when i was but a slip of a lad, my favourite uncle was uncle bert, my mum's youngest brother, single at the time. he was a bit of a hero for me, had a great stereo, used to play Led Zeppelin & Rory Gallagher, loud. His best trick was to turn it up to 11, put on Time from Dark Side of the Moon and scare the living crap out of my Gran when all the chimes kick in... Anyway, i've wandered from the original purpose of the post which was to detail Uncle Bert's cars back then. Mk II 1600E Mk I Lotus Cortina. White / Green Stripe. Minilites Mk II RS2000 I thought Uncle Bert was just about as cool as you could be. Conservative guess at £7-9k, £40-50K & £20-25k respectively...
As some of the other posts have already said, these cars were never great even when they were new, why anyone would want to pay silly money 40 years on is beyond me. I had basic stuff like Vauxhall Vivas and Ford Escorts in the 70s and when I look back they were shite! Rust buckets with engines that no matter how you looked after them would only do 100k miles. 6" diameter shit clutches that would only last about 30k miles. Plastic sweaty seats, shite suspension, I could go on all day! Easy to work on, which was a good job because you had to! I did move on to the old Jags and Rovers in the 80s which were much better all round and with petrol at £1ish per gallon, it was ace!
We're absolutely right DD the basic motors were F****ed at 100k The better motors like Rolls would last forever, look how they were used in the First World War etc. The Bradford Jowett company went bust because their motors lasted forever so it was possible even back then to make the engines last even in cheaper cars. There is a great video showing the test runs for Bradford Jowetts through the Yorkshire Dales. It's a combination of several improvements that make most modern engines last now, oils, fuels, improved materials, machining accuracies and surface finishes etc. But buying an old Viva, Escort or similar, I'll leave them for the nostalgic enthusiasts, I had my share of them in the 70s!
I suppose They look at old cars like we do bikes. Each to their own. Look how the price of old bikes have gone. Madness .
So do I Havit. chalk and cheese to the shite cars DD mentioned, Allegros, Marinas, Avengers, Princesses, Maxis, etc. Absolute piles of shite, so bad they allowed Skoda, Lada and Moskovich onto the streets of Britain.
Biggest difference is fuel injection, means you can't over rev and thrash the arse off them. Carbs would allow too much petrol in the bores, would result in wash past the rings, Stripping oil away and leading to lots of wear in the bores. Plus advanced oils and surface treatments means that 90k miles is now easily done, as opposed to nearly dead.
This may sound like I don't like old cars, I love them. I so want a Sunbeam Rapier or a xjc. This is actually the first time in 30 years I haven't owned at least one classic car. Anglia, Minx, zephyr, bond bug, gazelle, I've owned loads over-the-years. But they are just not worth that kind of money. They were and still are crap compared to modern vehicle. Ownership should be about fun, not making money. All the cars I restored, I always accepted I would not get back what I spent. Should be bought to enjoy, not kept hidden away as an investment.
the Mk2 Jag is one of my favourite cars too.also like the Rover P5 i think they were known as the poor mans Jag
P5B Coupe that one (Rostyle wheels, rake of rear window, yes I am a bit of an anorak)), Mmmmmmmmmmmm, nice. Believe the queen still owns her Rover P5
It's all gone mad - if you think Ford Escorts are silly money .... http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Porsche-9...511048?hash=item46454eecc8:g:qnwAAOSw8-tWWdgS
I paid £175 for my Mk2 used it as my main mode of transport for 8 years and sold it for £800 about 30 years ago. Underpowered at 2.4 but a beautiful comfortable car with all the chrome plating like new. I had a complete second car for spares that I paid £90 for. Happy days!
Just on the subject of old sheds worth a fortune, this is my daytime paid hobby, making these pretty for an invested who'll never use them, and that's only half!!
