240 General: New (to me) 1980 Volvo 244

[john.wigley]

Originally Posted by Othen

I'm not sure one will be able to make much money out of cars Dave, they deteriorate quickly and take up a lot of space. If there was something you particularly hankered after (Lexus perhaps) then later this year when someone is selling one in a fire sale would be a good time to buy.

Other up-market goods (I'm thinking watches, Dan and I both like nice watches) may be a better bet. Dan's 16th birthday is coming up, I might see if I can find him a nice Omega Seamaster.

:-)

You are right, Alan. Do you read Classic Car Weekly? It is clear from the advertisements that many dealers agree with you. A lot of them are now also offering watches for the reasons that you say. I think that you may very well find what you are looking for within their classifieds

Regards,. John

[Othen]

Originally Posted by john.wigley

You are right, Alan. Do you read Classic Car Weekly? It is clear from the advertisements that many dealers agree with you. A lot of them are now also offering watches for the reasons that you say. I think that you may very well find what you are looking for within their classifieds

Regards,. John

Hi John,

Very sadly, you and I are both right about this one. If someone's business is struggling because he can't sell cars, then rather than risk his house the £4,000 Omega on his wrist will go for £2,000 first.

I don't read Classic Car Weekly, but I wonder whether it is available online (I'll have a look now).

Stay safe,

Alan

PS. I've just had a look on eBay, and you are dead right. Watches that would have been over £3,000 a few months ago (1-2 year old Seamaster 300) are now going for around £2,400. There is no rush though, they will get quite a bit cheaper yet.

[john.wigley]

Originally Posted by Othen

Hi John,

Very sadly, you and I are both right about this one. If someone's business is struggling because he can't sell cars, then rather than risk his house the £4,000 Omega on his wrist will go for £2,000 first.

I don't read Classic Car Weekly, but I wonder whether it is available online (I'll have a look now).

Stay safe,

Alan

I get my copy on subscription, Alan, have done for years now. I initially did so for the discount, but it also makes a lot of sense in the lockdown. J.

[Othen]

Originally Posted by john.wigley

I get my copy on subscription, Alan, have done for years now. I initially did so for the discount, but it also makes a lot of sense in the lockdown. J.

I buy a paper copy when I'm next in the store John, see if it suits me and if it does maybe get an online subscription.

Stay safe,

Alan

[Laird Scooby]

I get Practical Classics on subscription, drops through the letter box once every 4 weeks. I've tried CCW a few times on a free trial basis (both published by Bauer Media) but i find there are too many adverts and too many repeats/rehashes of articles originally in PC in CCW so don't see paying for the same thing twice.

Both publications can be had as online subscriptions so would be viewed digitally on your choice of phone, tablet, laptop, desktop etc - saves a lot on storage space! I've kept a lot of the older issues of PC on the premise i may want to refer to them at some point. I haven't though so i might start evicting the older issues.

[Othen]

Originally Posted by Laird Scooby

I met him about 5-6 years ago when i went to collect a couple of spares he had for sale. Had spoken with him on the forum many times and had many technical "discussions" with him. He showed my that green Vitesse, lurking in one of his garages.

The Jag XJ6 is not really a good comparison to the 827 for the purposes of why i implied the manual gearbox is redundant on the 827 as my reasoning is actually on a technical point, rather than subjective.
The auto box in the XJ6 isn't dissimilar to the one in your car in that it relies on an epicyclic gear train with brake bands to change the ratios and the lock-up on the torque converter only operates at a certain speed and is either on or off.

The auto box on the 827 is totally different. It's essentially a manual box with hydraulically operated clutch packs in place of the synchro rings and the two-stage torque converter lock-up operates at much lower speeds, switching between zero, half and full lock intelligently to give maximum efficiency. On the over-run, this gives improved engine braking the same as a manual.
In normal driving, it accelerates and changes gear faster than the manual counterpart while still always maintaining the correct gear for the engine and having the two-stage lock-up allows what is effectively an intermediate ratio - sometimes it feels like a 6-speed box although it only has 4 forward ratios.
As for economy, better than the manual (despite the "official" figures), ditto on the performance.

It has all the points people would by a manual for and shifts faster than any human can shift a manual and needs no clutch control. Win-win in my book!

I wondered why he said he'd been offered £5k for that Vitesse as well, it does make a mockery of his starting price although he's open to offers. it seems. Could be he's trying the "Dutch Auction" scenario to see if he can get the best price possible without disclosing the final sale price to ebay. Also he says he hasn't even started recommissioning it yet.

As for that girlfriend, i've got a few i don't remember but many i've chosen to forget - thankfully no arome based menmonics to remind me of those!

... the eBay auction ended with no bids on that Rover 827 Dave - not surprising really.

I noticed the chap is also selling another 827:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MK2-ROVER...8AAOSw5gVembhR

Am I missing something here: why would a 27 year old, fairly rough car with no MoT be worth more than £3000? In my book that would be an £800 car - but perhaps there is something special about it I have not noticed?

Stay safe,

Alan

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by Othen

... the eBay auction ended with no bids on that Rover 827 Dave - not surprising really.

I noticed the chap is also selling another 827:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MK2-ROVER...8AAOSw5gVembhR

Am I missing something here: why would a 27 year old, fairly rough car with no MoT be worth more than £3000? In my book that would be an £800 car - but perhaps there is something special about it I have not noticed?

Stay safe,

Alan

If that is worth £3k, mine's worth £9k!

I see he's rendered the engine scrap in that one as well (coolant) and there are several poorly executed "upgrades" that detract from the upgrades that have been made.

The other worrying bit is that he doesn't mention the timing belt, if it's not been done, it needs doing and that means the timing belt, tensioner kit (including a spring that weakens with age) and water pump.

A minor point is that it has 16" wheels on, should be 15" at that age but highly probable a previous owner changed them and they're not nice wheels anyway.


Purely out of curiosity, i checked his other listings. This is incorrect :

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ROVER-STE...U/153900736135

It is only suitable for base models with front electric windows only. As the Sterling has 4 electric windows, it's obviously not suitable, the Coupe uses a totally different (and very strange) window regulator assembly with tacho-generators built into the window motors to give feedback on the window position. This ECU doesn't have the facility to read those and if memory serves, can't even be plugged in to a Coupe.

I think he's really let himself down on that one!

[Othen]

Originally Posted by Laird Scooby

If that is worth £3k, mine's worth £9k!

I see he's rendered the engine scrap in that one as well (coolant) and there are several poorly executed "upgrades" that detract from the upgrades that have been made.

The other worrying bit is that he doesn't mention the timing belt, if it's not been done, it needs doing and that means the timing belt, tensioner kit (including a spring that weakens with age) and water pump.

A minor point is that it has 16" wheels on, should be 15" at that age but highly probable a previous owner changed them and they're not nice wheels anyway.


Purely out of curiosity, i checked his other listings. This is incorrect :

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ROVER-STE...U/153900736135

It is only suitable for base models with front electric windows only. As the Sterling has 4 electric windows, it's obviously not suitable, the Coupe uses a totally different (and very strange) window regulator assembly with tacho-generators built into the window motors to give feedback on the window position. This ECU doesn't have the facility to read those and if memory serves, can't even be plugged in to a Coupe.

I think he's really let himself down on that one!

I thought this chap was something of a Rover guru?

Stay safe.

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by Othen

I thought this chap was something of a Rover guru?

Stay safe.

No comment!

Certain things he's very good on and could almost be regarded as a specialist on those fields. However the more general stuff that applies to a lot more models, he seems to fall short, witness the "Coupe" window ECU!

[Othen]

Originally Posted by Laird Scooby

No comment!

Certain things he's very good on and could almost be regarded as a specialist on those fields. However the more general stuff that applies to a lot more models, he seems to fall short, witness the "Coupe" window ECU!

Understood.

Sadly it looks (to me) like he has run out of money - trying to sell a car without a MoT during a national lock-down is an action of a desperate man.

I still think it is an £800 car.

Stay safe.