91 replies to this topic

[Ben_O]

I know it's a bit sad but i really want to restore an AXGT after the Mini but unlike the Mini, it will be hard to find replacement parts and panels, especially new.

 

That is what is putting me off i think, the fact that i may never be able to finish it to a standard worth doing because of parts availability.

 

What was a common sight on our roads is very rare now but even with it being a late 80's/90's car, you would be hard pushed to find bits so in my opinion, you will never be able to do much with a current modern car in the future as the parts defiantly won't be there.

 

common cars like Ford's and Vauxhalls of the mid to late 90's may be viable as patterned panels are available for most models but these are usually restricted to common rust areas rather than most panels like we have with the Mini.

[MaxAndPaddy]

If you think we're spoiled, I reckon 205 GTI drivers are too, maybe more so.

 

You can literally drop a 306 GTI-6 (2.0 16v) engine into the engine bay, onto the standard gearbox (just need to tweak the slam panel, fit an automatic bonnet and a custom exhaust manifold)..  You can fit rear beams off different vehicles to increase rear stiffness, alter rear camber, get a better ARB, you can fit 309 bottom arms to give you negative camber on the front.  You can fit GTI-6 front brakes off a 306.  Or, if you are more into standard ones, you can get the 1.9 engine from all sorts of other PSA cars to replace a knackered one, or if you want to find a genuine 205 GTI one, they're only a couple of hundred quid for a second hand one.  Interiors are easy enough to find, gearboxes are cheap enough....the only thing is finding a decent, straight, rust-free shell.  Once you've got that, it's an easy car to restore or maintain.

 

I'd have a garage full of 205s if I could.

 

Can we stop talking about PUGs please, otherwise I'm going end up buying one 

[Tamworthbay]

If you think we're spoiled, I reckon 205 GTI drivers are too, maybe more so.
 
You can literally drop a 306 GTI-6 (2.0 16v) engine into the engine bay, onto the standard gearbox (just need to tweak the slam panel, fit an automatic bonnet and a custom exhaust manifold)..  You can fit rear beams off different vehicles to increase rear stiffness, alter rear camber, get a better ARB, you can fit 309 bottom arms to give you negative camber on the front.  You can fit GTI-6 front brakes off a 306.  Or, if you are more into standard ones, you can get the 1.9 engine from all sorts of other PSA cars to replace a knackered one, or if you want to find a genuine 205 GTI one, they're only a couple of hundred quid for a second hand one.  Interiors are easy enough to find, gearboxes are cheap enough....the only thing is finding a decent, straight, rust-free shell.  Once you've got that, it's an easy car to restore or maintain.
 
I'd have a garage full of 205s if I could.

 
Can we stop talking about PUGs please, otherwise I'm going end up buying one 

couple of nice Gtis on eBay at the moment

[The Matt]

Love em or hate em, they're a great little car. I had 3 different 1.9 GTIs now. They're stonking.

[tomb1992]

I've wanted a S2 106 Rallye for a while just hard to find a unmolested one as most have been engine swapped and caged up, not many left know. 

 

 

would you class a Early Honda Integra Type R? as in the one with the double headlights? getting quite rare and really desirable in my eyes at least .

 

 honda-integra-16v-S1480431-1.jpg   50.36K   1 downloads

 

getting quite parshal to old Honda's. probably due to having a unreliable mini as a dally lol  

[MIGLIACARS]

funny i still see them as a modern car but there old now.    a great car and yes a classic in the making.

 

 

got a chamade renault 19 16 v as my toy there rare now,   as most have been scrapped to to everything about them      i still love them i had some laughs in mine as a young man.

[mininuts]

Shot in the dark,Rover 75.

Agree, either the 75 or the MG ZT including the estate models. The V8 versions already have modern classic status.
Great cars.

[Shep76S]

BMW E39 M5 400bhp not too complex, family sized.
MINI R52 MCS
Lotus Elise MKII
Lotus Exige MK1
FS

Elise S1 would be more collectible I would have thought.

[robminibcy]

I think we are spoilt with the mini, with a tiny number of exceptions for rare cooper bits, you can buy pretty much any part brand new off the shelf. Even brand new shells from the original press tools are available. Compare that to many makes and it gives us a false sense of what is possible. I am in the. Idle of restoring a Capri and hardly anything is available new. A few panels are available from third party suppliers but are variable to say the least. I have spent four days reconstructing a wing as good repro ones don't exist.
Go forward twenty years and what will panel availability be like for car made post 2000? Non existant will be the reality. No third party suppliers will bother as the cars change so frequently, panels are so complex and people don't keep cars when they start to rust as it's easier and cheaper to buy a new one. I think more cars have survived from the seventies than the eighties, and more from the eighties than the 90s.
If you are going to do it, I suppose the thing to do is to buy the car you want to keep then invest in a full set of panels from the OEM whilst they are still current, but who has the cash and space to do that?

VW are cutting down production of body panels. On the vw forums I go on there are a lot of people with mk4 golfs with rust under the front arches and have had them replaced under the 10 year corrosion warranty. Some have taken over a year for vw themselves to get hold off so what chance we have as customers!

[Tamworthbay]

I think we are spoilt with the mini, with a tiny number of exceptions for rare cooper bits, you can buy pretty much any part brand new off the shelf. Even brand new shells from the original press tools are available. Compare that to many makes and it gives us a false sense of what is possible. I am in the. Idle of restoring a Capri and hardly anything is available new. A few panels are available from third party suppliers but are variable to say the least. I have spent four days reconstructing a wing as good repro ones don't exist.
Go forward twenty years and what will panel availability be like for car made post 2000? Non existant will be the reality. No third party suppliers will bother as the cars change so frequently, panels are so complex and people don't keep cars when they start to rust as it's easier and cheaper to buy a new one. I think more cars have survived from the seventies than the eighties, and more from the eighties than the 90s.
If you are going to do it, I suppose the thing to do is to buy the car you want to keep then invest in a full set of panels from the OEM whilst they are still current, but who has the cash and space to do that?

VW are cutting down production of body panels. On the vw forums I go on there are a lot of people with mk4 golfs with rust under the front arches and have had them replaced under the 10 year corrosion warranty. Some have taken over a year for vw themselves to get hold off so what chance we have as customers!

exactly, I dont think it will be possible to keep most modern cars on the road beyond fifteen years in any great numbers. Even modern classics like the mx5 rely on cannibalising old MX5s to survive at present. There are enough of them that some pattern stuff is coming through, but that won't be the case for most cars.

[FlyingScot]

BMW E39 M5 400bhp not too complex, family sized.
MINI R52 MCS
Lotus Elise MKII
Lotus Exige MK1
FS

Elise S1 would be more collectible I would have thought.

Possibly but I don't like it

[Craig89]

Got to love the peugeots, I had a S1 106 rallye that was standard and mint, was a cracking car with an awesome engine, probably my favorite car I have owned, which is a fair statement.

After that had a 205 rallye also mint with twin webers and 140bhp that was a flyer!

It's finding good examples of these LE models that's going to be the trouble in the future

[Mini Cheddars]

Suzuki Swift.

 

Tata?

 

Smart car... at a push.

 

VW Up.

[lawrie124]

According to a recent poll (well, me and the petrolhead son) there is only 1 car on sale today in the UK that is (relatively) affordable and in 20 years time will still look cool.

 

Ladies and Gentleman, I give you the Jaguar XF (in dark blue or black).