First Published on Monday, 14 March 2011
Today I went to visit my parent’s neighbour -Don. Don is a car nut with years of experience in racing and fixing old and classic cars. He seemed to be the best possible place to start with a very big question-
Should I buy a car in good condition or should I get one in bad nick and renovate it?
The question hinges on my lack of mechanical knowledge.
A good car is more likely to get me to Turkey, but if it breaks down I won’t be able to do much being so bloody useless with cars. However if I get a tired old banger and fix it up I will be forced to learn where everything goes and why.
Looking through some Classic Car magazines the price of an Austin Cambridge A60 seemed to hover about the £3000 mark, so before I struggled to scratch up that much I thought I’d have a word with Don.
Having just got back from a quick round of golf in the Cornish sunshine he invited me in and we had a chat. Having gone over the premises of the trip Don was very clear- the only answer was to buy a good working Austin. The price of restoration, especially to a mechanics virgin like myself, would be out of the question. A lot of the parts would need to be handmade and without a workshop I was going to have to get someone else to do the job. That could add £5000 on top of the initial price of purchase.
So I think we can safely say that the way to go is to buy a car in good condition, but not immaculate because I would spend the entire time worrying about the paint job.
Don thought we should be able to get a car for well under £3000 and that he would keep an eye out for one that was within a sensible local distance. He also thought, much to my relief, that the car shouldn’t have any major problems getting all the way to Bursa in Turkey. Lets hope he’s right.
Conclusions: Finding a car is going to be half the mission.
Next steps
Keep searching Classic Car Magazine for cars
Contact Austin owners clubs to see what advice they can give.
