[dr.fuzzenstein]

Originally Posted by alastair

My '73 classic has disc brakes all around, no ABS, but respectable dual circuit braking nonetheless. It's got inertia reel seatbelts up front, side impact bars, crumple zones, and I run it on wider, modern tyres. You should have bought a Volvo!

They're boxy, but they're good!
But I just fell for that coke-bottle styling, vinyl roof, even the almost leather interior looked cool and the charm of that 2 liter Pinto engine with a double-barrel Weber carb and a three speed auto was too much to resist. So I emptied my bank account and vastly overpaid for my 70's dream.
What I didn't bargain for that 100 km/h was a challenge and anything over required the use of nappies. it needed some suspension work to say the least. And breaking was like asking the car to suddenly pick a direction at random and veer off that way rather sharpish.
I miss the old girl.
But those Saab 900 Turbos look good, maybe next year...

[hi5]

I had a 73' merc 350sl, I drove it everyday ,no problems although the rear end could be a bit skittish in the wet

[type85]

Originally Posted by whiteonblu

Can you drive a pre 1980 car full time and does it need nct if you do. will the tax and insurance be more expensive than if only driven occasionally

the simple answer is yes you can, tax is currently 52 euro, no you do not need to nct it, and carol nash will insure it as a primary car

ireland.carolenash.com

come on and join us

[unkel]

Classic insurance does not have any hard and fast rules

I had my classic insured as a daily driver (max 6,000 miles per year iirc) based on the fact that I was a named driver on my wife's policy on her car

I had no other car / policy in my own name

The premium was €325 fully comp for a 4.7l 310BHP Porsche

Like many have said, don't run a classic car to save money (on tax and insurance). It most likely will not work. There are always exceptions of course...

[Dades]

Originally Posted by dr.fuzzenstein

And last, but not least:
If you use a classic every day and you're keeping it in the drive, you will have nothing but a puddle of rust left in about 6 months.
Classics are meant to be pampered, kept in a dry garage (the BIGGEST Irish car sin, let her rot to fcuk in the drive, ah be grand) and only taken out on a nice sunny day for special occasions. That way they will remain special and the Focus gets the daily abuse. It's built for it. And it will be cheaper in the long run.

Unless you have a heated garage with a lift and stacks of tools, a mechanic at your disposal, oodles of cash and a tow-truck and backup car.

Not sure I agree with this. A classic used regularly will be a much happier classic.

Granted, not for huge commutes, or parked on the M50... but for a reasonable journey the *right* classic would be well able. I've commuted in both a Fiat Spider and a 72 SL to work at various points for months at a time. I'm convinced the regular use kept them trouble free.

And I particularly don't think classics should be the preserve of people who have dry garages. This isn't a luxury open to many.

[dr.fuzzenstein]

Originally Posted by Dades

Not sure I agree with this. A classic used regularly will be a much happier classic.

Granted, not for huge commutes, or parked on the M50... but for a reasonable journey the *right* classic would be well able. I've commuted in both a Fiat Spider and a 72 SL to work at various points for months at a time. I'm convinced the regular use kept them trouble free.

And I particularly don't think classics should be the preserve of people who have dry garages. This isn't a luxury open to many.

I had to get rid of the Cortina because I didn't have a garage at the time and after a few months the patches started to bubble up.
I see an MG in Limerick, that's been sitting in a drive for several years now, it's gone from white to brown.
70's cars especially are very prone to the tin worm, because steel got thinner, box sections more complex, rubber seals weren't great back then and haven't improved over time. Also, a lot of steal back then was bought cheaply in the East.
Any car from that era, it doesn't matter if they're British, German, French or Italian will rust for it's respective country.
And since we're now using salt in the winter, things haven't gotten easier.
In the 00's many people used their new-found income to buy classic cars, while at the same time converting their garage to that all-important 5th bedroom or keeping €200 worth of crap in it.
I'd say that Ireland from 00 to 08 was responsible for the destruction of more classic cars than 40 years of banger racing in the UK.
That and converting them to daysul, because they're now chaep to run.

[porsche boy]

It's not a classic yet but I'm running my '87 Porsche 944 as my daily, have been for most of the year. My tax is a high, but not that much higher than the wifes in her 1.9tdi. Fuel is bad but I dont do that much mileage and I dont push her hard.
For me it's all about the fact that it's not something seen every day, it's different.

[dr.fuzzenstein]

I think a lot of classics from the 80's onwards are a lot better for daily (ab)use.
Rustproofing got better, the steel got better and a lot of the mechanicals where less fragile.
I had a 1984 Mercedes W123 200 petrol that was perfectly alright for the daily drive, I actually used two different ones for driving to work from Ennis to Shannon every day in the 90's. Of course back then they weren't classics, merely bangers. And rust was definitely an issue with them. And I did not make it to work on a few occasions.

[DaSchmo]

Originally Posted by dr.fuzzenstein

I think a lot of classics from the 80's onwards are a lot better for daily (ab)use.
Rustproofing got better, the steel got better and a lot of the mechanicals where less fragile.
I had a 1984 Mercedes W123 200 petrol that was perfectly alright for the daily drive, I actually used two different ones for driving to work from Ennis to Shannon every day in the 90's. Of course back then they weren't classics, merely bangers. And rust was definitely an issue with them. And I did not make it to work on a few occasions.

I bought an '83 capri a couple of weeks ago and have been using it as my daily driver.

Pros:

Engine (2.0 pinto) hasn't skipped a beat
MPG not too bad either (33 mixed motorway and city for first full tank)
Looks like a serious badass

Cons:

Dodgy handling in the wet, that goes for all capris though
Cringe every time it rains - currently out the front of my house and I can almost see the rot spreading if I stare at it for long enough - am moving asap to somewhere with a garage / underground carpark
Needs new steering rack, car shakes badly going faster than 100kmh

[dr.fuzzenstein]

^^^
Sounds all very familiar to me.
With you on the 2.0 Pinto, it's a seriously nice engine and if you feel so inclined it's easy enough to tickle a few more horses out of it.
Which in an old Ford means first uprating the suspension and brakes, they're scary enough with the car in standard tune.
Would you consider a carport? At least better than nothing.

[Cienciano]

A lot depends on what milage you'll put up. Some peoples commute to work is 5km each way, some peoples is 100km each way with regular trips around the country thrown in.

[LIGHTNING]

Originally Posted by porsche boy

It's not a classic yet but I'm running my '87 Porsche 944 as my daily, have been for most of the year. My tax is a high, but not that much higher than the wifes in her 1.9tdi. Fuel is bad but I dont do that much mileage and I dont push her hard.
For me it's all about the fact that it's not something seen every day, it's different.

I ran my 82 924 as my daily for a good few months and it never skipped a beat. I don't have a garage but both my 924`s were fully galvanised from the factory so that helps.

[alastair]

Originally Posted by dr.fuzzenstein

They're boxy, but they're good!.

Not all of them (boxy that is)!

[dr.fuzzenstein]

Originally Posted by alastair

Not all of them (boxy that is)!

And it would seem, indestructible:

http://www.autoblog.com/2007/10/26/m...for-3-million/

[Do-more]

I don't know what the statistics are but the average age of the car fleet must be considerably older here in Sweden compared to Ireland. The same probably goes for many other countries in Europe I've certainly seen lots of older daily drivers on trips to France and Spain.

I'd hazard a guess that the very late introduction of the National car test in Ireland is a major factor. Also despite the historical high cost of cars in Ireland a large portion of the public maintain their cars with a bare minimum of servicing.

Their is no VRT on cars here so in the past they have been considerably cheaper to buy new than in Ireland but there isn't the same turnover of cars here people keep their cars for longer and generally keep them well serviced, also cars retain their value better here.

Another thing that I would say has a big influence is the car tax trap where in Ireland at a certain point in a car's life cycle a years road tax can cost more than the value of the car, that doesn't happen here as car tax is generally pretty cheap and as said before cars retain their value better.

The state of many Irish road surfaces over the last 40 years probably has a major influence as well.

I live just outside a town of approx. 20,000 population and there is an ocean of older cars in daily use. Not all Saabs and Volvos either, off the top of my head I regularly see at least 5 Mk 1 Audi 100's, there are 3 Mk 1 Granada Coupes unrestored and driven daily and a couple of Mk 2 Granada's, loads of Mk 2 Golfs and Jetta's and a few Mk 1 Golfs lots of other stuff as well, here is a photo of a '79 Opel Kadett I was behind on the way to the supermarket today, I see it regularly and he drives it on, I was hardly able to catch up to him to get a snap.



On a quick glance around the supermarket car park there was a Mk 2 Opel Ascona, a Mid 80's Honda Prelude and a slightly newer Accord along with the usual selection of Volvo 240's, 740's and 850's.