For those interested in "Modern Classic" Cars

[Classsix T]

Of course, anything is worth as much as someone is willing to pay. Personally I wouldn't spend more than £1500 on a 924. Double that for a minter 944 however.

 

It just occurred to me during that programme, that if my mate had had enough foresight he could have made upwards of £15000 on his slightly dented Capri and the subsequent Porker!

 

The most interesting thing ever said in Bangers & Cash is that the scrappage scheme has been the driving (cough) force in the appreciation of prices for vehicles that were once common.

 

C6T.

[Classsix T]

Saw a proper retro liveried Transit in BR yellow with branding on my way off work. On the bike so no pics I'm afraid but it put a grin on my face.

 

Anorak mode then kicked-in, it had an 'M' prefix on the 'plate. I can't remember if that's a crossover date for when BR was folded (1994)?

 

 

Still, nice to see. C6T.

[big jim]

Got the car back from having its work done, the sport cat and manifold aren’t too loud so I’ll keep it on as is, the biggest difference is the suspension, the stiffer anti rollbar and suspension bounce back stiffened up has transformed the handling, far less wallowing on the rear end over bumps 

 

got to admit I’m glad I didn’t sell it last year, looks so nice, going to use it more this year I recon 

 

going to swap the stereo over the weekend hopefully, got an alpine unti with DAB and usb inputs to go in 

[MJI]

My MOT will be very expensive.

 

I need a half chassis due to rear end rust.

[Dunsignalling]

On 04/04/2023 at 22:15, Classsix T said:

Of course, anything is worth as much as someone is willing to pay. Personally I wouldn't spend more than £1500 on a 924. Double that for a minter 944 however.

 

It just occurred to me during that programme, that if my mate had had enough foresight he could have made upwards of £15000 on his slightly dented Capri and the subsequent Porker!

 

The most interesting thing ever said in Bangers & Cash is that the scrappage scheme has been the driving (cough) force in the appreciation of prices for vehicles that were once common.

 

C6T.

The market has belatedly woken up to the virtues of the 944 in recent years, and I think you may have left it a bit late to acquire even a half-sensible one for three grand....😄

 

Cheapest one (by some margin) currently on Autotrader has an asking price of £5,750, and it's an automatic with 118k on the clock. Tidy manuals seem to start around £8k.

 

At the upper end, there's a dealer offering a Turbo with 61k on it that looks pretty mint, and you might be able to beat him down to £27,500....

 

John

[Hobby]

Yesterday we took Hamish the Honda to the Pride of Longbridge. Despite some stupid comments about the badge which showed the ignorance of those concerned we had a nice day.

 

Last year we had more people comment so I did a humorous explanation that Hamish, being built at Longbridge actually had more right to be there than the many Cowley and other factory manufactured cars!

 

The photo is of a Japanese gentleman who turned up whilst I was looking round and asked Jennie if he could take some photos. Luckily I turned up at that point and we had a long chat. Seems that he was on the Honda design team for the R8 (Concerto and 214/216) and after it finished he moved to the UK and still lives here. Needless to say he was very happy to see the Honda version in amongst all the Rovers!

Edited April 16, 2023 by Hobby

[russ p]

6 minutes ago, Hobby said:

Yesterday we took Hamish the Honda to the Pride of Longbridge. Despite some stupid comments about the badge which showed the ignorance of those concerned we had a nice day.

 

Last year we had more people comment so I did a humorous explanation that Hamish, being built at Longbridge actually had more right to be there than the many Cowley and other factory manufactured cars!

 

The photo is of a Japanese gentleman who turned up whilst I was looking round and asked Jennie if he could take some photos. Luckily I turned up at that point and we had a long chat. Seems that he was on the Honda design team for the R8 (Concerto and 214/216) and after it finished he moved to the UK and still lives here. Needless to say he was very happy to see the Honda version in amongst all the Rovers!

 

Has that got a rover vin plate? My mate had an SD3 style ballade and that had an austin rover one

[Hobby]

Rover Group Limited at the top and Honda in bigger letters at the bottom!

[spamcan61]

Spotted this rather nice Opel Monza parked in Fordingbridge yesterday:-

 

[big jim]

My 18yr old has been going on and on and on about Mazda Miata’s and how great they are and how he really wants one, he’s yet to pass his test but convinced he will have one as his first car!

 

as it happened earlier I drove past the house of the man I buy my old bangers off and I spotted what I thought looked like an MX 5 on his drive, gave him a call and sure enough it was, went to have a look at it with my lad and I recon he’s going to buy it off him ready for when he passes his test, it will will have to sit on the drive until that time, looks decent enough, it’s been undercoated and it’s a bit rough and ready around the arches, no rust, just loads of under seal slavered all over, might benefit from the arches being rolled to tidy them up a bit, it also comes with a hardtop which is a bonus 

 

£600 with 10 months MOT!

 

it’s hunting a bit on idle but I think it’s got an air leak somewhere on the inlet, it’s had a cheap induction kit fitted which is damaged, and you can really hear air being sucked in, it seemed to improve slightly when I disconnected the MAF 

I think I might use it over the summer if he doesn’t get his test date by then! 

[Andy7]

That MX5 is certainly cheap and I would guess pretty rusty underneath. Have a decent look Jim (with a tapping hammer!).

 

Also what would the insurance be like? Shockingly expensive would be my guess (assuming it’s an 1800, even a 1600 will be monies).

[big jim]

Having had a cursory look underneath it’s been really well covered with under seal so god knows what’s under it but with 10 months test on it and it will be his first car if it lasts that long it’s all good!

 

insurance, it’s a 1.6, he had a look at MX5s last year by putting dummy figures (car value etc) in the meerkat and it wasn’t too bad third party, can’t remember how much but it wasn’t as much as I’d reconned it would be, there may be a cheaper way by putting me as a named driver, can’t remember the ins and outs of it, whatever happens he’s confident he can afford it, the tax, petrol etc, no doubt bank of mum and dad will end up funding some of it! 

Edited April 16, 2023 by big jim

[Andy7]

Get it bought at £600 then. They are reliable cars and certainly an amazing first car. Rear drive is so pure, he will be a proper petrolhead before you know it.

[spamcan61]

Anything with 10 months ticket for under 2 grand is a "bargain" these days I'd say so a low risk buy. It does knock a couple of hundred quid a year off my 19 year old son's Fiesta insurance sticking me on as a named driver. I am permitted to drive it  occasionally lol.

[PeterH]

MX5s are a joy to drive. Having had to spend £1k on it this month perhaps not so joyous…

 

 

[Nick C]

17 hours ago, big jim said:

Having had a cursory look underneath it’s been really well covered with under seal so god knows what’s under it but with 10 months test on it and it will be his first car if it lasts that long it’s all good!

 

insurance, it’s a 1.6, he had a look at MX5s last year by putting dummy figures (car value etc) in the meerkat and it wasn’t too bad third party, can’t remember how much but it wasn’t as much as I’d reconned it would be, there may be a cheaper way by putting me as a named driver, can’t remember the ins and outs of it, whatever happens he’s confident he can afford it, the tax, petrol etc, no doubt bank of mum and dad will end up funding some of it! 

Insurance for young drivers can be funny, sometimes faster cars can actually be cheaper as they're less commonly driven by young drivers - it's basically all down to how often such cars get crashed by such drivers! A friend of mine, back in the early 2000s, had a 1.7 Volvo - much cheaper to insure than a 1.0 hatch because no-one of that age would want to drive one, except him!

 

You'll need to remove the induction kit and put it back to standard, they won't like a young driver on a modified car (though it sounds like you need to do that anyway...). Whatever you do, don't insure it in your name with him as a named driver, that's fraud - and they know all about it!

[Kickstart]

19 hours ago, big jim said:

My 18yr old has been going on and on and on about Mazda Miata’s and how great they are and how he really wants one, he’s yet to pass his test but convinced he will have one as his first car!

 

as it happened earlier I drove past the house of the man I buy my old bangers off and I spotted what I thought looked like an MX 5 on his drive, gave him a call and sure enough it was, went to have a look at it with my lad and I recon he’s going to buy it off him ready for when he passes his test, it will will have to sit on the drive until that time, looks decent enough, it’s been undercoated and it’s a bit rough and ready around the arches, no rust, just loads of under seal slavered all over, might benefit from the arches being rolled to tidy them up a bit, it also comes with a hardtop which is a bonus 

 

£600 with 10 months MOT!

I think I might use it over the summer if he doesn’t get his test date by then! 

 

They do rust badly. The NB like that seems worse than the older NA. On Youtube have a look at Yorkshire Car Restorations, which will show you the areas they rust in.

 

That one does look in good condition. Engines are tough, and are safe if and when the cam belt snaps. My brother killed one of his when the alternator belt snapped - the charging light came on and he ignored it thinking he could drive a bit longer not realising that the water pump was also not working!

 

Frankly, at £600 it is worth the money even if it is a rust bucket!

 

All the best

 

Katy

[big jim]

The MOT history is an interesting read, still bought it though, can be a ‘dooer upper’ over the summer for me and the lad 

 

took it out for a drive, seems ok, bit of wheel wobble but that could be wheel balancing or possibly the brake calliper as shown on the advisory, will have to investigate when I get it home, will definitely have to have a new tyre on the rear too as it was an advisory back in 2022 as well as this year, noted it’s only done 1000 miles between the last 2 tests 

 

This is the worst arch 

 

Nice with the hard top on though

 

 

I hate to say it as I wind my lad up about MX5s being a hairdressers car but it was a good fun raw drive, didn’t go far but it certainly stuck to the road, no go in it compared to the mini but as a first car I’m glad about that! 

Edited April 17, 2023 by big jim

[spamcan61]

In terms of keeping it for a while then it comes down to what's under all that underseal I guess. 

 

Plenty of corrosion reported on 2022 and 2015 MoTs, but then like I said anything with an MoT is normally well over 1K here.

Edited April 17, 2023 by spamcan61

[big jim]

4 minutes ago, spamcan61 said:

In terms of keeping it for a while then it comes down to what's under all that underseal I guess. 

Or what’s not under the underseal!

 

I’ve not seen an undersealed car since I did my chevette wheel arches back in 1991, didn’t even know it was still a thing!

 

Crazy thing is I can subliminally smell it as I type this 

 

 

[spamcan61]

27 minutes ago, big jim said:

Or what’s not under the underseal!

 

I’ve not seen an undersealed car since I did my chevette wheel arches back in 1991, didn’t even know it was still a thing

 

 

Same here, guy at my work  mentioned he'd bought some  Waxoyl  the other day, I didn't know that's still a thing.

Edited April 17, 2023 by spamcan61

[Nick C]

Sounds like you're going to get very familar with a welder! I believe the Mk2s rust worse than the Mk1s - the same formaer-volvo-owning friend I mentioned above has an early Mk2, and I know he's had to do a lot of welding - and has a local specialist who knows the cars well - which I think is this one:

 

https://www.doctormx5.co.uk/what-we-do/sills-and-welding/

 

Some good photos on there of what you'll be seeing...

[big jim]

the way i see it is if it lasts through to the next MOT (March 24) then thats good enought for me, he wanted an MX5, this one was cheap enough, he can sell it for scrap if its a failure when the time comes, the hardtops are going for £250+ on ebay at the minute 

 

hes just had a shock about how much the insurance will be when he passes his test, i did warn him but i know nothing! 

[big jim]

you may remember all the hoo haa i had with Adrien flux insurance back in October with my wife's no claims not being mirrored well today I'm absolutely fuming again, i checked my documents to see about maybe putting the mazda as a temporary vehicle on one of my policies only to discover that i wasn't named on the Mini policy at all, my wife's name was showing as main driver and named driver.

 

the skoda policy had her as main driver and me as named driver so basically I've been driving the mini since October with no insurance while my wife has inadvertently been using 16 years no claims they said she didn't have on the skoda while driving round in the mazda on a separate policy also accruing a no claims on that!

 

when i called them they said, despite it being an error on their part that the only way to remedy it would be to cancel the policy and start a new one, I did originally think I wasn't insured on both vehicles so they did me another multicar quote for both cars coming out at £650+ which I of course said I wasn't interested in, the cock up has been at their end, as far as I'm concerned they need to sort it out without me having any outlay, I've already spent this morning on the phone to them when I've got other stuff to do, it is looking like the only way out of it is to cancel the old policy down and start a new one as they recon they can't just change the main drivers name but that then means I've got to give them my money for another 12 months, also the mini policy is all paid for upfront, id rather cut my losses, get the remainder of the premium back and look elsewhere

 

as I say the most worrying thing is the fact I've been driving round in the mini for 6 months with no insurance, the lesson I've learned, always check and double check your documents!!

[big jim]

Now they are saying that Sarah has 16yr no claims despite saying she had none in January and me as a named driver will lose my 20+ years no claims and they won’t honour or mirror it!

 

currently, on a call to another specialist insurer to get a fresh quote

 

EDIT: insured it elsewhere now starting tomorrow and Flux have said the 16yr no claims is mine but I want it in writing before I cancel the policy as I can see them going back on it! 

also insured the Mazda for Dominic on a learners policy so I can go out with him tomorrow once it’s taxed

 

Edited April 18, 2023 by big jim