown.

There hasnt been a decent Vauxhall except where Lotus has been involved

the [s]vauxhall[/s]izusu [s]monteray[/s] trouper ?

Vauxhall Frontera? There can't be any left, they were so bad, therefore must have a cult following?

Vauxhall Frontera? There can't be any left, they were so bad, therefore must have a cult following?

Jaguar XJ220. Perhaps already there?

I expected a lot more from this thread, some appauling shouts...

Would go along with:

Focus RS
Golf R32
M3
Elise
156 GTA
MX5
Impreza

Not so sure about:

KA's
Seat Leons
Fabia VRS
Z4's
Citroen's (exc 2CV above)

Not even desirable now, never mind in the future 😕

Some are already classics, 2CV, XJ220 etc

Expected a lot more....on STW?

Standard forum rule for any thread on any subject is suggest what you own/have owned first without even thinking how sensible it may be hence Ka, Fabia etc

Opinions eh? 😐
Anyone have a definition of "classic" we could work to perhaps?
Do we just decide whats old enough and ugly enough?
Every Ford Cortina is a classic as far as I know, but the last 3 marks looked shit!
IMO of course......

156 GTA

See, I can never quite make my mind up on that one, and I was one of those proposing the 156 in general. Engineering / performance-wise it's obviously the ultimate version, but aesthetically, it looks like it's had a run in with a cheap and nasty bodykit, and I'm not too sure about those 18" alloys, they have a hint of "aftermarket" to them.

My ideal 156 would have the clean lines of a base model (no skirts, no big wing on the boot neither), the standard veloce alloys (the five rings, but the smaller ones, not the 18s on the GTA), the standard leather interior (early one, with the embroidered Alfa badges on the front seats), and the 3.2 ltr V6 engine and tighter suspension from the GTA please? Oh yeah, red bodywork with black interior, no other combination permitted.

btw, surely the spirit of the thread on spotting future classics is those "normal" cars that will be worth having in 10-20 years time, not some of the exotica being mentioned. You're not going to see clapped out XJ220s or R8s down at "Discount Dave's Bargain Car Emporium" in the intervening years now, are you?

I float around the classic car world* via my old man and they are always looking for the next thing. A few things I've picked up:

The KA (original, not the street and sport) are already considered the modern version of an original Mini: cheap, simple, fun to drive and cheap to run/repair. So a good one will be a classic, whereas bad ones will be modified.

A good 2002/3 M3 CSL is a bit of a find, never really gone down in value!!

An unmodified Nissan 200SX is also rare and sought after.

All TVR's. Nothing like manufacturer going tits up to get the prices heading up!!

Unregistered MG TF's - they are out there, I know of three in Cardiff!!

Honda Insights and Beats are being sniffed out by collectors nowadays. Values are still down low but they are almost always well-cared for.

The original Integra Type R is there already - rare and even rarer standard.

Honda NSX in any tune, as long as it's standard. The Senna connection is enough to make them a classic on their own!!

Just look for cars that are/were different and people lusted after, even when the competition overtook them!!

* by this I mean 1930's Bentleys, Maserati 250F's etc 🙂

There's two different classic car worlds though isn't there? There's the 1930s Bentleys and that crowd, and then there's the Moggy Minors and MGBs crowd....

There hasnt been a decent Vauxhall except...

Nonsense. The VXR8 is a shoe-in for classic status,.

You'd be surprised how much overlap there is!! Usually caused by the son/daughter getting the bug and not having mega-bucks to spend.

Plus a lot of the 'collectors' have only one Bentley etc, but a few of the cheaper stuff to use daily. I know of one gentleman who owns a Bugatti Type 54 that he saved from certain demise back in the 50's and has lovingly rebuilt over many years. All his money goes into it but hates modern stuff, so he drives an Escort Mexico and his wife has a Talbot Sunbeam (non-Lotus). His daughter caught the bug at an early age and now runs around in a Mk2 Golf for daily duties, but has a Mazda RX7 for fun. Covers all bases between them!!

Oh, and they all go to the same autojumbles for that elusive missing part 😛

I don't buy into any old car is a classic

Cortina's aren't classics. They just have some devoted saddos that refuse to let them die.

Ahem.
Jim Clark had a lot of success in Cortinas you know.
[img] [/img]

And the standard car was so much better than the crap most ordinary drivers had been offered before - along with the Mini it was a huge, huge step forward from something like a Morris Oxford.

So yeah, it's a classic.

As for Vauxhalls, there are Firenzas, Lotus Carltons and all manner of exotic pre war stuff out there.

No one remember Gerry Marshall and his collection of utterly crazy saloons?
[img] [/img]

[img] [/img]

edlong...I suggested the 156 GTA (sportwagon) I could not agree more on the boy racer add on's but time has a way of making these seem less gauche* when they are old. It is the interior I really love.

*whoo Hoo great STW word 😉

Ill also agree regarding the styling of the 156 GTA

Honda jazz 🙂

Rusty less than 300? Right Im going to buy and keep one..

Has anyone mentioned the Renault Clio V6 yet?

That's the virtually hand built limited edition where they took a Renault Clio and stuck a huge 3l V6 engine where the rear seats used to be????

The most fabulous of cars.

SB

The William Clio was earlier, don't remember the V6 bein mentioned, the biggest problem with any future classic is numbers left, in 2012 there were 417 V6 Clio's left, not many to last to become a future classic

What about a Isuzu Impulse Turbo cant be much of them left now.
Renault 5 gt Turbo bits fell off them everyday great car though