Cars in the financial doldrums that we should embrace now

[ScottH]

There’s a green one locally somewhere, looks great.

 

[Lavazza]

Agree with the 8 series BM, if you can find one without mega mileage on it.

A friend of mine has one, lovely car. I drove an 850 a few years ago, but it was a 'don't meet your heroes' moment. Not a patch on my 500SL.

 

[rockits]

My boss's 9-5 tried to kill me on a test drive. No experience of turbo lag and went to pull out at a roundabout.

C

LOL....old early turbo cars were terrible weren't they. We used to have 1.7 Diesel Turbo Astra estates that were woeful.

Roundabouts were a lottery. Approach in 2nd gear and too slow and no power as no turbo. Pop it into first and the valves want to go through the bonnet at 4.5k so then you have to change gear....into 2nd.....no power.... hilarious but dangerous.

 

[CatmanV2]

LOL....old early turbo cars were terrible weren't they. We used to have 1.7 Diesel Turbo Astra estates that were woeful.

Roundabouts were a lottery. Approach in 2nd gear and too slow and no power as no turbo. Pop it into first and the valves want to go through the bonnet at 4.5k so then you have to change gear....into 2nd.....no power.... hilarious but dangerous.

I didn't get enough experience to get to the 'exciting' stage. I was very much stuck on the 'OHHHHHHHHSHITTTTTTTTT!' stage.

The Jaaaaaaaaaaaaag is OK. Just mash the (not) loud pedal and wait for that sort of sci-fi thing where you get whiplash after about 0.5 seconds.

C

 

[Matt82]

E60 M5 would be my shout, cheap enough to fall into the wrong hands and get abused, then numbers dwindle. Amazing engine for £10k

 

[rockits]

I didn't get enough experience to get to the 'exciting' stage. I was very much stuck on the 'OHHHHHHHHSHITTTTTTTTT!' stage.

The Jaaaaaaaaaaaaag is OK. Just mash the (not) loud pedal and wait for that sort of sci-fi thing where you get whiplash after about 0.5 seconds.

C

I had a loan Hyundai while Coupe was in for service years ago. It was the lowest powered car I think I had ever driven. A 1.5 non turbo diesel.....as noisy and as aggricultural as tractor with less power.

I'm not a fan of turbo cars full stop even in petrol form....I really struggle with turbo diesels. The XJ 275 TT I had was a very decent car but such a narrow power band. Low revs little power.....then turbo one and turbo two kicks in then you hit the rev limiter at 4.5k and change up.....rinse and repeat.

I remember watching an interview with Derek Warrick when he was talking about the old F1 1.5 Turbo cars they had like the Honda Williams I think. He said you had to floor it mid corner to get the massive turbo to spin up by the time you got to the the exit or you had no power. Get it wrong and you span. The turbo game has certainly moved on tons but I still prefer SC or NA motors.

 

[dgmx5]

No idea about other criteria, but a VX220 is very cheap these days, especially when compared to a Lotus, which it shares most of its components with

They were cheap (I recall non-turbos at £7.5k) but a quick look suggests the comparative rarity has pushed the price up quite close to that of an equivalent mileage Elise.

 

[CatmanV2]

I'm not a fan of turbo cars full stop

Does the XJ not have turbos?

On balance, for road cars, I sort of agree. I can imagine that if you have a clear road with nothing changing and a plan they are bloody awesome. With teh Jaaaaag I just waft along. When I need some oomph I paddle down and bide my time.

Hopefully it'll be outed either here or PC in the next month or so.

C

 

[Lavazza]

Well, I've always liked the idea of the V10 M5 and M6, but this post makes the Granturismo seem cheap to run...

E60 / E61 M5 Buyers Guide - Page 1 - M Power - PistonHeads UK

www.pistonheads.com

 

[rockits]

Does the XJ not have turbos?

C

No turbos as the current XJ is a 5.0 Supercharged V8 Petrol. The first XJ I had a few years back was a 3.0 litre V6 twin turbo 275 which is a very commonly used engine in many Jags. Might well be in your XF.

 

[Bladerunner]

In a time when every Subaru in the range was 4WD and every SAAB had a turbo (whether the low or high pressure variant), the SAAB was notorious for its torque steer but at least if fettled by Abbott this was supposedly tamed.

Does anyone have any personal knowledge or insight of the 9-3 or 9-5?

Yep, I had a 9-3 2.0T Aero saloon

Remapped to around 260 bhp, not bad for a family saloon 10 years ago, the turbo made it a great sleeper...had it for 5 years in the end

 

[madmanmart]

Anything 80s and 90s Turbo Japanese cars are flying up.
Especially when they reach 25 years old and become US import legal.

 

[Mr S]

They were cheap (I recall non-turbos at £7.5k) but a quick look suggests the comparative rarity has pushed the price up quite close to that of an equivalent mileage Elise.

For a Turbo yes, but they are faster than most Elise’s. NA’s are still 145hp as standard, so more than make up for the little extra weight they carry over the S1. Plus normal Vauxhall engine, so very reliable.

 

[foibles]

Very very nice.

My Z
View attachment 74600

TE37s? They're a lovely wheel. Look great on r33 gtr and rx7 series 8 as well. They looked nice on a bathurst r spec I had some time back.

Looks like a bomex kit too? Lovely looking car..... I'll get trashed for saying this but surely one of the most timeless cars ever made. That car could be 31 years old and it still looks modern.

 

[rs48635]

Avantime - recently missed V6 model in metallic blue. went for less than 5k maybe even starting with two. Built by Matra and still looks modern.
CL600 of XJS - can be had for less than 10k which fulfils the V12
as Matt said the Ferrari 456 seems to have bottomed too, in the upper price category.

 

[rs48635]

TE37s? They're a lovely wheel. Look great on r33 gtr and rx7 series 8 as well. They looked nice on a bathurst r spec I had some time back.

Looks like a bomex kit too? Lovely looking car..... I'll get trashed for saying this but surely one of the most timeless cars ever made. That car could be 31 years old and it still looks modern.

love that generation of RX7

 

[Ewan]

968 Sport. Basically a Club Sport, but with rear seats, electric windows and a hi-fi. Great car to drive, and quite practical. The only way is up. (No one mention Yazz).

 

[rs48635]

Agree with the 8 series BM, if you can find one without mega mileage on it.

I love the looks of the 8 series. Drove lovely condition 840 and it was nice, but nice like drinking milky tea looking wistfully from the veranda at fold folks home

 

[midlifecrisis]

Have we said Land Rovers, especially Defenders and older. They're attracting big sums at the moment so if you fing a sub-10k one and is in restorative condition then you're on to a winner.

 

[dgmx5]

Have we said Land Rovers, especially Defenders and older. They're attracting big sums at the moment so if you fing a sub-10k one and is in restorative condition then you're on to a winner.

I think that's due to psychological conditioning. Prices have softened a bit after some stupid rises but these are no longer, and haven't been for some time, in the financial doldrums.

There may be certain varieties of Range Rover which are.