Spec me a car for 6k

[GTA]

The V12 XJS I tested was pretty awesome, but I'm still shopping.

Won't be driving it every day, since I don't need a car to get to work, so I want something cool, prestigious, fast and fun.

Hop to it.

[Flibster]

Lotus Elite?
Toyota running gear, galvanised chassis, fibreglass body

My dad picked one up last week for £1700 - needs a couple of small things done but should only cost £400 or so to sort out.

Classic car insurance as well.

Oh..and pop up lights. :D

Could get an Elan +2 for that money as well.
Or a *yuch* modern Elan *it's just not a Lotus...it's FWD for gods sake!*

Simon/~Flibster

[GTA]

Nice idea, but I don't like the way the Elite looks, reminds me of a Reliant Scimitar somehow, must be the high back.

Just checked prices on a 944, could get a fairly clean one for <6k, might even try an M3 or C36/43

[Matblack]

Renault Clio 172

Its waiting on my driveway for you

MB

[Fayshun]

Buy 10x Rover 420SDi on an R plate?

[GTA]

Renault Clio 172

Its waiting on my driveway for you

MB

Certainly cool, fast and fun, but I want something with a bit of prestige, so to be honest, most hatchbacks are out.

And I don't need 10 Rover 420s.

[Matblack]

Damn I need to get this bastard thing sold before the new car is delivered :(

MB

[LeperousDust]

Damn I need to get this bastard thing sold before the new car is delivered :(

MB
Without hijacking, how much is it going for, and how many miles has it done?

//Edit, forget it actually, i keep telling myself i won't get another car yet. I probably can't afford it anyways, let alone insure it :eek:!

[Matblack]

Without hijacking, how much is it going for, and how many miles has it done?

//Edit, forget it actually, i keep telling myself i won't get another car yet. I probably can't afford it anyways, let alone insure it :eek:!

£5700 to you and its done 34500. You could insure it you just need to shop around.

MB

[Creature]

£5700 to you and its done 34500. You could insure it you just need to shop around.

MB*Wonders what parents would think*

[Matblack]

£5700 is mates rates and only to you guys here, on my return from Wales it will go in autotrader for £6100 and I'll take £5900 no less from the general public.

MB

[GTA]

Thats a good price for a 172, I'm sure you'll shift it quickly Matt. If I was planning on driving it every day, or even every other day, I'd bite your hand off for a Renaultsport, but as a second car to thrash every other Sunday, its not what I'm looking for.

I got myself an insurance quote on an M3, and was slightly surprised... in a bad way. They want roughly double what they asked to insure me on a C36, which I don't really understand. In any case, M3 out the window as an option.

Anyone got any experience with a Porsche 944? specifically the non turbo 3.0l S2 coupe?

[Flibster]

Ok..

Lets narrow this down a little then.

Any makes you don't like?
How many seats?
Boot?
Engine?
Economical?

Something cool - I'd definatly go classic.
Prestigious - usually doesn't go with cool.
Fast - hmmm...My opinion of fast is different to most to I'll leave that to you. ;)
Fun - again, classics generally can be more fun at lower speeds.

Simon/~Flibster

[LeperousDust]

£5700 to you and its done 34500. You could insure it you just need to shop around.

MB
Don't tempt me :D

Nah really I couldn't afford to insure it, had a little accident last year that I'm paying for dearly with my premiums for the next 6 years...

[GTA]

Ok..

Lets narrow this down a little then.

Any makes you don't like?
How many seats?
Boot?
Engine?
Economical?

Something cool - I'd definatly go classic.
Prestigious - usually doesn't go with cool.
Fast - hmmm...My opinion of fast is different to most to I'll leave that to you. ;)
Fun - again, classics generally can be more fun at lower speeds.

Simon/~Flibster

I want a prestigious make, think Merc, BMW, Jaguar, Porsche, Lotus. That kind of thing.

Seats, don't care much. At least one. Boot, again, don't care, as long as my golf clubs fit in somehow. Engine, reasonably powerful, and I don't give a rats ass about economy, its a weekend car, will be putting very very few miles on it.

I like classic, and I'm leaning that way. But there's classic, and then there's classic, if you see what I mean. 1950's Jaguar? no. 1980's Porsche? hell yes. Lets say post 1980 as a cutoff, built within my lifetime.

Fast enough to be enjoyable is a major factor. I don't need 0-60 in 4 seconds, but I don't want to be burnt off at the lights by Novaboys. Say sub 7 seconds.

So a sub 7 second, cool car from the 1980s. Shouldn't be that hard.

[Flibster]

Hmmm....

Thats another of my choices out already...
Alfa Romeo Spider from the 70's. ;)

They sell for around £3k for a good one.

Will have to have a good thunk at work tomorrow.

Simon/~Flibster

[Matblack]

So a sub 7 second, cool car from the 1980s. Shouldn't be that hard.

As far as I am aware this is quite a big ask, cars have become a heck of a lot faster in the last 20 years to a point where hot hatchbacks outperform a number of the so called supercars of that time. To find something that age which will outperform todays crop of fast cars you will probably have to spend quite a lot.

MB

[Flibster]

Think I may have found one - and it is a poitential money maker if well looked after...

Mercedes Benz 190e 2.5-16 Cosworth - looks like they start around 4k and go upwards from there.

Good car as well with a proper racing heritidge.

Simon/~Flibster

[Matblack]

Good choice, one of the few cars that fits the bill really :)

MB

[Flibster]

There's also the VW Corrado 2.9 VR6 - but thats later than 1990...stilla good car though.

The Merc only just sneaks in at 1989... Automatics are more desirable and worth more - but imo the manuals are better. ;)

Simon/~Flibster

[Flibster]

Been doing some more searching... *list will be updated when I find more*

1989 Maserati BiTurbo - £4k
1984 5.7l V8 Chevy Corvette - £4k ;)
1989 4.2l Daimler Limo - £6k :D
1991 Lancia Thelma 827 - £5k *the one with the Ferrari 308 engine :D*
1993 Pontial Firebird 3.5 V6 - £5k
1970's Rolls Royce Silver Shadow/Silver Spirit - £5k upwards
1971 Lotus Europa - £6k
1972 Lotus Elan +2 - £5k for a goodun
1990 Lotus Elan Turbo - £4k

[GTA]

Very cool list, some cars I hadn't even considered :)

I like the Merc and the Maserati a lot. Looking into owners clubs and reviews now.

I don't want a Corvette ( or pretty much any American car ), and the Daimler and the Rolls Royce are both out, I don't really think I need something that big :) The Thema ( not Thelma ) is very hard to find, and reliability is terrible. Reliability isn't a major concern, but it seems these things are big trouble.

The Europa is hilarious looking, and seems to be in short supply. The Elan is far too girlie looking for my tastes.

Not on your list, but the Porker 944 S2 is getting me very interested. Great online and offline enthusiast following, lots of specialists dotted about, and reportedly very reliable for a late 80's/early 90's sports car. What do you reckon?

[Flibster]

I owned a 944 Turbo for a couple of months...

Was a non-road legal stripped out for racing one with a diff that was about to fall apart. Was tuned to 450bhp though.

Was a huge amount of fun to drive but I'm not sure how it compares to the roadgoing varient.

Biggest thing with it is image.

Porsche may be a prestige car - but if it's not an older 911 then forget it really.

Which Elan is too girly for you? the 1970's one of the 1990's one? The 1970's one is a fabulous car and one of the best Lotus have ever made.

The Europa is another very good car which is fairly rare. Again a successfull race car.

The Thema was something I found that I though could be a load of fun...but being Italian and of that certain age it's bound to do 3 things....

1) go like stink until...
2) it breaksdown and...
3) rusts...

All I did was a sub £6k search on Autotrader and had a damn good laugh. :D

Simon/~Flibster

[Flibster]

You've always got the classic Lancia Delta Intergrale. Need to get the Turbo version though.

Oooh...just had a thought pop into my head.

How about a Volvo? *stop sniggering at the back*

Deadly serious about this one - A Volvo P1800

Very cool car - The Saint had one, Roger Daltry had one, the 1973 Playmate of the year had one. ;)

Should be some good ones for around £5k as concorse ones are ~£8k

Simon/~Flibster

[GTA]

Its the 90's Elan I don't like so much. And the 70's one is lovely looking, but I don't think I want to own a car that old. I couldn't give it the attention it needed.

I am slightly concerned that a 944 isn't a great Porsche, imagewise. But on the other hand, a freshly waxed metalic black S2 with cream leather interior looks the business. Suposedly very good to drive as well, the perfect 50:50 weight distribution takes care of that, and 200bhp is enough to kick the tail out, but not in a crazy dangerous way.

But yeah, the image, not sure.

Read more about the merc, and I love it, I'll certainly be test driving one ( probably the 1989 black one on autotrader for 4k ) The spare 2k would certainly be helpful for keeping it on the road.

Very little info online about what faults to look out for though, something I love about Porsches is that all the info you'd ever need to fix anything is available at a click.

EDIT - Aren't all Integrales LHD? If so, I'll stay clear. No point having all the power in the world if you can't see round the twatty tractor holding you up.

P1800, now thats a bloody thought.... easily the best looking volvo ever made, and to my mind, one to the nicest looking cars anyone's ever made. I'll have a look around at prices. How solid are they?

[GTA]

Can't find one for sale anywhere, probably not too surprising.

I don't think I could maintain it properly anyway :(

[Matblack]

http://www.club.ox.ac.uk/home/discussion/index.php?action=vthread&forum=1&topic=66

Estate version

http://www.practicalclassics.co.uk/classifieds/viewad.ehtml?a=1767687689;page=5

Proper one

MB

[Flibster]

Volvo owners club is probably the best place to look. ;)

http://www.volvoclub.org.uk/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=26

Looks like £4-5k is a good one with a quick shuffle through that lot.

Simon/~Flibster

[Flibster]

http://www.practicalclassics.co.uk/classifieds/viewad.ehtml?a=1767687689;page=5

Proper one

MB

That looks a beauty!

[GTA]

That looks fantastic, nice find Matt. So much choice... I love spending money over and over in my head :)

The only thing about the P1800 is that if it needed a new part, sourcing it might be a serious issue. I'm looking into that at the monent. I'd love to own one though. Such a great looking car. Would I look a bit silly driving one when they're 37 years old and I'm 24?

[Matblack]

Would I look a bit silly driving one when they're 37 years old and I'm 24?

Nope

MB

[Flibster]

Hmmm...

I was born in '78
Have owned cars from 71, 73 and 74.... ;)

So..no.