Sustainable Classics

[Ocheye]

As we are using our cars so little during lock-down it makes you wonder how much we actually need our modern cars. For most of us, running our classic and or vintage car is not always a practical everyday proposition but a nice cheap 'classic' could be viable and "green" because they are sustainable and also a lot of fun.

Are any of you running a 'classic' daily? My TR4 which would be practical except for the fact that, as a musician, I need to cart a lot of kit around and  occasionally have to park at night in some fairly dodgy places.

I read this article a while ago and it did underline advantages of running an older car. I'd be interested to hear your views and from those who run an everyday classic as an alternative to a modern 'eurobox'.

What would your choice be as a practical proposition?

https://www.carandclassic.co.uk/magazine/the-concept-of-the-sustainable-classic/?utm_source=Car %26 Classic Users&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=4e04794004-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2020_04_23_08_28&utm_term=0_bd04a64dff-4e04794004-120514795&fbclid=IwAR0NNlMTOGwr0HnH28MEiJnOr8kK53DbXyPpFlGKawJUNx_Kgu7-XqByxQ0

[Rodbr]

I LOOKED AT BUYING A WOODY MOGGY 1000. to carry my two black Labradors but I baulked at the price and this is the case with many classics we might consider as a daily driver. The biggest issue I found what that no matter what i looked at the spares availability was the issue. Some classics are better served with spares than others.

I would lie a Reliant Scimitar GTE, the first one not the stretched one. This was a neat car back in the day..

Rod

[Ocheye]

I'm not sure I could get all my gear into a Scimitar but it is a good choice as prices are still sensible. Travellers have gone daft though

Andy

 

[Rodbr]

Another oddball choice would be the Austin Westminster ex Police car, Has the Healley 3000 spec engine and very quick but handled like a bowl of jelly or at least mine did. huge amount of room.

[Bleednipple]

Great question. One way to consider would be to look at what classics are popular for long distance/endurance events today. If we're thinking of post-wars, that would include:

- Volvo PV544s and Amazons. Look like tanks but actually quite nimble. By extension, the P1800 also.

- Datsun 240Z. Hard to beat for combination of reliability and performance.

- 1960s and 70s Mercedes, especially the 280 and 350 SLs. Obviously now in a different price bracket from our TRs, but it has to be said they're so far ahead of anything British of that time, they could have been from another planet.

I've left out Porsches because they've just never really appealed to me personally and good classics are of course expensive. But from the air-cooled era I guess a VW Variant estate could be a practical classic.

Nigel

[Lebro]

With the back seats folded down the rear of a GTE is pretty big. I used to have a 1970 SE5 GTE, fabulous car.

Bob

[Ocheye]

46 minutes ago, Bleednipple said:

Great question. One way to consider would be to look at what classics are popular for long distance/endurance events today. If we're thinking of post-wars, that would include:

- Volvo PV544s and Amazons. Look like tanks but actually quite nimble. By extension, the P1800 also.

- Datsun 240Z. Hard to beat for combination of reliability and performance.

- 1960s and 70s Mercedes, especially the 280 and 350 SLs. Obviously now in a different price bracket from our TRs, but it has to be said they're so far ahead of anything British of that time, they could have been from another planet.

I've left out Porsches because they've just never really appealed to me personally and good classics are of course expensive. But from the air-cooled era I guess a VW Variant estate could be a practical classic.

Nigel

P1800ES would be nice

 

[JohnG]

4 hours ago, Ocheye said:

As we are using our cars so little during lock-down it makes you wonder how much we actually need our modern cars. For most of us, running our classic and or vintage car is not always a practical everyday proposition but a nice cheap 'classic' could be viable and "green" because they are sustainable and also a lot of fun.

Are any of you running a 'classic' daily? My TR4 which would be practical except for the fact that, as a musician, I need to cart a lot of kit around and  occasionally have to park at night in some fairly dodgy places.

I read this article a while ago and it did underline advantages of running an older car. I'd be interested to hear your views and from those who run an everyday classic as an alternative to a modern 'eurobox'.

What would your choice be as a practical proposition?

https://www.carandclassic.co.uk/magazine/the-concept-of-the-sustainable-classic/?utm_source=Car %26 Classic Users&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=4e04794004-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2020_04_23_08_28&utm_term=0_bd04a64dff-4e04794004-120514795&fbclid=IwAR0NNlMTOGwr0HnH28MEiJnOr8kK53DbXyPpFlGKawJUNx_Kgu7-XqByxQ0

 

The man talks a lot of sense

My SL500 is 17+ years old and will be running when I pop my clogs

It drives like a dream, it's just a great place to be 

[Nigel Triumph]

2 hours ago, Rodbr said:

I LOOKED AT BUYING A WOODY MOGGY 1000. to carry my two black Labradors but I baulked at the price and this is the case with many classics we might consider as a daily driver. The biggest issue I found what that no matter what i looked at the spares availability was the issue. Some classics are better served with spares than others.

I would lie a Reliant Scimitar GTE, the first one not the stretched one. This was a neat car back in the day..

Rod

 

2 hours ago, Ocheye said:

I'm not sure I could get all my gear into a Scimitar but it is a good choice as prices are still sensible. Travellers have gone daft though

Andy

 

I've got a Scimitar GTE SE6A (the stretched one). While the earlier SE5 series cars are the best looking and probably a bit more sportscar/less grand tourer than the SE6 series, I like my SE6A and it really is quite spacious. A couple of years we took it to Cornwall for ten days, two of us plus a spaniel, a border terrier and all our luggage. It's a great car for touring, plenty of space, bags of torque from the 3 litre Essex V6 and long legs with overdrive. The SE5 series are nudging up in price but the  SE6 cars are still ridiculously cheap, £5k should buy an excellent example.

Nigel