Which came First? Chicken or Egg?

[NorfolkNWeigh]

I'd love an Anglia with a 1500 GT engine, wide arches and banded steel wheels. Got to be in grey and without chrome. I lusted after one when I was a kid (I used to read CandCC instead of the Dandy!) and never got close.

 

The streets used to be filled with cars that looked tired and emotional but still seemed to work.... most days.

You are Carlos Fandango AICMFP.

[fordperv]

 

XR2s and XR3is have obviously succumbed to the OSF Retirement Fund collectors and cant be bought for normal money any more.

 

Yep don't forget the lowly escort rs turbo that you could pick up on any council estate, the same with the cosworth I remember rs turbos were £500-£800 for nice ones and you could get a sapphire cosworth for £1000-£1500 and 3 door cosworths for £3000-£4000

[danthecapriman]

I've been very lucky with this. I've been obsessed with old Fords as long as I can remember so naturally once I could drive I started buying them.

My mk2 Capri, bought as my first car and payed £100 with tax and test, this was 2001 before prices went nuts and since then I've restored it, used the hell out of it and now it's getting done again.

I'll never be without this car and I will spend as much as I have to on it in order to keep it going. Some of you probably think I'm mad spending what I do on my cars but I love them and want to keep them long term so to me, it's a price worth paying.

 

My Granada mk2 is another one where I bought a rough one to save it from the banger racers, payed very little for it and spent ages welding it and repairing it.

This one though, reminds me of cars I remember from my childhood. Back then they were common street furniture and just in the used car part of life, the older ones were at the old banger stage and I remember them with faded battered paint, 'black death' tide marks from mot welding, rust and body damage with the odd coloured panels from other cars etc etc. This is much how mine looks now.

I've often considered doing a full on resto on it, but tbh I like it how it is! How I remember them. Yes, it's never going to be welcome at a car show and 'if' I did ever sell it I'm sure it'd end up straight onto the banger track but I like it the way it is.

 

I do agree though, that the money asked for things now is absolute madness and I do sympathise with those who would like one but are now priced out. But, there are ways to do it, saving up money, importing from abroad where prices are still reasonable? A lot of it depends on how determined you are to get one I suppose and what your willing to accept like having a left hand drive car instead of right etc.

 

Edit just add some pics of the old scabby turd!

 

Gaffer tape over rust. Classic!

 

Anyone else remember these like this? A running road legal Granada for a hundred quid or so back in the early 90's?

[mercrocker]

My 3.0 manual MK1 estate cost me £100.  I was so skint I paid for it in change out of a whisky bottle which was supposed to be for "going away".   We never went away that year but I smoked that Granny around all summer and my two year old used it as a carpeted play den for a while after that!

[carlo]

My dad was doing a bit of trading in the late sixties and early seventies, he was being offered Bugattis, Astons and Jaguar E Types for peanuts - they were worthless second hand then.  He still has nightmares about it now.

[fordperv]

Danthecapriman my story is similar, i am ford nuts and my cars were bought before they were really worth anything but , i bought my Capri in 2008 for £600 with 10 month m.o.t and 6 months tax ran it daily for 5 years, my mk1 3 door sierra I've had since 2001 bought for £150 but it was a wreck I have since spent a lot of cash and effort on it there's a big long winded story but Ive told it on here before, the crap thing is I'm well into 5 figures spent on it mainly because of performance parts and upgrades, my saph is the newest addition which I've had since 2012.

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

I bought my only Capri, an absolutely immaculate Y reg 2000 Ghia in Caspian blue for £375 in 1997. Sold it for a grand a fortnight later mind.

[Ghosty]

Ladas.

[mercrocker]

This thread really does explain why I have not bought a car for donkeys.   I used to look forward to whatever I was running into the ground actually terminally shitting itself because by then, hopefully, I had scraped up a couple of hundred quid and stuff that I wanted when I bought the car I was about to replace was out of my price range.   Two or three years on, they weren't - I could afford one!     

 

I cannot remember the last time I looked at, say, an S Class Mercedes or a Ghia spec big Ford and thought to myself, hmmm, might try one of those next.    Every few hundred quid I scrape together now just simply gets spent on the four cars I have got.   I never even think about a replacement - its either now "classic" and dearer every year or a piece of shit built in this century that will never appeal to me, now matter how old it (or me...) becomes.

[dollywobbler]

Rear engine Skodas 

 

This! I paid £150 for mine. In 1998. I can't bring myself to spend a four-figure sum to buy one now given what else you can get for the money. Favorits are starting to head the same way. See also Ladas and even Yugos. The 'shit' cars of the 1980s seem to have become fashionable somehow. Obviously we're keeping the Nippa, because by that record, it'll be worth a million pounds in a few year's time.

[captain_70s]

Triumph Dolomites, if I sold both of mine I'd not be able to buy a better example with the proceeds, Sprints are way beyond budget.

 

Minis, always wanted to try one out, never will.

 

Rover P6, wanted one for years but I've well and truly missed the boat. Triumph 2000s are the same story.

 

Morris Minor, another I've wanted for a looooooooong time, preferably a Traveller. Sadly never going to happen.

 

Not sporty Fords. Boggo Mk1 Fiestas, mk4 'Tinas and the like, now just as overvalued as the sporty ones.

 

Austin Allegro. Its reputation for awfulness means values have sky-rocketed in this era of liking things ironically.

 

Hillman Avenger/Morris Marina. Both are rather dull 70s saloons that have somehow gained 4 figure price tags in the last 5 years.

 

Of course this is based on the cars being roadworthy and not smoking rot boxes, perhaps a bit cosmetically challenged. Now even wrecks command strong money and I've largely given up on acquiring other 1970s motors. I may as well fix what I have as I'll not be able to afford anything else worth having.

[Felly Magic]

Just seen a for sale advert for a BL Princess 2200HL for £6,500. FERKINHELL

[HH-R]

I've always wanted a 2CV but too salty now.

 

I'm not really bothered about Fords but I'd love an early Orion Ghia because my Dad had one. OMG OSF and rarity means that's a non starter.

[dollywobbler]

I've always wanted a 2CV but too salty now.

 

I'm not really bothered about Fords but I'd love an early Orion Ghia because my Dad had one. OMG OSF and rarity means that's a non starter.

 

I sell you Dyane for cheap dollar (well, £1100). Is good paint and ting.

[Felly Magic]

This! I paid £150 for mine. In 1998. I can't bring myself to spend a four-figure sum to buy one now given what else you can get for the money. Favorits are starting to head the same way. See also Ladas and even Yugos. The 'shit' cars of the 1980s seem to have become fashionable somehow. Obviously we're keeping the Nippa, because by that record, it'll be worth a million pounds in a few year's time.

 

This is not helped by a person with rather a large pile of cash in Essex who is in to his commie cars. I suspect he's partly to blame. Favorits though, I tried flogging mine with feck all interest! Still for sale, but needs an alternator rebuild

[Rusty Pelican]

E30 BMWs, I had about half a dozen in a row a few years ago when they were priced slightly higher than weigh in value, now a rotten "project" seems to be worth £1500++.

 

Tried an E36 but it wasn't quite the same.

Mine was 600 notes 6 years ago - didnt think they would go up though - its still just a cheap every day banger to me - best i look after it a tad better then .

 Ive got an Imp van and a Singer Chamois both bought  for less than 50 notes nearly 30 years ago - i couldnt afford to buy my own cars now which is quite shocking.

When I was 18 in 1982 i was offered  a MK2 3.0  Cortina Savage for a crispy £10 note with a blown diff - my pops said id never get the insurance and to be fair he was probably right so i never bought it - not sure what ones worth now but 10 grand is more like it now not 10 quid 

[NorfolkNWeigh]

Reality check , Mondeo list price starts at £20,000. In 1982 Cortinas started at about £4000.

Those £2000 E-Types etc were a lot more expensive than a £2000 XJ-S.

When even modest houses are £200,000 , a £5000 XR3i looks like a bargain compared to a £3000 1600E in 1996 when that same house was £50,000 or less.

We've never had it so good!

In my case it's just that even though I earn 10 times more than when I was buying £200 Jags and W108 Mercs, I have 100 times the outgoings, so the £1000 Jags and W126 Mercs are out of reach.

[scruff]

Dan that Granada is ace and just as I remember them

[egg]

I wonder if the classic price bubble will burst - every price bubble has burst since the Dutch tulips!?

 

Slight changes to legislation could easily kill off the scene on basis of emissions/safety.

 

Will kids today still want old Ford's in 20 year's time?

 

Crystal ball gazing, innit?

[Vantman]

My 1952 Ford E83W pick up,i doubt if it attracts silly prices but I couldn't afford one now. In 1965 I paid £6.00 for it!

 

[Parky]

Today's 20 year olds will, in two decades time, be scanning eBay looking for a KA or R50 Mini to buy as a fun project, like the one they used to have.....

[anonymous user]

Nostalgia isn't what it used to be, I've always wanted a nice Austin 7, sadly they keep getting more expensive and apart from a rubbish, incomplete, special I've never had one, I doubt now that I ever will.  In 1980 I could have done a straight swap with my Triumph Spitfire for a Bristol 405, I let myself be talked out of it. I could afford a Spitfire now, but not the Bristol.

 

I'm not sure about the future of the "classic" car market; yes I know a lot is about nostalgia and buyers are after the things they couldn't afford in their youth. Having said that I have not noticed Veteran or Vintage cars getting cheaper. (ok there were lots less of those to start with).

 

The bubble may well burst if the market gets flooded where non-enthusiasts try to realise their "investments". The sad thing is, that at the moment that is not happening and because the best of the best sells for silly money, often to the investor rather than enthusiast, it drags up the prices of the average/poor ones as well.

 

The bandwagon is rolling, I remember the last time it stopped and prices did dip for a while, especially with the hastily tarted up 1980's "restorations". The best of the best will always command the highest prices, but for the enthusiast hopefully there will always be the "uneconomic restoration projects" where it becomes more about desire, skill, enthusiasm rather than an open cheque book hoping for an immediate return.

[mikebee]

always lusted after Cortina 1600E or Capri 3000E both purple metallic with the vinyl roof.

[eddyramrod]

Practically every car I or my parents have ever owned.  After they died in 2004/5 I scrapped their 2.0 Sierra.  It wasn't worth keeping.  My crystal ball obviously came from the Speke plant...

[Ghosty]

Today's 20 year olds will, in two decades time, be scanning eBay looking for a KA or R50 Mini to buy as a fun project, like the one they used to have.....

 

I'm 20 and I'll be fucked if I can afford anything at all.

[Ghosty]

Reality check , Mondeo list price starts at £20,000. In 1982 Cortinas started at about £4000.

Those £2000 E-Types etc were a lot more expensive than a £2000 XJ-S.

When even modest houses are £200,000 , a £5000 XR3i looks like a bargain compared to a £3000 1600E in 1996 when that same house was £50,000 or less.

We've never had it so good!

In my case it's just that even though I earn 10 times more than when I was buying £200 Jags and W108 Mercs, I have 100 times the outgoings, so the £1000 Jags and W126 Mercs are out of reach.

 

Inflation: that £4000 Cortina 1.3L would be £12750 in today's money.

 

http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/education/Pages/resources/inflationtools/calculator/flash/default.aspx

[greengartside]

Anyone else remember these like this? A running road legal Granada for a hundred quid or so back in the early 90's?

 

Yep, FATHA bought two Mk2 estates, one was a '79 2.8 GL and the other was an '81 facelift 2.8 GL. Both cost him less than £400 a piece - the latter one was probably one of the best cars he's ever had IMHO. Scrapped in '98 sadly.

 

I'll nominate the Mk2 XR2. Old enough to be a sought-after classic now I think but gone are the days where you could pick one up out of the free-ads for £500 with 12 months' ticket on it.

 

 

If this one hadn't been COD'd and destroyed then this would be occupying my driveway being restored.

[Junkman]

Renault 4L

Chevrolet Caprice Classic

[danthecapriman]

That number plate on the XR2 is close ish to that on my Granada too. Colchester isn't it?

[greengartside]

That number plate on the XR2 is close ish to that on my Granada too. Colchester isn't it?

 

Almost! Looking closer at it, the plate says Trimoco of Chelmsford...