[happybuddha]

Hello people,

We dont have a forum named 'why car ?', lol, so I take liberty of posting here.
I am in a dilemma and need some advice.

I have grown up playing hide and seek in the 'dikki' of beetle (bug) which used to lie in our compound (and no one could find me, cos kids didnt know the 'dikki' is in the front.. lol), my favorite seat on our Austin of England A40 used to be on top of the front left tyre.

So, I was looking around the vintage cars and was wondering if someone would please be able to tell me where could I find affordable vintage cars in Hyderabad ? I don't know yet, if such a car is what I want to buy with the limited finances I have which end up every month walking the tight rope deciding on saving up for a house or a car.

My initial plan was for a Tata safari, but the cost of it and the rising inflation eating into my saving capabilities, is pushing her further away. So, I think what I really want to ask is : Are there still affordable (for around 2 lakhs ... yea the family did not purchase lands and the son they have is financially a useless fella !!) vintages (including morris) that can be bought in/around Hyderabad ?
Once when I was in Pune and spoke to a person who quoted 30 hundred grand for a Beetle, said, we source these cars from old provinces of the Nizams and forgotten villages. No one knows their value in such places. So, is there any place around Hyderabad that someone could suggest ?

cheers,
HB

[GTO]

Originally Posted by happybuddha

So, I was looking around the vintage cars and was wondering if someone would please be able to tell me where could I find affordable vintage cars in Hyderabad ? I don't know yet, if such a car is what I want to buy with the limited finances I have which end up every month walking the tight rope deciding on saving up for a house or a car.

With my limited knowledge of Vintage cars, I can tell you some of them are very affordable; the Beetles, ol' Jeeps, Fiats, Morris and so on. I would suggest you spend some time reading through our Vintage car forum; you'll have your finger on the pulse of the market in no time.

Note however that owning a vintage car isn't for those on a tight budget. You'll have to frequently spend $$$ & time searching for parts, repairing and so on.

Good luck hunting! Hope you find yourself the car of your dreams.

[Cyrus43]

From what I can make out from your small paragraph, you have a bit of a soft spot for Austins. Although you can get a decent post war austin well within your budget, maintaing somehting like it would be quite the task. Do you like Fiats?? Those are the most versatile classics as you can use them on a daily basis, and at the same time, they will still look brilliant at your Vintage car rally. And, there is a Hyd Fiat club as well.

[SuperSelect]

Hey, how 'bout a Morris Minor ? I'm sure you'll get one in decent nick, in your budget - and they're still relatively easy to run / maintain..

If Austins are the love of your life, get yourself an Austin Eight - neat, nippy, and has the classic looks !

Otherwise, I second what Cyrus says - get yourself a nice little Fiat 1100 - still available in its many Avatars, easy to restore and run (as of now !!), and one of the nicest cars around to drive !

[IndrojitSircar]

Originally Posted by GTO

With my limited knowledge of Vintage cars, I can tell you some of them are very affordable; the Beetles, ol' Jeeps, Fiats, Morris and so on. I would suggest you spend some time reading through our Vintage car forum; you'll have your finger on the pulse of the market in no time.

Beetles and Old jeeps are no longer that affordable. You should see the ad's placed for cars in the classified sections of our forum itself to see how the prices are for example.

[happybuddha]

Oh the Austins.. how I used to get into it and stick my nose in its seat covers and smell it away. The smith odo was not a strange thing for the little eyes. The bullet (RE) and the car had similar ODO meters, where 0 began at the top right !! The light from the dash board reflecting on its windshield ... trying to find the oil pump around the engine and pumping it before we could power her on... wow. Damn we had to sell her away.
Ok, so the fiat 1100 is the same of what we had as Fiat padmini, isnt it. Just from what I remember of the talks I used to hear, it had some problems with the distributor under the chasis collecting water when driven on water logged roads... and the creative solution was to wrap around a plastic cover. lol..
The fiats seem to be pretty cheap .. I will figure em out and post back.
The Fiat(1100) is expensive to maintain ? Can I opt for the gas converted ones? .. and the real world mileage that it may give ?
Anything that I should be looking out for ? Any gotchas to be careful for ?

Appreciate your responses.

cheers,
HB

[Cyrus43]

EEEEEEh!! No gas conversions here my friend. That is sacrilegious. And no, Fiat 1100s are not expensive or difficult to maintain if you do them right when you restore them.

[manishalive]

If you love your car do not go for Gas Conversion and if you love enviornment then go for it.

A gas conversion on your daily drive will be a better option. Please keep your Collectibles stock.

[SILVERWOOD]

The term 'AFFORDABLE' is very important here.

You need to afford a bit of money and devote lot of time to the car to keep it in a good condition.

[asdfvinay]

Hi Happybudha,
If you are looking at the car as a daily drive, then I think Premier Padmini is the best. I do not think it will fall under the classic tag, but its a great car. Easy to drive though it does not have power steering or power brakes. The braking is good for speeds upto 70kmph. I'm from Hyderabad, you can find well kept fiats in Hyderabad.

I had bought a fiat in 2003. It was a 1991 model and had done 60k. I bought it for Rs.22.5k(with around Rs.1000/- worth of petrol in the tank) and sold in 2004 by which time it had done 69k. After buying I had changed two tyres(two were already new), cross member(a body part) and misc stuff. Total cost for me was 29k and I sold it for 22k after an year. Never had a problem with it.

If you are thinking about converting it to gas, go for a car manufactured after April 1991, vehicles before this are not allowed legally.

[john a milne]

For anyone who wants to either just look at or to use as a Daily Driver, the late model Fiats, particularly the models with the "suicide" front doors or the Padminis are the best Dollar Value around.

While not considered a Classic at the moment, they will certainly be considered such in the next few years, plus they are so reasonably priced and for the moment very inexpensive to repair and maintain.

For me, The Fiats and Padmini's RULE!

[Arkin evoisrevo]

+ 1 to all the fellow Fiat fans here. The Fiat 1100 is the most easy - to source, cheap to buy, easy to run & maintain, "vintage"/ classic in India. There are many examples in great shape just waiting to be picked up. Jeeps are another option, but can cost more. And Beetles can require major work. (Refer to PAVAN KADAM 's thread).
All the best in your ventures.

[harit]

Originally Posted by Arkin evoisrevo

+ 1 to all the fellow Fiat fans here. The Fiat 1100 is the most easy - to source, cheap to buy, easy to run & maintain, "vintage"/ classic in India. Jeeps are another option,.... And Beetles ..........

What about post war Morris Minors, Austins, and other models of Morris, Hindustan, even if you are lucky Chrysler/PAL products. You have not specified which Jeep, WW II Jeeps are no longer cheap. And Beetles also not.

Cheers harit

[Stanher]

Originally Posted by harit

What about post war [b]Morris Minors, Austins, and other models of Morris, Hindustan, even if you are lucky Chrysler/PAL products.

All of these unfortunately no longer fall in the 'affordable' category. They used to until a decade ago. Same is the case even with Heralds/Standards!

[harit]

Originally Posted by Stanher

All of these unfortunately no longer fall in the 'affordable' category. They used to until a decade ago. Same is the case even with Heralds/Standards!

Noted your post. BTW, what is affordable? When I started, an MG TC was Rs 10K. And that was expensive, creativity was required to raise that amount at that time. Any collector wanting to start anything must have minimum at least 100 times of that. If the car is cheaper, then he has to spend good money to restore. And please do rule out exceptions, they do exist!

Cheers harit