Practically Classics Forum

I'm 16 years old and learn to drive in late march, and at the mo i have a 2003 fiesta mk6.
I've had it for about a month, but at the time i was buying i was given the choice to either search for a mk1 or just buy a mk6. Me and my dad searched for mk1's, but the only suitables ones were too pricey, or the ads would lie about having no rust!, so i settled for a mk6.
Butttt, i'm having second thoughts, and really aren't attracted to modern cars like my fiesta, so i was hoping you guys could recommend to me some nice, small engined (1.0 - 1.4) classics, that i can get for c.£2000 with no rust! or little work needed
Thanks, and any recommendations are appreciated!

My dad restored an 1967 MGB roadster from a rust tip to concours in the 80's, and is currently restoring his aston martin DB7 to concours, so i guess a little work over the winter would result in a bit of fun in the garage with a first classic

£2000 would get you a lovely Triumph Herald. Infact £1000 - £1250 would get a nice usable one, free tax and classic insurace if you can get it being under 25 and not silly fuel economy. I have just got myself one to run around in while my coupe is getting restored and its a 1966 1200 saloon, cost £650 with no MOT but took it in and it passed with a few advisories. Currently renewing brake master cylinder, pipes and rubbers, full service and replacing one outrigger and it will be in lovely condition for well under £900 all in. Put pics on soon.

I also have a Reliant Kitten the 4 wheeled one, has more power than a 850 Mini, but weighs under 500kg and is RWD. PLUS is GRP so no rusty bodywork. Not tax exept but cost only about £400 MOT'ed & taxed.

When I was 17 I was going to buy a Land Rover 109 Series 3 ex-MOD. Full canvass roof so like a convertable, can get loads of stuff in it, never have to worry about being hurt as most things will bounce off it a rediculously low insurance. Only thing is fuel economy. £1000 is enough for one of these.

They are my 3 suggestions and happy hunting.

If it's to be your only car and you need to be able to use it, pick on something where you can buy spares quickly and easily (Something with 5 stars for spares in PC; I've had a 3 star car and based on that, God help a 2 or 1 star car). No doubt you are only too aware of how easy it is with the MGB You are clearly more aware of insurance costs than I am but I think one of the best, from that point of view, is the Morris Minor.

My choices would be a Morris Minor or a Mini (The Issigonis Mini that is). Both were prone to rust, though the Minor was a bit more overbuilt and rust took longer to cause perforations. However, once cured, both have pretty straightforward shells and treatment with Waxoyl/Dinitrol types of products is pretty simple. Allied to that, both are simple cars to work on (Like anything, they have one or two awkward bits) and good cars to drive. I've had both and would say that the disc braked Mini was a hoot to drive, though the Minor is more comfortable and whilst it doesn't hold the road like a Mini (It's a tad top heavy by comparison), is still a competent and very predictable car. Mine has front disc brakes, which is a worthwhile improvement. The Mini is lighter, so is faster and more economical for any given engine size.

You won't find a rust free example of either for £2000 but you'd find a reasonable Minor saloon (I'd do for a two door) for £2000. I'm a bit more out of touch with Mini prices but I suspect you'd find a reasonable Mini for £2000; they made rather a lot of them in 40 years.

Bloke on another forum has recently bought a Fiat Panda for a couple of hundred quid and is impressed with how good it is to drive. It's also surprisingly rust free. I reckon something like that would make an ideal starter, future classic as well as being simple and cheap to maintain and a lot more fun than a Fiesta.

Kittens are fun to drive (I've had eight so far) and the 850cc Reliant engine is pretty much indestructible if the old oil pressure relief valve is dug out of the crankcase and the later, cassette type valve fitted in its place and the water jacket heater takeoff is removed and sludge poked out around the back of number 4 wet liner at every service (the coolant flow will cease otherwise and the back of the block then corrodes through, rendering the engine u/s) but insurance is expensive - especially for a young driver - on these and as only <4000 were built, the kitten register knows of around 400 survivors, so finding one whose chassis and bonded in roll cage aren't detached and/or terminally rotten can be a challenge.
But they're not quite as light as Matt suggests. Saloon weighs 509kg, estate 530kg and the van 517kg "dry" so around the 550kg B1 limit when full of petrol and with some luggage on board.

Try the earlier Rebel as an alternative. Watch out for 850 engines that have been badly fitted (the long stroke engine doesn't suit the Rebel in any case - 750s can be made to provide much more usable power), rust (though the Rebel chassis is less rustprone generally, the doors can display some nasty, hidden rot as can the floor pans around the seat supports). Bonus is that most Rebels were built before 1973, so VED is free and they (even when modified) are in insurance group 2.
Kitten steering and suspension parts are only available through the register and are expensive, Rebel suspension bits are Triumph GT6/Vitesse-sourced so are easy to find, steering box & idler are from LHD Standard 8 & 10 so even they are easier than kitten racks and ball joints (modified Triumph Dolomite ones).

Much as I love kittens, Foxes and Rebels, I'd have to advise opting for something more conventional until you have more experience of cars generally.

If you're willing to go for something a little different I know the perfect car - disclaimer: I know the guy selling it, he's a member of my region of the Allegro Club.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Yugo-45-Tempo ... 3f0ff869b5

FIAT-based 900cc engine, 3 doors, a lot of work already done this year & nothing needed that stops it from being used, easy & cheap to find spares for, a dedicated club, and an absolute BARGAIN if it stays at this price - if I hadn't just found yet another Allegro that calls for me to save it from the scrapyard, I'd be seriously considering a bid on this.

I do know of a driveway-abandoned mk2 Fiesta near me, but it certainly doesn't qualify as rust-free; very few Fords will be that cheap and that good at the same time, there's too much of a premium to the marque - bet you never thought you'd read that sentence!

Wow, thanks for all the advice guys some i'd never thought about, like the Austin and reliants!
And I had been looking at triumph heralds, 60's British saloons like that really appeal to me!
How about a dolomite guys, would that be a reasonable choice?

Yes, but avoid the Dolomite=shaped 1500 if this is to be a daily car, their engines can fail spectacularly at low mileages and if driven hard, though to be fair, many have been properly built by specialists since BL's original attempt led to meltdown and with balancing and careful build these long-stroke, 3 bearing OHVs can give around 50,000 miles between sets of bearing shells, thrust washers and other known weaknesses appearing. They're also thirstier than a "real" Dolomite which came with the 1854cc, 45 degree OHC engine as also found in the Saab 99. That's the one to go for both for economy and performance though the Sprint, which came along a little over a year later, is immensely enjoyable to drive and their (clever single camshaft) 16 valve 45 degree fours are also durable with correct maintenance, but Sprints would cost a shade more to insure.

If you're never in a hurry to get anywhere, then Dolomite 1300 OHVs are slightly stronger than the 1500s and pretty much as economical as the 1850s, how about the Toledo? 1300cc, RWD, cheap enough to buy and the same as a Dolomite apart from their short boot.

If FWD is more your thing, then Dolomite-shaped 1500s were FWD, changing to RWD for the 1500TC or, prettiest car of the range IMHO, the 1300 (FWD, pictured).
I've covered a total of more than 250,000 miles between my two Dolomite automatics, 191,000 miles in the old Ice blue, 1972 example, more than 40,000 (in less than three years) in my Sienna (also 1972) example. Neither ever failed to get me anywhere, though the brown one did need a head gasket at around 48k and had to be driven around on my spare engine as the original needed to come out and be put under a pillar drill to get the head studs out. Saab specialists have a special tool that usually gets reluctant heads off though, so my method was probably a little radical.

1300 FWD:


And one of my kittens, radiator blank was on there because, contrary to what people who don't understand how to look after their all-aluminium engines will tell you, getting these to run hot enough can be a struggle, even with the 92 degree thermostat I always favoured:


Though I still reckon that something a little more conventional makes for an easier to live with first car, there are a great many young kitten register members who clench their teeth and fork out the ridiculous amount of insurance premium required to keep one on the road. 50-60mpg on ordinary unleaded sort of redresses the balance though. Sorry, was that mostly pro-kittenist again?

what about an austin 1100? fun to drive & £2000 should buy a good one..

Insurance is fun isn't it? I'm currently getting round that problem by having the 110 off the road and using a push bike, But a series landy will be easily insurable for £500-£1k with Adrian flux ect... Other than that good luck with the search!