Driving classic cars not fun anymore?

[Bazfr69]

14 hours ago, Pauly.22 said:

The big I don’t enjoy is. With my mk2 escort, I worry if I want to leave it anywhere. It won’t be there when I get back or someone bumped it one. So all I ever do is just go for a drive and that’s it. Never just go the shops etc in it. 

I appreciate this worry when it comes to Old Ford’s tbh, it’s well known how much they’ve been fetching over the last few years and is likely another reason most of them only appear at shows or gatherings over here. 
I have the least valuable era of Beetle though so I just use it as a motor. Shopping at the weekend, trip to the park etc as I bought it with a view to enjoying it and not displaying it. 
I know I wouldn’t feel comfortable doing this if I had something that was actually worth a lot of money but being precious about these things taints the opportunity to enjoy them as they were meant to be. 
 

I used to have a tatty AE86 years ago. Loved it and drove it everywhere, didn’t even have an immobiliser on it. Cost me £1900 and I sold it for a bit more than that after having the Superlites refurbed. 
Considering the price of them now I know I couldn’t possibly enjoy owning one without the associated worries spoiling the experience. 

[CrapCarNerd]

I understand classics not being fun sometimes. For me it totally depends what I'm doing with them .  My Escort is my main classic and i've been everywhere in it but being a 1.1 4 speed It can get a bit tiering and probably like your mini being a smaller car its not as easy to drive as a bigger or higher spec classic. I'm sure if I had a mk4 1.6 ghia it would be a lot easier to use. For some reason i bought a nackard Capri which i've done up over the last 5 years. Much more capable engine wise but it feels like a much older car and a bit of a work out after a long drive. Traffic doesn't bother me as much in the Capri though and with that long bonnet I do feel less vulnerable even if its no different that the Escort. I sometimes use these for work too which adds an eliminate of "will I get there" even If I always do. I do end up borrowing my fairly understanding girlfriends Car a lot 🤣 

But like your post about the Merc soft top, I went out in the Capri yesterday with the sunroof open listening to 70s/80s tune and it felt all worth it. Same with the Escort and if I do use it for a job, people love it.  I'm hoping when we move house  I can by an old Ford focus so these can be used for fun and not need to be relied on.

[Metal Guru]

Can I ask what exactly constitutes a classic?

[Bazfr69]

6 minutes ago, Metal Guru said:

Can I ask what exactly constitutes a classic?

Anything over 25 years old broadly when it comes to things like insurance. Obviously people will have their own opinion of the words suitability depending on their own preferences/prejudices. 

[2flags]

6 minutes ago, Metal Guru said:

Can I ask what exactly constitutes a classic?

It is whatever you want it to be. Yes, if you are Richard Branson, Bill Gates or someone else who has more money than they will ever spend then you can be picky and say 'Ferrari', 'Aston Martin' ect. For the rest of us it can be anything. It can be the car your father or grandfather drove, it can be your first car, or the car you took on honeymoon. It could be the one you brought your children home from hospital in. It is simply a car that is older and cherished, for whatever reason by its owner. 

[HMC]

Interesting responses. Re the using/ leaving them unattended. I quite like driving lived in cars. I want them to drive well and be good mechanically.

But having something thats less than pristine is quite liberating- car parks, kids what have you- id be crying into my Classic cars Quentin Willsons top 10 investments supplement if i bought a top example and actually USED it. That would not be fun.

Making memories for you and yours is often spontaneous, grubby, spirited and exciting. For me thats what I enjoy most about using old cars and ones that are not perfect are my favourite specimens to do just that with.

[Dyslexic Viking]

I drove my Mercedes over 160 km today and was neither tired nor broken afterwards.

[Yoss]

16 hours ago, HMC said:

Interesting responses. Re the using/ leaving them unattended. I quite like driving lived in cars. I want them to drive well and be good mechanically.

But having something thats less than pristine is quite liberating- car parks, kids what have you- id be crying into my Classic cars Quentin Willsons top 10 investments supplement if i bought a top example and actually USED it. That would not be fun.

Making memories for you and yours is often spontaneous, grubby, spirited and exciting. For me thats what I enjoy most about using old cars and ones that are not perfect are my favourite specimens to do just that with.

This is my opinion entirely. I don't need to worry about my Triumph. Whilst it looks okay from a few feet away the paint is shot really. 

I've had it 29 years and I have no plans to get it painted yet. Now that it lives in a garage it's unlikely to get worse.

It also helps that I picked probably the least desirable Triumph there is. I didn't know this at the time, it was just a lucky guess.

But in a token nod to security I have fitted deadlocks. Only because they were already fitted to a car I bought for spares. 

This means the doors have to be unlocked with the key. It's slightly awkward because I can't unlock the passenger door from inside. But it means you can't smash a quarter light and reach in to unlock the door. Except half the time I forget to lock the passenger door anyway.

I did once have a tatty mk1 2000 stolen. I came home from work and saw it had gone which was annoying because all my tools were in the boot. So I thought I'd better report it so I went upstairs to get changed and noticed it was parked in the next layby down. The front quarter light had been smashed and it had been hot wired. Wether they had driven a hundred yards and thought it was shit or they had taken it for a joy ride and were polite enough to bring it back I don't know.

[Dyslexic Viking]

My Mercedes is the same, the paint looks nice in pictures but it's not.

[alf892]

10 hours ago, Metal Guru said:

Can I ask what exactly constitutes a classic?

lol……the question that has started many a furious debate!
Most are not classic…….cherished fits better and anything can be cherished.
Even a Lada……..

[wuvvum]

2 hours ago, HMC said:

Making memories for you and yours is often spontaneous, grubby, spirited and exciting. 

ATCNBE.

[bigstraight6]

My old cars paint work is the same as Yoss and Viking have eluded to, looks not bad until you get close and it needs a repaint, and new steel front wings to replace the fibreglass ones, but I still love the old thing and couldn’t be without it..

[garellikatia]

12 hours ago, Bfg said:

I had an LT28 many years ago when I was in business, it was a very good and usefully capacious vehicle.  I got used to driving it because I was using it most every day. Similarly my Chrysler Grand (LWB) Voyager. 

However, if I were looking for a camper I'd not go for something so big (despite the fact I'm 6'5" & like to spread out). The smaller VW vans are more popular for good reason ; 

• many car 'pay and display' parks have size limitations (height bars and signs saying 'no vans'). Even when not a large vehicle is sometimes impossible to manoeuvrer tightly around other parked cars into a parking spot.  Likewise very few town / street parking spaces are designed for large vans.  When you go on holiday you'll constantly find parking an annoying issue.  Even going to the seaside will prove frustrating as camper vans are being banned ..during the summer season.!
• Any vehicle needs to be frequently used. If it's not then you'll spend more time fixing things than driving it.  I'd recommend you choose the smaller T size and to use it frequently (at least once a week) for work &/or your family shop.  Again parking becomes an issue in anything but a modest size van because, even in a Tesco or Aldi open car parks, you'll find yourself parking in the perimeter spaces and then traipsing your family through the pinball of cars being randomly manoeuvred.    
• Parking the larger vehicle at home ?  We've all seen dream-sized camper vans dominating driveways or spread across front gardens. It of course all depends where you live now ..and in five years time.
• Will the missus drive such a large vehicle if you're taken ill ..or have had a little too much the night before ?
• My local garage couldn't do steering rack work on my Chrysler Voyager because it was too big for their two poster.

For many camper owners - a smaller vehicle with an awning is the better option, with numerous other benefits. 

Bottom line ; Larger sizes are great across America, with its broad roads and big-yank-car parking ..but over here in the British Isles and across Europe, the greater size really is a nuisance.  Truck and large van drivers manage well enough, but then they are driving the vehicle every day, so know their vehicle's size to the nearest inch. And although unloading for a few minutes, they are not parking in the high street.   

I'm not saying do or don't  .. I'm just suggesting some of the pitfalls

Pete 

 

Thanks Pete. 

I appreciate the advice and many of the points, are not things I even considered, so cheers for that. It'd funny you should mention the Yanks. We recently had Canadians visit us at work and they were so shocked at how narrow our roads were and even more so our parking 'lots' 😂  

[garellikatia]

Cheers guys, I absolutely agree about the paintwork situation. I still have the half used tin of Marcel guest Synthetic enamel coach paint I was given from an old work boss, to paint a coach project that got abandoned. 

I used it to paint the mini as a skint student nigh on 18 years ago. I still use it for dings and touch ups, just needs the crust taking off and a good stir, but hardens as good as ever.

Think the old paints were much more resilient, probably had much more nasty stuff in though. 

[danthecapriman]

My Mercury is the same. Paint on it is the original 51 year old paint and it’s getting tired and worn now. It looks good when it’s clean and from a distance but up close it’s peppered with chips that have had touch up blobs in similar but not quite the same paint, little rust marks, scratches and it’s been polished to death too so it’s worn through in a few areas. Plus there’s a weird circular mark on the bonnet that looks like a rusty paint tin was sat on it for some considerable time and left its mark that someone then polished out but it’s left the round ring!

But, I like it! It’s not ugly but it’s original and has a bit of a charm to it in a way. It shows its years and what happened to it over those years. And they’re only original once!  
One thing I really dislike in a car though is a dirty scruffy interior, so on that score at least it’s bang on.

That’s one thing about restoring cars and one of my concerns with doing the Capri like I have. It’s lovely but sometimes I think I went a bit far and almost made it unusable in a way! I did have to do something though, the way it had gone it was at that point of absolutely needing to have some serious work or losing it. I just decided it was better it being here than not!

[Lord Sterling]

50/50 for me. Traffic volumes are horrendous. There are just far too many people on the roads and these days, most are either utterly dozy, far too confident or simply too entitled to care about others around them.

Even when I'm surrounded by these twats in boring financed-up Econoboxes, I simply love being in my Jag, or Rover or whatever older classic vehicle I'm in, yes it's far too old, far too expensive fuel-wise etc... but it puts a smile on my face and that is priceless.

[straightSix]

I've found if I'm driving my classic to get to somewhere, like if I take it to work, I absolutely hate it. It's hard to drive, traffic is shit and it gets hot, I get hot and it's just not an enjoyable experience. If I go out for a Sunday blast in some country roads then it's my happy place and all is good with the world again. 

In general I don't mind using it on the motorway but I do try and drive more defensively. The biggest thing for me with modern cars is the windscreen wipers. With some of the weather recently I'd have had to pull over the rain has been that bad

[cort1977]

15 hours ago, HMC said:

Making memories for you and yours is often spontaneous, grubby, spirited and exciting. For me thats what I enjoy most about using old cars and ones that are not perfect are my favourite specimens to do just that with.

Yeah, agree with this, an example that's too nice to use becomes an ornament and makes it less fun.

[Tenmil Socket]

On 27/04/2024 at 10:34, Bazfr69 said:

Traffic volume and other drivers can be frustrating but driving this when I can is my version of antidepressants.

I very much appreciate our modern but I get lost in the process of driving and the sensations when I’m in it’s older sibling and the reaction from others when I’m out and about does my heart good. 

I'm not a Beetle 'person' but that is lovely!

[Bfg]

Sorry, but I think you'll find the value in stealing many, perhaps even most, UK spec cars including anything mainstream 'classic' is in the value of it parts.  And so if a bit of paint is chipped it really doesn't matter.  In fact, I'd go as far to suggest ; body parts are easier sold (more anonymous) when they are not beautiful condition.

Breaking the car for ; engine & gearbox, axles & suspension parts, dashboard & instruments, seats & interior trim, grille, bumpers & chrome trim, wheels and tyres, etc., etc, are (but a few stamped in numbers).. mostly anonymous. As are a pair of doors with glass, boot lid & bonnet, and even wings can be sold by someone breaking a car ..where the body shell has already been cut up and cashed-in for its metal value.   Neither of my cars have wire (or otherwise very desirable) wheels. Nor do they have decent music equipment or navigation. The Triumph doesn't even have its bumpers, wooden dashboard or a standard roof.  I've devalued my cars in the eyes of any professional thief.

Joyriding can be deterred without great difficulty, and nowadays almost every street corner now seems to have security cameras, which we can take advantage of.  I've stayed in cheap town /suburb and conference centre hotels when I've been away in the Triumph, and I parked in their car park, under a lamp, in view of dozens of hotel room windows, and in view of their security camera(s). I put an unbranded car cover over the car ..because a bright red TR4 does tend to catch the eye and the grey-blue cover helps the car blend into the background ..out of sight out of mind of the youthful or drunken joyrider.   

Conversely the more unusual your car, the more other passers by notice it ..and that in itself might deter some thieves.  As has been suggested ; a 1980's Ford is more a target than my two 1960's cars.  The TR has enthusiastic club following, any nice car being stolen would need to leave the country asap, as even being broken for 'nice-condition' parts in this country would arouse immediate suspicion.  The Daimler is not nearly as valuable as the Mk2 Jag.  who would want to steal a Daimler 250 ?   particularly when most of them are automatics !   nor is it rare or an exotic marque, like a Ferrari or Porsche 911, and so 'professional' thieves would most likely not take the risk with mine.

I am having the Daimler painted though ..from black to a custom-mix of orangey-gold. That's a personal choice, but with a unique colour, and its paintwork in pristine condition - it'll take no time at all for the car to be known around Jaguar Mk2 / Daimler 250 clubs and enthusiasts.  If thieves broke the car, its body parts would have to be painted over again before they could be sold.

In Aldi, Farm foods, Morrisons, Tescos, etc, car parks - I do choose a parking space in plain sight, but away from the more vulnerable thoroughfares, or where pedestrians traipse through with or without trolleys ..but I do that in any car or motorcycle.  It's just common sense overcoming laziness. 

I suspect my cars are more likely to get nicked from home. The TR is uninsured if it's not in the garage at home overnight.  The Daimler, valued at less than £15k (the insurers thresh-hold for parking in the open) can stay out at night.  But in truth, no power steering and parked in a corner of an overlooked courtyard, and with five or six other neighbour's cars and motorcycles in that enclosure, is a deterrent in itself.  The garage door is an up n' over which I bar from the inside to prevent it from opening. It's quick and easy to do ..so I do that habitually.

Again... I'm just thinking out loud..  Any determined, whether joyrider for a dare or an international professional will be able to nick a car.  But, would a professional take mine or something less conspicuous and with greater value / easier to sell ?  

Pete

[Bazfr69]

1 hour ago, Tenmil Socket said:

I'm not a Beetle 'person' but that is lovely!

Thank you, it’s a good “ten footer”. 😄

[danthecapriman]

I know you shouldn’t tar everyone with the same brush, but it’s the hi-ab equipped sorts that probably worry me the most! Remember those two lovely yanks that got stolen a year or so back and quickly turned up at a Southampton banger track!? Wankers.

Someone determined enough will find a way past most security measures sadly. At home, mine are blocked in by other cars. Capri gets the garage too so that’s going to take some effort and noise to liberate! 
It’s a pretty busy road too so lots of people around. Lamp post and a high hedge at the street front would make it neigh on impossible to crane anything out too. You can only do so much though, if the cars out in car parks or parked on the street there’s precious little you can really do.

[Yoss]

8 hours ago, Bfg said:

Sorry, but I think you'll find the value in stealing many, perhaps even most, UK spec cars including anything mainstream 'classic' is in the value of it parts.  And so if a bit of paint is chipped it really doesn't matter.  In fact, I'd go as far to suggest ; body parts are easier sold (more anonymous) when they are not beautiful condition.

Breaking the car for ; engine & gearbox, axles & suspension parts, dashboard & instruments, seats & interior trim, grille, bumpers & chrome trim, wheels and tyres, etc., etc, are (but a few stamped in numbers).. mostly anonymous. As are a pair of doors with glass, boot lid & bonnet, and even wings can be sold by someone breaking a car ..where the body shell has already been cut up and cashed-in for its metal value.   Neither of my cars have wire (or otherwise very desirable) wheels. Nor do they have decent music equipment or navigation. The Triumph doesn't even have its bumpers, wooden dashboard or a standard roof.  I've devalued my cars in the eyes of any professional thief.

Joyriding can be deterred without great difficulty, and nowadays almost every street corner now seems to have security cameras, which we can take advantage of.  I've stayed in cheap town /suburb and conference centre hotels when I've been away in the Triumph, and I parked in their car park, under a lamp, in view of dozens of hotel room windows, and in view of their security camera(s). I put an unbranded car cover over the car ..because a bright red TR4 does tend to catch the eye and the grey-blue cover helps the car blend into the background ..out of sight out of mind of the youthful or drunken joyrider.   

Conversely the more unusual your car, the more other passers by notice it ..and that in itself might deter some thieves.  As has been suggested ; a 1980's Ford is more a target than my two 1960's cars.  The TR has enthusiastic club following, any nice car being stolen would need to leave the country asap, as even being broken for 'nice-condition' parts in this country would arouse immediate suspicion.  The Daimler is not nearly as valuable as the Mk2 Jag.  who would want to steal a Daimler 250 ?   particularly when most of them are automatics !   nor is it rare or an exotic marque, like a Ferrari or Porsche 911, and so 'professional' thieves would most likely not take the risk with mine.

I am having the Daimler painted though ..from black to a custom-mix of orangey-gold. That's a personal choice, but with a unique colour, and its paintwork in pristine condition - it'll take no time at all for the car to be known around Jaguar Mk2 / Daimler 250 clubs and enthusiasts.  If thieves broke the car, its body parts would have to be painted over again before they could be sold.

In Aldi, Farm foods, Morrisons, Tescos, etc, car parks - I do choose a parking space in plain sight, but away from the more vulnerable thoroughfares, or where pedestrians traipse through with or without trolleys ..but I do that in any car or motorcycle.  It's just common sense overcoming laziness. 

I suspect my cars are more likely to get nicked from home. The TR is uninsured if it's not in the garage at home overnight.  The Daimler, valued at less than £15k (the insurers thresh-hold for parking in the open) can stay out at night.  But in truth, no power steering and parked in a corner of an overlooked courtyard, and with five or six other neighbour's cars and motorcycles in that enclosure, is a deterrent in itself.  The garage door is an up n' over which I bar from the inside to prevent it from opening. It's quick and easy to do ..so I do that habitually.

Again... I'm just thinking out loud..  Any determined, whether joyrider for a dare or an international professional will be able to nick a car.  But, would a professional take mine or something less conspicuous and with greater value / easier to sell ?  

Pete

That's a very good point but again I'm lucky that FWD Triumphs are just about the least desirable out there. The engine is similar to the Herald or Spitfire but the rest of the running gear is unique. The market for second hand FWD gearboxes will be very small.

It's funny you should mention non standard gold because if I ever was to get it painted I was considering gold too. It was never an option here but it was in Malta. I found this one in about 1996 or 97. It was completely devoid of lacquer and filthy but you could see it was supposed to be gold. The picture doesn't really show it but it was obvious when you were there.

I visited Malta many times between about 96 and 2003. Mainly for the buses but the first time I arrived the first old car I saw at the airport was a 1300. I soon found out they were everywhere and had in fact been built on the island from knock down kits. Most of them were the same colours we had but they had a few of their own, mainly various shades of beige but also a couple of metallic colours which were never an option back home 

But one night we were on a bus going in to Valletta and as we approached a T junction there was this bright shiny gold 1300 opposite the junction being illuminated by the bus headlights. It was a fleeting sight, it was gone in seconds but to a FWD Triumph obsessive it was like the Second Coming and I've never forgotten it. It practically  glowed in the dark. I went back the next day in daylight but of course it had gone. 

I even have one of these Malta wing badges if I ever get it done. These were fitted to a lot of the Leyland stuff over there. 

Most of them were still being used as mere cars and were generally a right state what with their MOT standards being a lot more lax than ours. But there were a few good ones that were obviously cherished. I found this one tucked in the back of a garage.

And the owner was also in the garage so I started chatting. Obviously mine also has a few mods so we were getting on well when I mentioned the wing badges and he only gave me a brand new one. I still have it obviously waiting for the day I paint the car gold but I doubt it will ever happen.

 

[Metal Guru]

16 hours ago, Bfg said:

Sorry, but I think you'll find the value in stealing many, perhaps even most, UK spec cars including anything mainstream 'classic' is in the value of it parts.  And so if a bit of paint is chipped it really doesn't matter.  In fact, I'd go as far to suggest ; body parts are easier sold (more anonymous) when they are not beautiful condition.

Breaking the car for ; engine & gearbox, axles & suspension parts, dashboard & instruments, seats & interior trim, grille, bumpers & chrome trim, wheels and tyres, etc., etc, are (but a few stamped in numbers).. mostly anonymous. As are a pair of doors with glass, boot lid & bonnet, and even wings can be sold by someone breaking a car ..where the body shell has already been cut up and cashed-in for its metal value.   Neither of my cars have wire (or otherwise very desirable) wheels. Nor do they have decent music equipment or navigation. The Triumph doesn't even have its bumpers, wooden dashboard or a standard roof.  I've devalued my cars in the eyes of any professional thief.

Joyriding can be deterred without great difficulty, and nowadays almost every street corner now seems to have security cameras, which we can take advantage of.  I've stayed in cheap town /suburb and conference centre hotels when I've been away in the Triumph, and I parked in their car park, under a lamp, in view of dozens of hotel room windows, and in view of their security camera(s). I put an unbranded car cover over the car ..because a bright red TR4 does tend to catch the eye and the grey-blue cover helps the car blend into the background ..out of sight out of mind of the youthful or drunken joyrider.   

Conversely the more unusual your car, the more other passers by notice it ..and that in itself might deter some thieves.  As has been suggested ; a 1980's Ford is more a target than my two 1960's cars.  The TR has enthusiastic club following, any nice car being stolen would need to leave the country asap, as even being broken for 'nice-condition' parts in this country would arouse immediate suspicion.  The Daimler is not nearly as valuable as the Mk2 Jag.  who would want to steal a Daimler 250 ?   particularly when most of them are automatics !   nor is it rare or an exotic marque, like a Ferrari or Porsche 911, and so 'professional' thieves would most likely not take the risk with mine.

I am having the Daimler painted though ..from black to a custom-mix of orangey-gold. That's a personal choice, but with a unique colour, and its paintwork in pristine condition - it'll take no time at all for the car to be known around Jaguar Mk2 / Daimler 250 clubs and enthusiasts.  If thieves broke the car, its body parts would have to be painted over again before they could be sold.

In Aldi, Farm foods, Morrisons, Tescos, etc, car parks - I do choose a parking space in plain sight, but away from the more vulnerable thoroughfares, or where pedestrians traipse through with or without trolleys ..but I do that in any car or motorcycle.  It's just common sense overcoming laziness. 

I suspect my cars are more likely to get nicked from home. The TR is uninsured if it's not in the garage at home overnight.  The Daimler, valued at less than £15k (the insurers thresh-hold for parking in the open) can stay out at night.  But in truth, no power steering and parked in a corner of an overlooked courtyard, and with five or six other neighbour's cars and motorcycles in that enclosure, is a deterrent in itself.  The garage door is an up n' over which I bar from the inside to prevent it from opening. It's quick and easy to do ..so I do that habitually.

Again... I'm just thinking out loud..  Any determined, whether joyrider for a dare or an international professional will be able to nick a car.  But, would a professional take mine or something less conspicuous and with greater value / easier to sell ?  

Pete

The whole point of security whether car or house, is just to make yours harder to steal (from), so they go for an easier option.

Professionals can steal anything and get by most domestic security pretty easily, but being quick gives them the best chance of getting away with it, so anything that might delay them is good security. 
 
Effectively you are putting up a sign saying “go next door, their stuff is easier to steal”.

[lesapandre]

21 hours ago, Bfg said:

Sorry, but I think you'll find the value in stealing many, perhaps even most, UK spec cars including anything mainstream 'classic' is in the value of it parts.  And so if a bit of paint is chipped it really doesn't matter.  In fact, I'd go as far to suggest ; body parts are easier sold (more anonymous) when they are not beautiful condition.

Breaking the car for ; engine & gearbox, axles & suspension parts, dashboard & instruments, seats & interior trim, grille, bumpers & chrome trim, wheels and tyres, etc., etc, are (but a few stamped in numbers).. mostly anonymous. As are a pair of doors with glass, boot lid & bonnet, and even wings can be sold by someone breaking a car ..where the body shell has already been cut up and cashed-in for its metal value.   Neither of my cars have wire (or otherwise very desirable) wheels. Nor do they have decent music equipment or navigation. The Triumph doesn't even have its bumpers, wooden dashboard or a standard roof.  I've devalued my cars in the eyes of any professional thief.

Joyriding can be deterred without great difficulty, and nowadays almost every street corner now seems to have security cameras, which we can take advantage of.  I've stayed in cheap town /suburb and conference centre hotels when I've been away in the Triumph, and I parked in their car park, under a lamp, in view of dozens of hotel room windows, and in view of their security camera(s). I put an unbranded car cover over the car ..because a bright red TR4 does tend to catch the eye and the grey-blue cover helps the car blend into the background ..out of sight out of mind of the youthful or drunken joyrider.   

Conversely the more unusual your car, the more other passers by notice it ..and that in itself might deter some thieves.  As has been suggested ; a 1980's Ford is more a target than my two 1960's cars.  The TR has enthusiastic club following, any nice car being stolen would need to leave the country asap, as even being broken for 'nice-condition' parts in this country would arouse immediate suspicion.  The Daimler is not nearly as valuable as the Mk2 Jag.  who would want to steal a Daimler 250 ?   particularly when most of them are automatics !   nor is it rare or an exotic marque, like a Ferrari or Porsche 911, and so 'professional' thieves would most likely not take the risk with mine.

I am having the Daimler painted though ..from black to a custom-mix of orangey-gold. That's a personal choice, but with a unique colour, and its paintwork in pristine condition - it'll take no time at all for the car to be known around Jaguar Mk2 / Daimler 250 clubs and enthusiasts.  If thieves broke the car, its body parts would have to be painted over again before they could be sold.

In Aldi, Farm foods, Morrisons, Tescos, etc, car parks - I do choose a parking space in plain sight, but away from the more vulnerable thoroughfares, or where pedestrians traipse through with or without trolleys ..but I do that in any car or motorcycle.  It's just common sense overcoming laziness. 

I suspect my cars are more likely to get nicked from home. The TR is uninsured if it's not in the garage at home overnight.  The Daimler, valued at less than £15k (the insurers thresh-hold for parking in the open) can stay out at night.  But in truth, no power steering and parked in a corner of an overlooked courtyard, and with five or six other neighbour's cars and motorcycles in that enclosure, is a deterrent in itself.  The garage door is an up n' over which I bar from the inside to prevent it from opening. It's quick and easy to do ..so I do that habitually.

Again... I'm just thinking out loud..  Any determined, whether joyrider for a dare or an international professional will be able to nick a car.  But, would a professional take mine or something less conspicuous and with greater value / easier to sell ?  

Pete

Just as an aside - who do you use for your insurance Pete?

[Bfg]

2 hours ago, lesapandre said:

Just as an aside - who do you use for your insurance Pete?

I insure with A-Plan, Worcester - 01905 930745.  They're an old established company and the staff do answer the telephone and are then very helpful. They're the brokerage recommended by the Triumph TR Register (club) who I guess have negotiated a good price for their members. Though most insure companies recognise other clubs too.  The underwriters are KGM. 

My TR, the Daimler, and my two Sunbeam motorcycles are all insured under the one policy, each to an agreed value. They are base insured here at home, or at the barn, and the bikes also at my storage container, so three 'home' locations.   I've not heard any moans about them on the club forum.  I think their prices are fair considering the collected value being insured and classic cars and motorcycles inherent lack of security.  They like to be kept informed, but at the same time didn't seem to worry about things sometimes not being standard, for example no bumpers fitted to the TR, towing hitch for the camping trailer, non-standard Surrey-top roof, swap to LED lighting, chassis swap, CV rather the UJ half-shafts, etc. etc.  

Pete

[lesapandre]

Super helpful Pete. I like old fashioned service!

[barefoot]

On 01/05/2024 at 10:04, Bfg said:

For many camper owners - a smaller vehicle with an awning is the better option, with numerous other benefits. 

Hot tip from T2 owner; don't use an awning, instead take a pop up tent & chuck all of your stuff into it as soon as you arrive.

[Bfg]

27 minutes ago, barefoot said:

Hot tip from T2 owner; don't use an awning, instead take a pop up tent & chuck all of your stuff into it as soon as you arrive.

Interested to know why, is it so the T2 is then free to use for clutter-free transport while you camping spot is maintained.?

[barefoot]

8 minutes ago, Bfg said:

Interested to know why, is it so the T2 is then free to use for clutter-free transport while you camping spot is maintained.?

It erects and packs away in moments and the camper is just as uncluttered as if you've an awning, ready for travel or just chilling out when you'll be able to see out of the windows. Take an awning and before you know it you'll be taking stuff specifically to put in it.

At peak awning we had a fucking bookcase!