"Drive Cult" (drivecult)
12/23/2014 at 10:56 • Filed to: None
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"Drive Cult" (drivecult)
12/23/2014 at 10:56 • Filed to: None | 0
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Classic cars prices have been rising fast lately, and it's not just at the top end of the market. Even cars that might have been considered more affordable, such as the Triumph TR4 and Jaguar MK II 3.8, have appreciated to the point where decent examples are out of reach of the average enthusiast, so where does this leave the enthusiast looking for a fun classic to use? The answer is they are actually in good shape, as there are still plenty of interesting older cars to be had for reasonable money. Due to this, I thought it was time to surf the classified to see what is out there and come up with a list of ten interesting, fun, affordable classics.
To some extent, my thoughts were inspired by my recent trip to the Journées d'Automne. The event featured the complete gamut of classic cars at all ends of the pricing spectrum, so I figured I would consider affordable cars that would be ideal for a weekend road-trip, which would include some motorway work to get to and from the event, some light track work at the track-day and some back roads driving. I'm not sure of the exact age criteria for the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , but cars introduced prior to 1980 seems to be about right, so I have stuck with that.
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The most important aspect is obviously the budget, and I've set a ceiling of £20,000 (or the same amount converted into US Dollars or Euros in some cases) as the maximum spend for a viable running car even if it's not a potential concours winner. £20,000 is not exactly cheap but it is roughly what a mid-sized family car will set you back and less than modern hero cars such as the Toyota GT86 and Renaultsport Megane 265. Some of the cars on the list push that boundary to the very limit; some get nowhere near it even for the best examples.
Finally in the interests of variety I have excluded any cars we have included in previous lists or other articles on Drive Cult, so that means no !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! among others.
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I have obviously looked at this from a British standpoint, but perhaps more by luck than judgment, all but one of the cars on the list was officially offered for sale in the US, and some are more readily available and cheaper in the States than in Europe.
This list is not a "best of" as some of these cars are not exactly comparable with others. It was actually quite hard to keep this to ten cars, so I've included a couple alternative choices to each car that would also fit the bill. In each case, the prime car would be my first choice though. At the end I pick a personal favourite. Let us know if you agree with me or not.
The list is presented in alphabetical order.
1. Alfa Romeo 105 Series
Any list of affordable classics is bound to feature an Alfa Romeo, and no car defines the brand more than the 105 Giulia family. The 105 came in several forms, principally, the boxy but aerodynamically efficient saloons, the Bertone bodied coupés and Pininfarina Spiders. All are powered by versions of Alfa Romeo's twin-cam four-cylinder engine, with capacities ranging from 1300 to 2000cc.
Prices of all 105s have risen over the last few years, in part due the cars popularity in historic racing and track days. Today the £20,000 budget probably rules out an early step nose coupé or a round tail Duetto Spyder. However, it should still get you into a decent saloon or series 2 Kamm tailed Spider and even a perfectly presentable but not perfect later Coupé. Regrettably the rare Zagato bodied Juniors are considerably more money.
Read the rest on !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!!
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Cé hé sin
> Drive Cult
12/23/2014 at 10:58 |
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Can you really buy one of these for £20,000? I'd be surprised.
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Drive Cult
> Cé hé sin
12/23/2014 at 11:00 |
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Checked all in the classifieds and found a plenty in Europe for sale for less than this. This was the best sounding of them (no affiliation etc etc) http://www.stelvio.dk/uk/product_det…
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Cé hé sin
> Drive Cult
12/23/2014 at 11:02 |
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So you can. I had the idea they'd be nearer £50,000.