Top ten modern classic cars?
 

Classic car weekly have listed the D2 S8 in their list of top ten modern classics this week :)

Thought I would share that with you lads +++

What's the rest?

I do wonder what will happen with the cars of today.
Will they ever become classics?

All the tech and such that's in them will make them harder to keep on the road.
I was at Le Mans a couple of years of ago and parked next to DB2 in a service area.
That car is over 50 years old. Would modern day Jags (glued together) or A8s (Full of electronics) be around in 50 years?

It might be nice to see a D3 on the road in 40 years but I can't see it.

Nice that the D2 got in there though.

They listed in addition to the S8
Porsche boxster
Saab 9000 aero
Jaguar xJR
Rover 800 Vitesse coupe
Alfa GTV
Renault Clio 172
Suzuki Cappuccino
Peugeot 306 cab
Ford probe
No particular order to the list very subjective I suppose, but then I see the price people are paying for old fords now when they were two a penny when I was in my teens and early 20's.
Lord knows I never expected escorts capris and cortinas to be classics! Wish I still had my Crayford convertible mark 2!
I enjoy my classics they are fun to drive and I love working on them and the smell of petrol and oil :o
I have a Triumph Stag 1975 (with a sorted original engine) a classic mini 1990 and a jaguar XJ6 1996 in my classics fleet. Less than £300 a year to insure the lot and more interesting than banging a little ball round a course IMHO for a hobby:ROFL:
The stag will soon be tax free so very cheap open air motoring for the good months of the year. The mini I bought for my son and he lots interest so I restored it from the ground up over the last two years. The Jag I inherited from my father when he gave up driving he had owned it for 15 years so I know it well.
Main problem with many potential modern classics will be the cost of the electronic bits like airbags and ecu modules which run virtually everything, and having the gear to set things up. Many dealers can't deal with the older stuff as their gear is updated it doesn't cover the older models.
But prices are on the climb for classics at the moment
Cheers
Glyn

The Peugeot 306 Cabrio is one of the best looking soft tops in recent times. There isn't a bad angle on it. No idea what they are like to own and drive but aesthetically I think they are pretty much faultless.

Great to see the S8 getting some recognition.

Ford Probe? Really? Wow.

As the former owner of "rather a lot" of different Rover 800's over the years (but never a Coupe) I never expected any of them to become a Classic! :eek:

The article lost all credibility with the inclusion of those, sorry.

Bias aside, no M3 or M5 BMWs? :tuttut:

Ah, there's a caveat - 'For under £5000'.

For Rover 800 read Honda, but with BLMC crappiness.
Probe V6, I drove a new one at Millbrook, and it was outstanding... ly bad.
Pondering on this list this afternoon, before seeing it, and thought to myself, The XJR should be in there, and here it is +++

Looking beyond the D2 S8, which deffo deserves its place. I rate the D3 S8 too. The engine. It's amazing, and a V10 in any motor is rare thing. That, coupled with an unmistakable visual profile.

I'm not biased or anything ;)

What else should be in that list?

I agree with Phil, and there's always subjectivity but a Probe, really????….:eek:

I had an 827 rover which spent most of its time back at the dealers! before that I had a Mk1 MR2 which I think should have made the list it was like a mini Ferrari great little toy. Not many good ones left either!
Each to their own I guess people still turn up in Allegro's at the shows I always thought they were awful remember the square steering wheel!!! Lovely!:ROFL: Then there's the Ambassador! I'll get my coat!:-(

As has been said, its all down to personal interpretation of "classic". For some it just means that it represents the era, sort of iconic. And an Allegro can be just that. For others, classic means well designed, ageless and able to be appreciated down the ages even when compared with more modern stuff. i.e. a D2. +++

I picked up one of the many classic car mags at the airport the other day and it featured a Vauxhall FB 101 which suddenly brought it back to me that i owned one of those for a few months many years ago. I think the wheels fell off in the end.... :ROFL:

We had 2 of those! (well technically a Princess briefly then an Ambassador) They weren't as bad as people made out if you got the right spec. ;)
They were absolutely massive inside, which with 3 young kids and all their clobber meant ours were never full.
Also, with a wheel on each corner and fairly low and wide, it was amazing how agile they were IF you had power steering (which many didn't) and a decent sized engine.

There's the rub; a lot of cars called 'iconic' do so as they represent the very worst of an era. That doesn't stop them being an icon (of sorts) I guess but it's not really for the right reasons.

If I had to pick an iconic car for under £5000 I'd suggest the Porsche 928. A few examples are available for that money so it's not unrealistic.

Ahead of it's time in many ways; an ageless design that still looks current; a fantastic piece of engineering and by all accounts a decent drive too. I've got zero interest in owning one but I would hold it up as icon.

I had an Ambassador. HLS or whatever. All the bits. I paid just over £800, tarted it up and made almost £1k, which was salve for all the **** taking it attracted (and still does)
I often swapped my motors with my brothers 928 (mine had room for family holidays) So I've used one quite a lot. Fantastic engine. Marmite looks inside and out. Incredible levels of road noise. But an experience nonetheless. Almost restored the damage the Ambassador did to my neighborhood street cred... Almost.

For me a classic is not an icon. Its one of those cars that leaves you thinking of ways to own one yourself.

Here's another prediction. Nissan...... GTR :D

I agree with Phil about the 928: the only Porsche I'd ever consider buying - it's looks have lasted (IMHO…), and if had space for a 5th car, and the cash/time to look after it, I'd add it to the D2 S8 and my Fiat Coupe.

It was also listed in last weekend's papers (Sunday Times, I think) as a upcoming classic that won't break the bank….

I agree - but this will be first :D

240Z Love at first sight, and an enduring love at that.
Neil and I had a discussion about the styling cues on this car. We disagreed. But on reflection (the sober day after) realised that I was talking about one end while I was talking out of the other.

I believe that these are already classics. If so, sorry, they don't qualify as upcoming :-(

£5k could buy you an E36 or E46 M3 or an E34 or E39 M5

One of my favourite cars of that era I owned was a 1988 Renault 21 Turbo, always put a smile on my face

R21 Turbo £1,495

And talking of french cars, R5 GT Turbo and Peugeot 205 GTI should be in there, always loved these too

Alpine GTA Turbo

And how about the 80s Audi Coupés?

As already mentioned beauty is in the eye of the beholder I guess I was only joking about the ambassador as one of my mates had one which was never level all round and his number plate read ROP ##Y :D. Many of the cars mentioned are already reaching or attained classic status and in many cases there are very few of them left on the road or saveable, there is a website which you can enter a model in and see how many are left ... Howmanyleft.co.uk this works on cars taxed I believe and on the road.

Scrappage schemes and the general throw away and recycle approach hasn't helped. I have seen cars at breakers that went if for the last scheme which were in very good nick. Jags bmws audis all working but worth less than 2000. A local jag specials restorer near me bought a number of near perfect x300 jags the leather interiors were worth more alone?
Many of the earlier cars obviously suffered from terminal tin worm due to our salty roads. but as rust proofing and build quality improved it became less of a issue and the cost of mechanical or electrical repairs became the bigger issue.

What never a ceases to amaze me is the regular occurrence of a car found languishing in a garage for 20 or 30 years they are still out there ! Often just plain old escorts or base models which were stuck away when some person gave up driving and forgotten. I started on old motors in the late 70's when I picked up a Austin a90 six 1955 for £50 one owner 40k miles. I was 14 and hooked. I wish I had the money and space to have an example of each of my favourite cars over the years. But a £2.40 win on the euro millions doesn't go far :ROFL:

Best get off and earn some money +++

A lot of cars that people say are rubbish (such as the Allegro and Ambasador) where not that bad for the average Joe - it was mainly down to snobby car mags and the like.

My old man had a lot of what the mags would describe as crap, but for what he wanted were very good:

Allegro
Metro
Maestro
Avenger

Got him and the family from A to B.
Didn't cost a fortune to run
Etc.....

A lot of fun can be had owning one of the more eclectic cars to be honest and keeping them on the road can still be cheap :)

Just my tupence worth

Not forgetting the venerable Austin Montego. Surprisingly spacious, smooth and quiet. They had a reputation for wonky computers and tin worm but the one my dad ran worked great, it started first time every time, cost buttons (both to buy and run), was rot free and was only finally killed when leaded petrol was withdrawn and the unleaded ate the valve seats. And even though it was smoking like mallard and the valves were halfway through the cylinder head by the end it still started first pull of the key. Was a shame to send it to squashville but it cost less when bought five years previously than repairing the engine repair would be :)

I had a couple of those as well, both estates with 7 seats and surprisingly quick; especially the 2 litre one.
(My car history is leaking out I've realised and it's a bit random as most of it is company chariots :o )

Sorry. Can't agree about the Leyland (BLMC) stuff being any good.
I've had most of them and yes, their engines were good and torquey, and they were good at firing up. But next to a Ford or Vauxhall... no comparison.

The BLMC gearboxes were a joke. Generally the only way to get into first was to lift the clutch until it bit. Escorts, Cortinas and Capris, on the other hand, had slick, fast and tight gearchanges. None of your long wobbly gearsticks there.
Brother of mine bought a new Allegro 1750. Piece of crap. The hub caps were glued on so it wasn't possible to change a tyre with the equipment then generally in use. The wood on the dash peeled up round the edges (it was printed foil). Another brother purchased a Maxi 1750 (both 1974 cars. The entire dash used to vibrate violently with the cars harmonics at about 70mph. My Capri 1600 (1974 as well), Just good engineering at a price to be affordable and great looks.

BLMC owners were a bit like the Skoda or Reliant Robin owners of yesteryear, on a mission to justify their frankly irrational choice.

Rant over ;)

Ah.. I still remember my old Montego 2.0 fondly.. The size of a barge, and the handling of a barge. Only had it six months before I got a company car, but it never let me down in all that time, just the odd rust issue and a dodgy thermostat.

Just like the door trims on the D2. :ROFL:

There's a guy in Bourne End near Marlow with a black 2002 FL D2 S8 and a 1995 928 GT. Always smile when I drive past. Very nice combination.

Z

I read the Classic Car Article yesterday after being given a copy by my father-in-law. In a nutshell it said what we all knew anyway; the D2 S8 is super-cool, fast, well-built and amazing value for money, tempered by being potentially expensive to run and maintain.

I still can't see how some others made the list (Ford Probe I'm looking at you).

Talking of the father-in-law; I might be lending him the S8 for a few weeks as he can't drive an manual after a foot op. He knows it shifts; I don't think he knows just quite how fast it is. I will report back on his reaction.

Looking forward to hearing this :D What's his usual wheels?

Some sort of 2007 era Merc 1.8 Kompressor Estate. He does like to lug loads in comfort rather than balls-out speed.