Forever Car

[Uncle Jimmy]

Volvo Amazon estate. Peugeot 404 if you can find one. Felly Magic's Bluebird is a good call. Mk2 1.6L Cav. Volvo 240, Toyota Corollas.

[Lacquer Peel]

Lukas's point about parts support is a good one. How long can you rely on NOS parts?

The forever car needs to have a decent following and parts backup.

 

I suppose you could buy three decent examples while they're readily available and use the other two as parts donors. I think that's how car hording starts.

[Tartan58]

What budget are we talking about here?

I like the idea of buying something brand new and keeping it forever but the problem is there isn't really anything new I fancy that I wouldn't get bored of and certainly not in my price range - possibly a new Jag XJ but I couldn't even afford the tyres.

 

Always fancied running a Mk2 Jag or Daimler V8 as a daily forever but would be ruinously expensive.

 

Probably a W123 estate would be the sensible choice but prices for good ones have gone silly.

 

If I find a good rover 75 saloon in dark red/maroon with cream leather and a diesel engine coupled to a badermatic box I reckon that would do the trick.

[phil_lihp]

Based on mechanical durability, what about a Peugeot 504?  Just ask the South Africans.  Essexman had one, seems like rust is the only thing that kills them.

 

[Jerzy Woking]

Lexus LS400 MkIII. My one had done 250,000 when I sold it. Interior was mint - no bolster wear, all electrics worked, fantasticly smooth V8 engine, no rust issues (1994 model) and great reliability. Mpg was 30 on a long sub 70 mph run, 23 mpg around town.

 

Thinking of getting another one as a daily driver to join my Merc W124 (another car I have been impressed with).

[UltraWomble]

What budget are we talking about here?

Imagine I have a budget of between £3000 and £5000 for a car that I would like to keep going for the rest of my natural life. Given that I am morbidly obese, have NASH, NIDDM and a large arachnoid cyst that if I suffer an intracranial bleed will cause me to cone and die, my life expectancy isnt that great....

 

Im still leaning in a thoroughly oily Landy direction at the moment, though I cant shake the idea of a Torslanda....

[Felly Magic]

Pre Torslanda 2.3 DL on carbs & 4 speed box

[artdjones]

 

Just buy one of these.

One of the lads at work has been bringing this in all week.

Not quite as good as in the photo but very solid.

241000 miles and running like a watch.

If I didnt have 4 cars I think I would take the plunge (it's for sale)

No need to rush - it's in Ireland

[2MB]

^^ all those takeaway drivers can't be wrong

[purplebargeken]

Okay, okay. If I am pushed I would go for a black Chevy Impala 1967 vintage. That is all. 

[purplebargeken]

Or a Simca 1000 in powder blue. 

[dollywobbler]

Lukas's point about parts support is a good one. How long can you rely on NOS parts?

The forever car needs to have a decent following and parts backup.

 

I suppose you could buy three decent examples while they're readily available and use the other two as parts donors. I think that's how car hording starts.

 

Indeed. That's where Citroens tend to fall down. Parts support gets decidedly dicey after about 20 years. Which is how old the XM is. Ah.

[UltraWomble]

Indeed. That's where Citroens tend to fall down. Parts support gets decidedly dicey after about 20 years. Which is how old the XM is. Ah.

One of the reasons I no longer have a BX as unlike Doc Chevron I dont have a convenient stack of BX's sat in the corner of my barn to keep the daily on the road.

Which is another reason why I keep gravitating to LR, Moggie 1000 or Sherpa Coupe in my head aftermarket parts supply seems to be excellent for these cars.

[Richard]

Parts supply is always going to be the sticking point. A forever car needs to either have a 'scene' or be simple enough that a blacksmith could make parts.

[Lukas]

Parts supply is always going to be the sticking point. A forever car needs to either have a 'scene' or be simple enough that a blacksmith could make parts.

 

Exactly that!

 

A Lexus LS400 or a Corolla E10 may be a fantastic car, but they are japanese cars, so parts supply is a problem. Maybe not now, but soon enough. 

 

A VW Golf 2 (as much as I dislike them) may be a good bet too. 

[ShiteRider]

Okay, okay. If I am pushed I would go for a black Chevy Impala 1967 vintage. That is all.

But only if it comes with holy water and sawn off shotguns.

[Junkman]

You're all wrong.

 

There are three possibilities.

 

1. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Ford-Model-T-/231673385364?hash=item35f0cf5194

 

2. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Rolls-Royce-Shadow-1-Part-Restored-Complete-/151783606777

 

3. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1973-FORD-LTD-4dr-pillared-sedan-/191678592349

 

Everything else will not last forever, you won't get spares for it, and/or it will be difficult to fix.

[Lukas]

The parts-supply for Ford LTD & RR is good? An old yank maybe a good bet, because they seem to last mechanically forever. Or am I wrong?

[Junkman]

You are right in every aspect.

Considering the future, I would opt for my alternative #1 though.

[purplebargeken]

I would have to make sure the doors were oiled properly though. That bugs me each time I watch

[derskine]

W123 300D, one of these is next on my list of cars to buy.

[Junkman]

No diesel can possibly be forever. The legal crackdown on them is already plotted and will be rolled out within the next decade.

All the cars I suggested can be easily converted to run on Ethanol fuels except one, which is already designed to run on them.

[oldcars]

No diesel can possibly be forever. The legal crackdown on them is already plotted and will be rolled out within the next decade.

All the cars I suggested can be easily converted to run on Ethanol fuels except one, which is already designed to run on them.

i will need to run far far away with my 75 

[derskine]

No diesel can possibly be forever. The legal crackdown on them is already plotted and will be rolled out within the next decade.

All the cars I suggested can be easily converted to run on Ethanol fuels except one, which is already designed to run on them.

 

Fine - a 230e!

[UltraWomble]

Bugger that outlawing them - Ive been told that Im getting a 1.9 Polo diseasal next march.

Its got heated leather.

[Pete-M]

Even though I'm currently smoking about in a diesel, I can't wait for them to be banned. Horrible cancerous lumps of rattling.

[AnthonyG]

Would all diesels be banned? Even ones old enough to be historic vehicles?

 

To return to topic, Volvo 200 or 700 is a good call, as is a early Mercedes W124 or even a W123, although good ones for a reasonable price are hard to find now.

 

Parts availability would be excellent for Jags but the ones old enough to be not full of electrical trickery like to rust for a living .

 

Jeep Cherokee - the square boxy one? Cared-for ones do seem to survive well.

[Lacquer Peel]

No diesel can possibly be forever. The legal crackdown on them is already plotted and will be rolled out within the next decade.

All the cars I suggested can be easily converted to run on Ethanol fuels except one, which is already designed to run on them.

 

All diesels can run on biodiesel, many old ones can run on filtered, unrefined vegetable oil.

[Lukas]

But that does not stop the older diesels (< EuroV) being banned from the roads. Sadly.

[2MB]

How long does a car have to be on the road for the pollution from its exhaust to surpass that emitter when it was built?