Best vintage car from 62 to 78

'65 to '67 Jaguar E-Type.

You can get one of these 4.2 series I cars within your price range. Not at auction where silly prices abound and it will not be a 100pt showcar, but you can buy a VERY nice driver condition roadster in your range.

They are fantastic cars. If Jag had only built 50 of them, they would be million dollar cars.

Terry

 

May be a matter of your personal preference, but I'm looking for a 1960-65 Porsche 356 cabrio to replace my 911. $60K won't get you into a showcar, but for the price of a 512BB major you could rebuild everything on the entire car.

The 1962-65 cars are probably the best of the lot, because of mechanical upgrades (esp. gearbox).

The E-Type and Ghibli are sexier shapes, but the 356 has enough Speedster in it to be excessively cool.

 

I like the XKE, I don't think you could go wrong with a decent car. A friend collects 356 cars. They are fun and easy to work on, and get nice attention. But, if you want the monster, then it is probably going to be the Pantera. I have 71 Pushbutton, it came over on the first shipment. I love the thing, it is easy to work on, & parts won't kill you. as far as the drop floor, I am 6 and don't have any problems. I read so much about the Panteras, and how tight the driving position is. The people who wrote that never got to sit in a Countach. I added a Nardi 60 (250 GTO) Anni steering wheel. Another cool car which I have is a 1960 TR3 Triumph. I was looking for an XKE when I found this. Its a lot cheaper than your budget, and a great car to get your feet wet with, and restored prices are high.

 

How much is a Gordon Keeble GT in the US?

 

'63 stingray the one car I can remeber may eye pop out at first seening

 

You can get 2 E-Types for $60k... both that have been mostly restored and might also include minor carb/head/cooling upgrades in addition to the restoration.

The Series 1 roadsters command the most money. But you can find the right car (Series 1 coupe, Series 2 roadster) for half that amount thats close to show quality and be able to drive it.

I cringe everytime I hear or see "XKE."

Sunny

 

DING DING DING!
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Where do you find a quality DB6 for 60k???

--Dan

 

I'd go with a Jaguar E-type.

 

78 here. Not thrilled, was a garage queen.

For a mid-60's under 20k fun car, my p1800 with a supercharger kit is hard to beat Throw on sway bars, and a k-jet system, and prepare to have fun on the track! Fun!!!!!!! car, not really an investment though.

Panteras, "disco Countach" well, I *might consider* another 71 or any pre=l for that matter with a trip to Wilkinson's garage, but unless you have had one before, they are not much fun and a bit quirky.

I'd say a Maser Ghibli bro. will be fun, unique, and chances are you are not going to push it too hard.

edit: Jags are really common. I dumped my XK120 before finishing the resto.

 

E-type, 67 or 68 Vette, Daytona, Miura

 

73 Porsche Carrera RS

 

Ghibli is a lot of work but they are fun. Not a very solid car, but still TONS of fun.

As for the p1800, I have a 400hp+ turbo'd 1984 2.6l motor (stroked) in one. It weighs about 2100lbs with me in it, so that s.o.b. is very fast. The bolt on supercharger from http://www.v-performance.com/ is really reliable, bolts on in a few hours, and will put a major smile on your face if you can't find a stock p1800 GT. The 1800list on yahoogroups as well as turbobricks.com have a few folks that have done this conversion as aftermarket. Hey, for 20k, you can kick butt in twisties. http://www.v-performance.com/pr_vintage.html those crazy swedes build stuff that makes those japanese tuners look pretty lame.

I am partial to my p1800, more fun to drive than the 550 ever was, but never turned heads.

 

What's this thing 'traction' you speak of? I ran a 3.37 gear in the rear. Right now it has the stock 4.10 in there. As for suspension, I have bilsteins. I am thinking pss9's shortly (double the value of the car lol). I REALLY need to upgrade the braking first though. It was stolen a few years ago and has sat at my body shop for the last two and a half. Here is an OLD pic from about 2000 pre-restoration. Right now it has a fine matte silver paint scheme on it. it is also right hand drive for that unique appeal. The other head on shot is sort of how it looks now, but it is someone else's car. I had to put in a 'hump' because I mounted my motor straight up to make clearance for the turbo plumbing.

My opinion, get the Maser, much more rare. They made I think under 40k p1800s from 62-73 (they make that many Mustangs in a month), god knows how many are still around, and getting parts is REALLY easy for the stock p1800s. If you got a p1800, I'd probably show up at your house with my tools and make that little bugger fly.
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4.2L E-type gets my vote. Probably the nicest engine I've ever felt/seen/etc. I like inline 6s a lot though. Tachs up quick, smooth, makes the right noises. Simple electrical system, and not so bad to work on.

Yesterday my buddy and I just started restoring/modding a 67 Camaro he picked up a few months ago. Needs some love. He's gonna swap the 350 (had a 327 orig, but long gone) for a 427 and drop the slushbox for a 4 spd. Cool era for cars.

 

I second that motion: VOLVO 1800 are gorgeous!

 

Alright I love Volvos, and the P1800 especially...

But the best vintage car in that time period for under 60k is a 1978 Porsche Carrera Turbo (930). Though I never really considered a 930 'vintage', 1978 just seems to recent to be 'vintage'

 

Not sure what you mean by the disco comment, but I completely disagree about Panteras not being much fun. I've had mine going on 5 years now, and it's still a blast. Handles great, and plenty fast. Quirky? Well, it is an exotic, so those typcally have their quirks here and there, but it sure is easy to work on, and parts are easily had a reasonable price.

 

351 cleveland is really easy for parts yes, and the balance is 'quirky' i wrapped mine around a tree on montauk highway from southampton to the point because it pushed wildly through a turn. this was my first sports car, we actually had this topic of panteras a year and a half ago...

 

It's not just the engine that is easy for parts, just about every single thing can be had from several vendors. And sorry to hear of your bad luck, and glad you walked away from your accident, but that is not a common thing for Panteras. Mid-engine cars take a little getting used to, but the balance is great.