I wrote recently about a visit to the Gawsworth Hall Classic Car show. I'll be honest, I wish I'd taken more pictures! I was just too busy enjoying myself. It was a great day out for a petrolhead.
drivetribe.com/p/bz2cYJlcS3KrbwTEtMnAiA?iid=XLYVHji1TBSS5M5wPLcMZw
In many respects it reminded me of DriveTribe. It was almost like DriveTribe 'Live!'. There were lots of people, with vastly different backgrounds and personalities sharing their interest and their passion. I actually left the show feeling like I wanted to get into the classic car scene.
I almost WAS in the classic car scene! My old Jaguar X-Type was 11 years old when I sold it and keeping it running properly felt a bit like keeping a classic going.
My old X-Type
The thing is it was too modern to really be a classic. I'm not that good an engineer. I can MiG weld, badly and use an angle-grinder. I can do discs and pads easily enough, I've done hubs and spark plugs on a V6! But stripping down a classic and restoring it, then putting it back together might be a stretch for me.
If I WAS going to get a classic, the question is - what?
I DO like Jaguar's new AND old. I could have been tempted to a Bergerac car or even a Morse car:-
Restoration job?
Or is that a 'Withnal and I' car?
However, there are few things against them.
One, they are pretty big to store and probably quite expensive to get parts for and maintain.
Two, they are a hard top. I can appreciate the desire for a hard-top. I had an MX5 for years, and loved having a convertible, but for a daily drive, a hard top just makes sense.
Yes, I liked my MX5.
So what? What do I go for?
Well, one thing that strikes me about classic car owners is they have to have a real interest in their car. There has to be something special about it. Something which makes it special to them. It also makes sense to have a soft-top, because it's kind of nice and seems more livable than having a soft-top as your daily. Thirdly I think a four seater makes sense. I have a family and it'd be nice to take them to classic car shows IN the classic. Finally I think something relatively small, which is easy enough to store makes sense.
So what is that?
I think a Triumph Vitesse convertible would be perfect for me.
Vitesse Convertible
These aren't too big. They seat 4 easily and my dad had one at a time when all his mates had Spitfires. Apparently this was faster! He always raved about the fact it looked like a slow Herald from behind. The Vitesse is the car he owned that he talks about positively more than any others. (Except perhaps his 1989 Opel Manta, but that's too modern to be a proper classic I think.) I think you can get a nice Vitesse convertible for £6-10k, and there's no electronics to go wrong, probably reasonably cheap parts for the most part. It's a very tempting proposition!
Martyn Stanley
#Triumph #Jaguar #Classic #classics #classiccar #classic-car #classic-cars #modern-classics #classiccars #story
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Comments (8)
My Dad hired one in Malta in late 70's for our holiday and remember it fondly but kept breaking down then never find 40 years on??
Maybe one bought now would have had all the problems ironed out?
A Triumph may have no electronics but from what I've heard, it will find a way to go wrong. Get an Inspector Morse car.
A Morse car would be a scary proposition... Plus they don't to a soft top! :)
I'm not sure I've seen one of these before Martyn!
My wife actually recently suggested i have one of these or a stag... but I don’t think I’m good enough at spannering to own this sort of carvreally 😕
Well that's two for the day. I've never seen the word spannering before either. No explanation necessary for that one though.