Practically Classics Forum

trigger wrote:You know, If i was you I'd be looking for a Triumph 2500 or a Triumph 2.5 Pi,
Both are very nice roomy cars, The Pi's have a history for temperamental injection systems
but they sound bloody lovely with a full stainless system fitted.

You could always update/upgrade the injection system with a kit or system off a later car.
Same goes for the distributor or coils.

if was gonna go for something as big as a triumph 200/2500, then i'd probably go for an early stacklight merc w114, but whatever i get has to be smaller than the saab (drive and garage limits )

Get an MGB GT,you know you want one !

Slightly off the original agenda but the insurance subject raised in this topic - get ready if you have yet to receive your renewal !!! - Ok I reside in a central London area Maida Vale - just around the corner from Paddington Station - Last year my policy for the two moderns (Astra 1.9 CDTI SRI / Corsa 1.4 SXI - kept roadside & the two classics Rover P6 3500 V8 & 1937 Jowett 8 HP - garaged outside London) - clean licences - no claims - and me and wifey both 50 this year - was £840 with Footman James after loads of quotes from elsewhere

This year they wanted £1980 !!!!! - and loads of very similar quotes from the others - so got the 2 classics covered for £160 - Corsa was £600 through Admiral and the Astra is on temporary cover and up for sale - this was the car I used for work with my business miles paid by my employer but the amount paid by them has not been reviewed by them for the last 2 years - they were going to look into it but it was not top of their list - so I have stopped using it and taken a company car for the present time - next battle will be the tax man and the car benefit allowance / what he stops from my salary for having a company vehicle - although I have personal use of it - I do not use it - but the tax man still wants to charge me for something I get no benefit from in the first place - another (off) topic for another day.

Back to the original topic - take at look at the entries in this forthcoming auction for inspiration - the Humber Sceptre, Triumph Herald & the Minx convertible would all tick the box - the 4/44 Wolseley is also very nice but unsure if it is a little big given your size restrictions

http://www.angliacarauctions.co.uk/clas ... -2011.aspx

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MAZDA-RX7-/16 ... 256662b446

or if you fancy a tidy one

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/3085994.htm

similar size to a b but cheaper

as its 1300cc will it be cheap road tax?

Aar0sc wrote:GT6 would be my choice; but the rear seats are more akin to r/c cars than real car seats!

I didn't realise the GT6 had rear seats but I can imagine they'ed be about as good as BGT rear seats. VW Scirocco rear seats were much better than the MGB seats but still a touch cramped. The drawback with the Scirocco would be it's subject to road tax (At present at any rate) and having owned one, I would say that spare parts are much more of a challenge, than they are with an MG. A Mk 1 Golf GTI would be better from this point of view, insofar as it doesn't have a Kharmann built body.

If I were looking at tax exempt stuff, the MGB has a lot in its favour (It's a better car than many care to admit and owning one is very easy). The main reason for wanting something else would be to have more space (Perhaps performance but a V8 sees to that ). A Jensen Interceptor would give you that but at a cost I think I'd be looking at a Gilbern or a Reliant Scimitar, perhaps a Triumph Dolomite or Rover P6. I'm not too sure how good spares are but I think Rimmers keep them pretty well covered (I got a new Rover SD1 gear knob from them, for my MG V8 the other week; and if anything is going to be hard to get, it'll be the fiddly bits like that). The 2002 BMW wasn't a bad car but again I have no idea on spares availability. The Alfa GT Junior/GTV was another nice car but the BMW was a bit more robust.

Back to the original agenda, how about a Scimitar?

scimitars are a possible, chap called me asking if i was interested in a straight swap. didn't come to anything though

have you chosen yet?

need to sell my saab 99 first. however, having looked at a number of cars at my RetroWarwick show on sunday, i'm weighing up something from the 50's, possibly doing a rod or very low stanced, initially keeping the standard engine but with mild tuning plus megasquirt/throttle bodies. later on, going v8.