Ideas for a new car circa £1500 (old skool though!)

IainB

IainB

IainB

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Joined
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Northamptonshire
Im currently have the pleasure of a MK1 2.0 Mondeo (hence forth known as the super shed) it starts, stops and the A/C works - and has done brilliant service ferrying the kids around, but now the missus has a car, she now has the pleasure of the kids trashing hers :D

So - ideas please for something a little bit different, I have a 50 mile round commute (back lanes and M1) but will also be riding my FZR to work as soon as I pass my test.

Would like something 'different' but it needs to be reliable, and capable of being fixed at home with relative ease (nothing thats full of dodgy electrics, hydraulics, pneumatics). 3 or 5 door, hatch or saloon, around the 2 litre mark, and would love a leather interior, been thinking of a Merc 190, 3 or 5 series BMW's etc etc - but this is now where im stuck, as im having trouble thinking out the box so to speak.....and it needs to fit in (ish!!) with the rest of the cars in the staff car park - mostly modern / prestige as you would expect for a large IT company

So apart from the norm - what am I overlooking?

Budget is not huge at around the £1500 mark
 
Mk1 or Mk2 Cortina with a crossflow? It's reliable if you give it a good once over when you get it and change degradable stuff like engine mounts, points, plugs, leads, oil and brakes. Do it all once and it will look after you back, but you know that already, hotrodder :p
 
mk3 cortina, comes in 3 and 5 door flavours there's also an estate if that tickles you.

Mk3%20GT%20in%20snow%202.jpg


Cooler than penguins pee and you can get a good one well withing budget. Pretty much any old Ford engine fits in them too, so when there's an engine problem its usually cheaper to drop in a 2l pinto or something!

Try http://www.oldskoolford.co.uk/phpBB2/front/ for similar stuff, be warned though im on the want for one too :p
 
You can still pick up the 80's Capris for next to nothing too, will still need the same tending to as an older Cortina though. Injected Sierra lump can replace the 2.0 if you need cheap extra economy/go and plenty of sideways action on the lanes :D
 
If I was in your situation the two cars in that bracket I lust over are the Porsche 944 and the Alfa Romeo 75.

I'd imagine that parts for the Porsche will be much more expensive then those for a cortina, it's probably harder to fix.

The Alfa will probably be less reliable then either a cortina or a 944 (in fact it's probably even less reliable then a polititician).

Another option which might be a bit too expensive is an early MX5.
 
Saab 900 T16? 175bhp available in 3 or 5 door, with a HUUUUGE boot for practicality :) Plenty of tuning parts available, and very reliable.
 
K.C. Leblanc said:
If I was in your situation the two cars in that bracket I lust over are the Porsche 944 and the Alfa Romeo 75.

I'd imagine that parts for the Porsche will be much more expensive then those for a cortina, it's probably harder to fix.

The Alfa will probably be less reliable then either a cortina or a 944 (in fact it's probably even less reliable then a polititician).

Another option which might be a bit too expensive is an early MX5.
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How the F can he ferry his kids around in a 944 or MX5 :confused: :confused: :confused:
 
Jonny69 said:
Mk1 or Mk2 Cortina with a crossflow?
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I just know if I got one of those.....it would HAVE to have a V8 dropped in it....

MK3 Cortina - doesnt really do it for me

Capri - if I could find a nice 2.8 or a Brooklands...yes indeed

Saab - had a bad experience with a 900 Turbo a while back, which has left me with a jaded view

Volvo - not my cup of Tea at the moment.....though I do want to do a sleeper with a turbo lump sometime

Alfa - nope, nope, nope

Im still drawn to a 3 series for some reason :confused: never had a pimp daddy car!! Im guessing there are a few models of old Mercs that im also un-aware of.
 
penski said:
Do it.

Do it hard.

On 16x8 AMG Penta rims.

Nice.

*n
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Hmmm - tempting, but not after an estate.
Do Mercedes do anything along those lines, but not as physically big - like the styling though :D
 
Seriously, that W123 is lovely. Last of the 'proper' Mercedes (before they got more interested in profit margins than build quality).

Only places to really watch for rust are the door bottoms (this one comes with spares) and front wings (this one has been replaced already).

Comfort-wise, they're literally like an armchair. My mates' saloon is the most comfortable car I've been in - 6'3", fat-assed me was comfortable in the back of it from Newcastle to the Pod and back.

Just needs nice wheels and lowering to have a great old-skool cruiser.

*n
 
mate brought a really tidy saloon one of those mercs for £450 on ebay last year. Fantastic car, we went to Cornwall and back at some daft speed, and it did his 40 mile each way commute for a while!

It was a really really good buy off a car, it just seemed very solid!
 
As testemant to old merc's reliability, my mate is driving his saloon (it's the uber-slammed one I've posted pics of before) 1100 miles in a month or so - Merc meet at the Ace Cafe then Run To The Sun.

*n
 
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