sportier classic

shagman

GOING ON FIRE :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek:
Seems that a lot survived if they had a propensity for going on fire?
I've heard this of other classics with tanks mounted in stupid places like behind the lights etc but not the scimitar.Where did you get the info from as I'd like to know the reasons behind it and make appropriate precautions. I've actually bought two one to drive while I'm restoring the other so at least I have a spare. The better one allready has had a stainless steel tank added.
Princess Anne had 7 of them (probably free from reliant) they were quite popular amongst the horsey set as they are great tow vehicles ,being both light and torquey. One of the actors from Lock Stock has one and was raving about it in a stars and their cars interview in the Sunday Times a little while back .Thats what kinda convinced me go go with one actually. Was also considering volvo p1800 / p1800es , datsun 240Z , early toyota celica , opel gt 1900 or to hell with fuel economy alltogether and get a Jenson interceptor FF!!!! Just spotted a mark 3 one in buy and sell today :cool:

shagman

I lifted the following from an owners website which has some usefull stuff on maintenance problems encountered etc.
The way I went about narrowing down what I want is
1:Think of what kind of general shape of cars you like best curvy, boxy, gt, hatchback ....whatever floats your boat .
2: list all the cars you can think of that fall into that style then research a bit and find some more.
3 figure out the tech specs that are important to you. And throw out the ones that don't meet them.
that should help narrow it down then just go by price condition and cost / ease of servicing/repair.

Damn I might have to spray mine orange niiice....

The Scimitar was the first car to introduce the idea of separate folding rear seat-backs, allowing the owner to change the carrying capacity, between four-seats plus a reasonable amount of luggage, three seats and more luggage, or two seats and a large carrying capacity, all accessible through the rear top-hinged glass tailgate, supported on gas-struts. They are built on a very strong steel backbone chassis, with glass-reinforced-plastic bodywork, and together with a very torquey engine, the Scimitar is a very strong and long lasting vehicle. A very high percentage of the Scimitars built are still in regular use, having achieved very high mileages in the meantime. The Scimitar also has an advanced suspension design (unequal-length wishbones at the front, six-link rear with Watts linkage, coil-springs all round), traditional rear-drive layout, excellent weight distribution (helped by theV6 engine being set well back in the chassis). This makes a car that is both fun to drive on twisty A roads, and still capable of travelling extremely long distances at sustained high speeds. The relatively simple design & construction of the car make the Scimitar relatively easy to repair by the home mechanic without need for special tools. These are the reasons that I chose my Scimitar and as I have done everything on the restoration myself I think this just goes to show that they must be easy to work on..

Engine 138 bhp

Brakes 3 pot Girling / Lockheed calipers front. Drums rear.

Gearbox 4 speed plus overdrive, 4 speed close ratio with higher ratio rear differential. Borg Wagner type 35 3 speed Auto or Ford C3 3 speed auto (Late SE5A's).

Front suspension Coil over damper double wishbone from TR6, trunnion bearing and ball joint steering pivot, anti-roll bar.

Rear suspension Salisbury live rear longitudinal location rods with Watts linkage arrangement for lateral position, and coil over damper units.

Performance
0-60 mph - 8.9 secs
Standing 1/4 mile - 16.7 secs
Fuel economy Normal driving: 21 mpg ,Motorway 26 mpg
Dimensions
Width 5 feet 4 1/2 inches
Height 4 feet 2 1/2 inches
Length 14 feet 2 inches
Weight (dry) 1011kg

Optional extras Electric windows, Webasto sunroof, Leather interior.

Merrion

Get a Triumph TR5 ...a soft top car that a man looks good in.

stratos

Don't worry Shagman. I read about the fire thing in a magazine, It Didn't say why. It did however say it's not a problem anymore as any surviving cars have had the problem fixed. With all it oily bits stamped ford it's a bullet proof classic. practical and a beauty too.

shagman

Cheers Stratos but I think I found what it is/was ....the fuel supply line going into the carb sometimes worked loose -- leaking petrol=BBQ. The fix was a simple split pin nut affair..... can't think of an easier fix to such a potentially serious problem! BTW do you actually own a stratos??
The wickedest car in all the world.
A mate has a Lancia Beta Spider with a 2ltr volumex supercharged engine for sale at the mo if you're interested. Not a rust bucket but does need a bit of work, can't remember what price he wanted but it's under 3K i think. Not pre 75 though....thats why I didn't get it.

unkel

shagman wrote:

do you actually own a stratos??
The wickedest car in all the world

But better known as:

shagman

Y'know when you were bought a remote control car as a kid in the 70's and you opened it and there was a bleedin big WIRE connecting the car to the controller!!!!! Well I still loved mine despite that cos it was one of these.....


Carefull you're drooling on your keyboard there.

Dades

I'm in the process of finding a Fiat 124 Spider in the US to import.

The prices there are great with the dollar. Similar models for sale in the UK have gone for twice the price.

They were first made in '66 so you can bring one in free of VRT and also get tax exemption etc.

G'luck!

ambro25

Not quite the same as the 124 Coupe Sport I posted earlier (those US converts have the black plastic bumpers'n bits), but nice motors all the same.

Paul (MN)

Thanks for the replies.

BrianD3,

You are probably right. I really need to stick to something reliable, or at least with an extensive, and recent, service history. If I "upgraded" to a W123 CE I would like it to be a really clean example. I wouldn't mind a 230CE, perhaps an auto.

Not keen on a SAAB 900.

unkel,

I wouldn't have a T and CE on the drive at the same time! The T would be sold. I'm hoping it retains most of it's value, to fund the next purchase.

That blue W114/W115 is certainly nice and I would love it. But it would have to have had headrests fitted, and power steering! Not all models do.

AlienGav,

Triumph Herald? Nah!



Looking at the 2002, there is the Tii and the Tii Turbo. Are the Turbo's rare/expensive and are they difficult/expensive to maintain? A Tii would sui tme fine though.

Nukem

Damn what classic car

Triumph Stag/Vites
Citreon 2cv (love them)
AC cobra (drool)
Humber minx (with an overdrive gearbox - dad had one years ago loved it)
golfs MkI and beetles I

Could be here for a while

ambro25

Citroën DS convertible - the Most Beautiful Car in the WorldTM

MX-5 1.6 Turbo - classic in the making, but already extremely hard to find in good nick/unabused, VRT down to minimum payable (€350, is it?)

Anything imported from California, but especially a Camaro SS '67/'68

PaulK_CCI

An interesting sporty, good looking, practical Classic that I have just managed to get my hands on, which would be perfect for the cars refered to in this thread:

A Datsun 240Z!

Beautiful styling, Ultra reliable Nissan 2,4 litre straight six with 150bhp in a light rear wheel drive 2 seater sports car.
Very reliable mechanics and with the hatch door at the back you have plenty of space to bring 'stuff'.
All parts can still be ordered and the mechanics of the car are very simple
and easy to maintain.

The particular car I'm getting in is a 1974 lhd example (the last of the
240Z series until the 260Z 2+2 came out and ruined the pure design of the 2 seater) in original Nissan Red with original Nissan Alloys. The car was nut and
bolt restored, including a full engine and gearbox overhaul in 1999, still fresh and driven only little miles since. Photographic history of the very extensive restoration comes with the car.

Contact me for more details.
Here is a picture of another 240Z, because I havent got any pictures of the actual car yet. Think away the enormous front spoiler and the minilites because they're non-standard, but I must admit they do look the part on the car.

mike65

Hi Paul,

I take it that Classic Cars Ireland is your site. If so, its nice but needs updating a bit via-a-vis Benefits page and NCT. Also on the insurance front
carolnash will offer cover for cars over 20 years old.

Mike.

ps the Datsun is sex on wheels!

stratos

Saw a beautiful 240Z in silver down the country last summer, I almost ran off the road looking at it. I presume it too was restored, as how they rotted.

stratos

No sorry Shagman wish I did own a Stratos. I sat in once, is as close as I came. The nearest I have at the mo is my Tr7 ( Looks a bit like a Stratos from a certain angle far far away).

shagman

Ah well Stratos if you're gonna dream ...dream BIG!!!
I believe there is one in Ireland though in alitalia colours n'all there was one on show at the west cork rally a few years ago.

Paul , how much are you looking for the 240Z one of the cars I was considering the opel gt 1900 is fairly practical too you still got that? Was outta my price range unfortunatly.Post up a piccie and show folks.... yiz won't believe it's an opel!!!!

stratos

trying to boot up my memory banks the Opel gt, did it look like a mini corvette ? Seem to remember a curvey Opel.

PaulK_CCI

Mike: you're absolutely right. Some pages on my website are unfortunately rather dated, simply because I'm having trouble enough keeping the cars up to date as it is... So, if you're volunteering to help me, I'm not going to say no, of course
Regarding insurance, some companies do 20 years, others 25 years. Unfortunately there is still not a lot of choice around...

Shagman: the "Z" will be approx 7-7,5k on Irish plates (so that includes ALL costs, including a full service) depending on the deal I'm going to end up with.

Correct Stratos. The Opel GT was the "mini-corvette"...
Here's a pic of an Opel GT:

alastair

I see that Peter O'Kennedy (ex Golden Horde drummer, and maker of art with cars, amongst other things) is driving a nice looking, and muscle sounding LHD 240Z that's obviously a US import. It's gold and I spotted it coming out of dame lane last week. If I'm not mistaken he used to have a Citroen Masarati before this. Nice.

ambro25

alastair wrote:

If I'm not mistaken he used to have a Citroen Masarati before this. Nice.

Aaah, the SM.



Getting rarer'n hens teeth, those. And yes, they are beautiful cars.

I'm aware of one lying about somewhere in South Yorks, UK, supposedly in decent nick, 'been looking for it for a few months now (following up hearsay, cabbie talk & whatnot... hopefully get there soon !).

stratos

My god that Opel gt brings back memories. A car I had completley forgotten about. There used to be one tooling around where I lived, mind you I was in short trousers then. At the time it was like a spaceship. Imagine that parked between a mk 1 Cortina and a Morris Minor.

PaulK_CCI

Just a word of warning, owning a Citroen SM is not for the Faint hearted and you need a lot of patience, money and expertise to keep one on the road.

They're one of the most beautiful looking machines, but also one of the most unreliable, or I should rephrase, the most labour intensive of classics. The car is stuffed with hydraulics, electrics and whatnotelse, that have all been proven less than reliable through the years, mainly because of insufficient or bad maintenance, and to top it all the car has a Maserati engine, with all the pitfalls and expensive parts of a racebred engine. Camsbelts need to be done every 20,000 miles (engine out job, and believe me, that's very labour intensive: to replace the battery you need to almost take off the front wing, so you can imagine the rest

Therefore the people that own and drive an SM command the utmost of respect in my view, because these people are committed to it 100% otherwise the car would have been kicked out of the yard long ago

Dades

It probably doesn't help driving them off-road like the one in the picture above...

ambro25

PaulK_CCI wrote:

Probably why they're so rare indeed. And also why the one I'm tracking down is proving so elusive: it's either in good nick and worth it's weight in gold , or so decrepit that just a glimpse of it has been caught and they can't remember in which farmyard it was...

PaulK_CCI

I wouldnt hold my hopes up if I were you...

The words "farmyard" and "Citroen SM" just simply do not inspire confidence for finding a well maintained car.
And a "well neglected" SM is going to cost you so much money in repairs that you'll quickly move on to a more reliable example.

lomb

id agree with that farmers are never going to spend the dollars needed to keep a complex motor running. buy a proper one if u really want one and save up for it.

stratos

Yea got'ta agree with the above sm is a nightmare, Lancia montreal too.

ambro25

Mmmh... don't know Stratos - I had a Delta 1500 LX for a short while, was trouble enough already (didn't put me off enough going for an HF-I later on, though!).

Alfasudcrazy

I am delighted to see so many (potentially) brave classic car owners here.
However having owned classics for years I would echo others in relation to owning overly complex classics.
Be sure that the novelty of owning such a car would wear off quickly if there was a constant stream of problems - and hence a constant drain on the wallett :rolleyes: