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Hi guys. Ive got a '72 1800 saloon on a k plate. Its a little rough around the edges but drives well. Ive swapped to disc brakes and alternator and replaced the usual hub bearings and prop centre bearing so mechanically its pretty good.
However my dilemma is do i spend time and money on getting the body sorted or is it time to move it on. I believe its known through the club via its reg LYB ***K as the 13th eldest but im busy with other projects etc.
Any thoughts, cheeky offers haha, etc about what to do. Thanks for your opinions interest etc.

Ah so you own LYB! It's a strange car, built just after launch in April/May 71 but not registered until over a year later! Last pics I saw of it, it still had the very early rear axle and a few other bits. As it's an early car it's well worth (in my opinion) spending the cash on it, plus values are only going up as well so whilst it would cost money in the short term, you're unlikely to lose out plus you get to enjoy the car too. I wouldn't go so far as to say you'd actually ever make a profit on it though!

I'd love to own it myself but all my money is going on the earliest survivor at the moment...!

Values vary considerably, I sold a scruffy but solid and MOT'd early MK1 saloon for about £1300 earlier in the year.

What was different about the very early rear axle?

Three prongs on the hub

I was told it was a very early car. It doesnt have the flanges on the inner wing boxes to the wings,holes under the brake master and screenwash bottle and odd looking vents on the dash top.
Didnt realise it was that early tho, blimey. Thanks for the info. Like most of you guys its about finding the time and resources i guess.

Or at least holding on to it until I have the spare cash haha! Would love to find out why it was registered so late, do you know any of it's history?

Definitely worth putting some time and money into it. You should see what me and a couple of others on here are working with! They're great cars and values are indeed going up. They usually grab the most attention at vintage car shows too because people suddenly remember them after not seeing one anywhere for years.

The only history i have on it is from 7 or 8 years ago. I used to work in a local classic car garage. The one that the red convertible was bought from recently.
A chap ran it out of tax and test and my boss bought it just because it was still a solid car. A mate in the club from Exeter bought it cos i had too many cars at the time with the intention of stripping it for parts, but when he realised the age of it he parked in his storage unit until he decided what to do with it.
It stayed there for a few years until we started chatting and he mentioned the car. Since then ive been slowly sorting out bits and pieces when time and money allows.
Previous to this i have no idea.

Is it blue?


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My Opinion on general classic car prices of late, especially on ebay. Are over optimistic to say the least, almost every rusty heap dragged out of the hedge is Very Rare!!! no reserve!! with a stupid starting price. Even at the other end of the scale nice cars are listed, as prices rising rapidly grab a bargain its a good investment. That's without the Ford Tax, that seems to be fuelling this very optimistic pricing structure. Whist I appreciate it always going to cost more to restore a car than buy one done, with the exception of some exotic stuff. On the every day market a lot of the grab a bargain adverts are listed several times without finding a home. It would be interesting if ebay actually published sales rate figures like traditional classic car auction house's. I think the percentage figure would be quite low.
Dave

Balmy ; yep teal blue. Its had some paintwork done in the past but its all pretty tired now.

Yeah I looked at that car a few years ago when it was in the barn with others. Know who you bought it off.

Thought you might. Ive known him and his brother for many years, very talented people.

mr morris wrote:Thought you might. Ive known him and his brother for many years, very talented people.

Indeed they are. Really decent blokes.

Top blokes my Mk2 Special came from them :-)




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