Cheap Thrills – Why Everyone Should Own an Inexpensive Classic

Congratulations. You’ve made it to one of the finest portals of classic cars for sale on the planet -and that’s a very good start. If you’re a grizzled veteran of the hobby, I’m interrupting valuable window shopping time, and you should simply skip straight through to the good stuff and start planning your next purchase. Or sale, of course…

But, if you’re a newbie looking to dip your toe into the warm and welcoming waters that are old motor cars, then settle down with a brew for a minute. You just made a very sensible life choice.

Magazines, TV shows, experts and auctioneers are forever steering us towards the poster children of our hobby, and rightly so, but the facts are these; old cars are more fun than new cars. They’re also cooler, more stylish and open the door to a lifestyle and friendship group that can be anything you want it to be. And the best bit? It’s a world that you can access for entirely sensible amounts of money. Dream of a Porsche 911? Many do. It’s a worthy aspiration, and doubtless with a little hard work and luck, you’ll get there one day, but while you browse our pages filling in your lottery-win dream garage wish-list, consider sampling a gateway drug to get you hooked, first.

You see, there are many, many fine classic and interesting cars out there and on here for less than the price of a decidedly average holiday. And while a Mondeo may lack the kerbside cachet of a Mondial, and an Espace may not snap necks like an Esprit, I guarantee that you’ll have just as much fun owning, driving and fixing either model. And that you might see change from a couple of grand or so, should you chose to acquire one.

One of my favourite ways to shop for cars is to apply the maximum price filter. Try it on C&C, set it to, say, £2500, and see what a world of wonderment awaits you. A quick trawl today netted me Breadvan Polos, slightly careworn Alfa Romeos and even a sexy Saab. All for very low four figures. And this is a great place to start, my friends. This is the automotive equivalent of the Woolworth’s ‘Pocket Money Toys’ section. (Ask your Dad)

Inexpensive classics do more than just act as a stepping stone into our hobby though, laying the foundations for grander things. They’re a truly wonderful niche within their own right. You can be pretty brave in a £2k car – not only in terms of where you’ll park it (anywhere) and how often you’ll use it (daily) but also in the fact that you’ll probably even be tempted to break out your Halfords socket set and do a little basic maintenance together. Nothing bonds you to your motor car like gapping and torqueing a fresh set of plugs. When your own knuckle skin is part of the inlet manifold, you’re family.

You won’t even get looked down upon by your automotive peers, either. Such is the counter-culture appeal of less expensive classics, sell-out shows like Hagerty’s Festival of the Unexceptional have been created in order to cater for them. Here, in a Stranger Things-esque Upside Down universe, Maestro Clubman owners are worshipped like gods while Citroen BX Leaders get paparazzi’d like Kardashians. I once saw a Sierra Cosworth owner asked to park by the bins so that a Mazda 626 could pass through to the VIP area. Not even kidding…

I’m lucky enough to own a few very nice cars, but even so, I still think my favourite kind of car shopping is to set the prices filters to low, the region to local and just see what comes up. There’s a huge thrill in browsing cars you can afford – and that are within a sensible driving distance. Because they might just be sitting on your driveway by teatime…