Forgotten Classics : Owning an Under the radar classic

  • Thread starter Thread starter TopHat
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I want a Honda Beat or Mazda AZ-1, but having never seen one for sale, I question the affordability. Or, a Citroen SM.. but again, affordability.. or Renault5 Turbo... again. Affordability.. or GNX... damn....
 
anything by AC that wasnt a cobra
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Sakiale
GNX
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Good luck with that. You're going to be lucky to find a Buick like that for less than $30K it seems like these days...

Look for the Buick Regal Turbo Coupe, essentially the same car, a bit less power, but still a quick car that not many people know about.
 
Sakiale
I want a Honda Beat or Mazda AZ-1, but having never seen one for sale, I question the affordability. Or, a Citroen SM.. but again, affordability.. or Renault5 Turbo... again. Affordability.. or GNX... damn....
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You live in the US right? You do realize why you've never seen a Beat or AZ1 for sale then?
 
An unfathomable amount of money. The EPA and the NHTSA run a tight ship when it comes to importing cars to the US, and while they will modify some for US-approval, most cars would have to be regulated to show or track use only, something they keep a very close eye on.

However, if they were legal in Canada, it is probably far more likely that you could squeeze one into the US (given our similar laws)... Check out the EPA and the NHTSA for information, there is a lot of interesting stuff there...
 
1966 Barracuda
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1967-1969 Barracuda
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You have no idea how badly i want one of these cars. I'd eat human flesh if it would get me one
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According to my calculations, yes... by the time I'm out of high school... but even that's probably an overestimate.
 
Crash852
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Have you thought about these? The early 90s Mercedes 500E looks like the old regular 300E, but it goes like stink.
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This is the best Merc saloon in the 90's:

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Toronado
If the SVX came with a light pressure twin-turbo (lets say, .4 bar combined) and put out 250BHP-260BHP it would have been the best car ever made. And that is a fact.
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+1 I love the SVX--it is my favorite Subbie by a lightyear. I'd rather have a naturally aspirated 1.0L stuffed in one than a 1000bhp STi with eight turbos. I'm not kidding either. The SVX is one brilliant car. And with a decent set of two turbos as you suggested it would of easily competed (and possibly) beat the other Japanesed twin turbo monsters. 👍 Wouldn't you agree?
 
JCE3000GT
So is one of these in terms of classics overlooked:

Volvo P1800 (manufacturered by Jenson I think):
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It's hard to remember that they're overlooked and rare when you work on them near enough every day (bloody classic Volvo specialist) :) .

They were made by Jenson in England, but production did move to Sweden. There were even plans for Aston "four" engined versions, and one (I believe the only one) is still in existence. I've loved them since I was a kid and although the ride is a little soft even against it's contemporaries, there are many available options to upgrade the suspension as well as uprating the engine to 2 litres as they were underpowered. They can easily be turned into long-distance rally cars with their bulletproof engines and hardwearing mechanicals too.

Sorry for going on, but seeing that pic on the first page forced me to post ;)
 
Glad someone else here likes that car as much as I do. I'd love to see one of these Volvos (*cough*Jenson ;)) with the engine from one of these: surprise
 
I'd probably have 3 Volvo's in my dream garage: 64 122S 2 door, a P 1800 ES, and a 240. :)
 
JCE3000GT
Glad someone else here likes that car as much as I do. I'd love to see one of these Volvos (*cough*Jenson ;)) with the engine from one of these: surprise
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haha, now that would take care of the power problem, and give it an even better soundrack no doubt!

Tophaticent
I'd probably have 3 Volvo's in my dream garage: 64 122S 2 door, a P 1800 ES, and a 240.
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Can't say I like the Amazon as much but I can't question it's durability - my dad's had one as a daily driver for almost 2 decades and I can't remember the last time it needed major work. I know Ruddspeed did some tuning on certain Amazons however I can't remember the extent of it - I remember seeing their logo on a rocker cover of one Amazon but the exhaust system was largely stock so I doubt it was major work....

Interesting thing I just discovered after putting Amazon into wikipedia is this sentence:

This reputation for reliability led writer Rosie Thomas to choose the car to compete in the Peking to Paris classic rally.

My dad was one of the mechanics for this car, and I remember him getting a free book when she had finished writing about her experience on the rally.
 
:lol: My Grandfather had one for a driver for about 14 years! Bought it new, right off the showroom floor. :)
 
Isn't that Red P1800 up to 2,580,xxx miles now? On the ORIGINAL engine?

On Topic!? What's that!?

Erm.. Volvo 242s have been picking up in price and demand steadily over time.

I've always thought that the Fiero was a cool car. Not many of them around anymore.

Burn me at the stake, but I am partial to the Stutz Blackhawk. :D
 

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