panhard65 wrote: ↑Mon Mar 04, 2024 10:11 am
How about a nice little Lancia Fulvia saloon. It is away having new floor pans at the moment but should be pretty much up and together after that. Will need the odd bit of tinkering though as it has been off the road for years and I have only done about 50 miles in it since recommisioning it.
Not something I’d considered, for some reason I was only thinking of British cars, is it a left hooker?
I remember a story in Car by Ian Fraser, he was looking for a first car for his son ( now a car journo himself, I think) Anyway he went through all the cheap cars available at the time, must have been 1980ish because it was particularly pertinent to me. He bought a Fulvia saloon. Not a great surprise as he owned a Stratos and Daytona, so was an Italian car perv.
I think that 6pot XJS would be a good shout! Even if maybe the engine is a bit small. Modern enough to corner well and feel solid at speed - much pre-80s stuff (especially pudding cars) ime is a bit sketchy above 70mph on the motorway. But old enough to look and feel a classic. Also I imagine many had air conditioning too? Even if might need a bit of work to reinstate with R134.
panhard65 wrote: ↑Mon Mar 04, 2024 10:11 am
How about a nice little Lancia Fulvia saloon. It is away having new floor pans at the moment but should be pretty much up and together after that. Will need the odd bit of tinkering though as it has been off the road for years and I have only done about 50 miles in it since recommisioning it.
Not something I’d considered, for some reason I was only thinking of British cars, is it a left hooker?
I remember a story in Car by Ian Fraser, he was looking for a first car for his son ( now a car journo himself, I think) Anyway he went through all the cheap cars available at the time, must have been 1980ish because it was particularly pertinent to me. He bought a Fulvia saloon. Not a great surprise as he owned a Stratos and Daytona, so was an Italian car perv.
The Fulvia is a left hooker, if it had been right it would of dissolved by now. I dropped it off and picked the Rover up at the same time so drove them back to back. The Lancia is by far the better car to drive, faster and far better handling compared to the Rover even though it is only 5 years newer and less than half the capacity at 1300cc
I'd be looking at something from the Rootes stable, Arrow or Audax (particularly later cars with 1725 engine). Loads of improvement potential, some nice interiors in many and not bad for spares compared to some. Reasonable compromise between size and ease of entry and exit with a decent roadability.
There's a great long bar in Rock & Roll heaven.......
