Internet perusals of collectible cars can be painful – reach a certain age and you will undoubtedly have owned something decades ago that’s now highly desirable. Like me, you would probably be kicking yourself, pointlessly, for not having predicted what they’d be worth 30 years later.
My list of with-hindsight-I-wish-I’d-kept?
In order of ownership between 1978 and 1985: two £50 early-1960s Mini 850s, a 1968 Vauxhall Viva, a 1970 Hillman Avenger, a 1976 Mitsubishi Colt, then several Fords (all 1974: a Cortina 2000 GT, 2000 E and Capri Mk2 2.0 Ghia), followed by a 1976 Alfasud 1.2 Ti, a 1977 Polski Fiat 125P and a 1979 Ford Cortina Mk5 2.0 GL.
Then it was company or pool cars for many years, before buying and running cars for nostalgia or fun commenced in 1995: a 1947 Morris 8, then a 1964 Jaguar S-Type, a 1998 Lotus Elise S1, a 2005 Mini Cooper S, a 1988 Peugeot 205 GTi, a 1990 BMW 325i Sport, a 1987 Mercedes-Benz 300SE, a 2000 Porsche Boxster S, a 2002 BMW 328Ci and a 2004 Renault Clio RS182.
Here are my highlights and regrets – each for very different reasons.
1976 Mitsubishi Colt Lancer 1.4
After back-to-back unreliable wrecks, my dad, fed up with rescuing me from breakdowns, bought me a 1976 Mitsubishi Colt Lancer 1.4 in 1981. It was slow, but Wolfrace wheels – the must-have accessory at the time – transformed its looks. I should have kept the Colt as it was cheap to run and utterly reliable, but my mates were buying fast Fords. I sold it too cheaply in my rush to join the Ford brigade.
Fast (falling apart) Fords
In 1982 I bought a 1974 Mk3 Cortina 2000 GT for £800, but swapped it for a same-year 2000 E when the GT’s heater failed – a £2 fix, the next owner told me.
The 2000 E was shot, so I sold it for £200, borrowed £800 and bought a Capri Mk2 2000 Ghia, with just about everything failing within three months. Not one of those Fords would be worth less than £8,000 today.
1976 Alfa Romeo Alfasud 1.2 Ti
Purchased in 1983 with 34,000 miles. Everyone who has owned one remembers the Sud fondly; it looked fantastic and the flat-four engine was amazing, making it a brilliant driver’s car. But I should have realised it looked too good; fresh paint hid pounds of filler, and its first winter sparked instant, extensive rust bubbles from which it never recovered.
Polski Fiat 125P
A what? In 1984, in a fit of style implosion, I bought an orange, 30,000-mile 1977 Polski Fiat 125P. It felt new. It was a Polish-built version of Fiat’s upper-range 125. It ran faultlessly for a year, then developed a carburettor problem. Instead of employing what I later discovered was a £20 fix, I sold it for £250 to a gleeful buyer. They are extremely rare today, usually snapped up by enthusiasts of Eastern Bloc cars.
1978 Ford Cortina Mk5 2000 GL
In 1985, after changing jobs, I needed something dull and reliable. A beige 1978 Mk5 Ford Cortina 2.0 GL auto was perfect, although it made for a truly beige ownership experience. I kept it for two years; for the next 18, I drove company cars.
1947 Morris 8
My first classic “fun” car. Advertised as comprehensively restored, I went to give it the once-over. The advert was correct. Back in 1995 there was strong interest in cars featured on hit period TV shows such as Heartbeat. I asked the dealer why it had been on his books for so long. He said he didn’t know. But 30 years later, while researching some of my old cars, I learned that my cute little Morris had been owned by a convicted murderer in the 1980s…
1964 Jaguar S-Type 3.8
It was 1995. It looked the business: white paintwork, red leather interior, chrome wire wheels. Unfortunately, the test drive didn’t reveal quite how soggy and loose it was. I really wanted to love this car, but couldn’t.
1998 Lotus Elise Series 1
Utterly impractical yet totally addictive, the lithe Lotus vacuumed up money, thanks to must-have performance modifications for bank account-destroying trackday events. Bought in 2001, it was sold four years later.
1990 BMW 325i Sport
I had wanted one of these since the day my boss bought one in the late 1980s. In 2005 I found a 1990 example in white with loads of history. The seller had the best-equipped garage I’d ever seen; he said it had been his hobby car. A few miles into the drive home, I knew this car was special. I eventually discovered why it was so good: the seller was an F1 powertrain technician.
2004 Renault Clio RS182
In 2015, a collector friend predicted these would be the next modern classic. I found this one at a small independent garage near Bolton, with rusty brake discs, a flat battery and a hadn’t-been-used-for-ages patina.
It had loads of history, and the spec sheet listed Renaultsport “Cup Packs”, indicating desirable suspension modifications – gold dust.
The super-rare, lightweight Cup model might be more sought-after, but this 182 still had its lowered suspension and larger spoilers while retaining comforts such as air conditioning. The garage fitted a new battery and discs, and it sailed through its MOT test. When I collected it, both the garage and I realised I’d lucked into a cracker.
I used it on trackdays, and the little Renault is the most fun I’ve had driving a car. I was only persuaded to sell when values rose crazily during the Covid pandemic.
The rest?
My Elise gave way to a new 2005 Mini Cooper S (bought for £20,000, part-exchange value £8,000 in 2011), while, between the cars detailed above, I dabbled with a beyond-rescue 1988 Peugeot 205 GTi (returned to the bad-faith seller), a 1987 Mercedes-Benz 300SE with a fake air-con button (bought for £1,100, sold for £700, the original seller having disappeared) and a 2000 Porsche Boxster S (bought for £10,000, sold for £8,000), which turned out to consume too much fuel, tyres and brake components during trackdays.
A part-exchanged 2002 BMW 3-Series E46 328 Ci, which I bought just as that model’s values started to rise, developed an oil leak, then a clutch failure that would have cost more than the value of the car to fix (bought for £1,100, sold for £600).
Enthusiasts will always advise buying a classic car – of whatever age – that you intend to use and enjoy. And you know what? The only regret I have is that I didn’t rent storage space to keep every last one of them.