I'm 33 and when I was learning to drive there were some cars that everyone wanted to own. The 205 GTI , XR3i or RS turbo , Mk1/2 Golf GTI , R5 turbo , Uno turbo and a few others seemed to be top of the list.

Every now and again I see a tidy looking one drive past , but what are the chances of finding a decent one for sale at a civilised price.

Some , I know , will be almost impossible to find. The Unos and R5s have all long since blown up and the escorts have all become **** specials.

That said I wouldn't mind something like a 205 CTI or nice standard XR3i cabrio as a fun summer car and am idly considering it.

What do you reckon? Is it possible to get a good one still without spending a fortune on repairs every week , and will they still feel fun to drive or a dated heap of tat?

near me there is a pristine MG Metro turbo for sale, its british racing greena nd from a walk around looks like pretty much show room condition. no idea on what money is wanted for it though.

Pulsar? GTI-R? Not sure what age they go back to, but some are pretty nippy.

I'd love to get my hands on something 'classic' imo - HSR Chevette, Escort RS1800, Lotus Sunbeam, Manta GTE exclusive, Fiat 131 Mirafiori (in orange ), even something like a Fiat Strada 105tc but as you say, the likelyhood is pretty slim.

Should have bought them up 20 years ago and stored them in a carcoon - could have sold them for small fortunes nowadays!

Thing is though, you might find these classics a great disapointment, leave them as dreams

you can occasionally pick up a decent astra gte(the rear old skool ones) off ebay for pennies...

The guy I am buying my new alloys off tomorrow just replaced a Mk1 Astra GTE (minter btw) with an Audi S3.

He had to go to London (from Fife) to get the Astra.

Thing is though, you might find these classics a great disapointment, leave them as dreams

That is an issue.

It's one of the reasons why a convertible might be nice , as roof-off fun would be good anyway , and it would take your mind off the crap brakes/handling/performance etc

Pulsar? GTI-R? Not sure what age they go back to, but some are pretty nippy.

Yep , I've seen them go and they are impressive but it's not really anything I've wanted to own.

Fiat X1-9, Golf Gti Mk II, RS2000 (if you can find a nice one) or maybe a nice 944?

I'm 33 and when I was learning to drive there were some cars that everyone wanted to own. The 205 GTI , XR3i or RS turbo , Mk1/2 Golf GTI , R5 turbo , Uno turbo and a few others seemed to be top of the list.

Every now and again I see a tidy looking one drive past , but what are the chances of finding a decent one for sale at a civilised price.

Some , I know , will be almost impossible to find. The Unos and R5s have all long since blown up and the escorts have all become **** specials.

That said I wouldn't mind something like a 205 CTI or nice standard XR3i cabrio as a fun summer car and am idly considering it.

What do you reckon? Is it possible to get a good one still without spending a fortune on repairs every week , and will they still feel fun to drive or a dated heap of tat?

mate of mine has a 1.6 205 Gti, and its ace .

Get yourself a 309 Goodwood

I'd love a mint AX GT...

A golf GTi MK2, 8v or 16v would be a good bet. Still lots of good ones about.

Tom

R5 GTT is my dream project car. The problem being that I want to find one as standard as possible for me to work on, and there aren't that many about.

Just found some Italian ones:

Maserati BiTurbo, Delta Integrale

Or maybe: Lotus Elan

Fiat X1-9

theres one of them round by me that the owner is willing to sell but sadly it has very little left in the way of the rear end and someone has smashed a couple of windows a month or 2 ago.

Fiat X1-9, Golf Gti Mk II, RS2000 (if you can find a nice one) or maybe a nice 944?

An X1-9 would be great , I always liked them , but haven't they all dissolved by now?

Shifty , a Peugeot would be nice. Of the cars mentioned so far a 205 or 309 seems to be easiest to find in decent nick. There seem to be a fair few 205 CTIs that have been well looked after by the sort of people you'd want to buy a car from and they should be fun

the 205 can be a nightmare car, a mate bought his first after cheap thrills and he is on either his 2nd or 3rd trying to find a decent one. they may not look like rotters but they have all been mechanical dogs so far.

There are a few on Autotrader, but go and buy a copy of Practical Classics - you'll get more honest ads in there.

Mk4 Escort RS Turbo was one of the first "sporty" cars I ever drove - belonged to a mate of mine, was pretty mint and tuned to about 150bhp iirc, handled very well.

Reckon they're pretty rare these days but seem to go for loads as the one's that are left are usually owned by enthusiasts and are mint condition so not really a regular use car!

the 205 can be a nightmare car, a mate bought his first after cheap thrills and he is on either his 2nd or 3rd trying to find a decent one. they may not look like rotters but they have all been mechanical dogs so far.

:agree: We had a 205 (not a GTi, of course) and while it looked solid from the outside, as soon as I got it home I started to discover the rusty bits.

And the switches fell apart.

Good fun to drive though

Golf + -

From the Golf+ magazine,

Not long ago a friend of mine had a lovely 205 1.9 GTI, he only got about £850 for it too. Reason for selling was, too slow, really bad build quality, etc.

He also nearly bought an unmolested RS turbo escort, a very rare find today.

Another freind has a Fiesta RS1800, really nice car ford build quality, uprated brakes and suspension, but looks really standard. Rotten as hell under the body kit, and under the fuel filler. He is looking to up the power a bit too.

His sister had his old XR2I, which was sold not long ago for £1200 i think, that was a lovely looking car, and completly standard.

My dad not long ago had a 8V golf GTI Mk2, 1 lady owner from new absolutly mint low mileage, but a bit tame for him so he swapped it and a few quid for a Audi 90 quattro, with the naturally aspirated 5 clyinder.

He also has a 20v Quattro turbo, lovely car, much nicer than the cheaper 10Vs due to being so much more refined.

I nearly bought an S2 insetad of the Vrs which would be a serious consideration for my next car.

5 Cylinder 20V, 230 bhp, 4 wheel drive, galvanised body, 6 speed box, air con, choice of the gorgeous coupe, or practial estate, and all for as little as £3500-£4000, less for an early version, and it pretty much bullet proof, especially if it is well looked after.

How about little more class? A VW Corrado! G60 (supercharged 1.8) puts out about 160 bhp, but easily modded to 240+, or the VR6, @ 190 bhp. Not as cheap to tune, but good for 400bhp if taken to extreams, and one of the best sounding afordable cars. You can pick up a pretty good example from £2000 to £10000, if you go for a Storm. I've had mine for 4 years, and its needed no work to keep her on the road. Look for the Hammond Topgear review.......says it all really!

That said, I biased!

Phil

You could buy my bog standard 24yr old Golf Gti Mk1 with only 108000 miles on it. One bad thing it had 112bhp new and last year on the rollers it only had 111.5bhp.

near me there is a pristine MG Metro turbo for sale, its british racing greena nd from a walk around looks like pretty much show room condition. no idea on what money is wanted for it though.

You could give me a thousand pounds and I still would not take it off their hands. The worst car I ever owned and by a huge margin. Not fast, did not handle, appalling stability above 90mph or when heavy braking, fragile, rubbish gearbox. After I sold mine, a guy I knew in Cosworth told me BL had approached them to do a study on the Metro turbo and Cosworth assessed the situation turned down the job, telling them not to do it. 3 monts of hell on 4 wheels. Dont do it!!!!

Chris