Fiat Coupe is a great call – I think it is a seriously good-looking car even now. I love the interiors too.

Mate got one of those as a courtesy car once. Reckoned it looked nice but was dreadful to drive.

Mate got one of those as a courtesy car once. Reckoned it looked nice but was dreadful to drive.

Most older modern classics will be dreadful to drive by current standards so I don’t think I would be particularly put off by that.

As said, Land Rover Defenders, Mk1 Civic Type R, any of the Vauxhall VXR range, Toyota Celica.

5 years ago I nearly bought a TVR Cerbera. I was tripping over choices at about 10k. Now nothing under 20k.

Lotus Elise.

The Pinkster

Lancia Delta Integrale Evo 2

Please direct me to the place where I can buy one of those for £10k

^^^ V Nice ^^^

Mugen Type-r Honda Civic

Has anyone ever been in an Integrale?

I was a passenger in one once and the speed it went as it propelled down the sliproad and onto the A1 was simply astounding.

Later that day he was pulling doughnuts in my father-in-law’s field until it overheated.

😆

Later that day he was pulling doughnuts in my father-in-law’s field until it overheated.

After about 180 degree of rotation!?

There are a couple on AutoTrader for less than £10k actually. I’m surprised!

Vauxhall VX220

I’ve always had a hankering for a VX220 Turbo. Thought that by now they must be dirt cheap. I was wrong!

Alfa 155 Q4 basically a 155 body plonked ontop of a delta integrale

Corrado VR6s are good fun and prices are heading upwards for good ones, but there’s a lot of tat around too and spares are getting scarce / expensive as stuff becomes obsolete. Just had to get my brake master cylinder bored and sleeved in stainless steel because VW discontinued the original part in 2010 and nothing else fits. Byt it does have a spoiler that goes up and down automatically. If it’s working…

Not much like an air-cooled VW though. Have you looked at Mk2 GTis? Not as expensive as Mk1s, good fun to drive – I have one of those as well – and prices for good ones do seem to be on the up.

After about 180 degree of rotation!?

Hah yeah, something like that. I was hoping I could find the clip on YouTube but I can’t.

Alfa 155 Q4 basically a 155 body plonked ontop of a delta integrale

Sadly, the devil is in the detail. Contemporary road tests panned the Q4 for handling nothing like as well as an Integrale, nor having much of the charisma.

I’m a huge Alfa fan, but the later series 2 155, with the two litre twin spark engine and the wider track is by a long chalk the best of the bunch.

Now, if we’re talking future classic Alfas then the GTV/Spyder from the mid 90s onward has that covered. They still look lovely today and the six-cylinder cars sound properly old skool. The 156 is also destined for classic status IMHO – you only need to look at it to see that all the proportions are perfect, the overhangs just right and the details are lovely. There seem to be a lot of late 90s examples on the road, I reckon the GTA will be sought after in a few years, despite being FWD. The 156 is a far, far prettier car than the 159, IHMO (this from someone who’s owned both!).

@PJM – I agree a 156 GTA 4 door with the big fat spoiler is very nice but then I do like the 156 GTA Wagon as well. Both very pretty, understated and go like stink.

A well sorted 147 GTA will go the way of the Lancia Integrale price-wise in the next few years also.

+1 for the Corrado VR6. It’s the real deal, it handles (on the road, if not the track) like nothing else with FWD, it’s nothing short of brilliant. The VR6 has a unique engine note that sounds best when thrashed. To this day, I haven’t driven anything which handles anywhere nearly as nicely. Considering that the Corrado was a parts bin lashup, the result was astonishing.

Mk2 Golfs are getting rarer by the day. Too many 16v cars have been badly resprayed Oak Green, plus unsympathetic modifications ruin the basic formula. 16v engines themselves require 98RON fuel, as the mechanical Bosch k-Jetronic injection won’t self-adjust for 95-97RON fuel. Again, there have been various aftermarket ECU solutions, or you can source a 16v engine from a Mk3 16v or Seat Ibiza. From what I read, the aftermarket ECUs pretty much kill any character the engine once had and aren’t an ideal solution. Lowered cars will sometimes have a wonky brake balance.

A pukka 16v has an exhaust note on idle that burbles, is reasonably tractable from low revs (the hyperbole about the 8v having more torque low down is BS) and will abruptly change in character from 3,800rpm onward. It’ll also lift-off oversteer on demand without pitching you hedge-bound. Oh, it needs 15″ BBS cross spoke alloys too.

Mk2 Golf GTI would be nice. Has to be a later big-bumper one though IMO.

My Dad sold his Flash Red mk3 Golf VR6 last year for about £1000, only 60k miles. Nice car, but thirstier, slower and less engaging than more modern equivalents. Not the point in this purchase I realise.

Maybe in 20 years, all current type cars will be legislated off the road, so there’ll be little investment value in them.

Pollution and amount of road space used will be their killers. If cities prohibited storing your car on city property like roads, and legislated for smaller cars, they could get a couple of extra lanes out of most roads and save billions in capital costs. (If I can think of that, then no doubt some evil town-planner has thought it too, and has cars in his sights)

We’ll all be driven around in robotic electric Kei sized cars instead – like Boris bikes.

Maybe the real money maker is buying up storage places for people to store their “investment” cars.

And buy a motorbike instead… 🙂

A well looked after E31 BMW 8 Series – good ones are on the rise now.

Maybe in 20 years, all current type cars will be legislated off the road, so there’ll be little investment value in them.

I was thinking that, but we tend to make allowances. Like, it’s legal to drive without a seatbelt in a vehicle that didn’t have them fitted as standard in the first place.

I think 4 star gives the best indication of how long things will last, look at 4 star now, that’s going to be petrol in 25-30 years. Beyond that it’ll be race tracks and mail order.

Like monkeysfeet says an Elise, an s1 a standard one or a 135 maybe.
Any that haven’t been tinkered with to be honest

Saab 900 turbo carlson.

I was wondering this the other day.

Even if some were monumentally crap, the cars I grew up with all had character, they were distinctive. Even now, you can look at a 70s / 80s car and pretty much instantly recognise it. I’d wager there’s few folk reading this thread who wouldn’t be able to identify, say, a MkII Escort (and that’s not just the model but the revision!).

These days, all “family hatchbacks” look the bloody same. The last real revolutionary design was the Ford Sierra; since then, everything that’s followed has been Sierra-shaped. And silver, christ even the colours are bland.
I agree to a certain extent, but back in the 60-70’s there were plenty of cars that all looked identical for all practical purposes, like Mk 2 Escorts, Hillman Minx, Cortinas, Vivas, then they all went jelly-mould shape, and you still couldn’t really tell cars apart.
Now, though, the manufacturers seem to be really designing distinctive cars that follow through the models, but can easily be told apart from the competition, and not only that, the cars are attractive; just compare the really ugly Renaults of about a decade ago, like the Clio and Megane, with the ugly fat ass, and now look at their new model range, same with Citroen, Vauxhall, Volvo, Ford…
Going back to the original post, I’d be looking for a really tidy Racing Puma, or even a well maintained tidy standard 1.7 Zetec, never that many produced, lots got chopped in under the trading-in scrappage scheme, and they’re a really fun little car to drive, and very comfy even for a six foot bloke, mine felt like it had been designed for me, fitted perfectly.
The Yamaha engine really does need to be treated with care, the nicasyl plasma-coated bores can be very easily trashed, as there’s no liner.
I’d dearly love another, if I could afford to run one.

Subaru Legacy specs b

Ford Probe.

Has anyone ever been in an Integrale?

Used to have an 8 valve, for a few months when I was young and single.
I still think the 16 valve is one of the best looking cars ever. I’m just not sure why! It’s a five door hatchback, but it just looks so mean.

I’d suggest a Mk2 GTi too; I’d love another one but decent ones just seem to be going up. Hadn’t realised the Bosch injection system needed to be mucked about to use modern petrol though – is that really correct? The pre-big bumper 8v cars had the Bosch K injection and it was definitely a bit quicker than the later Digifant ones

Jaguar XKR might become a future classic.
1988 VW Sirroco Storm
Ford Focus RS and maybe even the ST models, going on RS and XR Fords
Sierra XR4 x4 if you can find one
Porsche 944Turbo
Prorsche 944 S2 3.0
Porsche 968 not a ragged CS version

Oddball potential. –
Mazda RX7 Efini import , great looking cars
Toyota Supra 3.0 TT
Mitsi EVO 5 /6 so much performance for so little cash and the best looking version

Caterham Super7
Opel Manta GTE
Saab 900T16s
Pug 205 GTi 1.9

Mk2 Escort Mexico in White with original 5 1/2 RS 4 spoke alloys & the thin plastic centre console as a extra, Roll top recaros, FHD595S hope it’s still running but more likey gone to the rust fairies in the sky

Anything with a fomoco genuine RS log bock & matching vin tag is like a small pot of gold.
Then JWU21V MK2 custom RS 2000 sadly rolled to death in black ice, many were ziebarted & rotted like hell on the inner wings / strut tops but again worth a small nations debt now.

Audi TT Mk1. The big dirty engined Quattro version. Get a minter with leather interior and it’ll be a sure fire Classic in 10 years.

@yorkycsl – FHD595S not taxed since 1986 according to DVLA…

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/cars/classic/top-10-affordable-future-classic-cars/

Porsche 944 is already on the way up, sold ours at the end of last year for a good chunk more than we paid 18 months earlier, very nearly cost neutral after some big service items (belts and PAS). Also happens to be a really good drive. Ours was an S2, pre-cat.

Think a lot of the Porsche models are getting some good interest, will always be a bit more desirable than a mass producer. The front engine ones are a little more niche than the others, unless it’s an RS. Can’t see the Boxster getting that level of interest for a long time, people are only taking the 924 serious now it’s 40 years old.

Original Elise a good call. Would also add n/a M5.

Sunbeam TI and the Sunbeam Lotus for a different hatch that goes for silly money. But what guts me is the price of a Ford Capri 3.0S nowadays, I regret selling mine still.

Hadn’t realised the Bosch injection system needed to be mucked about to use modern petrol though – is that really correct?

Yes – I was referring to the 16 valve version, which had K-Jetronic during the entire production run. The 8 valve of course was Digifant from 1987 onward (I believe). My 16 valve was a 1991/2 J plate, getting fuel was problematic at the time I got rid in 2003, either I opted for LRP or Super Unleaded with an added octane booster. Performance was noticeably stunted on Super Unleaded, which at the time was 97RON.

Saxo vts if you can find one in good nick might be a good choice.

Good to drive, one of the last simple old school hot hatches the object of many teenager lads dreams (along with Jorden) and becoming increasingly rare how many left says there are only 646 left in the road (there were near 7000 originally)

hamishthecat

Bugger that’s a pity, more than likely seen the inside of a crusher, it was a mint car when I had it, poorly paid apprentice & could hardly afford to put juice in it, Mild cam K&N filter janspeed manifold & system but other wise standard.
Got tears in my eyes thinking about it.

Bloke nearby just retired, smashing chap, a present for retiring, get this a new Aston Vanquish in a metallic cherry with cream interior, his day car is a 2 years old Jag convertible sadly in bright orange but the rear of the car is so reminiscent of a E type, superb.

A seriously rare car & good knows the values would be a Chevette HS or the even rarer HSR only ever seen one on the road.