My Panda is coming up to the 3 year mark, and the loan finishing thankfully. I am going to keep her on, as i want to enjoy no loan, and the Mazda will need replacement next. Anyway my point...

As the 100 seems to be a rare sight on the roads, and production seems to be nearing the end, does anyone think that the 100 will be a classic? Obviously not for a while, but i noticed prices are still fairly strong for used examples. So I wonder weather I should ever sell, as we are original owners, and keep her for years to come (I am very proud of her condition). Certainly trading her in in the future will be difficult as we do love the car (Bar the pants ride!).

One of my customers has a nova gte, original owner and cant believe what these are starting to fetch!!

I don't think it'll ever become a true classic but I think good examples will definitely fetch a premium in future as they are an enthuiasts car - unfortunately apart from Evo magazine readers from 2006/07 and owners, no-one else remotely understands the point of the car.

While it's fun to drive, it certainly won't leave it's mark in motoring history like the Pug 205 gtis did IMHO.

I agree, the 100hp will be an interesting variant but unlikely to be regarded widely as a future classic. As you say, it is barely recognised at the moment let alone in 15yrs time. It's not really iconic enough I'm afraid.

I think a classic has to have something special about it, to be highly regarded and sought after in 20 years time.

Whilst no doubt a few may appear at the odd show, I'm not convinced it's special enough.

I think if you look at something like a DC2 (already sought after) that's the kind of car that will achieve iconic status amongst enthusiasts.

For those built in larger volumes I think the hot Clios (particularly Trophy/Cup models), Mini Cooper S's of either New Mini generation, Smart Roadsters/Coupes (going back a couple of years), Peugeot Rallye models (going back into the mid-late 90's, along with their GTi counterparts). Civic Type R's will probably the 205Gti of the 2000's though.

Agree regarding DC2's but they were pretty iconic from new.

I agree it may not be a future classic, but the 500's may well.. and what with them being physically similar i think they will have a following just like any other car. There are people on here and elsewhere that will probably want another in a couple of decades

It's like Fiat 126's.. not a 500, physically similar and are now going up in value and are more sort-after nowadays.

The topic of wether or not a car will achieve classic status is always an interesting one. I agree with the others in that although the 100HP is a good car its not iconic or interesting enough to ever be a classic. It doesnt have the power and presence of something like the Focus RS. The 100HP will never be a poster on a teenage boys bedroom wall. I also agree that well looked after 100HP's will hold their value well. The cars are rare and it had a fairly short production run so theres not many about. I hope this will stop it from becoming a cheap chav chariot like what happened to the Cinq and Sei. No offence to owners of those cars and I am sure they are plenty of nice examples about. In my area though young chavs race about in badly modified Cinq sportings because they are just so cheap to buy and insure. If you are happy with your 100HP keep it as long as you like. However I wouldnt keep it with the intention of making money out of it in the future. I dont think they will ever be sought after that much to make a profit.

Nathan126 said:

It's like Fiat 126's.. not a 500, physically similar and are now going up in value and are more sort-after nowadays.

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Really? Hard to believe isn't it?

every thing becomes a classic one day, you just have to keep it long enough

dave said:

every thing becomes a classic one day, you just have to keep it long enough

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Well yes, but there are some old cars, that no matter how old they are, are still of very limited interest. It tends to be the top models of a range that get looked after better and there tends to be more representation of them at classic shows. It also helps if they are the hot version. Compare the Viva against the HP Firenza for example or the Chevette against the HS. Not many will be interested to see a boring Chevette, but more will be interested in the HS, just as an example.

Still we have to remember that there is an Allegro club out there (and yes that includes the horrific Vanden Plas!), so somebody must like them.

they was a brown allegro Vanden Plas up the scrappy today looked mint too, its in the line of maybe forsale but no price on it.
i had a white 1100 allegro and i loved it cost me nothing as engine had frozen an popped a core plug, i didn't even buy a new one just popped the old one back in. one night i went too fast around a bend into a field and drove it straight out again, next day in the light me and some mates went back to where it had happened and there was a wide deep ditch both where i had gone in the field and where i came back out, never have worked it out how we survived that. i never worked out why everyone hatted them so much

dave said:

they was a brown allegro Vanden Plas up the scrappy today looked mint too, its in the line of maybe forsale but no price on it.
i had a white 1100 allegro and i loved it cost me nothing as engine had frozen an popped a core plug, i didn't even buy a new one just popped the old one back in. one night i went too fast around a bend into a field and drove it straight out again, next day in the light me and some mates went back to where it had happened and there was a wide deep ditch both where i had gone in the field and where i came back out, never have worked it out how we survived that. i never worked out why everyone hatted them so much

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LOL at your incident. They really are awful cars though. They kind of sum up all that was wrong with BL and the British car industry around that era. I'm still traumatised by my dad having a 2 door 1300 in green with a beige webasto sunroof. Was horrible!

They really weren't that bad apart from the original groovy Harris Mann styling being clobbered by the need to fit a tall overhead cam engine on top of the gearbox.

The Marina was the real low point for BL. It was designed by accountants who'd once seen a Ford Cortina and had a pile of leftover Morris Minor bits.


Various BL-mobiles have a kind of anti-classic status by virtue of everyone's dad having owned one at some point.

Geddes said:

The Marina was the real low point for BL. It was designed by accountants who'd once seen a Ford Cortina and had a pile of leftover Morris Minor bits.

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Are you forgetting the Ital? IMO that was the real low point; by far the worst car I've ever had (a 1.7 estate, formerly used as a company hack, allocated to me by virtue of lack of seniority when joining said company).

The Ital (successor to the Marina) was designed by the auditors, who looked at what the accountants had done with the pile of leftover Morris Minor bits and said "We can make this cheaper"

Nah, The Ital gained proper dampers over the Marina's lever arm jobbies and was thus an improvement.

I still think the Marina wins as it was the design they came up with given a blank piece of paper.

trackdayqueen said:

Well yes, but there are some old cars, that no matter how old they are, are still of very limited interest. It tends to be the top models of a range that get looked after better and there tends to be more representation of them at classic shows. It also helps if they are the hot version. Compare the Viva against the HP Firenza for example or the Chevette against the HS. Not many will be interested to see a boring Chevette, but more will be interested in the HS, just as an example.

Still we have to remember that there is an Allegro club out there (and yes that includes the horrific Vanden Plas!), so somebody must like them.

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I always feel a bit strange going to classic car shows in the UK. They're generally without fail, rubbish. There's the obligatory line of MGB's, old rovers and crapola like Allegro's. Generally cars which were never good in their day and are just there because they're british and fit in with a certain bearded 50 or 60 year olds idea of what a classic is. A lot of them aren't in the best condition either. Then there are the people who seem to think that something as crap as a Cavalier convertible deserves to be on show.

Where the Sunbeam's? Jags? Lotii? Old Fords and cars which are just INTERESTING?!?!?!?!

Back in Australia you just wouldn't see this rubbish on show, a friend sent me some pictures from a show in Australia and there was a Lancia Stratos, some Integrale's, some Alfa 105's, Alfetta GTV's, some competition Alfa's, a Sud or two, 2 Montreal's and a list as long as your arm of other nice Italian cars.

Now perhaps I've not been to the best classic car days, but the crap that shows up to the small ones is dismal.

Nathan126 said:

I agree it may not be a future classic, but the 500's may well.. and what with them being physically similar i think they will have a following just like any other car. There are people on here and elsewhere that will probably want another in a couple of decades

It's like Fiat 126's.. not a 500, physically similar and are now going up in value and are more sort-after nowadays.

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Personally I don't see the modern 500 ever being a classic as such. It's nice enough but just doesn't scream classic for me. To me a classic has to be a little less common and have something about it as the DC2 integra does. Think of post 1990 cars that you see on the road and take a second look at and nothing like the 500 or 100hp sticks in my mind. If I was to nominate some cars I'd nominate the Corrado VR6, BMW M Coupe, Original Impreza Turbo's, early Evo's, Integrale's of course, the E30 M3 and 90's Lotii. All cars which are of their time, aren't stupidly common (Impreza aside). They're all cars which define the start of an iconic model (M3, Impreza Turbo, Evo, etc etc) or they're just cars which are of the time. IMHO the boggo Panda is probably more likely to be well loved in a few years than the 100hp.

306maxi said:

Then there are the people who seem to think that something as crap as a Cavalier convertible deserves to be on show.

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It's valid as a bit of social history. In the 80's a Crayford Cavalier was desirable enough to spend a heap of money on. To forget your mistakes is to repeat them...

306maxi said:

To me a classic has to be a little less common and have something about it

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Tricky to define what a classic is. But for me it was to be in some small way revolutionary. Take the original Fiat 500. Technically it's a cheap crappy little car, but the impact was in getting people into cars who would previously have been walking.

The Classic Car Club of America for example have a different definition

Geddes said:

They really weren't that bad apart from the original groovy Harris Mann styling being clobbered by the need to fit a tall overhead cam engine on top of the gearbox.

The Marina was the real low point for BL. It was designed by accountants who'd once seen a Ford Cortina and had a pile of leftover Morris Minor bits.


Various BL-mobiles have a kind of anti-classic status by virtue of everyone's dad having owned one at some point.

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i had a Marina too after that BL cars fell to bits before they came into my price range
i just listed my haynes manual for it on ebay yesterday as mrs dave been clearing out the attic. its one of the dirtiest manuals i got, so shows how much it broke down

Geddes said:

It's valid as a bit of social history. In the 80's a Crayford Cavalier was desirable enough to spend a heap of money on. To forget your mistakes is to repeat them...


Tricky to define what a classic is. But for me it was to be in some small way revolutionary. Take the original Fiat 500. Technically it's a cheap crappy little car, but the impact was in getting people into cars who would previously have been walking.

The Classic Car Club of America for example have a different definition

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Very good points. But tbh I'd leave owning a warning to someone else or to a motor museum.

Personally I feel the Classic Car Club's idea of a classic is dumb and looks like one person's view of what a classic is and seems geared towards excluding anything that's cheap enough for someone to buy unless they were born with a silver spoon in their mouth.

IMHO 99% of the cars they consider classics are piles of **** because they're terrible cars which would most likely crumble if driven on anything other than sunny days and not parked in a humidity controlled garage. Sorry? A Lanchester is a classic but a Lancia Stratos isn't? Give me a Mk1 Escort, A Mk1 Cortina or a 205 GTi over some silly austentatious unusable lump of crap any day.

306maxi said:

Where the Sunbeam's? Jags? Lotii? Old Fords and cars which are just INTERESTING?!?!?!?!

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they all rusted away of course we have salt on the roads in the uk