Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration.

Old-Nail · Joined: 23 Nov 2007 Posts: 853

http://www.leboncoin.fr/vi/16147810.htm?ca=10_s

Greeney in France · Posted: Sun May 25, 2008 1:00 pm Post subject:

Oh my I wish I had endless pots of money
I think I should sell something so I can keep buying these old ones I think there will come a time when they will fetch excellent money restored
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Old-Nail · Joined: 23 Nov 2007 Posts: 853

It's not so long ago I remember being able to buy 2cv's for pennies over here. I'm talking seven or eight years ago that's all, I've had more than one given to me, others in excellent condition fetched little over £300 with the seller often asking for much less.
As always with these things natural attrition has taken it's toll. Now the price of wrecks in need of total rebuild on Ebay-UK exceeds £800, and that's not for rare ones like the ripple bonnets that's just for 'plane Jane' specials!
It's quite frustrating seeing these things keep turning up so cheaply in France and knowing that but for the channel one could make an excellent profit from them...or in my case want to keep them all! Laughing

Like many folks that have owned and enjoyed 2cv's I have done so mainly because they were so ridiculously cheap to buy and run, it's only after buying one that the true charm of the things bites, and you become hooked They are, as you know produced from the most basic and sparse of materials making them a true 'budget' car, the problem I foresee is that now people are buying them as a 'classic' the prices are rising far beyond what the car should ever justify given its basic nature.
A good rust free example here in the UK now commands £2500-3000, for that money I would rather buy a 1950's saloon made of real metal and leather upholstery. So there we have the source of my exasperation...
2cv's need to be cheap to buy, run, and own, it's their only justification for their existence, when they become expensive I will no longer buy them as the money is better spent elsewhere.

At today's prices I'm afraid the one I have will be the last one I'll ever own Crying or Very sad

Greeney in France · Posted: Sun May 25, 2008 4:05 pm Post subject:

You are on the nail old nail Laughing

Who can figure car prices?

I could get 7000€ for my AK400 all day long when its finished I have even been offered 5k for as it is now Embarassed

which is indeed sad
I have spent the same time and money and done the same job on my sons Renault 4 and it is only worth a 3rd of that

Classic cars have never been about one thing though, yes 2CVs were a peoples cars as was the mini or the beetle and a 100 other vehicles, who knows why they get the classic status where other fall by the wayside, cars are not usually made as a classic, they become one for a number of reasons, some of them obscure.
I owned an Aston DBS for 3years when I could afford to, now they are forever out of my reach (unless the unexpected happens)
Personally for me the motto; "its better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all" applies, what we do to OUR classics in OUR period of ownership is about us and no one else and we will look back fondly at OUR ownership for OUR reasons.
Wink

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Old-Nail · Joined: 23 Nov 2007 Posts: 853

Agreed, I just can't help lamenting the end of an era. Onward and upward as they say, my eyes are open for the next classic opportunity! I'm particularly interested in 1950's vehicles that no-one else finds attractive and therefore will be cheaper than the rest! Laughing

Greeney in France · Posted: Sun May 25, 2008 7:43 pm Post subject:

Also less parts suppliers though bit of a catch 22 really
Practical classics has a nice article on the Ford Popular/Anglia this month
What sort do you like I fancy getting hold of a Traction avant
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Old-Nail · Joined: 23 Nov 2007 Posts: 853

I have read that article on the Anglia/Popular and I do like them, but as I tend to use my cars as daily transport they are a bit too archaic to fit the bill.
The finest classic I ever owned was a 1954 phase II Standard vanguard - it did everything one could ask of a car and did it with consummate ease. The only negative was the fuel consumption at 22-25mpg.
Standards don't really sell well for some strange reason so I think perhaps a nice Super 10 might just do the trick for me, failing that I'm open minded as to what options there may be...such as http://www.leboncoin.fr/vi/15124707.htm?ca=10_s Cool