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Looking for an old fun to drive car :)


Klord

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I learned to drive with my dads old Toyota Corolla KE72. Later my father sold it and moved to a CE108 (Auto gear) which Im sure he is not going to sell any time soon. Now I also own a Civic which is a fun car to drive but badly miss driving a stick shift.  

Thinking of buying a secondary car for leisure which will also help me learn about motor mechanics. What car can you guys suggest will fit my purpose? 

  • Budget is around 4-6 lakhs. 
  • Easy to maintain (but dont mind getting under hood and messing with mechanics) 
  • Fun to drive (specially shifting)

I have NO concern about 

  • Fuel economy
  • Look of the car
  • Aftermarket value 

Thank you. :)

Edited by Klord
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Oh yes !

You have a few possibilities...

If you want RWD..

- Lancer Box 

- L/Tubelight and other funky named previous gen Lancer

- Corolla KE20/30/50

- Sunny B211/B310

The B211, Tube/L light Lancers, the box Lancer and KE70 Corollas are getting somewhat popular for mods...so prices are somewhat high for decent conditioned ones (which are rare) the average ones shold fall within your budget.

If you do not mind FWD

- Corolla/Sprinter E80

- Lancer (the ASP model I believe we call it in SL) and the one before that

= Mazda 323/Familia (although you really ahve to rev these things out of its mind to get it to move)

The only Sunny that would fall within your budget is a B11...that car is as exciting as peeling a frozen cucumber (which is tad better than eating one).

A few other rare ones...

Starlet P60 series 

 

 

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oooh ooh..... this is exciting. Finally a worthy thread!  Me and my dad are old car fans so we've had a couple of oldies with us time to time - currently we have a Datsun B110 and a Toyota Starlet EP71(sold off a beetle some time back) 

If you really want some retro-vintage fun : VW Beetle those things still run, parts are there and mechanics while rare can still be found but it's increasingly difficult to maintain one : my dad had one for a couple of years which he sold off mainly due to our regular mechanic going blind and cos it was a lot of effort maintaining it AND because i fell in love with Datsuns and bought one out of the blue and we did not have space for both. This brings me to another option Datsun B110/210/310 these are rock solid cars with ABSOLUTELY simple motors the ever reliable A12- they are aplenty and parts are there and you can find parts on classic car FB pages. I love the datsun 110 cos it's such an eager little car - like an energetic puppy that wants to play. If you want to see your options I suggest you join the numerous old-car fb groups. If you really want some old school fun then look for a pre 1975 car cos then you won't have to worry about emission tests. While the datsun never gives such headaches my starlet ep71 recently failed the emission tests and that would mean more carb tuning and fiddling around. 

Here are the suggestions from the top of my head and I'll stop here cos I could write about this for ages:

1. Datsun  Sunny 110,210,310  available by the bucket loads 4 .5 lacks will get you a really nice car. 

2. Lancer : Box at the higher end of your budget, the wagons at the lower end (L Light Tube light the list goes on) 

3. Corolla KE series (there is a local community who are over-hyping it a bit but still nice cars) 

 

2 hours ago, AVANTE said:

What about a mk1/mk2 VW Golf? FWD but a funky solid hatch. A bit uncommon but they do exist well within budget. Parts are there but won't be as easy to find as a KE20 or any jap car though.

another good choice - parts are not common but there is an active local community with regular meet ups and drives they help out with sourcing parts etc. The entire group are very helpful and knowledgeable.

If you want newer cars :

for around 6 you can get 1980's Corollas, Nissan Marches , Daihatsu charades, ....man there's so much you just opened a can of worms PM Me. 

 

P.S: with old cars you can improvise time to time when you get bored : this is the old datto with a set of new wheels just wanted to put this here :D ....hey maybe i should write another blog about this.

image.png.042a0720123a8448627f1bdde808f13c.png

Edited by matroska
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1 hour ago, matroska said:

oooh ooh..... this is exciting

....man there's so much you just opened a can of worms PM Me. 

 

P.S: with old cars you can improvise time to time when you get bored :D ....hey maybe i should write another blog about this.

image.png.042a0720123a8448627f1bdde808f13c.png

Look at you! Like a kid in a chocolate factory! For some reason, seeing this much excitement made me happy also lol.

Anyways mat, what do you think of the corona mark 2?

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17 minutes ago, AVANTE said:

Look at you! Like a kid in a chocolate factory! For some reason, seeing this much excitement made me happy also lol.

Anyways mat, what do you think of the corona mark 2?

yes ....it's dead boring here with the car for 2Million threads, car for 3 Million threads, what colour of MG is the best threads this is exciting. Im like this when i talk about old cars and when I visit die-cast car shops. 

Corona Mark 2 's are nice if there's a good specimen most of the stuff i saw were old, beaten and tired. Otherwise they have the good old 70\s look written all over

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2 minutes ago, matroska said:

yes ....it's dead boring here with the car for 2Million threads, car for 3 Million threads, what colour of MG is the best threads this is exciting. Im like this when i talk about old cars and when I visit die-cast car shops. 

Corona Mark 2 's are nice if there's a good specimen most of the stuff i saw were old, beaten and tired. Otherwise they have the good old 70\s look written all over

Sadly the good Mark 2s are running quite high these days....the ones that are within his budget are junkers.

Also, if the OP can stretch the budget a little bit...you can find an average condition A60 series Carina or an AT140 series Corona. Lets not forget these were the last RWD cars of this class

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24 minutes ago, matroska said:

Im like this when i talk about old cars and when I visit die-cast car shops.

Sometimes even I forget what makes me like cars due to the everyday humdrum life..it helps bring out the inner child in us.

1 hour ago, Hyaenidae said:

This looks nice

http://archive.li/boN6l

That's a clean example! Also, look at that group's cover car?

Edited by AVANTE
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Nice, finally we are talking ?

Lancer box, 5FWD, It's a good old lancer in the purest form. Even practical and economical for a 30+ year old car, lots of examples in the market to choose from. Ratnapura is the place to look.

If you'd like some crazy(literally) handling and pure mechanical driving pleasure, get a Volkswagen Beetle. With that rear mounted engine and vague steering, every corner is an adventure. It's practically a poor mans air-cooled Porsche.

 

Edited by alds
typo
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A Mitsubishi Galant (ten light) popped up on classifieds sometimes back for 600k. 1600 with 5FW would pack a punch.

Rathnapura has a good collection of 'box model' Lancers in top shape. Apparently some are still agent maintained and with the first owner! 5FW, red beading, gsr shell is the Holy Grail it seems.

Fiat Uno is also fun to drive. Bare minimalist and seems like brand new spare parts are still coming in.

@matroska I'm salivating over that Datto

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Corona AT150

Lancer L light/ tube  light

Mark I Golf was way advance compared to Jap at same vintage. Sweet memories my 1st was a mark 1 Golf diesel had it for over 10 years, had to let it go as it was taking too much time to keep it on the road and parts were difficult to find. This was pre ebay and online ordering.

 

 

Edited by kush
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4 hours ago, varotone said:

Rathnapura has a good collection of 'box model' Lancers in top shape. Apparently some are still agent maintained and with the first owner! 5FW, red beading, gsr shell is the Holy Grail it seems.

good luck getting one of them, unless it comes with the daughter of the owner

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On 2/15/2020 at 4:05 AM, fiat fan said:

Wbt a Mini? Bit over your budget though. Easily the best fun to drive car by a mile.

A 1959/early 60's mini can be had for 600k (1000cc carb, no AC, no PS, a sunroof if you're lucky. Pure Go kart for the road)

But he has to keep another 100-150k for maintenance.

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4 minutes ago, AVANTE said:

A 1959/early 60's mini can be had for 600k (1000cc carb, no AC, no PS, a sunroof if you're lucky. Pure Go kart for the road)

But he has to keep another 100-150k for maintenance.

All Part of the fun bro. Restore as you go

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Any chance to lockdown a Daihatsu Charade? I haven't seen anyone mentioned about it but they not bad since you are not considering the look. I have done a quick scan and they are well within your price bracket.

I have had a G200 Detomaso back in 2010,  was a mean car and still looking for a decent one ?

If you Luckey you can lock down a G100, have a think about it.

 

good luck!!

JC. 

 

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For 600k, a Datsun 1600 / Nissan Bluebird is techniaclly 'the' best.! But, for that budget it`ll have rust and wont be perfect. 

I am not aware of anything else (potentially available in SL) which is RWD with indipendent rear suspension, for this budget (Peugeot 504 maybe, but that`s in a different class). The Datto has got a big international following compared to similar spec`d Mitsu`s and Toyota`s from the same era! Even if you put some effort later on to restore, this particular model has got the potential to be a well sought after jap classic (already is in most parts of the world). I`d avoid any FWD econobox for 600k, unless your idea of 'driving fun' is just rowing through the gears in a manual transmission car.  

The mini could be a good choice, but there`s so many around with cut-and-bud jobs etc and is getting a bit, ubiquitous... I`d rather find a Morris 1100 or something for some old-school British FWD goodness.  

VW bettle, again, 600k could possibly get you a 1200 or a 1300, extremely underpowered for what they are. Difficult to get those air-cooled units to respond under load, unless they are worked on with better cooling, fuelling, lighter internals, etc...

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On 2/17/2020 at 6:28 AM, john cooper said:

I have had a G200 Detomaso back in 2010,  was a mean car and still looking for a decent one ?

 

 

How many DeTomaso/GTi cars do we have here? Never even seen/heard of any. Do you have a pic of your car?

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Whoa, thank for the valuable suggestions. Kind of overwhelmed at the moment. 

First of all, I am not a mortohead (yet) to realize the difference between RWD & FWD. So I have no issue with that (so far). 

I will list down below all the suggested models with my understanding regarding them. Please provide your inputs wherever its necessary. 

Mistsubishi

  • Lancer tube light - Too old to my liking. 
  • Lancer Box – I know this is a good car. But as many have mentioned, most of the cars are hacked by now and will be difficult to find a good one within my budget.
  • Lancer ASP Model – Why is this car cheap compared to older generation Lancers? I saw a few in online sites with a price tag around 5-6 lakhs (more or less same as lancer box)

From this 3, I personally like the ASP model as its newer & so I believe would give me a better driving pleasure (specially shifting). Please correct me if I am wrong. 
 

Toyota

  • Corolla KE20/30/50 – Whats the difference between each version? Engine capacity?
  • Corolla E80 – My uncle had this car. Have never driven this, but looks like it packs a punch. Is this the Toyota counterpart car to Nissan trad (or is it tread) sunny? I have heard lots of good stuff about FB12. But it clearly is out of my budget. But if this is made to rival FB12, this should be a good car.
  • Corona AT150 - Looks like a good car. What is the better car in terms of ride quality, E80 or the Corona? 
  • Starlet P60/ 70 – I find it too small. Im 6’ 2” so would appreciate a bit of space.

From the lot, I like both Corona and E80 Corolla. 

 

Datsun/ Sunny

  • Sunny 110/210,310 – Same as Corolla, Whats the difference?
  • March - Dont think there will be good specimens for my budget. 

Datsun series looks good. And thats a sweet little car @matroska :wub:

 

Other

  • Mazda 323 – Is it that bad at acceleration as @iRage mentioned? It looks good on paper.
  • Mini/ Charade– Same as P60, too small for my liking. 
  • VW Beetle – I personally don’t like beetles. Too old to my taste and dislike the round shape. (Please dont be mad at me)
  • VW Golf Mk1/Mk2 – Most of the Golf are selling above my budget range. Don’t think I will be able to find a decent one for my budget.  

Thanks again for all the suggestions. Will have to narrow down the focus before going to the hunting phase. :bud:

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On 2/17/2020 at 1:58 AM, john cooper said:

G200 Detomaso back in 2010

wow the detomaso is kind of rare @AVANTE there was one for sale in SL a  couple months back...so there's at least one

 

1 hour ago, wolseley said:

I would suggest nippy EP70 for you

yeah some of them are abused -and many are overpriced  Kuliyapitiya is where you need to go @Klord for EP7X's I searched for a decent specimen for months and finally landed one it's now undergoing a transplant 

Edited by matroska
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