Car Talk
some tips from some of my favorite car enthusiasts on how to buy a classic car
Clearly I’m into vintage cars. I probably got the bug from my father who drove a 1959 Triumph TR3A. I can’t remember a weekend, as a kid, not going to some kind of vintage car event or car show. Pre-internet my favorite Saturday morning activity, growing up in Binghamton, was skipping the comics and going straight to the car classifieds to see what treasures I could find or perhaps test drive (I could rarely afford anything but it was fun to pretend). My first car was a 1971 BMW Bavaria—an automatic in burgundy with tan interior. I drove that car into the ground and it was really that car that seeded the passion for all things vintage. I’ve owned pickup trucks, American 4x4s, German sports cars, Land Rovers (Series 1 Discos a current obsession), and now I’m concentrating on the Italians, with my ‘83 Fiat Panda the lead in the stable and the Lancia a close second. My tips are pretty straight forward: buy the best version of the thing you love (and can afford), get a thorough inspection before any purchase (I’m no mechanic), never buy anything with rust (unless you have an uncle in the body shop business) and be prepared to be as disappointed in ownership as elated. Also, when it comes to making a big purchase like this, it’s important to have as much good advice as possible, so I asked some of my friends who are experts in this world to weigh in.
Ted Gushue is the founder of Type 7, a magazine devoted to Porsche. His current favorite vintage driver is his Porsche 996 Turbo.
“Buy the maintenance, not the mileage: When we are talking about classic cars it's easy to get seduced by stories around garage kept meticulous machines that were only