Cars, cars, cars...

Going by my experience they are much, much more at risk by letting the wife drive. 🤬

Okay, so here's a question for the hive mindless:

I now have space for a garaged classic car, but I do not have permission for anything without crumple zones and airbags.

Also I think a/c is a must where I live now.

If you had, optimistically, £15k to spend to replace what I have (440i) with something pretty and a likely classic, what would it be?

(I always liked Breras and 159s, but even the fast ones are slow. Pretty cars mind you...)

Don't particularly like BMWs,tbh.

Mx5 is a no.

Alfa GT potentially.

Any older Audis? Or are there too many of them?

Boxter?

It all depends on what you are looking for. I would avoid hot hatches.

2006 era 5 series BMW (E60) with the N52 3.0L naturally aspirated straight 6 engine. Last of the proper BM's. Surprisingly agile for a big car and it cruises. You can pick them up for iro £7k with full BMW SH and say 60k on the clock.

The BMW e46 M sport was probably one of the best cars ever built and if you could find a clean one, it would put a smile as wide as the Atlantic on your face and engines that can easily go over 200K with proper servicing.

The other option is the older E class Mercedes - preferably the 500e (v8) in W124 guise or the later W211. The W124 is a straight forward car for your local mechanic to work on. Simple elegance, solid and beautifully built. Floats down the road. Plenty of spares available for a 90's car. The later 211 500e is one helluva lump of metal and it's painted in a silver quite apart from the rest. It has to be seen in the flesh. Do not overlook the w211.

The AMG W202 is another gem. They came in 3.5L and 4.3L forms (hence C35 or C43 denominations. The former is preferable as it's not quite so heavy at the front, rev's more freely and isn't so juicy but has ample power. Choose one built before 1998 as this was the year AMG's were no longer hand built at AMG and post '98, they were rust buckets after Mercedes bought Chrysler and something happened. [W211's seem to escape the rust era]. I owned a '99 C35 for a short while but it died of tin worm. Such a lovely car. Mechanically never let me down and was superbly agile and fun. Never buy a manual Merc.

Porsche offerings are the 996, 997 and Caymans. The Cayman offers brilliant handling. The 996 is the budget option but by no means less of a car. The 997 comes in 2 forms - 3.6 2 wheel drive or 3.8 4 wheel drive. The latter if you uncertain, the former if you want more fun. Both handle brilliantly, offer not too harsh a ride and are just lovely to drive even at normal speeds. Porsche's contain something inexplicable. Though £15k is slightly under budget for a decent 997 3.6L.

Off the beaten track: SAAB 9-3 or even a 9-5 turbo petrol with those gorgeous hammerhead alloys (not a Griffin V6. That's a converted Isuzu diesel engine and they are prone to the wet liner engines popping at low mileage). Though a bit of a tyre chomper if on bendy roads all the time. However, they are so solid and look good even now.

Top choice of the SAAB's a 900 Turbo s. Rare now.

Do they have airbags? I'd have thought they are cheap enough. But only because repairing anything will exceed the value of the car. How much is a 968?

Neighbour has a Fiat 124, that’s a pretty car. I have absolutely no idea how it drives but think it is based on the MX-5 so should be fun and a bit different.

My only experience with an Alfa was a Giulietta I had from new as a work car in 2011 and it made me wonder what the fuss was with Alfas. Probably not the best choice of model.

That isn't 'worryingly cheap' believe it or not. 944's have never escalated in value due to the cost of maintenance/parts and the complexity. They are also looked down on as they aren't rear engine despite the fact that the marque saved Porsche from bankruptcy and in '85 and '86 in the US, they were the best selling sportscar. They handle brilliantly and are a far better choice for the not so good drivers who think they can drive a 911 of the era.

You need to sift through the good and bad one's and they are all of the same value. Turbo's do hold their value but with them, you have 80's turbo lag and if not well kept, over heating issues. That's the draw of 'Turbo' but with power comes issues and engines that don't go over the 300k mark like naturally aspirated versions. The 2.7 is arguably the best engine out of the 3 options; 2.5, 2.7 and 3.0L.

I have a friend who had 2 x Series 2 cabriolets. One had £17k of receipts and was in A1 condition put up for sale for £12k. Didn't sell. He broke it up and got more for it selling spares.

I'll give you a quick pricing for selected parts for a 944.

Rear suspension bushes for torsion bar: £1300 + VAT.

Front wing: £1700 plus VAT.

Rear hatch glass without any peripheries (sitting down?): £5500.

Alternator: £810 + VAT (it's actually identical to a Ford Granada which is £170 but if it hasn't got 'Porsche' on the box, many people won't buy it and I do not post on the Porsche Club GB forum anymore because of that snobbery despite the fact that Porsche do not make any parts. They don't. The parts are Bosch or VW Audi. They make Chassis and engines but not other parts. Often they will source the parts, give them proprietary treatment and boxing and the supplier exclusively supplies them and it's difficult to get the original part number but we have ways).

Radiator (single fan): £850 + VAT.

You can see immediately that if you own a 944, you pay 911 prices for parts yet the value of the cars never really go up. Though the bubble has burst as we are well into the age where even a clean one will need x, y and z and the number on the road is getting fewer. I have noticed second hand parts have dropped by 40% in the last year.

It's a good time to buy a second hand Porsche but buy one with your eyes wide open and be prepared to get a pre purchase inspection - especially for Cayman's, 911's and Boxsters. Independent Porsche dealers will charge iro £300 but it's worth every penny.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6qLwd44C4iU

"If you are wondering if you can afford to buy a Porsche, you need to ask - 'Can I afford two Porsches? "

My brother had a Boxster for a while. He was always worried driving (trying not to rack up the mileage) it as the next service was a spark plug change which required engine removal, it needed to be done by a Porsche dealer to maintain the service history .... and so on.

But, I struggle to think of any thing 'classic' that would have airbags etc. It doesn't seem old enough to me.

TVR if you're feeling brave?

Got past on the M4 by a Sierra RS Cosworth a couple of weeks ago. Always wanted one of them (and subsequently the Escort Cosworth) back in the day.

I've got an early TT. You'd struggle to spend £15k or close to it unless you start modifying via specialists.

I think those are a bit spendy. And at heart still a Ford Sierra with a face only a mother could love. The escort was less gopping.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, you said.

The Mercs are an option, but I never really like the look of them. An old XJ or XF is more my thing. And I have a suspicion the 159s will become "classic" in the sense that there are so few of them.

Probably I would need to go older to get something that ticks the looks box, and forego the air bag.

As much as a Porsche would be nice, I can't afford a nice one and the 928s - though ageing well and ahead of their time - sound nightmarish.