Hobby Posted May 18, 2019 Share Posted May 18, 2019 I'm sorry, but I do think that a thread which is supposed to be about "old cars" should be about such cars and not feature cars which have not even "come of age" (i.e. 21 years old!). So I have set up this thread for those interested in those newer cars such as the MINI which are still being made so don't really fall into the "old car" category... I know it's all about perspective but I'd suggest that we use the Modern Classic Magazine's lead which features cars from the late 80s onward. Cars from the 80s could equally be seen in either this thread or the other one, but stuff from the 90s onward would be more appropriate here. As for the word "classic" it seems it is now in general use to represent any discontinued model of car (and some non-discontinued models (that MINI again!)) rather than some piece of exotica it used to be and I feel that's a good thing! Hopefully this will allow those of us who want to read about genuine old cars to be able to do so without have our nostalgia trips interrupted by sight of a modern car! My daughter's car is an interesting point, it's nearly 25 years old and the model is long gone but it doesn't really fall into the old car section just yet, though it is regarded as a modern classic... A 1994 Rover Metro... 15 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
alastairq Posted May 18, 2019 Share Posted May 18, 2019 I do like cars of this era....more feasible as daily drivers than cars of the 70's and earlier.....more economical as well [with fuel infection, etc].... However, i still cannot get my head out of the idea that [to me] they fall into the bangernomics category still. I have a similar Rover Metro for sale locally...low-ish mileage, tidy enough, but the vendor wanting more than a couple of grand for it!! My thoughts are..with full ticket, maybe 4 to 500 quids!!! For many years I ran an F-plate Volvo 740 estate...[baronial pretensions, more than Barratts house , if you get my drift?]...things didn't work [like the driver's window..until an appropriately placed bolt sorted that issue, allowing the plank of wood to be removed].....the sunroof was not to be opened [sealed with copious bathroom sealant].....and dearest daughter managed to render the roof lining into drapery over the back seat...when loading dead fridges, this needed to be watched....[that is the dearest daughter who helped last ex-wife to shatter an MG Maestro's back window, for similar reasons].... It's inlet tract needed stripping and cleaning out once a year at least....one forgets that, with fuel injection, crankcase fumes, oily in nature, don't get cleaned off by the passage of petrol fumes... Headlights were poor, despite each being the size of a football pitch....but it did have Monroe air shocks up its chuff.....splendid for restoring ride height after several tons of huge car trailer [and load] were attached to the back end. Thus, with balance restored......it would pull this lot with ease....stopping it was another matter entirely..[trailer brakes were.....of the 'name-only' sort....the thing being a 1970's blacksmith's special....rather than a Gucci proprietary make. never had any real problems with it...which was more than could be said for the ramps the blacksmith made especially to fit it....] Don't worry, readers of a sensitive nature..I recently 'scrapped' it...leastwise, it went to my local end-of-life scrappers, weighed in with a Skoda Rapid.....so who knows if the trailer was actually re-cycled back out via FAcebook MArketplace pronto? My present trailer is smaller by a huge amount [will carry a Dellow happily..although the spare wheel carrier overhangs the rear...will also carry a complete Morris Minor, comfortably enough [for me, anyway...maybe not for the newer generations of drivers out there?]..it has mudguards made out of a cut-up blue water{?} barrel...but the brakes work.....but it, too, was 'home-made'...[not by me].... Given the nature of this forum, should I say, it was 'scratch-built' for more credibility? 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hobby Posted May 18, 2019 Author Share Posted May 18, 2019 (edited) We paid 700 for the Metro which seems around the going rate for a decent one, it's an auto as well. Many cars of this era are indeed in the banger category, though I've seen many Morris Minors in the same condition! Having said that many of the 80s and 90's cars are getting very rare these days, especially the common-or-garden stuff. How many 405s, Montegos, Sierras, Mk2/3 Cavaliers have you seen around recently, the 405 especially... I have always chosen the "ordinary" classic over the exotic stuff as i feel they are too easily overlooked until it's too late, let's face it most of us have memories of our Dad driving not an E Type but more likely a Cambridge or Cortina, but you see far more of the former around that the latter two... Edited May 18, 2019 by Hobby 1 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold big jim Posted May 18, 2019 RMweb Gold Share Posted May 18, 2019 (edited) From the old car thread, for those who haven’t seen them, these are my minis that have caused a thread split from ‘old cars’ to ‘modern classics’ The blue Cooper s was a barn find having been sat on a farm for 2 years only covering 20 miles since its last MOT, I bought it off the guy in January and just got it back on the road in the last few weeks all tarted up! The red one was a replacement for my pheaton, cost me £1000 and is a right laugh, it’s currently off the road having new brakes, tyres and springs fitted Just for good measure here are my pheatons, during the swap, one is a 3l V6 the other 5L V10 LWB admittedly i was going to start a modern classics thread as Hobby suggested but with one thing or another happening I didn’t get round to it Edited May 18, 2019 by big jim Removed reg no from car 9 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hobby Posted May 18, 2019 Author Share Posted May 18, 2019 Blimey, how many cars have you got, Jim?! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold big jim Posted May 18, 2019 RMweb Gold Share Posted May 18, 2019 1 hour ago, alastairq said: I do like cars of this era....more feasible as daily drivers than cars of the 70's and earlier.....more economical as well [with fuel infection, etc].... However, i still cannot get my head out of the idea that [to me] they fall into the bangernomics category still. I have a similar Rover Metro for sale locally...low-ish mileage, tidy enough, but the vendor wanting more than a couple of grand for it!! My thoughts are..with full ticket, maybe 4 to 500 quids!!! I buy a lot of cars off a bloke by me who gets them from auction, shoves a 12 month ticket on them and parks them on the roadside for a few hundred quid, I’ve had a good half dozen off him and I run them til I get bored of them had some nails off him that have lasted 6 months before I’ve got bored but I’ve always sold them for around 3/4 of what I i paid none have cost me More than £500, the best was an 05 plate diesel Laguna for £400 that lasted 2 years and only sold it as wife wanted a bigger car to get to the caravan (which i got from a garage and in turn lasted 3 months) my biggest buy with him him was the mini convertible, I gave £1000 for that as I decided I wanted something ‘as a keeper’ rather than a throwaway car, on his drive at the same time was a 2000 Rover 45 in gold, 70k on the clock, 2 owners, absolutely immaculate condition, no rust, no scratches etc, 12 months test and he wanted £400 for it, was seriously tempted but went for the mini 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hobby Posted May 18, 2019 Author Share Posted May 18, 2019 I used to that back in the 70s but in those days they were lucky to last the 6 months! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold big jim Posted May 18, 2019 RMweb Gold Share Posted May 18, 2019 15 minutes ago, Hobby said: Blimey, how many cars have you got, Jim?! 3 now, the minis and another ‘modern classic’ the Nissan murano the phaetons were before the minis came along, the pic was taken the day I bought the 5L home and before the 3L was taken away by its new owner (on a truck straight to Poland!), the pheatons were lovely cars but the 3L has a dodgy box (still had it for 9 months though and sold it for what I bought it for) and the 5L was a bit of a nail, engine and box were ok but the suspension needed replacing in places and at £1100 for a single bottom arm it was time to go as it was eating tyres and without the new bits it was impossible to adjust the tracking! Only lost about £500 on that one though so no great loss, saving that in fuel by switching to the 1.6 mini Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium polybear Posted May 18, 2019 RMweb Premium Share Posted May 18, 2019 23 minutes ago, big jim said: From the old car thread, for those who haven’t seen them, these are my minis that have caused a thread split from ‘old cars’ to ‘modern classics’ The blue Cooper s was a barn find having been sat on a farm for 2 years only covering 20 miles since its last MOT, I bought it off the guy in January and just got it back on the road in the last few weeks all tarted up! The red one was a replacement for my pheaton, cost me £1000 and is a right laugh, it’s currently off the road having new brakes, tyres and springs fitted Just for good measure here are my pheatons, during the swap, one is a 3l V6 the other 5L V10 LWB admittedly i was going to start a modern classics thread as Hobby suggested but with one thing or another happening I didn’t get round to it You forgot to cover the number plate of the convertible in the airfield photo Jim.... 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold big jim Posted May 18, 2019 RMweb Gold Share Posted May 18, 2019 Yeah, noticed that, I’ll change it in a bit, thanks Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sprintex Posted May 19, 2019 Share Posted May 19, 2019 On 18/05/2019 at 12:16, Hobby said: How many 405s, Montegos, Sierras, Mk2/3 Cavaliers have you seen around recently, Sierras? Two, both at my house Paul 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hobby Posted May 19, 2019 Author Share Posted May 19, 2019 Must be the only two left... 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold russ p Posted May 19, 2019 RMweb Gold Share Posted May 19, 2019 I have a few cars of this era my daily drivers are an MG ZT and MG ZR the van is currently off the road needing a new fuel tank or the existing one refurbished. I also have an MGf which is summer only and a metro turbo and maestro Efi which are currently stored but the metro did do two trips down our road which is private yesterday, All these are totally capable of been used as daily drivers and the metro and the maestro's very easy to work on 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
great central Posted May 19, 2019 Share Posted May 19, 2019 10 hours ago, Hobby said: Must be the only two left... There was a very tidy looking maroon H reg sapphire parked outside the Canal house pub in Nottingham yesterday and a scruffy white J reg in Kirkby in Ashfield on Friday My son has the G reg Montego, which was originally my dad's. 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Classsix T Posted May 21, 2019 Share Posted May 21, 2019 (edited) I hope this falls into the OP's remit, I'd certainly not plonk it in the other thread for fear of Riley Elf owners ire. The only car I nearly ever bought many moons ago was a B reg. (prefix B Grandad!) Rover 2600 VDP SD1. Early '90s this would've been and the dealer wanted 3 grand for it, which I thought was asking just a bit too much despite being a very clean late example with 36k on the clock. But I'd've needed to find the cash, garage it and then take and pass a driving test to enjoy it. C'est la vie! Had I bought it, it'd probably have ended up being a slippery slope into Reliant Scimitars, Triumph Dolly Sprints and the like... I never did the lessons and licence thing in the end, but I think if I saw a Reliant Kitten for the right money, I might not be able to resist. Though I'd then have to find a Rialto with high compression head and high ratio rear dif to build my XR2/MG Metro baiting Tamworth rocket! Twin SU carbs? Oh go on then! The lightweight body, rear wheel drive and low centre of gravity set-up inherited from the Robin 3-wheeler makes it an 848cc trackday winner I reckon. C6T. Edited May 21, 2019 by Classsix T 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold big jim Posted May 22, 2019 RMweb Gold Share Posted May 22, 2019 Walking back from my hotel to Woking station earlier today, first up I spotted a fiat punto convertible on a driveway, broom yellow on an S reg then 100 yards down the road was this cinquecento also in broom yellow N reg so 95-96 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
alastairq Posted May 22, 2019 Share Posted May 22, 2019 16 hours ago, Classsix T said: but I think if I saw a Reliant Kitten for the right money, I might not be able to resist. Though I'd then have to find a Rialto with high compression head and high ratio rear dif to build my XR2/MG Metro baiting Tamworth rocket! Twin SU carbs? Oh go on then! The lightweight body, rear wheel drive and low centre of gravity set-up inherited from the Robin 3-wheeler makes it an 848cc trackday winner I reckon. The Kitten really falls into the 'old' car realms..as a lot of them will be tax & MoT-free now. They are one of my daily-driver-cheap-as-chipz favorites [no tax, no MoT, minimal costs all round..bloody small wheels, however]....I wouldn't have one to 'preserve' in a heated garage-plus-Carcoon... But then, I have a particular dislike for anything made this century, automotively-speaking....to much cost involved...for a pensioner on a State pension! [If I'm going to have a daily driver[dad's taxi, usually] it really ought to be 'fun' to drive..have enough quirks to form a character...doesn't have to be a 'fast car'....[couldn't care less about 'speed'....if I want to, I'll try to get the best out of anything I drive].... I need a vehicle into which I have to put some effort into driving it...... Really must get my Daihatsu Fourtrak back on the road..[needs another back axle, for which I currently have not enough cash to purchase]...now that is my ideal pensioner's motor...easy to get in & out of, with a bit of cooking, will start, always, first flick of the key....drives more like a lorry than a car, more comfortable for a tall, larger bod to drive than a Land Rover....it's abilities as a vehicle far exceed my potential needs.....good for Tesco's car park [and those other apologies that inhabit such places]...plus the occasional use of 4wd to get up the top of my garden [more vertical than horizontal]....very cheap to maintain [courtesy of Milners]...30-plus mpgs...will run on anything including veggie oil[not truly vegan, however]...so not necessarily forcing me to be subject to the whims of Gulf States politics, or Government interference...looks agricultural [because it is].... A proper truck Unlike my suzuki Grand Vitara, bought cheap, made this century, so full of deceitful rot under the plastic...has a chassis, a petrol engine, yet costs more to tax & insure than the Daihatsu....does its job well enough[now I've sorted the power steering leak]...but really is trying to shed it's truck origins, and be a car...hateful thing it is [like all cars made this century]....nowhere on the dash to stand a coffee cup [unlike Daihatsu, which has a mantelpiece, not a dash]....too much softee softee for my liking.......ffs, it even has a radio with blue flashing lights! [don't tolerate radios, or anything that can distract me from my driving enjoyment..aside from meaningful conversation.] Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold big jim Posted May 23, 2019 RMweb Gold Share Posted May 23, 2019 (edited) The joys of a modern classic, had the aircon regassed earlier at a mini specialist in Eccleshall, after the job had been done the mechanic showed me an issue with the car i did notice last week that the suspension on the passenger side was ‘clunkier’ and less forgiving on rough roads than the drivers side, turns out the top Mount has split on that side quite badly (and just about to go on the other side too) the body should, across the top of the suspension housing be flat but if you notice the bolts are pointing outwards inside the tower itself you can see where the shocker has pushed the top Mount up and torn the metal from around it got a pair of top mounts on order which I will get fitted in a couple of weeks, ill use the red mini instead as I’m getting that back tonight Edited May 23, 2019 by big jim 2 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold big jim Posted May 23, 2019 RMweb Gold Share Posted May 23, 2019 Didn’t know whether to laugh or cry earlier, won a stainless steel backbox of the mini off eBay earlier in the week, anyway had a message from the seller saying he had trouble sending it as Royal Mail wouldn’t accept the pipe sticking out of the parcel so he had to repackage it nice stainless scorpion exhaust but how did the seller manage to get it packed, simple, chop the pipe off and put it in the box! as I say didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, I only gave £40 for it and could tell from the picture that it was cut off from a full system rather than a ‘catalog’ backbox so would need a step down adapter anyway to fit to the standard exhaust, a standard scorpion backbox is £250+ so I’m not that fussed as it’s salvageable red mini is back, running on its standard wheels for the rest of the week until I get 4 new tyres on the bigger white rims (payday tomorrow) but it has been lowered while in having the brakes and fan belt done which looks a bit odd with such small wheels, going to use that tomorrow to go to work though 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
brianusa Posted May 23, 2019 Share Posted May 23, 2019 On 18/05/2019 at 04:46, polybear said: You forgot to cover the number plate of the convertible in the airfield photo Jim.... What's the worry about number plates? Brian. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold big jim Posted May 23, 2019 RMweb Gold Share Posted May 23, 2019 Someone could clone them, marcus37s was saying his lad had it happen, bought a mini for his first car then got a speeding ticket at the other end of the country, luckily he could prove it wasn’t him but the police told Marcus it’s fairly common especially with cars only just bought off the likes of eBay and autotrader, the ‘villans’ Look for a car similar to what they have and get plates made up to avoid ANPR flagging them up for having no insurance, being banned etc 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ohmisterporter Posted May 24, 2019 Share Posted May 24, 2019 (edited) When I had a new number plate made earlier this year i had to produce the log book before the garage would order one. Still, if you know the right people to go to I daresay that would not be a problem. Edited May 24, 2019 by Ohmisterporter 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold russ p Posted May 24, 2019 RMweb Gold Share Posted May 24, 2019 You can get 'show' plates off eBay in pre 01 font and you don't he d proof of ownership as you won't be using them on the road! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold chriswright03 Posted May 25, 2019 RMweb Gold Share Posted May 25, 2019 Like has been said above many plates are cloned by looking at Auto Trader and the like. I doubt very much that anyone is trawling through a Model Railway forum to look for a plate to clone. Paranoid? Who said I was paranoid? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris M Posted May 25, 2019 Share Posted May 25, 2019 On 18/05/2019 at 12:16, Hobby said: We paid 700 for the Metro which seems around the going rate for a decent one, it's an auto as well. Many cars of this era are indeed in the banger category, though I've seen many Morris Minors in the same condition! Having said that many of the 80s and 90's cars are getting very rare these days, especially the common-or-garden stuff. How many 405s, Montegos, Sierras, Mk2/3 Cavaliers have you seen around recently, the 405 especially... I have always chosen the "ordinary" classic over the exotic stuff as i feel they are too easily overlooked until it's too late, let's face it most of us have memories of our Dad driving not an E Type but more likely a Cambridge or Cortina, but you see far more of the former around that the latter two... Some models do seem to suddenly disappear very rapidly. A lot of 80s and 90s cars drive reasonably well and should be fairly reliable. They tend to have fairly basic electrics and so are relatively easy to fix. More recent cars will be better in all ways but are very vulnerable to a failure of just one piece of electronics stopping the whole car. I had a Metro 1.4 cvt back in the day. Went very well but drank a lot of petrol. I used to love the way pushing the loud pedal to the floor caused the engine revs to hit peak power and stay at the same revs as the car rapidly accelerated. It also made for a relaxed motorway car as it would cruise at 70 on the motorway at very low revs compared to most other cars of the same era. Only problem was that if you put your foot down at 70mph the engine revs would rise dramatically but you wouldn’t accelerate. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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