24 replies to this topic

[mk1cs1966]

When I started my mini about 10 years ago you could get a tatty Cooper S for about £6000ish or just an engine in parts from the mini mags for about £1500 but after a siesta and being broke trying to finish my mini is so expensive well I was expensive when I started but who can afford the £20k I see the cars going for? do they go to China , or investors buy them. Are they even a good investment as petrol cars in the next 20 years will be priced off the roads or some law on fuel consumption  will make them illegal maybe? Is it rarity pushing up prices or the classic looks and the simplicity of them, maybe the Richer older generation with spare cash and time.  Anyway its annoying as one of the good things about Mini's was they were cheap.

[RooBoonix]

20k? You must be looking at really early Mini's or just special/rare ones. You can easily get a normal road going Mini for under 3-4k. Later Coopers and Sprite's, then the 80's City's are at the cheaper end of the scale.

 

 

Cam.

Edited by RooBoonix, 08 April 2015 - 08:41 PM.

[mab01uk]

If you want a cheap small car today there are thousands of secondhand modern supermini hatchbacks available for little cash which will do most things better than a classic Mini but with less fun factor.

 

The end of production in 2000 is a major factor for later daily driver Mini's becoming more expensive.......up to that point although annual production had dropped to only about 10,000 or less per year but it was enough to satisfy demand and constantly replace the Mini's being lost due to rust and accident write off's, etc. You could still treat it as a 'throwaway' car and just buy another rather than bother with an expensive restoration.

 

After that point the numbers of later Mini's which had kept the supply of cheaper first time drivers with a steady secondhand supply for 40 years slowly disappeared and everyday Mini numbers have steadily dropped since due to the usual annual attrition rate. At the same time many previous Mini owners were prompted to get a Mini again before it was too late as they were no longer made.....so increasing demand and reducing supply has pushed up prices and moved the older Mini's into a higher profile worldwide as an iconic classic car.

 

Also....Classic cars leave other investments standing

Over the past decade classic cars have done even better than gold, rising 430 per cent in value, according to Knight Frank's Luxury Investment Index. Over the same period, the FTSE 100 climbed just 55 per cent.

But there is an even more powerful reason to invest in classic cars beyond the fact that they are growing in value so quickly. That is the tax benefits, as Susan Spash, partner at London chartered accountant Blick Rothenberg, explained.

"Classic cars are an investment free from capital gains tax, which would otherwise be chargeable on UK residents selling investment assets and making a profit," she said.

"This specific exclusion is because they are categorised both as 'wasting assets' and passenger vehicles."

Wasting assets are defined as possessions such as machinery and items with a predicted life of less than 50 years. They are exempt from capital gains tax, which would otherwise be charged on gains above the annual exemption of £10,900 at 18 per cent, or 28 per cent if you are a higher-rate taxpayer. The tax advantages, however, come with the potential drawback that if you lose money when selling a classic car you can't claim tax relief for the loss, as you can with other valuables or assets.

Chris Routledge, managing director of international car auctioneer COYS, said that the demand for classic cars as an investment was at an all-time high. "For example, the Aston Martin DB4 average global auction price before the recession was £135,000 and after the recession it went up to £207,000," he said.

http://www.independe...ng-8830408.html

[mingy]

When I started my mini about 10 years ago you could get a tatty Cooper S for about £6000ish or just an engine in parts from the mini mags for about £1500 but after a siesta and being broke trying to finish my mini is so expensive well I was expensive when I started but who can afford the £20k I see the cars going for? do they go to China , or investors buy them. Are they even a good investment as petrol cars in the next 20 years will be priced off the roads or some law on fuel consumption  will make them illegal maybe? Is it rarity pushing up prices or the classic looks and the simplicity of them, maybe the Richer older generation with spare cash and time.  Anyway its annoying as one of the good things about Mini's was they were cheap.

We will still need fossil fuels despite what the greens and the tree huggers state, a large amount of fuel is used to carry millions of people all over the world via the airline companies who are one of the biggest and most powerful businesses on earth which produce a vast amount of pollution into the upper atmosphere but, it is overlooked due to the revenues and trade it brings worldwild just like ordinary transport ie: transport companies, couriers, etc . Electric vehicles have there limits and there is no other viable alternative at this moment in time.

We are all investors in a sense, some of us just want to own something we had years ago and relive our youth and some of us look further than that and can see an investment.

Rarity always pushes up prices in any way shape or form, regardless of what it is. I could sell my fosslised Velociraptor egg for a kings ransom but i choose to keep it to look at and think......... hell, this thing is special, how many people would want it.............................. just like our classic minis.  

[Cooperman]

It's not just Minis, it's all classic cars.

I bought a 1973 Porsche 911 for £6000 in 1979. I sold it for £20000 in 1996. One of the same model sold recently for £200,000.

It's the same for all classic cars. Look how the E-Type has gone up in value, as has the Mk.1 Escort, the Cortina GT Mk.1, the Datsun 240Z, etc..

In the antique world everything has gone up as well.

The Mini is special because to many it is the ultimate 1960's icon and a true classic car.

There are still some bargains. A 1960 Mini 850 in 'nice' condition sold at auction last weekend for £6000 and that was an exceptional deal. I bought a 1964 Traveller last year for £5900 which needed some restoration and again that was a good price to pay.

But, the classic Mini is not a cheap car, it is a true classic car. If 'cheap' is more important then 'classic', go buy a cheap Fiesta for around £700.

[mk1cs1966]

Yeah all good point I suppose but still 3-4k for  a  80's mini is a alot especially as It lacks the character of my mk1 and mk2's not saying the later models are very nice but its not what I envisage as an iconic Mini and as for a investment maybe short term but I as a mini enthusiast I doesn't help the rising prices and as in idealist my mini's priceless and not an investment really.

[fenghuang]

I've had a 6 or 8 yr break and I reckon prices have doubled in that time. I may be wrong but it feels like that's for complete Minis and parts.

[mk1cs1966]

13 years ago I saw an I think a 60's Aston Martin DB5 for 5k as a project but basically complete , I held out and bought a Mini lol a small part of regrets this decision

[Cooperman]

If you want a less expensive classic car, you might consider the following:

 

Rover 2000TC, Rover 3500 V8, Triumph 2000 Mk.1 or 2, MGB-GT, Triumph Dolomite, Fiesta 1.3Si, SAAB 96 V4. Ford 100e.

 

Any others?

[AlexMozza]

If you want a less expensive classic car, you might consider the following:

 

Rover 2000TC, Rover 3500 V8, Triumph 2000 Mk.1 or 2, MGB-GT, Triumph Dolomite, Fiesta 1.3Si, SAAB 96 V4. Ford 100e.

 

Any others?

 

Has to be a Saab 96 Stroker for sure!

Edited by AlexMozza, 08 April 2015 - 10:21 PM.

[mab01uk]

How about a 'future' British classic car for only £3994 or less?

JAGUAR XJ 4.2 XJ8 Sovereign LWB 4dr (2005)

Lightweight aluminium body, won't ever rust,

0 to 62 in 6.3 seconds

V8 26 mpg

http://www.pistonhea...lwb-4dr/3939353

 

RAC say:-

"The 2003-2010 model year Jaguar XJ is a car that needs no excuses. Previous generation XJ models always strived to match the German opposition. The later XJ had the Germans scratching their heads in amazement. Quite how Jaguar managed to pull off making this car - comfortable, luxurious and elegant while still a convincing drivers' machine - is a work of genius. Much of the credit must go to designer Ian Callum and the engineering team who fabricated a great deal of the car from lightweight aluminium. If you can afford a used XJ, we have but one question for you. What are you waiting for?

The all-aluminium XJ was conceived in 2000 as a vehicle that could put Jaguar ahead of its rivals. Audi had already pioneered the extensive use of aluminium with its A8 model but Jaguar was to push the boundaries still further in terms of weight reduction. The cars were first shown at the 2002 Paris Motor Show. Developed under the project name of X350, the XJ was a major step forward, not only for Jaguar but also for the automobile industry, the first series-production car to use aluminium for the majority of its body components.

A Jaguar is never going to be a cheap car should parts go wrong but it's extremely rare that they do. Should you ever need a new starter motor, expect to pay around £375. A radiator costs around £425 and front brake pads are approximately £75 per set with rears weighing in at £60.

The Jaguar XJ makes a great used buy. It's reliable, well built and great fun to drive. Here's a British built car that knocks the Germans into a cocked hat.

http://www.rac.co.uk...aguar/xj/207307

Edited by mab01uk, 08 April 2015 - 10:33 PM.

[Cooperman]

And that is about the same price as an 'average condition' SPI or MPI.

Truly a superb future classic.

[hellom8]

I've got my eye on a Nissan Pulsar GTIR.  Getting hard to find now but still good money.

If I could find one, I'd get another Carlton 3000 GSI.

[WMU 211G]

If you want a less expensive classic car, you might consider the following:

 

Rover 2000TC, Rover 3500 V8, Triumph 2000 Mk.1 or 2, MGB-GT, Triumph Dolomite, Fiesta 1.3Si, SAAB 96 V4. Ford 100e.

 

Any others?

 

Good call - you can still find near mint examples of the Rover P6 in all three engine sizes (2000, 2200, 3500) for less than the price of a half decent Mk1 Mini. 1970s Jag XJ Saloons are also still reletively cheap if you know what to look for, just before Christmas I bought a '73 XJ6, a very early SWB Series 2 4.2 manual with history for £6.5k, on the face of it ''just another '70s Jag'' but they only built around a thousand or so SWB Manual S2s before all Jag saloons became LWB, the vast majority being autos.

 

The desirability or attractiveness of '60s Minis seems to affect peoples perception of their worth in different ways, we all love the Mk1 1275 S and think they're mega rare, even with more than 14,000 being built, yet the Mk2 1275 S is much rarer with only 6,329 examples being built but to some it is less desirable.

Edited by WMU 211G, 09 April 2015 - 11:17 AM.

[blacktulip]

what about an MG metro turbo?