next generation classic owners

[Martin Evans]

I attended a classic vehicle show on Sunday (Pics to appear soon) and the organisers simply specified that vehicles needed to be over twenty five years old. That seems fair enough to me; no other criteria need be met. Forgetting the practicalities, I don't pretend that I would have wanted to own all the cars at the show, whether they were 1930s cars of 1980s cars. All of us there were contributing to the classic scene. Maybe the anti Nova people mentioned, associated it with a boy racer prattmobile vehicle, that has become the Corsa but I remember when Ford Anglia 105s were a boy racer’s choice. It would be equally wrong to assume that a well dressed older gent, in his MGA or T Type is an “Old fart”.

As to the Vauxhall Nova, my mother had two new base models in a row and they were good little cars (Didn’t go badly for a 1 litre), that were still easy to work on. Both were prone to pink (More so the second one), so I always retarded the ignition a touch. I have driven a GTE. It went well, was a touch prone to understeer (That was part of the Nova I think) but the tyres on it weren’t the best. Allowing for this, I think the 205 handled better but the Nova was better finished. I ended up with a Golf GTI but the Nova would have been more than acceptable.

I think the way things have gone, there will be fewer cars surviving to become “Classic” but that’s another story. It may make spares back up a problem but if you want good spares back up, you’ll need a popular classic, like the MGB and I don’t know that there will be any more like that (Maybe the MGF will be) coming along.

[rich.]

my idea of heaven is arriving at a show in a micra & parking between two e type jags & that type of owner just to annoy them...
its sad they are so narrow minded, tell your daughter to keep up the good work & annoy more of the miserable gits next time

can we have a pic of the nova? i havent seen a gte for years....

[Topaz]

I agree with getting the young uns interested. My son is always in the garage with me working on a project. Been teaching him the basics on painting etc. he also enjoys weilding a spanner under supervision.

For me it was the other way around. My son wanted a Mini and went to college to do a basic mechanics course. I had always had an interest in older cars but helping him with the Mini got me wanting my own - so I paid far too much on Ebay for a heap of rust with a hint of Bermuda Blue that at one time was an Austin 1100 - 6 months later it's still untouched on the drive

Mike

[Martin Evans]

my idea of heaven is arriving at a show in a micra & parking between two e type jags & that type of owner just to annoy them...

Well if your Micra is old enough, why not (Though I don't see why it should annoy anyone) Didn't the original one come out in about 1985 God alone knows when I last saw one, which goes to show that the later cars are not being preserved. Oddly enough I saw a couple of Novas/early Corsas, with low mileage, in Classic Car Weekly. The one wasn't really old enough to be in there but it's certainly got a good chance of being preserved and with spares likely to be a problem long term, if you can get an unlmolested example, it's got to the the way to do it (Just hope nobody bumps it and damages the trim etc).

The car, parked next to me at Tredegar Park last year, fitted the bill. It had something like 26000 genuine miles on the clock. I don't think there was another one like it in the whole event (There may have been a couple of XR3s or similar; I didn't notice) and I had no problem with it (It makes a change to see a car that has been looked after from new). I'm not entirely convinced about where the problem sometimes lies, as snobbery can work both ways; in some cases it takes the form of envy and resentment or even an inferiority complex.

[rich.]

ive been to shows in the uk & for some reason the jag owners tend to be unfriendly..however rover morgan & lotus owners seem to be friends for life....

[tractorman]

Why won't spares be available for more modern vehicles? There were probably more made than the likes of things like Mk1 Cortinas, Victors and many of the cars made up to the 80's, when multinational models started to be made (eg a Mondeo is a world-wide car). if the demand is there, suppliers will surely make the parts. It bugs me that some think only old cars have value or interest and critical of anything that may seem modern, knocking things like spares availability etc. I have only seen one MGB in the last few months, but that doesn't mean that they aren't about; OTOH, I saw a nice Mk1 Metro coming through the village last week and two or three Mk2s in town.

OK, so moderns are treated like white goods by most owners these days and scrappage saw a lot of good neo-classics destroyed, but there was probably a similar number (and higher proportion) of older cars that were sent to the scrappy thanks to tin worm. The only high survival rate being Land Rovers. I wonder what percentage of Midgets, Spitfires and Minis (to name a few) survived to become classics (and not "old bangers").

[Richard Moss]

ive been to shows in the uk & for some reason the jag owners tend to be unfriendly..

Usually sitting in a group, behind a rope, pretending that the "oiks" attending the show aren't there. I found it embarrassing when I had my XJ6 - so I parked it on the Rover800 stand.

[SirTainleyBarking]

Landrovers only survive because most of the body is alloy and it all unbolts and is mostly interchangeable.
Spares wise there has always been a steady stream of ex mil cast offs donating parts.

There are a lot of Franken-Rovers out there that wear spares from different models and ages.
Mine is a '73 Series III.
The front hubs are series II, and the engine comes from a 1979 vintage pickup.
Apart from Britpart spares, and the possibility that I may fit wolf rims or Disco 1 steelies so I can go radial and tubeless, It's pretty standard

ive been to shows in the uk & for some reason the jag owners tend to be unfriendly..however rover morgan & lotus owners seem to be friends for life....

Jag owners probably have recovery with the RAC, the others may need to get a jump start before going home

[mach1rob]

Snobbery sucks!

I've mentioned this before, and it's true, the classic scene is a constantly shifting thing, yes there will always be the E-Types, the Minors, MGBs, TRs, Austins, Morris etc. but as time moves on, the younger generation will begin to turn up in Sierras, Cavaliers, Montegos, Corsas, Fiestas, hell even Mondeos and Vectras, and why? Because those are the cars dad had, the cars you grew up with, went on holiday in, probably even 'borrowed' the keys to!

Dad had a P6, followed in order by a Dolomite, Princess, Cortina, Rovers again, models of which have been owned and enjoyed by me over the years, as they have memories, an attachment, I can still remember loads of things about those cars with affection, and so it will happen in later generations. I'd not be surprised if my lad in years to come ended up buying a car like wot dad used to own.

To all those that say a Nova shouldn't be there, it's a pretty good chance it's 20-30 years old so why should it NOT be there? I seem to recall PC mag in the 80s fully restoring a 60s Morris Minor, what's the difference?

[rich.]

i remember doing a few shows with my mgs when the car was parked no one took any interest but as soon as i lifted the bonnet people were queing to have a look, mostly mg owners trying to find out how it supposed to go back together