Had an old Chev once with external brake bands, rear only, boy that was real interesting in the wet
thejazzpianoma,
Jan 24, 8:41am
LOL you have been monitoring my occasional wander over to General for a stir up havn't you! Nice quips on the Punto tow wagon and hiace too. I would have retorted but felt bad at hijacking the thread.
thejazzpianoma,
Jan 24, 8:44am
LOL Dads Buick was like that. It also had a leather clutch, LOTS of fun with almost no lock and a steep retained bank a few meters out from the garage!
OHV too!. except you had to oil the overhead gear yourself. every few miles. Apparently if you were in a hurry you could just leave one side of the bonnet up and get the passenger to do a "space walk" out onto the running board and do it wile driving.
Can't say we were game to try. 50MPH never seemed so fast!
magoo2,
Jan 24, 8:52am
Even cars like Triumph stags and reliant Scimitars have probably had their day.The average MG owner would be aged in their 50s. Hairdressers in their 30s and 40s buy MX5s and will probably continue to do so.
drog,
Jan 24, 6:54pm
*Likes*
craig04,
Jan 24, 7:33pm
Now I feel guilty. No more from me.
doug207,
Jan 24, 9:12pm
Nothing wrong with a 30's Hudson 8, I'm very happy to take donations of vintage cars, to keep them in NZ of course.
thejazzpianoma,
Jan 24, 11:10pm
No no. keep it up Craig. I always look forward to your one liners!
trogedon,
Jan 24, 11:17pm
Sadly too true. Most owners are 50+, they??
thejazzpianoma,
Jan 24, 11:22pm
The common ones are still easy for bits, and the rare stuff is so simple there is not really anything you cant make.
As far as I am aware you can still get a parts catalogue for the Model A for example thats so comprehensive you can pretty much build an entire car from it if you have enough cash.
EDIT: Have a google of "Model A Ford Parts" and be prepared to be amazed! BTW unless somethings changed recently pretty much everything is available off the shelf in NZ too.
Its a different mindset restoring and maintaining them though. You certainly don't expect to wander in to Ripco and get bits.
There are tricks to getting them to handle nicely too, although they are never going to be a modern I am totally with you there.
Mostly just upgrading the shock absorbers (or fitting them if it has none) and rubber mounting the engine goes a long way to sorting things. Balancing the engine and flywheel and getting suspension/steering tolerances down to a point where you can accurately align them helps a lot too.
My Fathers Model A was quite capable at 55mph and wouldn't drop down too much even on big hills. If he fitted an electric overdrive that would have allowed easy cruising at 60 but at that point some sort of brake upgrade would have been needed as well.
trogedon,
Jan 25, 2:27am
Model As sure. My mechanic had one as his everyday car until a few years ago. Most Vintage cars a much rarer. The rarer the better = more interesting. Even square rigged 40s/50s sports cars are a trial to drive at any speed for any distance no matter how well they??
elect70,
Jan 25, 3:15am
yep the GT falcE49 chargeretc of us BBnow dropping like a turd .The japs are slowly waking up to their earlyclassics .The big $ is in rare cars bought purely as investments & just garaged , not for use .
richardmayes,
Jan 25, 4:26am
People will always like low-slung and sporty, so unless the speed limits increase drastically I believe there will always be some sort of market for the performance-oriented cars of the 1950s onwards, anything that can more or less accelerate side by side with modern traffic while having a look and sound all of its own.
Having said that, one of the joys of driving a classic is simply being out in your car, regardless of your speed or everyone else's, and just not giving a s**t about the rat race around you, angry ordinary people in their ordinary cars.
joker9377,
Jan 25, 4:38am
I dont really care if the price of my GT drops to a hundy. It only owes me 20k so what the hell. I still get sweaty palms and goose bumps when I go for a squirt around the place in my ' Overpriced, ill handling, sluggish, unsafe taxis with a V8'. Any of you knockers ever driven one in anger.anyway a classic is only worth what someone is willing to pay on the day you offer it up.
lookoutas,
Jan 25, 5:00am
That's right. Bloody good feeling isn't it!
elect70,
Jan 26, 3:34am
280 Z /fairladywas overweight pig . Best was the early 240 zstill very collectable
rustihammer,
Jan 26, 4:20am
I wouldn't mind having one of those "Overpriced, ill handling, sluggish, unsafe taxis with a V8" sitting in my garage .Nothing better than standing out from all the grey people movers out there.
socram,
Jan 26, 4:25am
Totally agree. 280Z is neither rare nor collectible but 240Z was and is a true classic. (High praise from an Anglophile.)
horsygirl,
Jan 26, 4:37am
I don't need a large bonnet out front to define my manhood.a big bonnet just tells the whole town you really need a penis enlarger .or herbal ignite .or viagra.
wrong2,
Jan 26, 4:45am
the 240z has dangerous aerodynamics which create lift when you start getting really fast
the 260 fixed that & gave a decent upgrade in power
& anyway , earlyZ's are a poor mans 2000GT
bruceej,
Nov 12, 4:45am
horsygirl wrote: I don't need a large bonnet out front to define my manhood.a big bonnet just tells the whole town you really need a penis enlarger .or herbal ignite .or viagra.[/quote I don't know what to do, I don't know who I am anymore. I have the largest [Cadillac Limo] and the smallest [Chevette] production GM cars from 1978, so where does that leave me ! I also have a Model A coupe, Mercedes coupe and 54 Ford V8, ah now I'm just really so confused I've withered.But back to the original thread, I think they will drop eventually as those who are interested in them kick the bucket.You rarely see 1930's / 40's cars out in big numbers like we used to,their kids are the ones driving the 50's / 60's / 70's cars, the older models relegated to the barn.
pollymay,
Nov 12, 5:13am
Holy thread revival batman
neville48,
Nov 12, 8:02pm
well that gives us a contrast situation, what have prices done since january. I can see there are lots and lots of cars coming in from the USA and going on trade me. with the dollar so low in the states its the time to import and theres oodles of them coming in, when americas economy comes right they will be sourcing the cars back out of New Zealand. The prices are sneaking down here in the last 10 months and a lot must be selling on offers, usually being lower or fire sale.or earthquake sale as is happening in Christchurch at the moment. Prices are moving thats a fact.
budgel,
Nov 12, 10:23pm
I think another factor is that prices in general may have been declining for (relatively) short term economic reasons, which may be different from the longer term trend of prices for true classics.
Market analysis is as much an art as it is a science, but fundamentals will always apply. Supply and demand will dictate prices in the end.
kazbanz,
Nov 12, 11:27pm
Bringing in Yank clasic iron is the latest get rich quick scheme. Good exchange rate and cars at silly money here means the guys that got in quick -(basicly already done it) have made the money. Now the market is going to get filled up with fresh imports. That will mean that the bubble is gonna hafta burst eventually when the market is saturated. Frankly its gonna make NO difference to the true collector he's going to keep his car and love it and not care a toss if its worth 100 or 5k
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